Blog Posts by BellaSugar

Source: 3 Ways to Jolt Your End-of-Summer Hair Back to Life

While the good parts of Summer far outweigh the bad, warm weather can leave hair in a condition something less to be desired. "Usually at the end of August and around Labor Day, everyone is clogging the phones with, 'My hair turned green from the pool,' or 'My hair is superdry from the saltwater at the beach,'" says Alberto VO5 hair expert Chris Lospalluto. You don't have to start Fall off with frizzy, moss-toned hair, however. To see Lospalluto's three tips for giving lackluster strands a piece of your mind, read on.

• The chlorine fix: Before you whip up a magical batch of DIY chlorine remover at home, Lospalluto urges you to think again. "In terms of chlorine, I always recommend seeking professional help," he says.
• The dry hair fix: Whether you swim in the ocean, lake, or pool, or even just spend hours outside at a daytime cookout, water and sun don't always play nice with your hair. Enter: the hair mask. But

Source: The Freshest, Chicest Way to Update Your Hair This Fall

The Birkin bag? How about Birkin bangs? She's inspired a classic bag from Hermès, and now singer and actress Jane Birkin is the inspiration behind this upcoming season's quickest, easiest hairstyle update. While Fall may be the perfect time to enrich your hair color or get a whole new cut, if you don't want to make a huge change, adding fringe is a fabulous way to go.

"Refreshing your hair [for Fall] could be something as simple as giving yourself bangs," says Alberto VO5 hair expert Chris Lospalluto. "They don't have to be the straight-across Naomi Campbell moment; they can be a '60s-Jane Birkin where they're long and fringy." That way, you have options. They're long enough that you can easily pull them over to the side, but also short enough to look wispy and cool when worn down.

And to keep that wispy style from skewing stringy by day's end, Lospalluto recommends dry shampoo. "You just want something to soak up a bit

Source: Beauty Refresher: How to Clean Your Makeup Brushes

A lot more harm than good can come from not cleaning your makeup brushes regularly. Not only can you wind up with nasty breakouts, residue can breed bacteria, which wind up breaking down your brushes. To learn the steps to keeping your brushes (and complexion) squeaky clean, just keep reading.

Planning and Prevention
Since you should do a deep cleaning about once a month on brushes you use daily, the easiest way to make sure you're not spending hours cleaning them is to spot clean after every use. Wipe off your brushes after every use with antibacterial wipes (like the ones you'd use to clean your hands). This way it'll be easier to remove residue before it has a chance to settle into the bristles. This may take an extra couple of minutes now, but will save you loads of time later.


More BellaSugar: Fake an Airbrushed Makeup Look With This Easy Tip


What You Need to Deep Clean
Deep cleaning your brushes takes only two

Source: Longer, More Voluminous Lashes Are Within Your Reach

You've already figured out how to make your eyes look bigger, so now let's talk achieving longer, fuller lashes. Learn how to take your eyelash game to greater heights when you keep reading.

• Carefully line your upper water line with black eyeliner, making sure to smudge the pigment in between your lashes. This will make the base of your lashes appear thicker. If you want, you can also line right above the lashes; just make sure to keep the line thin and tight against your lashes.
• Blend a pearl-white shadow into the center of your lid as a contrast to your forthcoming dark mascara. This will allow your lashes to stand out even more.
• Warm up your eyelash curler, either by blasting it with your blow dryer for a few seconds or running it under hot water. Curl your lashes in two places: start as close to the base as possible without pinching your skin and then move the curler halfway up your lashes and curl again. This

Source: What We're Sweet On: A Scent That's Perfect For Everyday Wear

Picking a perfume is almost like picking a partner: you want it to be the perfect blend of sweet, sultry, and long-lasting, without the overpowering effects. Kiehl's Aromatic Mist in Vanilla and Cedarwood ($75) is a match made in heaven. The scent is light and creamy with hints of musk from the cedarwood, making it an ideal mix of the masculine and feminine.

Kiehl's has somehow concocted a perfume that's detectable to the nose, but that isn't obtrusive at all. A couple of spritzes before you walk out the door are really all you need, and it's complex enough to build into a fragrance that works for a night out, too. And the bottle looks like one of those old-fashioned medicine vials - perfect for display on your vanity counter.


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Source: Beauty Refresher: How to Smooth Rough Soles

As Summer comes to a close, it's time to give your feet some end-of-sandal-season love and care. So before you bust out those boots and wool socks, follow these simple steps to say sayonara to cracked, aching feet for good.



Pull off Flawless Feed:

• The skin on your soles is thicker than the rest of your body due to heavy use (it has to stand up to your heel-wearing and foot-stomping ways, after all). That's why you'll want to soak your feet in a warm bath for at least five minutes to soften them thoroughly. You can even add an oil or milk to your soaking tub to increase the softness. In addition, an antiseptic essential oil (like tea tree or peppermint) can help to combat minor infections.
• Next, scrub the feet with a grainy exfoliator, such as a DIY mix of honey, olive oil, and coarse salt (or brown sugar).
• Rinse the feet and follow by using a wet pumice stone to smooth over rough heels and calluses. Don't apply too much

Source: Why Acid Is Good For Your Skin

In general, people equate the word acid with burning, screaming pain. But did you know the pH of your skin is an acidic 4.5? "When you look at a lot of skin care products, they are acids because they help restore that normal acidic pH to the skin," explains Dr. Lawrence Samuels, chief of dermatology at St. Luke's Hospital in Missouri. "A pH lower than 2 tends to be somewhat irritating to the skin, but most products are going to be between 2.5 and 6.0."

There are exceptions, however. Chemical peels, which get rid of the top layer of skin, have a pH of less than 2. (As a comparison, moisturizers typically have a pH between 5.5 and 6.5). Also, when layering products, be sure to keep in mind that a high pH can cancel out the effects of a product with a lower pH. But the next time you turn up your nose at a vinegar hair rinse, think again: that acetic acid might just be what your scalp craves.


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Source: What We're Sweet On: Dewy Blush You'll Wear All Year Round

We may be in the dog days of Summer, but Fall makeup is on the horizon. While that typically means darker colors and matte textures, Josie Maran's Argan Color Stick ($22), found as part of QVC's Pure & Simple 4-piece Argan Skincare Ritual ($66, originally $75) is the perfect product to take you into the cooler season ahead.

Dewy but not shiny, this creamy stick allows you to swipe on highly pigmented color with ease. You'll love how sheer and natural-looking it is as a blush, but that it can be layered to create more intense effects. It doesn't pool or clump, either. So you'll get that lit-from-within glow sans the greasiness. Besides, it smells like a dream, hydrates the complexion, and can even be dabbed onto the lips. How's that for a transition?


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