Blog Posts by Allure Daily Beauty Reporter

Our beauty editor, Victoria Kirby, was on The Weekend Today show to talk about self-tanners. Tis the season, after all! In case you missed it, here's everything you need to know:

AT A SALON

• Scrub. Getting rid of any dry skin will make the tanner go on much more evenly, so exfoliate the morning of your appointment. We like Kiehl's Creme de Corps Soy Milk & Honey Body Polish to do the job.
• Time it right. Make sure you can head right home after your appointment, because you're going to look super-dark immediately afterward-and the tanner has to stay on your skin for 8 to 10 hours before you shower.
• Choose your method. Airbrushing-where an aesthetician sprays your body-costs between $80 and $100, and many people prefer it because there's little risk of streaks. However, you have to really strip down-the less you wear, the better. (Ok, you can wear a black bikini, if you don't mind it getting a little trashed with tanner. Also, most salons offer disposable underwear.) Spray-tan

You never get something for nothing. Which is why this seemed to good to be true. But on May 20, Kérastase is proving that statement wrong by offering free in-salon treatments and blowouts (valued at over 100 bucks), with no purchase necessary.

Check out more free stuff at Allure.com!

You can pick from ones like Aqua-oleam, for dry hair, and Masquargil, which treats oily hair and scalps, or five others. It's easy-click here, print an invite (you need to bring it with you), and make an appointment at a participating salon. Enjoy!

Kérastase and other beauty products worth the hype.

-- Jessica Prince, Editorial Assistant

More from Allure's Daily Beauty Reporter:

• Iman's Top 5 Beauty Secrets
  
• Your Favorite Celebrities Without Makeup
  
• Beauty As Muse at the Met Gala
• Subscribe to Allure right now and get a FREE TOTE BAG!

If Pinto charmed the pants off you in that movie that everyone loves, then you'll probably look forward to L'Oréal ads starring the drop-dead amazing looking actress coming to a TV near you soon. Beauty insiders have been speculating what cosmetics contract she would land for months, and now we finally know who sealed the deal.

Step by step: Freida's Chanel look from Fall 2009 fashion show.

We're pretty psyched! Pinto will be in the company of Jane Fonda, Penélope Cruz, Beyoncé Knowles, and fellow Indian actress Aishwarya Rai.

Get Scarlett Johanson's look with these L'Oreal product tips.

-- Erin Flaherty

image via www.freidapintofan.com

More from Allure's Daily Beauty Reporter:

• Iman's Top 5 Beauty Secrets
  
• Your Favorite Celebrities Without Makeup
  
• Beauty As Muse at the Met Gala
• Subscribe to Allure right now and get a FREE TOTE BAG!

We were intrigued to hear about President Obama's meeting with the gorgeous women's basketball star Lisa Leslie. The prez's first words to her were, "Now you know I love tall women, right?" referring, no doubt, to the famously leggy first lady.

Defining leggy beauty.

That was awesome, because think about it...except for models-who get paid lots of money to tower over people-tall women always seem to get the um, short end of the stick, so to speak, when it comes to the beauty laurels. Some men are scared to date them, people stare if they dare to date a man shorter than they are, you get the picture. We say, Obama is on the right track.

Related: Try Allure.com's BMI calculate to measure your weight in relation to your height.

-- Erin Flaherty

image via www.mysportalent.com

More from Allure's Daily Beauty Reporter:

• Iman's Top 5 Beauty Secrets
  
• Your Favorite Celebrities Without Makeup
  
• Beauty As Muse at the Met Gala
• Subscribe to Allure right

Whoa-this news about smoking is kind of crazy.Research from Penn State finds that the concentration of melanin-the pigment that colors skin-is directly related to how many cigarettes a smoker needs a day. Which could mean that people with darker skin could be susceptible to being more addicted to cigarettes than fair-skinned people. The theory is that melanin binds with nicotine, which causes the addictive chemical to build up in the tissue. (In shorthand, more melanin=more nicotine build-up=more addicted.)

Can't quit the cigs? Find out more about this smoking vaccine.

This particular study as done with 150 African-American smokers, and the researchers stress that more investigation is needed with smokers of various skin pigment levels to be sure. At any rate, if you do smoke, add it to the list of reasons to quit your weekend-only (okay, sometimes/always on the weekdays, too) habit for good.

Related: How to choose a nail color that flatters your skin tone.

-- Hannah Morrill,

Some normally a-ok skincare ingredients can cause problems on the wrong skin type. We asked David E. Bank, associate professor of clinical dermatology at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, for the lowdown.

SENSITIVE SKIN

Lanolin: This natural wax comes from sheep's wool, but even after it's refined for cosmetic use, small traces of impurities and toxins-such as pesticides-may still remain, which can cause allergic reactions including redness, rashes, or hives.

Unscented: The number-one cause of skin allergies and reactions are added fragrances-so why do you have to be wary of skin products labeled "unscented?" They may still contain fragrances used to mask any unpleasant odors in the formula. Look for the words "fragrance-free" on the bottle in order to be sure that it contains no added scents.

OILY SKIN
Mineral Oil: If your skin is oily or acne-prone, you may want to avoid products containing this ingredient. A derivative of petroleum oil, it

Last week we had some major beauty sightings at a screening and after-party for the hilarious new film The Brothers Bloom, co-sponsored by Nars. First up: François Nars himself. Despite all the A-listers in the house (including Adrien Body, Russell Simmons, and Rachel Weisz), people were fell-ip-ping out for the makeup artist/photographer because he almost never goes out in NYC, preferring to spend his days on his (ahem) private island in the South Pacific. (Sigh!)

Read about Nars's exceptional work on the runway.

Oh, and speaking of Rachel Weisz, she is not just majorly gorgeous (that skin!!!!), she's majorly into beauty products. Like, ob-sessssssed. When asked about her absolute favorites, she said that she smoothes on Kiehl's Ultra Facial Moisturizer SPF 15 Moisturizer every morning, sweeps the skin-brightening Dior Skinflash Radiance Booster Pen around her eyes before every red carpet event, and hides the occasional redness with Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage concealer. As for

Never have we put the words "banana clip" and "fashion show" in the same sentence until today. This morning, I saw a woman on the street rocking an updo that totally reminded me of the sleek style from the Yves Saint Laurent spring fashion show-and she'd created it with, of all things, a banana clip.

Check out this video for the complete backstage look of Yves Saint Laurent's spring fashion show.

My best guess: she'd raked the prongs on the front half of the clip through her hair at the crown to slick it back-in turn creating some volume behind it (though at a far more wearable height than the Bride-of-Frankenstein level at Yves Saint Laurent)-then swung the other half of the clip around the puff and clipped it together. The element keeping the clip from looking cheesy: it was black. In other words, no banana colors, please.

If you aren't ready to re-live the 80's, try these other ideas for softer updos.

-- Amy Keller Laird, Beauty Director

image via www.liketotally80s.com

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