There are a plethora of products, ranging from miracle creams to spot treatments and gels to topical prescriptions, that are bought and sold under the premise of reducing the signs of aging. But did you know that there are many habits and things you can do today that will prevent some of those wrinkles (or at least reduce their severity) tomorrow? Here are ten things you should do with products you probably already have, or fine-tuning habits and daily rituals already in your day.

Antioxidants are essential to good health, which also includes helping skin maintain its youthful glow. You’ll notice many anti-aging products market themselves as having antioxidants within them, but you can bolster your regimen by ensuring you consume a few foods that are known to be excellent sources of antioxidants.

• Beta-carotene (e.g. carrots) may neutralize free radicals which effect your skin on a cellular level. Anthocyanidins (e.g. berries) increase your cellular defense system. Flavanones (e.g. citrus) and flavonols (e.g. apples, onions) may increase cellular defense as well as neutralize free radicals. Sulforaphane (e.g. broccoli, cauliflower) may increase your cellular defense system.
• Vitamin A (found in dairy, fish, and liver) and Vitamin C (e.g. citrus fruits) both help to protect cells from free radicals. Vitamin E (e.g. nuts, oils, seeds) can also protect cells from free radicals. Selenium (e.g. meats, tuna) may be preventive in damage to your cells from free radicals. Source

Be conscious of how you touch your face. When you’re washing your face, are you scrubbing vigorously? Harsh, hard, or vigorous movements and touches can stretch and pull at the skin in an adverse way. For instance, you should pat your face dry, rather than rubbing a cloth up and down.

Use brushes rather than your fingers to apply makeup. Brushes apply makeup with a light, easy touch, which means less stress and tugging for your skin. When you use your finger, there is more pressure exerted on the skin, even if it feels minute to you.

Cleanse your face regularly and ensure you remove ALL makeup. It is important to wash your face on a daily basis (twice if you can - e.g. AM and PM), even if you don’t wear makeup, because throughout the day your face does get dirty in some aspect. If you go outside, dust and dirt particles may have settled into your face. Make sure when you cleanse your face, you do a thorough job of removing your makeup, too. Residual makeup can rest in pores and on the skin’s surface, clogging it or preventing daily renewal. It’s good to have a package of makeup removing wipes in the house, just because if you ever get lazy or dead-tired, you can opt for using one of those instead of your regular cleansing regimen (not a substitute, but I recognize that we all have days when we just cannot seem to bring ourselves to do things!).

Wear sunscreen everyday. The best policy is to invest in a light sunscreen (e.g. SPF15) for everyday usage, and just get used to having that as a step in your everyday routine–like brushing teeth or showering. It is also a good idea to have a stronger sunscreen (e.g. SPF30+) to use for days when you know you will have increased exposure to sun. You also want to ensure your sunscreen protects against both UVA and UVB, because both can cause problems later in life! Even cloudy days, driving, etc. can cause you to be exposed to harsh rays, so sunscreen everyday!

Exfoliate once a week. Exfoliation helps to remove dead skin cells, which helps bring younger cells to the skin’s surface. As we get older, the cell renewal process slows down, giving skin an uneven or rough appearance. It is important that you don’t overdo exfoliation, and the frequency may depend on the product you choose. Also, don’t forget about body scrubs, because aging doesn’t just show up on your face!

Moisturize and protect your hands. There is the old addage that you can tell a woman’s age by the state of her hands. The skin on our hands is subjected to a lot of activity, from work and utility, but also substantial washes, so it does go through the ringer, so-to-speak. It’s good to remember to moisturize and treat your hands well when they’re not busy working. Try a heavy hand cream and encasing your hands in a pair of light gloves while you sleep to give them a boost of moisture. Sunscreen for your hands is also a great idea, because we know the sun does a lot of damage!

Drink lots of water. It’s an oldie, but it still remains true. Make sure you get your daily intake of water! If you have trouble, try filling up a large jug or thermos of water and keep it by you at all times — you’re more likely to drink it if it’s staring you in the face!

Reduce or remove bad habits from your life, like excessive drinking, smoking, and tanning. Both drinking and smoking can ravage the skin over the time, and reducing both or quitting will serve you well both bodily and skin-wise. Tanning, whether it is in a booth or from the sun, is not at all advisable, especially if you don’t use sunscreen to do it. There are so many self-tanners and sprays these days that you can get your glow without harming your skin in the process.

Make sure you are using your skincare products properly. Some products can multi-task, but some can’t. Don’t use a body scrub on your face because the abrasives in it are too strong for the more delicate skin on your face. Just like a cream for your body may not be good to use on your face. When in doubt, use as intended, because if you aren’t sure, the results may be bad news.

Share your easy and inexpensive anti-aging tips with us!

I have received a few questions lately about what parts of the eye are which, and I thought it would be a good time to re-post this diagram I made last year that I hope is helpful.  I always call out where I put each product for every look (because unfortunately, I don’t have time to do a tutorial every time), and when I do, I use the same names for each part of the eye that it is applied to.

Brow Bone/Highlight:  Generally, a lighter color will be applied to this area; it may be something that has undertones of bolder colors used on the lid, or it may simply be similar to your skintone.  For example, say I do a predominantly green look, I might turn to MAC’s Gorgeous Gold eyeshadow as a highlight color because it will bring out the greens and still allow the color to taper off.  Some of my favorite highlight colors are Ricepaper and Shroom.

Above Crease:  This is my “blend out” area.  There is strong color on the lid and the crease many times, and that strong color needs to be diffused as it moves it way upwards towards the brow.  The best way to think about it is as a gradient, going from dark to light, starting on the lid moving towards the brow.  Sometimes I use a lighter color than the one I used on my lid to help fade the color upwards, other times I may use the same color I chose for a highlight.

Outer Crease:  Luckily my eye was lookin’ a bit tired, because you can really make out the “crease,” which is that fold of skin/wrinkle-like detail you can see.  It extends from the beginning of your eye (inside) to the end of your eye (the outside).  Most often I deposit color in the outer crease, but sometimes I do bring it inward a touch, more to the “middle” of the crease.  I rarely go for darkening the entire length of my crease.  A great universal crease color is Carbon, if used lightly, it can darken any look instantly.  Soft Brown is also a nice, subtler shade.

Inner Lid:  I mentally slice my eyelid into three parts–basically into thirds.  There is the inner, middle, and outer thirds.  In many looks you will see, a lighter color is put on the inner lid relative to the rest of the colors found on the lid.

Middle of Lid:  This is the middle third of the eyelid, and since I typically do similar styles in my looks, this is where a “medium” color in terms of darkness would go.  Light, medium, dark is a good way to think of how I deposit and choose what colors go where on the lid.  On occasion, I might go medium, light, dark, but not nearly as frequently as I do the former.

Outer Lid:  This is the outer third of the eyelid, and this is usually where I put the darkest lid color.  Sometimes I will darken the very outermost portion of it (say you split the outer lid third into half, so then it’d be the outer half or the outer sixth of the entire lid) with the same color I would put in my crease.

Upper Lash Line:  It is not explicitly labeled in this diagram, but it is where your upper lashes (generally the longest ones, the ones that come from your eyelid) meet your eyelid.  This is the actual upper lash line.  When lining the upper lash line, many create thicker lines than the natural upper lash line, but the concept is still there.

Upper Waterline:  The upper waterline is also not explicitly labeled, but it can be found directly underneath your upper lashes.  If you looked up, you would see a tiny bit of space, much like your lower line, and some people line this as well.  It is called tightlining, for your reference.

Lower Waterline:  The lower waterline is sometimes called the lower rim, because it is essentially the bottom rim of your eye.  There are dozens of people who cannot put product on their waterline due to sensitivity, and many others who struggle to find a product that does not fade or dissolve because of the waterline (and the fact that it is…watery!).  For those looking for longer lasting products, I know many use gel liners, fluidliners, and some even use liquidlast liners.

Inner Lower Lash Line:  Not everyone likes to put color on the lower lash line, which is space directly below the lower waterline.  Some prefer just a thin line of eyeliner that expands across both the inner and outer lower lash lines.  I often use the 219 brush to apply pops of color; usually, a lighter color that is similar to the colors used on the lids is applied to the inner lower lash line.

Outer Lower Lash Line:  Similarly to the inner lower lash line, I again apply a thin line of color using the 219 to the outer lower lash line.  There are times where I might even split the lower lash line into thirds, and it just means that there is a middle part of the lower lash line for application.  When it comes to smoky eyes, to “smoke out” the look, one applies a darker color to the outer lower lash line or goes for thicker eyeliner and smudges it out around the outer lower lash line.

Upper Lashes:  They are not labeled, but I do hope that the majority know where to find these (though explained earlier!).  Most makeup users will apply at least one coat of mascara in either brown or black.  Brown mascara is more natural and less dramatic, while black can still be natural, but too many coats or using an amplifing mascara will give you dramatic lashes (but hey, I always want these, so there’s no shame in never going au natural on the lashes!).  I look up and bring the wand closest to the roots of the lashes and comb it upwards.  Sometimes I wiggle, sometimes I turn the brush as I move upwards - it just depends on the mascara.

Lower Lashes:  These are the shorter lashes found beneath your eyeball.  I always like to give them a quick coat of mascara after I finish doing my upper lashes, because then they’re blacker and stand out a touch.  The best way I’ve found to apply mascara to the lower lashes is to use a mascara wand that is not huge and burly - it is a small space, and why do you want to get mascara all over your face?  Since I do not even need a super duper mascara, I may use a lesser, but still black, mascara to coat them.  Look up and lightly tap the mascara wand to the lashes.  I usually just move the wand from side to side, rather than up and down like my upper lashes because I find it coats them to deepen color, slightly lengthen, and that’s all I need.

Halloween is a little under two weeks away, which means it is definitely getting to be crunch time to have your fabulous costume in order, right?  Well, what about your makeup?  Halloween makeup is all sorts of fun because you can be over the top and crazy, without anyone thinking you’ve lost your mind.  You really get a chance to be creative and let your inner artist come out and play.

False lashes are an amazing way to make your eyes pop and finish off flawless makeup.  During the haunting season, all kinds of crazy lashes come out - you can find a good variety at your local drugstore for $4-10 a pop.   Make Up Forever also makes an incredible selection of false lashes for all times of the year (pictured above), and you can find them at Sephora (www.sephora.com); they’re really quite reasonably priced for their quality and how different their lashes can be.

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Last week I asked readers to give their three best makeup tips to beginners when it came to makeup. Now, I’m going to share my top ten make up tips I think are important for anyone at any level or skill. These are in no particular order!

Accentuate your favorite features, and remember that focusing on one feature per look tends to achieve a better overall look. Doing dramatic eyes, cheeks, and lips can sometimes take away from beauty because it comes out overdone and perhaps even “clownish.” This is not to say you shouldn’t or you can’t do bold eyes and lips; it is more a word of caution when it comes to doing multiple focal points.

Confidence is the most essential piece to what you wear out. Anybody can rock any color eyeshadow, blush, or lipstick/gloss as long as they have the confidence to back it up. Being comfortable in your makeup is vital, because the awkwardness or self-consciousness will definitely be picked up by others. So, honey, take that bright blue shadow you’ve been lusting over, but haven’t dared to wear, and pull it off by just realizing how amazingly beautiful you are and how much fun can be had with experimentation and trying colors that aren’t your norm.

Looking polished is easily achieved by complimenting your makeup and not forgetting the parts of your face. Those with naturally fabulous skin can do well simply by moisturizing (and if you feel the need, a light powder or concealer), and others who have less-than-perfect skin have so many variations and formulas of foundation available to them to turn that skin into even, smooth, flawless-looking skin. Perfecting the skin can do wonders on your confidence, because so many of us fret over those teenage acne scars or the slight rosacea some of us have, and other various skin “flaws.” Sparse eyebrows are easily turned into glamorous sisters by gently filling them in. Lips are defined by lip liner and/or lipstick, or even a light gloss with only a hint of color to give off an image of lush puckers. Eyes can be enhanced with nothing but natural brown mascara, to lengthen and thicken lashes just slightly.

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With prom season dawning on us, thousands of anxious teenage girls are gearing up for the big night, and I’m sure some of them are at a loss as to what to do with their makeup! Some ladies will go to professional artists and salons to get the perfect look, but a good amount of girls will be prepping and primping on their own. To help you figure out what look you might want to consider with what color dress you’re wearing, I went through and picked out some random prom dresses in an assortment of colors and then matched them up to past looks I’ve done that might work with them.
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Eyeliner is often considered essential in finishing eye makeup or accenting the bare eye. You would be surprised at how much of a difference adding a touch of black eyelilner on the lower rim of your eye can be. There are many different types of liner–from gel to kohl to liquid to pencil–and nearly infinite shades and colors. Even textures vary from brand to brand and certain types of liner have a specific texture.
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Not everyone can afford the prices of high-end cosmetic lines like Chanel, Dior, Estee Lauder, Lancome, MAC, etc. And there are many who do not want to spend a lot of money on cosmetics, either. This is a guide, of sorts, to help direct price-conscious consumers to cost effective products that actually work. Many more drugstore cosmetic lines are coming out with products that are made to rival higher-end items.

There are several brands that offer great, more inexpensive alternatives for your cosmetic hauls. One of my favorites is called NYX, and I would consider it one of the best cosmetic lines I have tried–and the price is right. Their eyeshadows are extremely pigmented, and several colors are perfect dupes compared to MAC’s! Shadow textures are lovely, and apply evenly and smoothly with little fuss. NYX offers single shadows as well as shadows in sets of three, blush, and various lipglosses and eye/lip liners. Prices generally range from $3-7 for most items they offer. I would say that the only serious drawback from buying NYX is that it is not often readily available at your nearest drugstore. However, several sites offer it online, so that is always a good option for those who cannot find it in our local store.
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Blending

What is it?
Blending is the art of mixing different colors (whether still similar in hue or on completely opposite sides of the color wheel) to create a gradient of color, not a muddying mess that obliterates the vibrancy and trueness of the individual colors used to create a particular look.

Why bother?
Using a single wash of color can be perfect or even ideal for some situations, like running out the door to make a few errands or for a simple workday, but in general, people who utilize makeup want to use more than one color, and of course, there are several good reasons behind this. Using multiple colors creates a sense of depth and dimension to the eyes, especially when used correctly. A darker color in the crease gives the appearance of a deeper, more pronounced crease; just as darkening the outer portion of the lid often defines the natural eye shape. By contrasting this dark shadow with a lighter color, the artist will open up their eyes while still allowing for an emphasis on accenting the shape of their eyes.

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So many people ask me what camera I use, as well as what do I do to get such clear, detailed photos. This is my technique, and I can’t promise it works for everybody, but this is exactly how I take my photos.
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