Looking for quick/easy beauty tips that make a HUGE difference. Bang for your buck kind of stuff. Here are my tips:

• Love your eyebrows once a week. Keeping your brows clean & shaped makes a HUGE difference in the whole look of your face. It really is one of those minute makeover things you can do. SO much difference, and SO many women don't even think about it.

• Do keep nails clean. I mean - eww. And if your nails have a tendency to discolor of go transparent, invest two bucks in a nail whitening pencil. I can't stand acrylic nails, only do my natural ones, and this is one of the best alternative ways to get anything resembling a frenchie.

• If you have oily skin (me me!), apply a small amount of an acne product all over your face, very lightly, almost like a day foundation. If it overdries you can cut it with a non-oily facial lotion. It has tnothing to do with having acne or not -- they're designed to soak up oil, and will let you have a matte complexion for several hours without any powder.

Ooh, ooh, I have to jump in here, too!

Bikini Waxing -- I get waxed pretty regularly. Hey, I live in Miami and I really don't like my pubic hair (of course, I've never heard anyone say "I looooove my pubic hair!"). Anyway, rule number one of waxing is RESEARCH. Make sure you are going to the best waxer you can find. Ask around and get a referral from someone who has gone there. I once had a horrible, inexperienced waxer who gave me awful ingrowns and it hurt and looked likse something out of a horror film for over a month. The best places to get waxes are usually wax-only salons -- in other words, not a hair salon/nail salon that also does some waxing. Find a specialist. It also shouldn't cost more than $40 (or less if you aren't in a big city). Also, it really doesn't hurt as much as you think it will. It's not a good feeling, but it's not nearly as bad as you will expect. If you have an experienced waxer, they should be fast and gentle. I mean, yeah, they are ripping out your hair, it's not going to be painless, but it's not like you are getting amputated.

Actually, I found leg waxing (which I've only had once) to be FAR more painful than bikini waxing. That was medieval.

*shudder*

My favorite beauty products:

1. Kiehl's tinted moisturizer with SPF 15 -- evens out the skintone without caking on like foundation and it protects from the sun

2. Kiehl's Blue Herbal Spot Treatment -- gets rid of zits fast

3. Chanel nail polish -- yes, it's really $20 a bottle. But it lasts (on the nails and in the bottle) ten times longer than the crap they sell at Wallgreens. It goes on smoother than any other nail polish I've tried

4. MAC lipstick -- it lasts all day. Amazing.

5. Lush Ocean Salt -- makes my face feel like a baby's bottom! In a good way, of course...

6. Eyelash curlers -- freakiest looking, best device ever.

7. Finally, I love that they've started selling make-up remover and nail polish remover in little wipes so you can travel with them without bringing the whole bottle or getting stopped by TSA for having a liquid in your carry on. Woo hoo!

I'm also Italian and hairy as can be.

I was at the doctor's office and got to talking with his assistant about hair removal. Referring to her Italian heritage she said, "You know how hairy us Guinea girls are. " I almost fell off the table!

Dry hair-- I only wash it twice a week, with garnier. It has the highest amount of silicone in it which protects hair and makes it look shiny without look greasy. I also do a deep treatment ONLY on my ends when they look like they need it.

WHEETSIN! I am a nail junky. I love having my nails perfectly painted and filed and I like to do it myself. I love to use orly rubberized bonding base coat for two things: as a basecoat, it prevents chipping, makes my manicure last 7-10 days. I do two top coats. I learned how to use a cuticle nipper and my home manicures and pedicures look a million times better and last longer.

I use homemade body butter for my feet (shea, cocoa, and coconut butter with sweet almond oil and jojobo oil, essential oil too if I want fragrance, and I don't forget to add a few nutrients like vit. e to nourish)

laurend, I have nearly popped my knee out of socket and once pulled a muscle giving myself a pedicure. LOL. wearing my husbands glasses help me magnify the area and see details so far away! LOL

Carlene,

I used to get my eyebrows threaded at this great salon in houston called aisha's. can't find another one here in seattle. My eyebrows never look so good as they did when they were threaded. I don't trust a waxer, and have trouble getting it right tweazing. The threads trim and pluck at the same time... amazing!

enterprise, I want to have laser hair removal too, but my mom (wound nurse) told me that killing your body hair causes healing problems for those areas of your body. Hair follicles create growth factors that seep out into your skin and help you heal if you get a cut or bruise or something and if you kill the follicles you just don't heal as well from any skin injury. Just an fyi, even knowing this I'm still debating getting some laser hair removal, like my bikini line! I'd never do my underarms because they're too easy to shave and I think shaving scrapes off the dead skin cells along with the stink and any deodorant hanging around.

laura, I need to get an eyebrow razor. I think I've seen, but never paid much attention.

I bought my husband a manual nosehair trimmer. its a little cylinder with slots that you stick in your nose, then you squeeze the lever and the internal razor trims all of the hairs that stick into the slots. Very cool, I thought.

Ooh, ooh, I have to jump in here, too!

Bikini Waxing -- I get waxed pretty regularly. Hey, I live in Miami and I really don't like my pubic hair (of course, I've never heard anyone say "I looooove my pubic hair!").

I am basically indifferent to my pubic hair, except during swimsuit season, when I hate it. My solution is to just shave it, but DH objects to that. Do I have the only "pro-pubic hair guy" in the world?

Carlene,

It's awesome that your dh is pro pubic hair. Sometimes it creeps me out when guys like women totally bare. It makes me wonder if they might be a pedophile. I'm not accusing anyone, it just makes me wonder, too close to to what a child looks like, you know?

my husband likes a "landing strip", which is similar to having well manicured eyebrows, and still looks womanly, not childish, so I'm okay with that.

I have a little girl and I'm always trying to protect her, so maybe Im' oversensitive about the pedophile thing!!! Maybe I can understand normal men who like it bare, but my husband doesn't so I try not to think about it.

Evilah.

Do I have the only "pro-pubic hair guy" in the world?

My hubby is indifferent to it, but admits that going bare makes oral sex a little more interesting.

The thing about pubic hair is - either you do it, or you don't, because the growing out stage SUCKS.

Brazilians are quite a way back in my past. Now I just shave as part of my morning shower, along with my legs (I have very fine leg hair and only have to shave my legs once every week or week and a half - you can't even tell) & pits.

The thing about pubic hair is - either you do it, or you don't, because the growing out stage SUCKS.

Back in the "old days", they shaved you for childbirth....and gave you an enema, for good measure. I learned after my first child to wait until my labor was too far along for the enema. But you're right....the growing out phase sucks.

I can't do the totally clean shaven thing. I'm afraid I'll hurt my girly self.

I am SO freakin' jealous, Wheetsin! My leg hair is super-coarse. Hell, all my hair is super-coarse. It's also very dark, which, in combination with my fair skin, makes me look like I need to shave even when I'm freshly shaved.

I am just so afraid to shave something I can't see. I've tried to shave my pubic hair while using a mirror, but I am horribly coordinated when it comes to stuff like that. I get my directions mixed up and wind up cutting myself. I'm too self-conscious to try a bikini or Brazilian wax. Maybe when I lose this weight, I'll find a place to have it done.

I completely agree with you, Evilah. A landing strip is a necessity. I would never have it all taken away. But good landscaping is key.

Ooohh I love this thread. I love beauty tips and everything girly. I would love to do the brazilian but I am way too embarrassed. I have waxed myself before but it took a long time and very painful. I have a few favorites to share.

Sally Hansen MEGA SHINE top coat - my toenails grow out before I have to do a polish change

Shiseido eyelash curler, I'm asian and my eyelashes are straight as a board this is the best eyelash curler I have found, and I'm pretty sure I've tried them all - blow dry it for a few seconds on each side to warm (too much and it burns), has a curling Iron effect

Eyeshadow paints from MAC in untitled or bare - wear under my eyeshadow and it lasts all day, if I fall asleep with it on it's still there in the morning

For eyebrows I use my husbands electric nose hair trimmer, it has an attachment for trimming and I trim them just a little so the long strays don't stick out. Mine are a little sparse so I use an eyebrow powder to color them in and then brush em, they look thicker without looking fake.

I love this thread...keep the tips coming!

Christel

I love good eyebrows! I have to confess that I had mine cosmetically tatooed 3 years ago. I have naturally thin light eyebrows and in the summer they actually bleach to the point of the outer half being barely visible. I love the way look now. She used a very light brown and calibrated the perfect length and arch. You cant tell at all that they have the tatoos on them, it looks much the same as when I used to fill them in with a blonde brow pencil. The eyebrow hairs are still there so it just looks natural.....but no more invisible brows!

I got a bikini wax once and loved it. It was so clean. I'll try brazillian at some point. I was actually thinking earlier that I need another bikini wax. I wax my legs and under arms myself. I get the wax strips from nair where you don't even have to heat them up, just rub them between hands. I use them while I am watching tv. I love wax. I'll admit that ripping up those little hairs by their roots is very satisfying. And to me it hurts a lot less than a nick from a razor, plus I get a lot less ingrown hairs that way. Any areas I may I have missed I go over with depilatory creme in a couple of days before I hop in the shower. I won't wax my own bikini area though. Legs and arms, and even eyebrow maintenence, no problem. But I do not do that and I shouldn't. That needs to be done professionally. I also get much nicer underarms from waxing.

My eyebrows aren't thick so I don't do much. I neated them with wax and go to a pro about once a year for that.

For hands: I put on some hand loiton when I got to bed and then I put on some cotton gloves. I find this helps me get softer skin. The moisturizing gloves they sold for this purpose were always too small for me (I have man sized hands) so I bought cotton inspection gloves.

For my face: I like my microderm abrasion once or twice a week. I also use a toner and loition and suncreen for face. Then, at night, I use 5% benzoyl peroxide. Helps with acne (I get the bumps under the skin otherwise). But with that I do have to be careful about my face and bleaching stuff.

For hair: I condition before I shampoo. I have very thick hair thats wavy (not curly but has wave) and I also dye it and its long so it tends to be dry. I read a tip someone to put on some conditioner before the shampoo then deep condition. Well I did that and it helps! Then I deep condition. Then once I get out I use leave in conditioner of course. I also never blow dry my hair or use heat on it. Because its long I want to protect it so that means I have to minimize that sort of damage. I also only wash it 2-3 times a week (maybe 4). I never do anything with it really though so I need to get some baretts, big ones. It can get boring.

The best hair tip I have is one that has served me well since I was 18. Stop dictating every little thing to your stylist. Go to the best place you can afford (or maybe even a little better than that). Tell them to make you look nice. Give them any general guidlines you may have-- like more than x number of inches off, I hate banges/a fringe, I want something sexy, etc. Then tell them to use their best judgement. I've gotten some really great haircuts by doing this. If my stylist thinks I need lots of layers then she's right because whatever she does always looks so much better than anything I would come up with-- she has been dealing with hair professional for years. I, on the other hand, know nothing about hair.

Pedicures I am absolutely incapable of doing on my own. I lack the fine motor skills. SO I go two, maybe up to four times a year. I use a pumice stone and loition at home. Manicures I'm mostly helpless on as well. I can file my nails (but sometimes I forget to keep up with it and they get horrid looking and catch on stuff and start to break...). I leave my cuticles alone. I can't stay in the lines when (or in the nailbed) I use nail polish so I tend to use colors that are easy for me to paint on or ones that clean off easily with a pointy q tip. Or I use clear polish. The whole basecoat and topcoat and all that stuff is really beyond me.

Oh I do have a dip cleaner for my rings so I can keep them looking pretty.

Makeup: I am fascinated by it. Not that I wear it usually. But still... Did you know they make eyeliner in more colors than just black? I just learned that last week. They make it in all sorts of colors apparently. Who wouldn've thought... That doesn't mean i can draw a straight line and put it on neatly, but still its a nice idea.

For general makeup I like almay since they are hypoallergenic and back before zyrtec some makeup would give me a bad reaction. I also adore their long lasting lipstick and the fact that they have lipstick and lipliner and lipgloss in colors that coordinate. Apparently one does use all three at once. They also have coordinating eye color makup stuff, its like makeup for dummies, except they don't have anything for my eye color (I have grey eyes).

For mascara I love diorshow. I got hooked on that stuff after getting sample. I have some powders by origins that I like. Origins in my favorite skin care brand and I just love some of their stuff-- I've been using them for years. And while now other places are starting knock off some of their stuff for what are sometimes cheaper prices that quality is less enough thats its worth it to me to just buy the origins. Foundation is something I need help with. I usually just buy the palest shade and hope its pale enough (it isn't always. Cover girl doesn't go pale enough for example-- their palest is too dark for me) and so forth. I think I need to maybe start using an expensiver brand of stuff. I hear good things about bare escentials for eyes and stuff too. I also use dior or lancome eyebrow pencil-- my eyebrows get bleached so the color is off (for the acne treatment).

Don't be embarrassed to go somewhere. They have had someone hairier, fatter, more whateverer before. And even if they haven't, then you are good experience for them. They are professionals. I figured if I was the first 285 pound women they had worked on then they sure were leading sheltered lives. Sometimes I like massages too. But I'm cheap-- its one of those perpetual student things. I can pamper myself. Some things, like hair and other services I shoudl spend money on. Other things I need to spread out though or find ways to pamper myself a littler more affordably.

A good foundation is bare escentuals, my skin looks smooth and has that dewy but not shiny effect. The more you use the more coverage, so for work and running errands I just use a little and more when I need it, plus it lasts forever.

For smooth straightening I use matrix sleek.look spray in the orange bottle, hair looks silky smooth.

For the full body look I love Root Pump by Big Sexy Hair

My cuticles are the grossest ever, I pull any hangnail I can find and my nails look like crap unless I get acrylics but I get sick of that. Anybody know a good cream for them? I think I'll try the gloves.

i se bare escentuals too. I had given up makeup altogether, because I have decent skin and makeup would make me breakout. Bare escentuals is great as long as I wash it off with a gentle soap before bed. (I know they say you can wear it to bed, but if I do that more than once in a while, I breakout)