TO DRY YOUR HAIR
We know, we know: patience, virtue, blah, blah, blah. But when we're standing at the bathroom sink in the morning, trying to blow some style into our hair, it regularly occurs to us that we could be doing something more productive or (especially in the warmer months)…cooler. So we asked David Dieguez, the creative director of Blow Styling Salon in New York City, how to speed up a blow-dry. "Using a round vent brush [like the Goody Style So Smooth round brush, $8, above] will cut your drying time," he said. When you wrap a section of your hair around the barrel of the vent brush and blast it with the dryer, the air currents travel through the brush's open grates, simultaneously drying both sides of the section. With a flat, unvented brush, you can't cover as much surface area at once. And while that tornado of hot air whirls inside the brush's barrel, the heat infuses more volume into your style.
CLEAN UP YOUR BROWS
Instead of tweezing with a hope and a prayer that somehow you'll reveal perfect arches (or at least two fairly symmetrical ones), begin with a pencil and a plan, suggests Arianne Damboise, brow expert and national makeup artist for Benefit Cosmetics. Using a white or pale beige eye pencil, draw on top of the hairs that you think you want to get rid of. Then look at what you
haven't drawn over: Do you like the shape? If so, go ahead and tweeze everything within the pencil-covered area. When you're done, blend in the pencil with your fingertip—the pale shade will beautifully highlight your newly cleaned-up brow bone.
CLEAN UP SPILLED NAIL POLISH
When your favorite crimson pigment drips on the dining room table, what do you do? Sprint for the nail polish remover? Furiously wipe at it with a paper towel? "That's exactly what you shouldn't do—remover will damage the varnish on the table; rubbing it will spread the stain," says Ji Baek, author of Rescue Your Nailsand owner of Rescue Beauty Lounge in New York City. "Instead, walk away. When the polish is completely dry, gently flick it off." We tested Ji's advice on a countertop in our office and easily scraped off all the dried polish. (Whew!) Ji says her method works on shoes and handbags too. We'll take her word on that.
FIX EYELINER MISTAKES
You're rushing to make up for a party, the ringing phone startles you, and—damn!—you just flubbed your eyeliner. To fix unevenly applied liner in a pinch, try celebrity makeup artist Mally Roncal's trick: Dip a clean, pointed Q-tip into liquid makeup remover (Lancôme Effacil Gentle Eye Makeup Remover, $24, isn't too oily), then squeeze the soaked tip with a tissue until it's almost dry. Use it as an eraser to even out your less-than-perfect work.
Avoid soaps and lotions that contain hydrating ingredients, like vitamin E and aloe vera, before painting your nails. Traces of oily residue cause polish to separate from the surface of your nails and chip off, says Ji Baek, owner of the Rescue Beauty Lounges in New York City. Next time, wash your hands with a nonmoisturizing soap (like Dial Antibacterial Hand Soap), wipe each nail with polish remover, and then start painting.
The next time you draw blood as you whisk a razor around your ankle or knee, swipe a dot of antiperspirant onto your finger and hold it on the cut, says Jeffrey Benabio, MD, a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at the University of California San Diego. The aluminum chloride derivatives found in most antiperspirants, used to constrict sweat glands, can also shrink blood vessels, slowing blood flow and creating a clot.
Has a glance in the office mirror—yikes!—told you that you overdid it with the blush this morning? Here's a quick way to fix it, from Carmindy of TLC's What Not to Wear. If you need to cover up cream blush: Put a drop of foundation on a makeup sponge, then brush the sponge down your cheek in tiny strokes. If you overdid it with powder blush: Use a dry sponge to blend it, or cover with a light dusting of finishing powder.
Although you might be inclined to load on the eye makeup when you look tired, your eyes will appear brighter and more lifted if you keep things minimal. Line your lids with a peach eyeliner pencil (which makes your eyes seem bigger and the whites of your eyes whiter), and then use the same pencil to conceal the shadows on sides of your nose near your eye sockets. Finish by curling lashes and applying one coat of black mascara.
Just when we think we've seen it all, a beauty trick comes along to jolt us out of our jaded state. This time it was from Creative Nail Design manicurist Roxanne Valinoti, who told us how to remove even the darkest polish in one swipe. First, get (brilliant!) Graham Hands Down Ultra Nail and Cosmetic—cotton rounds that won't tear ($5 for 60; SallyBeauty.com). Apply cuticle oil around each nail bed (it will keep color from staining your fingertips), then saturate a pad with polish remover and hold it firmly over the nail for three seconds. "The acetone will penetrate the layers of color, and with a few small circular massaging motions, the polish will loosen," says Valinoti. "Then you can sweep it away in one movement—always toward the nail edge." Clean and simple.
Why is it so hard, anyway? For one thing, the consistency of the concealer has to be just right—soft but not too creamy. (The ones that come in a compact are usually best.) And you need to use a concealer brush because your finger will grab too much of the product and can push it off the blemish when you're trying to blend. Use the brush to pick up tiny amount of the concealer, dot it directly on the spot, and blend outward very lightly. Set by patting—not sweeping—on a pressed powder.
Another reason to frequent the local farmers' market: Fresh vegetables are good for your smile. "The ones that really crunch when you bite into, like celery, carrots, and string beans, can literally help scrub stains from teeth," says Jeff Golub-Evans, DDS. They're most effective on recent discoloration, though. So chase a glass of red wine with a couple of carrot sticks, and you may save yourself the hassle of whitening strips later.
Instead of tweezing with a hope and a prayer that somehow you'll reveal perfect arches (or at least two fairly symmetrical ones), begin with a pencil and a plan, suggests Arianne Damboise, brow expert and national makeup artist for Benefit Cosmetics. Using a white or pale beige eye pencil, draw on top of the hairs that you think you want to get rid of. Then look at what you haven't drawn over: Do you like the shape? If so, go ahead and tweeze everything within the pencil-covered area. When you're done, blend in the pencil with your fingertip—the pale shade will beautifully highlight your newly cleaned-up brow bone.
