Are you looking for pain free tweezing?  Look no more…

Here is a great top tip to try for all you ladies (or indeed gents), with extremely low pain thresholds.  Before you go to the salon for your biweekly brow tidy, try applying some bonjela to the area that is about to be treated. YES, BONJELA!  The active ingredients will numb the skin, making this torturous event much much easier to bare.  This fab tip is only suitable if you are getting your brows tweezed or threaded, as it is not advisable to put any active ingredients on the skin before waxing,  just incase it reacts with some of the ingredients in the wax.

I would also recommend that you visit your salon once every two weeks for a brow tidy, this way it won’t seem as horendously painful as there won’t be too much hair growth to remove.

So happy tweezing ladies and let there be no more plucking fears… sorry, tears!

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Do I even have to elaborate?  Yes, you guessed it, the dreaded in growing hair.  It is the bane of our otherwise perfectly groomed bikini lines.  But, I have discovered a solution!  Avon solutions plus Total Radiance Skin Refining Clay Mask.  Yes, it was originally intended for use on oily, spotty skin.  But as I was sitting one evening, face thickly packed with this fabulous mask, I saw in the ingredients list that this product contains salicylic and glycolic acid.

Salicylic acid works from the outside dissolving dead cells that block pores and hair follicles.  Glycolic acid penetrates deep into the dermal layer of the skin, encouraging new cells to grow, thus pushing blockages and dead cells out of blocked pores.

So I applied some of this mask to my bikini area, as I do suffer with pretty bad ingrown hairs.  The next day my bikini line was as good as new!  So now, every time I have a bikini wax I wait the obligatory 24hrs, then apply my wonder mask, leave it on for 20 mins, and viola – no more pesky lumps and bumps.  Trust me girls, it works a treat!

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High heels are the Devil. This, while not verifiable fact, is definitely something all women will agree on at some stage or another in their lives. You go out and strut your stuff in Fendi, Carvela, Louboutin (maybe!) and you pretend it doesn’t hurt like hell. There’s a stage you get to when four inches feels flat and the heels of your feet are so numb you could drop a tv on them and wouldn’t notice. Company Magazine recently ran a fantastic feature on Feet- and the terrifying amount of issues you develop as a result of those teeny pin heels, those “still bad for you” kitten heels, and yes, the ballet flats that are too flat to offer any support.

The fact of it is that your feet take a punishing every day you wear any kind of stunning shoes- because, let’s face it, the sensible ones aren’t the ones that make you feel like a supernova inside, right?

After I read the Company feature (which talked about veruccas, warts, calluses, cracked heels- you name it, the horrors were all there), I realised that I am not the only one who bullies my feet into submission. We all do.

So I set out to find something that actually works to prevent the minor crises like cracked heels, hard skin, blisters- and all of their similarly horrid friends. I’ve tried so many treatments before (short of amputation) and they never seem to work properly. It seems daft that my saviour came from my own little city, in a shop we all know. Boots.

Boots is one of those shops I love. Part pharmacy, part cosmetic heaven, Boots has a solid loyalty card scheme and a lot of sale items at all times of the year. It was lucky that I walked in right when they were offering a “Buy One Get One Half Price” on the Gorgeous Feet range. I decided to give it a go, and I bought four items. It set me back €31- less than it should have, and the cashier was genuinely enthusiastic about the ones I’d chosen.

Home I went to try them out. And my God was I impressed. Every single product is rich and well packaged (several in glass jars), and rather than smelling clinical, they were flowery and feminine. The Foot Scrub was perfection, and the moisturisers were a dream. The cracked heel repair ointment started working very quickly (and a few days later, the results are amazing altogether). The last thing I tried was the overnight repair cream. This came packaged with those great cotton socks, and once I tried it once, I vowed to do it every night. It stops burning in the soles of my feet (the ultimate painful experience in my experience, because it lasts for an age), and my skin was soft and much less bullied. It was all an unexpected pampering experience- and I fully intend to return to Boots to check out the other products in that Gorgeous Feet range.

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As we’ve said many times before your eyes are the focal point of your face.  Your eye brows are as if not more important because they can alter the look of your entire face which is not always a good thing!  If you don’t have your eye brows right you could be adding years to your age or your face can look harsh.  Go to a therapist that has been recommended or someone you trust when having your eye brows shaped.  If you are a DIY fan then here are some tips on how to get the right shape brow for your face.

First and foremost let us start by addressing the old wives tale of not removing hair from above the brow – rubbish!  Obviously you DO NOT want to get into changing the shape from above the brow but do take any strays that go outside the line of your brow, you’ll be amazed at how much cleaner they look even by only taking a couple.  If you have really dark hair and lots of it when you are having them shaped at a salon ask your therapist to take the strays up top too.  Some may be ‘old school’ and gasp at the suggestion but you only want THE STRAYS removed so tell her to relax, take a deep breath and do it, you are paying and they are your eye brows after all!

Now that we’ve cleared up that issue back to basics.  Don’t stand too close to the mirror, you have a better perspective if you stand back.  Purchase a good pair of tweezers.  Ruby are a good brand but everyone has a different opinion on what makes a good tweezer!  Make sure the lights are on (!) and your face is cleansed.  How do you know what to tweeze and from where?

Here’s what they teach at beauty college… Use an orange wood stick (wooden cuticle pusher!), and rest it against your nostril going upwards towards your forehead as shown by D in the diagram.  Remove any hair going in towards the nose/other eye.  Then look straight ahead and hold the orange stick to the outer edge of your pupil pointing upwards (E), this is where your arch should be at its highest point.  To find where the brow should finish hold the orange stick at your nostril going towards the outer corner of your eye (F) and that is your finish point.  Personally I think the brows look better on most people with a long finish.

You can use a brow pencil to lightly fill in different shapes to give you an idea of whether certain shapes suit you.  Bare in mind if you are retraining your eye brows it can take months for them to regrow, sometimes they never do!!  You’ll have a few weeks of dishevelled brows but trust me it WILL be worth it.  I’ve done this countless times with clients and taken years off them and they never go back to their old shape so persevere!  Just think what a brow shape did for Liz Hurley or Susan Boyle!

You’ve also got to take the shape of your face into account and whether you’ve a high or low forehead or wide set eyes.  Here’s a breakdown of what shape brows suit specific face shapes, something you should definitely consider before reshaping.

High Forehead – to create an illusion of a lower forehead the arch of the brow should be slightly elevated.

Low Forehead – to create an illusion of height to the forehead the arch should be as low as possible.

Square Face – the brow should have a wide and high arch to give an oval impression.

Round Face – arched brows will narrow your face shape.

Pear-shaped Face – eyebrows should be arched and extended at the outer corners to give extra width at the forehead.

Oblong Face – brows should be almost horizontal.

Wide Set Eyes – to make eyes appear closer leave the brows unplucked at the inner corners.  Left of D in the diagram.

Close Set Eyes – the eyes will appear wider if you pluck more from the inner corners (D) and extend the outer corner.

So, happy tweezing ladies.  If you’ve totally over tweezed for the last while just let them grow back without tweezing for a couple of weeks so you actually have something to work with and can start implementing your new shape.  Remembering in this case more is more!

See our previous posts on Make-up your eyes, Threading Hair Removal.

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Here are some top tanning tips from He-Shi expert Jackie Thompson.

It’s generally the same problems that crop up for people applying fake tan. They complain about their elbows being too dark, their knees being patchy, streaks and the amount of time it takes to actually apply a tan.

So how do you get a golden tan that turns others green?……. Well there are some key things we can all do to help achieve that perfect tan.

1. Preparation

This is the key to a good tan, whether it’s one you are applying yourself or going to a salon to get a spray tan, you must prepare your skin. Exfoliate the day before tanning paying special attention to the elbows, knees, ankles and any areas of dry skin you may have.

2. Application

Read the instructions before you apply your tan. With some tans you need to moisturise before application whereas with others you don’t as this acts as a barrier to the tan. Use a tanning mitt to glide the tan over the skin, and with a good strong bronzer you are guaranteed to see exactly where you are applying the tan. All this means that you have no excuse for any streaks or missed bits. (He-Shi tan dries in minutes so there is no need to wait around for hours before you get dressed)

TOP TIP – Apply some moisturiser to the hands, elbows, knees and ankles after applying the tan to stop them becoming dark and patchy.

3. Maintenance

Moisturise every day to protect the tan and prevent flaking of the skin. This will give you an even wear-off, keep the skin hydrated and it will give you a smoother and softer looking complexion.

After tanning you can swirl a brush all over a bronzer (try Fusion Multi Bronze) and use it either as a blush or as a matte finish bronzer all over the face/body. (You can also use the individual colours in the Fusion Multi bronzer as an eye shadow palette)

The end result will be a perfect, even and natural looking tan! It really is as simple as 3 steps to the perfect tan!

If you fancy giving He-Shi Tanning Products a go you’ll find them at Day Spas and Beauty Salons throughout Ireland. For your nearest stockist log onto www.he-shi.eu.  Let us know if you have used this tan and what you thought.  Wow.ie will be reviewing these products in the coming weeks.  At €45 for the liquid tan (300ml) we are expecting A LOT, €25 for 150ml.  The gradual tan is priced at €20 as is the Multi Fuzion Bronzer.

Yesterday Irish TV presenter (and current squeeze of Chelsea footballer Frank Lampard) Christine Bleakley said she is a big fan of the brand so maybe it’s worth checking this one out.

See our previous posts on how to apply tan moisturisers and our do’s and don’ts for perfect spray tans.

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