Category Archives: Fashion Forum

Cosmetics, Fashion Forum

Weekly beauty tip #9 – In-Season Beauty Masks

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It’s autumn & everywhere you look there’s something pumpkin or apple-flavored. Why not try using the seasons two favorite foods to gently exfoliate your skin? Let us know what you think of these masks.

Pumpkin Papaya Mask
½ ripe papaya, 1 cup pumpkin, 1 egg white, beaten until frothy, 1 tsp honey

Skin and seed the papaya; mash with a fork until soft. Stir in the rest of the ingredients until mixture is smooth. Apply to face using a circular motion,. Rinse off after 5 minutes. [Courtesy of Jennifer Jaqua]
The natural acids inside papaya and pumpkin exfoliate your skin, which helps keep your pores clear.

Apple and Tomato Mask
½ tomato, 2 tbsp. plain yogurt, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1 egg white, 2 to 4 tbsp whole wheat flour, 2 slices green apple (chopped)

Mix all ingredients together until well combined. Spread the mixture on clean skin and let dry for 15 minutes. Rinse with warm water. [Courtesy of Sonya Dakar, owner of Sonya Dakar Skin Clinic in Los Angeles]
The natural acids inside tomatoes exfoliate your skin, which helps keep your pores clear.

Cosmetics, Fashion Forum

Weekly Beauty Tip #8 – Foundation Basics

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Any skin can look like great skin with the right foundation. In fact it’s the last step in protecting your skin from the harsh world out there.

  1. Find the right color. Smear a stripe on your jaw line, step outside and peer into a compact mirror-if the color looks right in daylight, it’ll look right anywhere.
  2. Smooth your skin. Moisturize and wait five minutes before applying foundation to get rid of flakes. Use foundation primer.
  3. Use four dots of foundation. Apply a dot on each cheek, one on your forehead and the lady one on your chin. Then spread in upward and outward strokes. Make sure to blend, blend, blend. Streaks are never cute.
  4. Powder up. Apply loose, translucent powder to your forehead, nose and chin – oil-magnet areas.
  5. Spritz on water. Misting makes foundation look ultra natural. Hold the bottle at least a foot and a half from your face and you won’t wind up feeling wet. Or alternatively use a setting spray for a dual use product. We mentioned earlier how we love Victoria Secret’s setting spray. Check back later for our review of Avon’s new spray.
Clothing & Accessories, Fashion Forum

Clean Your Stinky Head Scarf…and other things – Part 4

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And now the conclusion of the series…

 

We’ve addressed the head scarves, the combs and brushes, and makeup tools.  Now let’s cover the last items on the original list.

  • Nail clippers, tweezers and other metal tools

Begin by cleaning the item with soap & water or any cleaner you prefer but make sure you dry it thoroughly.  Drying thoroughly is essential to avoid rusting and the dulling of any sharp edges.

 

For that extra level of clean called disinfected, you can soak the items in rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol for about 10 minutes.  This is fine if you’re cleaning your personal items (no sharing allowed) at home but by salon standards only 99% isopropyl alcohol is definitively effective.  The alcohol in my medicine cabinet is only 91%.  Once the items come out of their alcohol bath, again it’s highly important to completely dry them with a clean paper towel.

 

  • Glasses

If you worn prescription glasses for any length of time, I’m sure you’re aware of the special “glasses cleaners” and “cleaning cloths” out there.  These are typically designed for your lenses but leave much to be desired in cleaning the frames (you know the part that touches your face and the part your hands, which touch everything, grab to put on or take off your glasses).

 

We last year while getting my daughter her first pair of glasses, the optometrist gave us this wonderful tip for keeping them clean.  Forget all of the cleaners and special cloths.  If you want to keep any type of glasses (prescription or sun) clean, wash and dry them like you would your hands.  Liquid antibacterial hand soap and warm water on every part of your glasses (lenses and frames) and then dry with a clean low-lint paper towel.  So no more getting talked into buying all those extras for cleaning by the vendor in the mall, flea market, or a shady optometrist.

 

 

  • Pillowcases

 

These should be laundered weekly at least just like the head scarf.  Do it more often than that if you’re able because who wants the different items you may be putting in your hair clogging the pores on your face.

 

  • Cell Phones

My favorite thing to clean a cell phone with:  baby wipes.  For that extra level of clean, I occasionally use any disinfectant wipe that I have handy.  However, the nice thing about using baby wipes is that you can use one for your phone and another for your hands.  

 

In closing, remember that keeping it clean often equates to staying physically well.

 

ECV – Promoting Total Wellness

Cosmetics, Fashion Forum

Mani Madness

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The day flies so quickly when you’re busy…

In our quest to make sure we’re telling you about the best products for your continued wellness we’re currently under a case of manicure madness.

We retail Avon products among other things and want to test out the longevity of the different nail enamel brands. To do this we’re looking for models in the Jacksonville area willing to get a practically FREE manicure! The only cost is we need daily pictures to see when your nail color starts to chip.

Inbox ms.me@ecvtalks.com or DM on Twitter if you’re interested. Meanwhile Here’s a sample of Ms. ME’s first experiment with our new nail sponges.

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Will definitely try to get an ombre look next time.

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Cosmetics, Fashion Forum

Clean Your Stinky Head Scarf…and other things – Part 3

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The other things to be discussed in this post are the often forgotten makeup applicators (brushes and sponges).

 

There are great brush cleaners out there with easy to follow directions.  Yet for some reason we’ve run across women who don’t realize that their blemish problems may be a result of a failure to purchase and use one of these cosmetic brush cleaners regularly.

There are a number of Extrav options such as Bobbi Brown, MAC and Estee Lauder. We haven’t personally used any and would love to hear from anyone who has.

The C2 option we recommend is Sephora Daily Brush Cleaner that starts at $7 a bottle. It’s a daily cleanser that’s particularly great for quickly cleaning off your brush when you’re going to use it immediately to apply a different color. Just spray a little on a tissue and wipe your brush off. 

The Value option is using something you already have in your bathroom, your shampoo. Make a applicator bath by mixing some shampoo with warm water in a bowl. Swirl your brush around and rinse. While it won’t disinfect it will sanitize your applicators and brushes.

Whatever you decide upon, make sure to use it at the very least weekly. Your skin is dependent upon your actions for its clarity.