How to get that ‘I just stepped out of the shower’ glow
DEAR LUCY,
How do I achieve a glow? Like I just stepped out of a nice yoga class or went for a quick and easy run. And I have very dry skin, putting on baby lotion seems to never be enough.
STELLA
My favorite way is to dab an illuminating cream or serum on my face with a damp sponge. Rub it strategically — just the cheekbones and brow bones. Up the glow factor some more by applying a little on the corners of your eyes. Make sure your brows are groomed and your lips are not chapped but instead luscious. Curl your lashes. Always. The different makeup brands have brightening serums or concentrates. You can also use an illuminating powder, applied with a brush. My favorite is this palette from Hourglass, with three shades: one to contour, the other to highlight the area under the eyes, and the third to blend and sweep over the face for a healthy and sexy glow. This palette is multi-tasking.
Now, to keep your skin moisturized — after you step out of a shower, while skin is still damp, apply oil generously. Once it has been absorbed, apply baby lotion. Oil plus baby lotion, they have to go hand in hand, never just one without the other. Your skin will be smooth as silk and soft as a baby’s.
LUCY
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Hair comes summer
DEAR RISSA,
I’m beginning to feel the summer heat. What’s a stylish way to keep my hair away from my neck and face?
TRICIA
Ponytails are a big hair trend this season and my personal favorite is the sleek pulled-back ponytail. It keeps stray strands away from the face and makes you look fresh and polished. A loose, effortless ponytail gives a more relaxed and romantic vibe. No matter how you choose to wear your ponytail, it’s always a must to use the right styling tools.
I always see it in the mall, but it was my first time to try Goody’s Slideproof elastics and headbands, which have a slip-proof technology to provide a secure hold. These are now my favorite ponytail holders! They don’t slip, roll, slide or fall off — no matter how I move. I even tried using it through Pilates classes and it kept my ponytail and hair in place. I never even had to readjust this hair tie even one time! I actually have very fine hair and my hair tends to slip out of everything so I was super happy to discover these. The Goody Slideproof elastics hold my hair the longest among any I’ve tried! What I also love about it is that these elastics provide a strong grip but they never lose their stretch and elasticity. I have a packet of 10 and I’ve only used one band. They’re super durable. Best of all, they never break, damage, or pull my hair out despite the strong hold.
RISSA
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What goes into a go-to makeup bag
HI, REGINA!
What items should be in any girl’s go-to makeup bag? There’s so much out there that shopping gets so confusing!
REESE
Of course, the basics! I also recently got around to putting together a makeup kit for traveling, and realized that everything I put in it is the stuff I use nearly every day — I get a lot of beauty products in my line of work, and yet most of them end up in a drawer, only ever being used when I have a very specific look in mind that requires weird color.
You definitely need to have foundation (in your exact shade), concealer (also in your exact shade, and maybe another one that’s a little lighter), and a BB or CC cream in there. The CC cream’s great for those days when you want to look polished but don’t want to wear heavier foundation. The concealer is totally necessary for everyday use, either to cover up blemishes or dark circles. And the foundation is for when you need better coverage. That’s all your bases (haha) covered.
You need pressed powder in your shade to set your base. Blush, if you use it — I prefer to use cheek tint myself these days, then I dust bronzer on top for a more neutral, sun-kissed look. (That said, a bronzer is really helpful, too!) I swear by the power of highlighter, so highlighter in a champagne shade is certainly a must. And if you can find a good one, a contouring powder for those occasions that require contouring.
For the eyes, you should have brown and black eyeliner pencils. Brown for when you want a more natural look, or a daytime look. Black for night time, or when you want to do winged liner. You can also opt to throw in a pencil eyeliner in a jewel tone like sapphire, emerald, or amethyst, if you want to play around with color. The only eyeshadow I use all the time is an extremely versatile neutral palette — Urban Decay’s Naked 1 — which can easily take one from day to night. (You can create so many looks with these shades!) The Shu Uemura lash curler is a staple, plus a tube of volumizing mascara. Make sure you have your brow definer of choice, be it a pencil-type, pen-type, mascara/gel-type, or powder, because brows are everything.
As for lipstick, because I’m a lipstick junkie, I keep a generous selection of favorites with me: a couple of reds (one dark one, one brighter one), a couple of nudes (something light-ish and fawny, and something a little warmer with a pinkish-mocha tint to it — a your-lips-but-better natural-looking shade), and a few very bold shades, like a deep violet, a bright violet, a deep pink, and a red-orange, depending on my mood. Plus, of course, a lip-and-cheek tint, and some colorless balm.
All my other makeup could burn in a fire, and I wouldn’t care as long as I had these.
If you want to pare it down to a kit small enough to put in your purse, just pop the liners, mascara, concealer, brow pencil, tint, pressed powder, and one or two lipsticks in a small pouch. You’re going to do everything else at home anyway, and these are all you’ll need for any touch-ups (and odds are good that you’ll only need to touch up your lipstick — my Girl Scout tendencies just make me always need to be prepared for anything).
Happy shopping!
REGINA
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Send e-mail to Lucy Torres-Gomez at ltg@pldtdsl.com. E-mail Rissa Trillo at stylesos_rissa@yahoo.com. or follow her on Twitter @RissaMananquil. Send Regina Belmonte your questions at vivatregina.tumblr@gmail.com or tweet her @vivatregina.
