Permanently Beautiful

It’s hard to believe but the ’80s are back! Big hair, football-size shoulder pads, kohl-lined eyes and ruby red lips. In the 1980s women came into their own in the workplace. Clothing fashions, hair styles and makeup reflected women’s new-found power on the job and served to augment her presence in heretofore male-dominated board rooms. Fashions were forceful and imposing and makeup had to be bold and colorful to stand out. In the 1980s women wore more makeup and eye makeup and lip colors were darker and more noticeable than they had been before. It was a look that commanded attention.

Research has shown that every 30 years fashion styles repeat themselves but with a new twist on the original. Today’s makeup styles give the brassy, look at me ’80s a  softer, more sensual appearance that exudes self-confidence and says we’ve arrived and we’re here to stay! The dark kohl-lined Goth eyes of the 1980s have been softened into far more sensuous smoky eyes. Lips are still red; but instead of the bold, brassy reds of the ’80s, lip colors are softer, warmer, earthier reds. It’s the lip liner not the bright color that calls attention to the lips today; but instead of matching liner and lipstick colors, liners are going more brown this season. And put the lip gloss away during the day. Matte-finish lip stick says I’m in charge at the office.

Permanent makeup can give you the perfectly applied lip liner that is the base for today’s powerful, sensuous red lips.

When you’re standing in the checkout line at the grocery, who doesn’t love to sneak a peek at the less than glamorous pics of Hollywood’s elite on the pages of Star or the Globe? It’s fun to catch the rich and famous with their hair down and their makeup off; kind of levels the field. One celeb the paparazzi will never catch in a less than photog-ready moment is singer-songwriter and business mogul Dolly Parton. Despite the admonishments of cosmeticians to strip off your makeup at night to give your pores a rest, the Nashville legend with the giggly laugh goes to bed with her makeup intact, particularly when she’s visiting LA or NYC where her Tony Award-nominated Broadway show 9 to 5: The Musical will close on Labor Day.

Dolly isn’t about to let the paparazzi catch her in a Nick Nolte moment. “I think I’m not going to wash my face until morning, and then I’ll clean it off and I’ll put it on in case I have to get up in the middle of the night,” she told CNN. “If I go out in public, people expect me to look a certain way. And if you say, ‘There’s Dolly’ … you expect to see them in the way that … you know them.”

What Dolly needs is permanent makeup. With natural-looking permanent eyeliner and permanent lip color, you look picture perfect day and night.

Let’s face it. Face, hair or figure, certain female physical traits have been considered as classic beauty by our culture for centuries.  Tastes change and politics change. But some things remain the same.

Take hair. We’ve had feminists, mullets and mohawks. Yet most people – male and female – still consider long flowing tresses to be a key part of feminine allure.  Venus on that half shell and Mona Lisa both have long locks just like Brigitte Bardot and Beyonce.

Scientists who have studied trait preferences will tell you it’s because long hair symbolizes youth and vitality. Males are programmed to be attracted to ladies with long hair, large eyes, rosy lips and symmetrical figures.

Scientists will further tell you that all of this is because the attracting traits that signify a young female indicate fertility. It’s those genes talking. But the funny thing is even if a guy doesn’t want any heirs, he’s still attracted to long hair and all the rest.

So why not just follow the rules of attraction?  To turn heads, simply let your hair down and augment your lips, eyes and eyebrows with permanent makeup.

Today’s magnificent lip colors will make your lips look beautiful, soft and natural, just as if you were born that way. No need for that painted lipstick look although you can always put lipstick on over permanent color when you want extra drama. Add some permanent eyeliner and brows, and you’re putting you’re best face forward.  Fluff your hair to its fullest potential. And voila, you’re a classic beauty.

When you’re traveling, it doesn’t make sense to pack your whole makeup bag. Here’s how the experts travel light.

When it comes to packing up a beauty bag for a few days or a week away, no one does it better than a makeup artist. These experts are always on the go and can be found on desert islands with just a tube of gloss and still manage to make someone look gorgeous. How do they do it?  Basics, say the experts at MAC. You’ll need a few basics such as mascara, lip gloss and a base for the skin, then everything else should be dual-purpose.

A good moisturizer is essential, so choose one that you can wear a little or a lot of depending on what your skin needs at any given time. You can also mix moisturizer with your usual foundation or concealer to create a lightweight base that’s more comfortable and beats the parched, dry air of an airplane. For lips, mix lip balm with lip color to create a variety of textures from ultra sheer for day to more intense for the evening.

Waterproof mascara is another favorite. It’s perfect in all climates. Also creamy blushers to give skin a beautiful radiance.

Also make sure to schedule an appointment with an experienced permanent makeup professional several weeks before your departure date.  That’s the best way to lighten your travel makeup bag and still look fabulous 24/7 on your vacation getaway.

Here’s a list of people I never want to see in a wedding flick again: Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez, Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey, Cameron Diaz – and Anne Hathaway’s getting close.

But we’re halfway through June, so we can safely assume Hollywood has no more wedding movies up its digital sleeve. However, out here in the real world there are still plenty of June weddings to go.

If one of them is yours, congratulations. Now do yourself a favor and get some permanent makeup. You’ll be stressed out enough. Do you really need to worry about eye makeup and lipstick? With permanent makeup, that’s all taken care of.

Here are several more reasons why it’s a great idea to face your wedding day with a face made gorgeous with permanent makeup:

No makeup to drip black rivulets onto your white gown if you get teary-eyed at the altar.

Wedding photos

Wedding night. I repeat, wedding night.

Honeymoon – especially if the honeymoon involves snorkeling or otherwise plunging into large quantities of water, salty or chlorinated.

On that special wedding day, every bride wants to look her very best and be at her most beautiful, but presenting your best face can be a little daunting.  How do you make sure your wedding makeup stays on all day, looking flawless in your wedding photos, and manage to make you feel like a model, but still look like you?

Easy. Permanent makeup. Trust me, later when you’re putting together your wedding and honeymoon scrapbook and pleased with how terrific you look in all the photos, you’ll be very glad you did.<-->

What do Ann Kournikova, Mia Hamm, Steffi Graff, Amanda Beard and Sasha Cohen have in common?  They’re all celebrity athletes – and they’re all gorgeous.

How do they look so good when they’re swinging a tennis racket, kicking a soccer ball, swimming laps or doing figure eights?

For one thing, their sports keep their shapes in good shape. But they’re making other smart choices, too.

Consider athletic hairstyles. Athletic hairstyles are typically hairstyles that allow the hair to be kept out of the face of the athlete, while still maintaining some style. Athletic hairstyles can be long, medium, or short to extremely short.

The most common athletic hairstyles worn by female athletes are typically ponytails and other pulled back styles. These styles are easy to maintain and can be dressed up almost instantly for going from the gym to the dinner table with a quick shower between.

Another common athletic hairstyle is the bob, since it is easy to pull back in a hair band or other restraint. This style is quick and easy to change and care for. The bob, a classic, is considered one of the most versatile hairstyles ever. It can be dressed down by leaving it plain, made athletic with a headband or dressed up by adding a jeweled bobby-pin.

Hair that is too short to swing into the face is also popular with female athletes. These hairstyles allow for some hair, but not so much that it gets in the way. Often, when off the field, the hair is spiked or slicked back to provide a more hip look.

Permanent makeup can also be part of a female athlete’s bag of tricks. They can always look gorgeous when the cameras close in. And with permanent makeup they have no worries about makeup running from sweat and chlorine which not only looks icky, but can interfere with their vision and cost them a win.

Smoother clearer skin may be high on every woman’s beauty wish list. But finding the time to see a dermatologist is often low on her to-do list, especially given the expense. Fortunately, better skin has become easier to achieve at home. A number of new do-it-yourself products (some formulated by top doctors) – from microdermabrasion treatments to chemical peels to skin lighteners – have hit drugstore shelves and department-store counters.

Before trying any, it’s important to learn how these treatments work, how they benefit your skin, and how they might save you a buck or two and time in the waiting room. Consider it a beauty wish come true.
Microdermabrasion can help treat acne, clogged pores, surface dryness and uneven skin tone.

Many companies now offer powerful exfoliating scrubs, creams and gadgets that work like pricier in-office treatments.

Weekly at-home microdermabrasion treatments don’t go as deep as the doctor can but still offer noticeable results.

Chemical peels are good for oily skin, hyperpigmentation, and fine lines.

At-home chemical peel solutions are much milder, typically containing only 10 percent hydroxy acids compared to 70 percent in the strongest doctor’s solution. But when used on a regular basis to exfoliate, the results will be clearly visible. Pores will look a little tighter and skin will glow.

Saving by using at-home versions of these treatments means you can definitely afford to try permanent make-up. Unlike facials, peels and other beauty treatments, permanent make-up gives instantly dramatic long-lasting results but can’t be done at home – always go to a trained professional.

If you haven’t used a product or a tool in a month, toss it, says celebrity makeup artist Mally Roncal.  Ditto for multiples of similar colors. Instead of carrying around two, three or 10 pink glosses, keep only the one you reach for most.

There are no expiration dates on makeup, but experts advise to estimate the age of a product from the date it was opened. Toss any makeup that has developed a funny smell, because that indicates bacteria, dermatologists say.

Bacteria can set in as makeup deteriorates and cause an infection. If the bacteria enters the eye, conjunctivitis, also known as pink-eye can develop.

While throwing out unused makeup may seem wasteful, ending up in the doctor’s office with an infection can be very time consuming and possibly painful. Yet a survey by the American College of Optometrists found that two-thirds of all women used eye makeup that was more than two years old.

If you want to make a fresh start, experts recommend packing these essentials:  a double-duty cheek and lip stain, black eyeliner to transition from day to night, mascara, concealer and an eyelash curler.

You can really de-clutter your make-up bag by getting yourself inked with permanent make-up.  No more need to carry around eye-liner, brow pencil, lip liner pencil and lip gloss. Talk about lightening up.  And you’ll no longer have to possibly risk car accidents by swiveling car side mirrors and rearview mirrors to the angle you need to reapply your make-up. With permanent make-up you’re always good to go.

In the 1950s and 1960s, tattoos signified rebellion against middle-class conformity, according to historian Jonathan Zimmerman. They were associated them with street gangs, motorcycle clubs, ex-cons and drunks. In 1959, the National Education Association advised schools that “potential juvenile delinquents” could be identified as “those with male kin who are tattooed.”

And it was mostly males who got inked, not females. In a culture of straight-laced Organization Men, tattoos came to embody a kind of rough-hewn, frontier-style masculinity. That’s why Philip Morris USA Inc. decided to adorn its Marlboro Man - the epitome of 1950s machismo - with a small piece of body art on his hand. “We wished to show a man who, during some moment - some loose moment - got himself tattooed,” an advertising executive explained.

Fast-forward to earlier this year, when toymaker Mattel Inc. released its Totally Stylin’ Tattoos Barbie doll. It comes with a set of tattoo stickers that can be placed anywhere on her body, plus a tattoo gun that allows children to ink the doll - or themselves.

That tells you all you need to know about the changed cultural meaning of the American tattoo. It has become just as common among women as among men. Most of all, it has gone 100 percent mainstream. If even Barbie is getting inked, and it’s totally stylin’, we can be sure that there’s nothing remotely rebellious about it.

That could be the best news of all, if you’re still debating about yourself and tattoos. If you get inked, you won’t be defying social propriety. As tattoos become more accepted, indeed, it will be unusual to find someone who doesn’t have one.

That’s why the heavily tattooed ex-rocker and reality-show star Ozzy Osbourne warned his own daughter against body ink. “To be unique, don’t get a tattoo,” Osbourne urged. “Because everybody else has got tattoos.” Of course, his daughter got one anyway.

A subtle and gorgeous way to get inked is with permanent make-up. You can flaunt it or keep it hushed as your beauty secret.

Summer’s just around the corner. And along with summer fun comes the heat and humidity that can wreak havoc with your hair. Here are a few great summer hair care ideas we culled from places like InStyle:

Frizz-Free Curls

 If you’re lucky enough to have natural curls like Beyonce, flaunt them. Avoid frizz by simply adding an anti-frizz serum to your morning hair routine. Then gently scrunches the hair while blow drying on low with a diffuser. Don’t comb it out! Let it be natural and sexy. 

Long-Lasting Braids

 Drew Barrymore and Charlize Theron recently joined the long list of stars sporting braids this season. Braids look cute straight down or pinned up. No matter how you wear them, braids will hold better and longer if you start out with wet hair, use a stronger gel than normal and spray with a little hair spray.

Straight Hair

 Celebrity hairstylists say the key to straight hair in the summer is a ceramic wet-to-dry flat iron. First, apply a protecting spray to damp hair and then use the iron. The iron helps lock in moisture and fight flyaways. Bonus tip: After using the iron, apply the spray again on dry hair to help protect against the sun’s UV rays.

 Summer beauty is no sweat with permanent make-up. It won’t melt away in the heat, dissolve into your sunscreen or disappear in the water.  With luscious lips, gorgeous eyebrows and defined eyes, you’ll be totally hot but in a good way.