How to Give Yourself a Professional Pedicure

Give Yourself a Pedicure Step #3 - - Soak Your Feet

Fill a large flat-bottom bowl with warm water. Throw in bath salts, your favorite aromatherapy oils or Epsom salt & let your feet soak 10 minutes. The more cracked & calloused your feet, the longer they need to stay in.

Trick only the pros know: Add a quarter cup of milk to your bath along with the essential oils & salts. The lactic acid in the milk loosens dead skin.

How to Give Yourself a Professional Pedicure

Give Yourself a Pedicure Step #2 - - Cut & File Nails

It's best to use high quality clippers made for clipping toenails such as Tweezerman Deluxe ($10). To avoid ingrown nails, cut nail straight across to just above the skin. Make sure your nail doesn't extend over the tip of your toe.

To get a soft square shape, file nails in one direction until they are even & slightly rounded at the corners. (Hint: Don't use metal files, they'll rip your nails). Basic emory boards like the ones from Revlon work great, but if you want to go truly pro, try the Mehaz ingrown toenail file which allows you to easily lift nail corners for shaping. Don't clip the sides of nails, that can cause ingrowns.

Emory board tip: The fine-grade surface is for smoothing the nail edge, while the coarser surface is for shortening & shaping nails.

How to Give Yourself a Professional Pedicure

Give Yourself a Pedicure Step #1: Remove polish from nails

Miss Webril cotton band

Giving yourself a professional pedicure is an 8-step process. The first step is to remove the old polish from your nails.

Instead of cotton balls (which will leave fuzzies), we suggest using a lint-free cotton pad, such as Miss Webril ($5.60 per box; 800-545-2506) or our favorite, Lippmann Collection The Stripper To Go .

Saturate the cotton pad with acetone remover & rub off the old polish. If the color isn't coming off easily, press the saturated cotton on the nail & let it soak in first. A tip for removing stains from nails: try rubbing whitening toothpaste on your nails. You can also rub a drop of lemon or lavender oil on each toe & rub a buffer back & forth over the nail. This will remove the yellowed outer layer.

Tip for picking the perfect polish remover: Alcohol- and acetone-free removers are less drying, but don't work as well, especially on dark shades. Use the 'free' stuff on lighter shades

Facial Hair Removal

Facial Hair Removal

When we meet a person, the first thing that we notice is his/her face, including eyes, nose, lips and even skin. This is the main reason why people always want to have clean and spotlessly clean skin. Apart from pimples, acne, blackheads, whiteheads and so on, women have to face an additional problem, as compared to men as far as facial attractiveness is concerned. This problem comprises of facial hair. While for men, facial hair make up one of the features of their masculinity, for a woman, they form a major source of embarrassment. If you are a woman and suffer from the problem of facial hair, help is at hand now. Read on and explore the various options for facial hair removal.

How to Get Rid of Facial Hair

Home Remedies

Nothing beats natural cures and treatments as far as taking care of the skin is concerned. Though they take some time in showing effect,

• Make a paste of sugar, lemon and water. With the help of a face brush, apply it in the direction of hair growth. Leave on for 10-15 minutes and then rinse off. Apply twice a week.
• Make a paste of 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice and 4 tsp honey. Using a face brush, apply it on your face, in the direction of hair growth. Leave on for 10-15 minutes and then rinse off. Apply twice a week.
• Take milk and put some turmeric powder in it. Apply it on your face and leave for a few minutes. Using circular motion of your fingers, start scrubbing it off. Finally, wash off with cold water.
• Mix 1 egg white with 1 tsp sugar and ½ tsp corn flour. Blend the mixture thoroughly, till it forms a sticky paste. Apply it on your face and let it dry. Thereafter, peel it off gently. Apply 3-4 times a week.
• Add some turmeric powder to besan (gram flour). Mix in a little water to form a paste. Apply it on your face and leave it on till it gets dry. Gently rub it off your face.
• Make a paste of curd, turmeric powder and gram flour. Apply it on your face and let it dry. Thereafter, rub it off gently.

Tweezing and Threading

Apart from home remedies, there are a number of other treatments for facial hair removal as well. Amongst them is tweezing and threading. Though both the methods are temporary, they are also amongst the safest ones. For making the removal process easier, place a warm damp cloth over the face for 5-10 minutes before plucking or threading. Otherwise, you can also try plucking or threading immediately after coming out of shower.

Electrolysis

One of the latest methods of facial hair removal is electrolysis. It makes use of electric current to get rid of the hair on your face. Since electrolysis destroys the hair follicle itself, it is considered as a form of permanent hair removal. However, the treatment is lengthy as well as costly. Another disadvantage is that there is always the risk of getting electric shock, infection from a non-sterile needle and even scarring by improper technique.

Laser Hair Removal
Another one of the permanent hair removal techniques comprises of laser hair removal. Just like electrolysis, it also destroys the hair follicle and leads to permanent removal of hair. The problem with laser hair removal is that it takes a considerable amount of time and is expensive. At the same time, it can lead to discoloration of skin (either darkening or lightening of skin), inflammation, swelling, or even infected hair follicles.

What to Expect at Your First Bikini Wax

So it’s your first bikini wax? Wonderful, you will be able to experience being hair free in your bikini line for weeks at a time. Don’t be nervous, this is a very requested service that many women and men are getting.

Although every salon or spa and technician has their own style of doing things, we’ll walk you through what you can expect at a regular bikini wax.

• Are you a candidate? If you have never visited the salon or spa for any type of waxing you should be asked to fill out a questionnaire to make sure you don’t have any circumstances or conditions that would not make you a candidate for waxing.
  
  
• Get started. You will be lead to a private room and asked to remove your pants and possibly your underwear. Some salons will give you disposable panties while others will work on your bikini area with the panties you’re already wearing. The technician will leave the room to let you get ready and lie on a facial bed.
  
  
• The consult. Once the technician returns, they will ask you how much hair you want removed. Some people prefer just a clean up (the hair outside the panty line) while others like the line to go a bit deeper, and some hair off the top of the ‘triangle’ also removed. They may ask you what type of bikini wax you would like when you make your appointment, so they know how much time to book.
  
  Make sure you have communicated with the technician and they know exactly how much hair you want left and removed. Be aware the price will go up as more hair is removed at most salons.

How Should a Brazilian or Bikini Wax Look Like?

Question: How Should a Brazilian or Bikini Wax Look Like?

Answer: Well, this will differ from person to person. It will depend on your skin and hair type, but especially how well your Esthetician performs the service.

So first and foremost let's start with safety. Please make sure you are getting services from a licensed professional. Ask to see their license and training certificates.

Also, please be aware that there should be a clean and sanitary environment to be waxed in, whether you're getting a quick eyebrow or full bikini wax (read warning signs to look for). Safety is the most important thing. If the Esthetician, or Skin Care Therapist, is well versed in health and safety, you will have a much better waxing experience.

It is always important to ask questions and your Esthetician should never get upset or question why you are asking. Remember, your health and safety should always come first.

How To Guide: Waxing Bikini Area

Did waxing your bikini area end up in a mess? We're here to give you the secret- Hard wax! It's specifically made for coarse hair, doesn't require a strip, and actually 'shrink wraps' the hair making them easier to come out.

These instructions are to do a regular bikini wax at home, removing the hair outside your panty line. Unless you are a gymnast, I don’t think you can do a Brazilian bikini wax on yourself. Leave that one to the pros.

Difficulty: Average

Time Required: 1 hour or more for waxing bikini area

Here's How:

1. Buy waxing kit. I recommend using hard wax for bikini area because the hair is coarse. Hard wax (compare prices) goes on smooth, but hardens so that it doesn’t require a strip to be removed. The following directions are for the use of hard wax.

2. Have enough hair. Grow bikini hair out to at least 1/4" long. Use hair clippers to trim hair down if longer than 1/2". Scissors don't work well for trimming because you run the risk of making some hair too short.
   
   
3. Cleanse skin. Use pre-wax cleanser on bikini area and apply pre-epilation oil which works with hard wax. Don’t over do it on the oil, more isn’t better.

4. Apply wax. Using an applicator, apply wax evenly FIRST the opposite direction of hair growth, and then WITH the direction of hair growth to a large area (about 4 ½” long and 2 ½” wide)in the same stroke. Don’t stop at the edge of where the hair grows, go passed that point. You will use the part of the wax that isn’t attached to hair as a tab to remove it. The wax will dull as it hardens, and will not be tacky. If the wax isn’t hard enough when removed, it won’t take away all of the hair.

5. Remove hair. Lightly flick up a small part of the wax that isn’t attached to hair on the end to be used as a tab once cooled. Say hair grows from left to right- the end is on the right side. Hold skin taut with one hand, and remove wax in opposite direction of hair growth in one quick pull, all the way to the other side. Don't pull up, which might be your natural inclination. Press hand down on skin to help relieve some of the pain, after wax is removed. (Sounds silly, but it works!)

6. Repeat. Work your way waxing bikini area, repeating steps 4 and 5.
7. Get missed hairs. Use tweezers to remove any hairs missed by the wax.
8. Clean skin. Remove any remaining residue, with wax remover.
9. Soothe skin. Apply after-wax lotion, or an aloe based lotion or gel.
10. After care. The bikini area has a tendency for ingrown hairs. Two days after wax, lightly exfoliate area to try to avoid ingrown hairs and try Flawless Ingrown Hair Serum (read review) if you do end up getting any.

Tips:

1. Waxing can cause red bumps, ingrown hairs and bruising. Read more about how to prevent and stay clear of waxing side effects.
2. Practice using the wax on a small part of your body, like your arm so you get the feel of it. Always test small amount of wax on hand before putting on bikini zone, to make sure it’s warm, not hot.
3. There are some circumstances in which you shouldn’t wax. Read: Waxing Precautions & Warnings for the full list.
4. Take an asprin or ibuprofen 30 - 45 minutes before waxing, and apply a numbing spray (compare prices) if you're concerned about the 'ouch factor'. Read: Top Ten Tips to Reduce Waxing Pain for the full run-down.
5. A couple weeks before waxing your bikini area, shave exactly what hair you want removed and make the bikini lines even on both sides. Once it grows back it will make waxing the area you need to remove hair easier to follow.

What You Need:

• Wax warmer
• Hard wax
• Pre-wax cleanser
• Pre-epilation oil
• Square-edge applicators which makes getting a straight line easier
• Wax remover for the skin (or you can use baby oil or petroleum jelly)
• After- wax lotion, or aloe based gel.