Most women regret going under the knife

A new research suggests that two thirds of Brits who've had cosmetic surgery regret the procedure, with the majority complaining they didn't look how they imagined after the op.

The poll of 2,638 people, by a firm of medical negligence solicitors, found that 83 percent of people who've had plastic surgery would never consider having a cosmetic procedure again, the Daily Starreported.

The research by medicalaccidentgroup.co.uk was conducted as part of an ongoing study into how Brits feel about any cosmetic surgery that they've had.

The respondents aged 18 and over and from around the UK had all had cosmetic surgery in the last five years.

They were quizzed about the procedures they'd had and how they felt about the results.

For 33 percent, the results of the procedure didn't match the image they had in their heads before going into surgery.

Nearly a quarter (24 percent) encountered complications during or after the op and 17 percent felt the side effects weren't fully explained.

For 13 percent, having surgery failed to increase their self-confidence, and in fact, made them feel less comfortable than before the surgery.

Sadly eight percent regret spending the money and are now in debt as a result of paying for a nip and tuck.

The most common surgeries among the survey group were breast augmentations (31 percent) and nose jobs (27 percent). Liposuction came a close third at 24 percent, while 16 percent had eyelid surgery.

Asked how they felt following surgery, two thirds (65 percent) said they "regret having cosmetic surgery" although 28 percent said they "couldn't be happier with the results".

12 makeup tips that nobody told you about ! PART 2

Colourful outfits teamed up with light and simple make-up makes for a perfect spring look. Follow an easy do-it-yourself routine to put your best foot forward, suggests an expert.

Here's a tutorial from Navyata Malkani of Fashion on my Own (FOMO) for a spring-summer make-up:

1. Start off by washing your face with a gentle face wash and dabbing it dry.

2. Next, apply some face primer all over your face which will help your make up stay for long in the warm spring-summer days.

 

3. Next, apply a liquid foundation that matches your skin tone under your eyes, cheeks, chin, moving towards your temples to create the base for your make-up.

4. Follow this up with a concealer matching your skin tone under your eyes to hide any dark circles and blemishes.

5. Dab some pressed powder all over your face evenly to set your make-up.

6. Pick a lasting, non-smudge black liquid eyeliner and apply it on the border of eyelids in a cat eye shape.

7. Next, to make your lashes look fuller, apply two to three coats of mascara on your top lash line.

8. To add some fun and colour and keep up with the spring-summer look, apply a bluish green eye shadow on your waterline.

9. To give the eyes a finishing look, carefully apply some mascara on your bottom lashes.

10. Moving to the cheeks, apply some bronzer on the hollows of your cheeks, temples and your jaw line.

11. For a fresh look, apply a pink blush on your cheeks.

 

12. Finish off the look with a pretty shade of pink on the lips and you are ready to go out and enjoy the spring, while you look and feel gorgeous!

Makeup Minimalism: Achieving the natural beauty look

Mastering the natural beauty look is about using makeup strategically so that your natural skin and best features come forward!

Some of today’s most gorgeous celebrities are frequently caught on camera with little or no makeup…and they don’t care! These “barefaced beauties” have decided to emphasize clean, fresh skin and have adopted a natural beauty approach when it comes to cosmetics. It’s no coincidence that runway models for the last few years are appearing deliberately barefaced—it’s s trend that’s here to stay! The latest looks show models with beautifully enhanced brows and an ethereal glow, but they are certainly anything but plain. Ladies, wouldn’t we all love to capture that beauty that doesn’t seem to come from a bottle?

For us non-celeb women, the prospect of going makeup free might seem scary. At first, the thought of it made me a little uneasy too! We’ve learned to cover up our flaws with carefully applied foundation and concealer. We play up our facial assets with artful blush, eyeliner and lip color. It looks pretty good so why rock the boat?

Natural beauty is not about boycotting makeup; it’s more about letting our natural healthy skin and features take center stage. The art of this look is in understanding light and shadow, matte and shine, texture and smoothness and how all of these opposites can be used effectively instead of relying on heavy cosmetics or loud colors.

 

If you want to go for a natural beauty look, start by taking a good look at yourself. Look at your bare face in the mirror and take careful stock of your most important features. Whether you love your features or not, think about the final look you want to achieve. Natural beauty techniques still highlight the areas you like; they tone down the problem areas while still allowing your natural complexion to shine through.

Here are some ways you can adjust to a new, luminous natural look:

Cleanse, exfoliate and hydrate

Bright, clean skin is vital before applying any kind of makeup and with a minimalist approach—it’s literally part of the look! So stick to your twice daily cleansing ritual. Washthoroughly with a facial cleanser meant for your skin type and warm water; pat your face dry with a clean towel; then apply a moisturizer formulated for your skin type to face and eye area. Lastly, don’t forget sunscreen! I’ve told you many times how important it is to defend your skin from the sun. While we are on the topic of skin care routine, consider using an exfoliator twice a week.

 

Go light with coverage

Use sheer coverage as opposed to heavy foundation. Skip your opaque coverage and opt for sheer instead. Applying an all-over primer will help smooth the skin and fill in fine lines. It also allows a sheer foundation to glide on more easily and stay in place longer. For a super sheer look, turn to a tinted moisturizer and skip foundation altogether. These days, with BB creams and CC creams, the options seem endless when it comes to non-foundation options. Use your fingertips to apply tinted moisturizer, and apply evenly in small areas starting with the center of the face and working your way to the edges.  If want to stick to solid or liquid foundation, apply it with a brush, stroking from the center of the face outwards, and blending well. This will create more of a natural look versus using a sponge.

Bronzer and Blush

Use a bronzer and/or blush to emphasize features. Liquid, stick or pressed powder bronzers supply a warm sun-kissed tone to skin. You’ll look like you just got a tan without having to step foot in the sunshine! Apply bronzer lightly to the areas that are most frequently in the sun’s glow, such as the bridge of the nose, cheeks and forehead. Bronzer can replace a blush, or you can apply a very fine layer of brush over the bronzer. The most important thing to remember with bronzers is that less is more. If you use too much and your face may appear dirty.

 

Illuminator

Illuminators contain reflective ingredients such as mica or other minerals that catch the light. When applied to your face, an illuminator brings a lovely luminosity to eyes, brows, cheekbones and jawline without any extra color. Apply illuminator with a large Kabuki or stippling brush; start with a very small amount and increase as needed. Again, with advancements in cosmetics, you can find a tinted moisturizer with illuminator to get a dewy look.

Concealer

Hooray—you still get to make the unflattering stuff disappear! Just make sure your concealer matches your skin color. The cosmetic market is filled with options based on your overall color and undertones. You may need a lighter shade for underneath the eyes or use a concealer with blue undertones. A concealer with a greenish tint will help mask redness—perfect for surprise blemishes! Use a concealer brush with firm bristles, dab concealer on blemishes, brown spots and red areas then gently blend and feather out to achieve the natural look. If you’re good with makeup, some people find fingertips work as well as a concealer brush. Just make sure your tools—brush or fingers—are clean before you apply.

Eye makeup

Use eyeliner and mascara lightly. Bold liquid eyeliner does not belong in the natural beauty regimen. Instead, use an eye pencil in a velvety brown and do what is called tightlining: apply your line directly in between your eyelashes and on the underside edge. Get right in there and fill in the spaces between lashes with tiny dots. Then, using a brush to gently lift your lid, draw the pencil across the underside edge. Remember my favorite tip: curl your lashes with an eyelash curler then apply gel mascara.

Eyebrows

Pay careful attention to eyebrows. Ah, your eyebrows will be the talk of the town with just a few simple techniques. First, get them in great shape and clean up stray hairs. Then using a soft eyebrow powder and small brush, carefully fill in the bare spots with subtle color that matches the color of your natural brows. Finish with a brush-on gel to keep your brows perfect all day long.

Lips

There a couple of different ways you can go here. Use a neutral or sheer gloss and skip the lip liner. Or, here’s a neat trick from the makeup artists: apply lipstick that is a few shades darker than your natural lip shade. Wait a few minutes then wipe it off. Yes, wipe it all off! It leaves a bit of stain behind that really looks like your bare lips, only better.

Setting powder

Setting powder is an optional step, but translucent powder really does help keep your face in place and minimizes unwanted shine. Use a large Kabuki brush and apply powder sparingly, pressing lightly to fuse it to your skin.

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If you’re like me, you love the healthy glow that comes from living well and being happy! Natural-looking makeup is a great way to take it just a little bit further. Tell us about your own barefaced beauty techniques in the comments below!

Written by beauty expert, Jacquie Carter. Jacquie is Director of Outer Nutrition at Herbalife.

Makeup how-to: The 5 best ways to use concealer

The right concealer is a huge asset for brightening tired looking eyes, evening out skin tone and hiding flaws. Learn how to use concealer for beautiful results!

We use cosmetics to play up our best features and diminish the not-so-great ones. Concealers help with both issues; many of us rely on a good concealer for dark circles under the eyes, uneven skin tone and of course to cover up blemishes of all kinds! Concealers are used by great makeup artists to create the look of near-perfect skin! That’s something we all want, right?

Used properly, a good concealer provides coverage that is both complete and natural. But admit it, we’ve all stared at those made-up faces with strange pale circles in all the wrong places. You may have seen your own concealer become pasty-looking and cracked, not doing a thing to glam up your eyes! Using concealer takes a bit of finesse and practice, but when done correctly, can do wonders for your look. You should also take some time to get the right shade and consistency for your skin.

Here are 5 things to do that will help you get the most from this beauty essential:

1. Select the best concealer type for your skin

The good news is that we have so many excellent concealers to choose from; but the variety makes it hard to decide. Liquid concealers will smooth on easily and blend well; they are ideal for dry skin and in the eye area, since they don’t cake and provide a slightly shinier finish. Cream and solid concealers tend to have more opacity and staying power. They are great for balancing uneven skin tone but may take a bit more practice to blend in just right. Tip: Mix a little of your liquid foundation in with your concealer to get a better match.

2. Get the right color

You are looking for two things here: color and shade. The color should resemble your skin tone, whether it’s rosy, ivory, golden or sallow. Use a matched concealer for blemishes and freckles. Then for under-the-eye coverage, you need to take that skin color and go lighter by about one shade. Why? You want a very slight “lift” from your concealer that reflects light. You’ll notice these days that there are green tinted concealers available. Concealers with a green tint are said to help mask spots of redness. With so many choices out there, I strongly recommend going into your trusted cosmetics store and doing this in person. Once you find the best product you can reorder it online, but it’s hard to get the right concealer without actually seeing it on your face. Here’s an added tip: If you are looking at solid concealer, consider a duo or trio combination. Then you can mix and blend for greater flexibility.

 

3. Know when to apply concealer

The hotly debated question in makeup circles is whether to apply concealer before or after your foundation. I will say that there are great arguments for both. Apply your concealer before foundation if you use foundation only in select areas of your face. Some days you may even go with just the concealer and skip the foundation altogether! For more targeted (and intense) spot coverage you may want to apply foundation first and concealer last so that it stays where you apply it. You just need to take extra care that it is well blended with the rest of your makeup.

4. Learn the best way to apply concealer

Concealer, like foundation, benefits from a practiced technique of patting and blending. Ideally you should have a few tools to help: a concealer brush, clean makeup sponges and a well-lit mirror. For eyes: Dab concealer along the edge of your under-eye crescent, starting at the bridge of nose and dotting a line about 2/3 of the way to the outer edge of the eye. Using a concealer brush or small corner of a makeup sponge, lightly pat and blend the product. Keep the layer very thin and let dry, then apply another layer if necessary. Gradual layers of concealer create a more natural look for the final result.

 

5. Try concealer as a highlighting tool

The funny thing about concealers is that they can minimize and maximize at the same time! What I mean is that if you take advantage of concealer’s light-reflecting properties you can add a really wonderful brightness, especially around the eyes, that will actually make you look wide awake and full of energy (even if you aren’t).

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Concealer truly is an amazing product. As a camouflage and blending tool it is about as close to airbrushing as we’re going to get in our real-life appearance. The more care and time you put into understanding how concealer works and which products suit your skin’s particular needs, the more dramatic improvement you will see—under your eyes, around your nose, all over