Pretty Obsessed

I was at the grocery store today browsing the magazines and along came a copy cat girl who seemed to be doing the same thing. We exchanged glances, then smiles… and we both looked the other up and down in approval. Friendly? Check. Cute Outfits? Check. Good taste in magazine? Check.

But then I noticed her back…acne…bacne and I thought to myself, “Not so cute anymore…” Many girls are guilty of this yucky phenomenon. While in the shower they pay attention only to the front part of their bodies and for some odd reason ignore the parts that can’t be seen by their own eye. This of course includes the back of their arms, back and butt. All of which are super sexy to our less intelligent halves…men. Men watch you as you come and  they watch as you go. Might not be the best reason to pay more attention to the flip-side… but it’s a reason nevertheless.

So here we go, if you want to get rid of bacne you must wash and exfoliate the areas regularly and especially after any activity that can cause excessive sweating. Exfoliating your skin with a product that has salicylic acid and exfoliating beads will get rid of any dead skin cells  while treating the acne itself. My favorite is Neutrogena’s Body Scrub…I use it all over my body.

Lastly, to prevent dry skin, be sure to moisturize your skin after towel drying your body.

And that my friend is how you bring your sexy back.

Crusty elbow and knees skin is generally caused by a built up of dead skin cells. People tend to pay less attention to these areas, but with a little tender, love and care they will be as beautiful and soft as the rest of your body. When dry, elbow and knee skin will feel rough and calloused.

The solution?

Cut a lemon in half and take it into the shower with you. You first want to take some time to exfoliate your elbows and knees (sugar scrubs, apricot scrub, really any scrub will work fine), using circular motions until the skin softens. Next, you take half of the lemon and rub it around the elbows allowing the juice to sink in, do the same with the other half of the lemon. Do this to your knees as well.

“I know it sounds a bit weird but…” What follows is usually a strange piece of advice – anything from how to dry a zit overnight to getting rid of a hangover – that totally does the trick! It’s word of mouth beauty, little tidbits we pick up here and there, or by accident in desperate situations. One real gem I wish more of my lady friends would use is the powder in your roots trick. Leaving your hair unwashed long enough for it to look oily is gross, but knowingly walking around with an oily scalp and letting people know you skipped the shower is even worse. Maybe you have a good reason for not washing your hair, who am I to judge your nastiness? Maybe you’re trying to extend the life of a blow-dry. Or maybe you don’t have time to wash and dry your hair that particular day. Or maybe it’s against your beliefs to be clean, I don’t know. Point is there is a simple, easy, quick solution to fixing oily hair. First you must dig up a big fluffy makeup brush, and dip it into loose powder. Once you have your brush all powdered up, dust it over your roots and finger comb your hair allowing the powder to absorb any excess oils. Once you see that your roots look dry, brush your hair as you normally would.

I like to keep Johnson & Johnson baby powder handy in case I feel like being a nasty, lazy little bum.

Crying may help us cleanse our soul of emotional burdens and stress. But it will leave you looking less than presentable pretty easily. As someone who is very prone to tearing up in public I have picked up a few tips to cover up the emotional redness.

The first rule of crying is to not rub your eyes. Blindly wiping under your eyes and pressing a tissue over your eyelid will smear your mascara. Instead, fold a tissue several times and gently blot under your lash line and towards your leaky inner corner. You’re not removing your makeup, just trying to prevent mascara lines. Now, get your butt to the ladies room and do some damage control. Tap some water on another folded tissue and blot again lightening up the eye makeup. Next, apply some eye drops clearing your eyes of redness or puffiness. If your crying has left your face blotchy then simply take a warm paper towel and press firmly on your cheeks and neck. Lastly, re-apply a very light layer of makeup (don’t bother reapplying mascara), take a deep breath and smile… You’re now free to cry tears of joy!

Tip: If you know you will be crying (you rented The Notebook, going through a breakup, watching Feed the Children infomercials, etc.) then skip the waterproof mascara. Seriously! Waterproof mascara will run, and it will be difficult to wash away leaving you with tarantula lashes.

You must have heard it a million times: DON’T PICK YOUR FACE! And whoever you heard that from is right, by the way. But when you’ve got a ginormous white-head on your chin that’s talking back and threatening to pop any second, a little intervention is necessary. You have to take care of it before you step out of the house, its plain rude to walk around in public scaring small children with that thing on your face. So you must soak a wash cloth with warm water for about ten minutes. Then, take two q-tips and wet the ends with warm water, gently press down on the area around the pimple. Do not squeeze the pimple itself, or you will push the bacteria down deeper and cause scarring. If the monster pimple won’t budge then simply start the process over. Soak the area for another 10 minutes, then push down around the area to coax out the offending pus filled monster. Now that’s how you become a successful pop princess!

Many African-American women have skin tone that is slightly darker on the forehead than on the rest of the face. It is important not to overcompensate by adding a ton of extra makeup elsewhere, instead start with a freshly washed face. Next, apply sunscreen. Yes even darker skinned people need protection from the damaging rays of the sun! Once you have applied the sunscreen use two different shades of makeup and blend well around the temples and the bridge of the nose. Cream-to-powder foundations work best and they contain less oil and will give you a matte finish.

Thought you looked radiant in your dimly lit room only to find out you resemble a clown out on the street? Don’t panic, theres no need to scrub your face down with a tissue (it will leave a layer of fuzz behind) and don’t reach for the makeup remover either because you will create a streaky mess. Instead, add a dusting translucent powder over your clown makeup and blend until you have a natural flushed look. Tadaa!