Beauty Fix: Beachy waves, bronzed skin + other ways to finally incorporate spring into your look
After this winter, my coloured hair is dying for hydration. What should I do to get it back to its usual soft, shiny state?
Winter weather does a number on all hair types, but consider the negative impact more substantial if your hair is chemically treated. If your coloured hair is dried out beyond recognition, try an intensive mask, like Kérastase Reflection Masque Chroma Captive ($59, kerastase.ca) to bring it back to life. This reparative masque is thick and emollient (seriously, it’s not runny by any means; we’re talking scoopable texture), meaning it will rehydrate your hair even if applied sparingly and kept on hair for only a few minutes. Zinc gluconate bonds hair colour pigments together while linseed oil hydrates and smoothes the hair cuticle to maximize shine, strength and softness of parched hair.
There are a lot of contour palettes out there. How can I be sure to choose the right one?
Contouring kits and palettes have flooded the beauty world and truthfully, unless you’re a makeup artist working on a plethora of different skin tones on a daily basis, you can probably skip the palettes offering up multiple shade ranges that won’t necessarily serve your skin tone. When in doubt, keep it simple. Marc Jacobs Beauty #Instamarc Light Filtering Contour Powder in “Mirage Filter” ($69, sephora.ca) is a colossal compact that houses two powders to contour and highlight with, each weighing in at 0.3 ounces, making this a serious value. The light gold shade can be used to highlight with, as well as brighten the undereye area while the light bronze shade is great for chiseling cheekbones. The powders are jet-milled, meaning they’re lightweight and easy to blend, which is crucial when contouring.
How can I recreate the wavy effect that seawater and sea air has on my hair when I’m nowhere near the ocean?
It’s a widely suggested notion to bottle up salty seawater when you’re ocean-side to spritz into hair when you get home. If you’re not heading to an ocean any time soon, the next best thing is a sea salt spray, like thankfully resurrected John Frieda Beach Blonde Sea Waves Salt Spray ($12, well.ca). This once-discontinued sea salt spray gives hair tousled, delightfully disheveled waves with a coconut scent that is reminiscent of the tropical locales you’ve been dreaming of all winter. Spritz into damp hair and comb through to evenly distribute the product, and air dry or dry with a diffuser if you are already blessed with naturally wavy hair. Note: this spray can be used on all hair colours, not just blondes!
I’ve never really worn blush, so how do I figure out what looks best on me?
Experimentation is key when it comes to beauty and determining what looks best on you in your opinion. We say that because working with a beauty advisor or sales associate at a counter can be rather intimidating and in some cases, downright confusing. It’s important to be able to take a product home and try them on your own accord with your own tools to really get a feel for how a product works with your beauty routine. Pick up Lise Watier’s Expression Blush Trio ($38, thebay.com) since it features three shades in one pan (muted rose, mid-tone pink and cheery coral-orange) that can be worn individually or picked up with one sweep of a blush brush and applied. Mix, match and determine what you like best, because that’s ultimately what’s important: how the product makes you look and feel!
Is there such a thing as subtle bronzer? I want to start incorporating it into my makeup routine now, but I don’t want it to look too obvious.
It’s an elusive goal to look subtly bronzed, isn’t it? Luckily, the masterminds at Dior have created a new bronzer formula that incorporates transparent pigments of warm gold or warm pink tones to create an understated glow that doesn’t drastically alter your skin tone. Dior’s Diorskin Nude Air Tan Powder ($58, thebay.com) formula is lightweight and unobtrusive compared to bronzers of yore, so ditch the orange fears and sweep this powder (available in several shades) onto temples, cheeks and the bridge of your nose for a gentle glow that doesn’t wear you.
 to bring it back to life. This reparative masque is thick and emollient (seriously, it's not runny by any means; we're talking scoopable texture), meaning it will rehydrate your hair even if applied sparingly and kept on hair for only a few minutes. Zinc gluconate bonds hair colour pigments together while linseed oil hydrates and smoothes the hair cuticle to maximize shine, strength and softness of parched hair.
There are a lot of contour palettes out there. How can I be sure to choose the right one?
Contouring kits and palettes have flooded the beauty world and truthfully, unless you’re a makeup artist working on a plethora of different skin tones on a daily basis, you can probably skip the palettes offering up multiple shade ranges that won’t necessarily serve your skin tone. When in doubt, keep it simple. Marc Jacobs Beauty #Instamarc Light Filtering Contour Powder in “Mirage Filter” ($69, sephora.ca) is a colossal compact that houses two powders to contour and highlight with, each weighing in at 0.3 ounces, making this a serious value. The light gold shade can be used to highlight with, as well as brighten the undereye area while the light bronze shade is great for chiseling cheekbones. The powders are jet-milled, meaning they’re lightweight and easy to blend, which is crucial when contouring.
How can I recreate the wavy effect that seawater and sea air has on my hair when I'm nowhere near the ocean?
It's a widely suggested notion to bottle up salty seawater when you're ocean-side to spritz into hair when you get home. If you’re not heading to an ocean any time soon, the next best thing is a sea salt spray, like thankfully resurrected John Frieda Beach Blonde Sea Waves Salt Spray ($12, well.ca). This once-discontinued sea salt spray gives hair tousled, delightfully disheveled waves with a coconut scent that is reminiscent of the tropical locales you've been dreaming of all winter. Spritz into damp hair and comb through to evenly distribute the product, and air dry or dry with a diffuser if you are already blessed with naturally wavy hair. Note: this spray can be used on all hair colours, not just blondes!
I’ve never really worn blush, so how do I figure out what looks best on me?
Experimentation is key when it comes to beauty and determining what looks best on you in your opinion. We say that because working with a beauty advisor or sales associate at a counter can be rather intimidating and in some cases, downright confusing. It’s important to be able to take a product home and try them on your own accord with your own tools to really get a feel for how a product works with your beauty routine. Pick up Lise Watier’s Expression Blush Trio ($38, thebay.com) since it features three shades in one pan (muted rose, mid-tone pink and cheery coral-orange) that can be worn individually or picked up with one sweep of a blush brush and applied. Mix, match and determine what you like best, because that’s ultimately what’s important: how the product makes you look and feel!
Is there such a thing as subtle bronzer? I want to start incorporating it into my makeup routine now, but I don’t want it to look too obvious.
It’s an elusive goal to look subtly bronzed, isn’t it? Luckily, the masterminds at Dior have created a new bronzer formula that incorporates transparent pigments of warm gold or warm pink tones to create an understated glow that doesn’t drastically alter your skin tone. Dior’s Diorskin Nude Air Tan Powder ($58, thebay.com) formula is lightweight and unobtrusive compared to bronzers of yore, so ditch the orange fears and sweep this powder (available in several shades) onto temples, cheeks and the bridge of your nose for a gentle glow that doesn’t wear you.){kind=link}