Beautiful Summer, Great Looks

Oh no! Summertime is here again. No more hiding winter's flab behind thick sweaters and coats; no more crushing of hair under knit caps or hiding faces behind bulky scarves. But are you sure you're ready for everyone to see the real you in an increasingly fashion-conscious Beijing? Maybe you are, but we weren't so we went looking for some tips

Cosmetics: Fresh, Light, Clean

Cosmetics are essential for putting your best face forward. With summer coming into full swing, here are some tips and advice to help you stave off the summer heat while looking your best. Since day and night are opposites, your makeup should take these two extremes into account. 

Day:      Achieving a natural look that is fresh, light and clean with the proper makeup is a key to a beautiful summer experience, but the interaction of the sun's heat with makeup can be disastrous. A typical mistake is in the use of unflattering colours, but one can look overdone with even very little makeup or underdone with the use of too much. The key is balance and good colour choices.

Translucent or matifying powders are ideal for summer.  Translucent powders are very light and thin so there is no "weight" or oil on the face.  Matifying powders absorb oils on the surface of the skin.  Shisheido's Pure cosmetic line is a great, oil-free product that is light and effective for fighting sweat and heat.

Eye shadow can always yield adventurous, different looks. Colours to avoid in the summer months include purples, reds or even dark greens and browns. Golds, peaches, pinks and shimmers are ideal for a natural summer look.  Shimmering eye shadows are beautiful, but apply mascara to open the eyes because shimmers tend to make eyes look droopy. Use waterproof mascara in the heat; it will not run.  

To complete the summer look, a peach blush or gold bronzer is ideal.  Lips should first be protected with an SPF lip moisturizer such as Chap Stick and then hued with a lightly tinted gloss or lipstick. Lancôme Juicy Tube is a great line of lip glosses that look good with an endless choice of colours.

Evening:     Nights are all about the eyes, and dark-rimmed eyes are sexy and mysterious. A hot summertime colour navy blue. Sweep a subtle blue shadow across your lids.  Rim inner and outer lids with a navy pencil and top with a navy mascara. Use especially for dark or light eyes. 

With smoky eyes like this, lipstick is absolutely a "don't."  Use a nude, baby pink or clear lip gloss instead. Brighten the face with a bronzer to bring colour to the face, but avoid blush and the pale look. The focus should be on the eyes. 

Fitness: Cut the Calories

Eat well and exercise says Mary Wang, a personal trainer from Kerry Sports Fitness Centre, who advises how to lose weight quickly and healthily:

Cardio exercise must be part of a regular routine. Running four times a week for 40 minutes is the most effective method, but swimming or active sports are useful too.

Small changes in eating habits can help shed more pounds. Cutting just 500 calories, about the same amount as that in one Big Mac and fries from McDonald's, from our daily eating habits can shed pounds quickly. We need about 2,000 calories per day.

Stop with the sugary beverages; replace them with water. Water replenishes the body and prevents dehydration. Substitute frozen yogurt or fat-free ice cream for the real ice cream and its extra calories. 

Avoid fried foods, fatty meats, cheeses and whole-dairy products for a healthier, more energetic body. Too much oil or salt slows the body and stores water fat. Eat steamed, raw or boiled foods, lean meats such as fish, chicken, beef and shrimp are excellent for energy and weight loss. Eating fruit, vegetables and whole grains speeds up the metabolism. Eat five small meals a day rather than two to three large meals to speed metabolism, and carry healthy snacks such as dried fruits and nuts with you.

Just choosing a few of these tips and sticking with then can drastically transform the ordinary body into a hot summer body ready for an energetic lifestyle. Start slowly and do not exercise too hard in the beginning. 

Hair: Add Dazzling Highlights

Women

Summer looks are all about looking cool and comfortable. A ponytail is a classic, even romantic, summertime hairstyle that adds a little flair, an edge or polish to your look. 

To embellish a ponytail, tie hair into a mid-high ponytail with a rubber band. Take about one-third of your hair from the bottom of your ponytail and wrap around the rubber band.  Pin the ends into you hair with hair fasteners and secure.

Or, loosely tie a ponytail for a more romantic look.  Make sure the rubber band is about an inch away from the head.  Hold the section of hair that is tied up and poke a hole with your finger in the area between the head and rubber band.  Pull the hair through this hole and instantly you have a romantic twist. 

Men

For men the messy "just rolled out of bed look" is great, trendy and fresh for the summer. Flat iron one-inch sections of hair and pinch tips with hair glue in any direction but down. This hairstyle is very versatile and experimenting and shaping in different directions can achieve different looks.

Highlighting Tips

Highlighting adds brightness and depth to hair. But dark and light hair needs to be highlighted differently. Dark hair can be brightened by putting in copper or auburn tones. Avoid the deep reds of fall or winter. For lighter hair, choose a colour that is two to three shades lighter. 

To highlight, the weaving method allows more subtle look. Your hairstylist will take every section of hair and part them in a weaving motion creating an alternating look of colour. Or, take strategic pieces of hair, especially around the face, and highlight chunks of hair. This will not look as natural as the weaving method, but it is a beautiful way to give depth to your hair.

An inexpensive alternative to highlighting is simply to spray some lemon juice in your hair when you go out in the sun. You hair will turn lighter in places that the sun hits hardest leaving you with a sun-kissed surfer look.

Hair Tips

For split ends or dry, coarse hair, a conditioning treatment at a salon can be useful. However, home treatment is possible. First, you will need a rich, heavy conditioner such as Pantene's Pro-V for dry hair (green label).  After shampooing, generously apply conditioner to your hair and comb in with fingers only. When all the kinks are gone, microwave a wet towel until steaming hot and wrap it around your head for 30 minutes before rinsing with cool water. You hair will look and feel better.

Beijing is really humid and hot in the summer months so go with hairstyles that can be held in place with gels or sprays. If you need straight hair, flatten the top section with hair oil or a light styling gel to prevent frizz. A heavier conditioner can help prevent "fly-aways" by weighing down the hair. 

Skin-care: Indulge Yourself

A good daily routine is a must for good skin care. Drinking plenty of water flushes the body of toxins that can affect the skin's appearance, assists skin tone, hydrates the body and helps avoid wrinkles. Men and women should wash their faces in the morning and before bedtime, but there's more.

Men: Many men must shave. This comes at the price of in-grown hairs, blemishes, cuts and irritations, but men can drastically improve their skin by taking proper measures before shaving.

Try scrubbing with a light exfoliant such as Clinique's 7-Day Scrub Rinse-off Formula before shaving to create a smoother shaving surface. After scrubbing, steam the face with a hot towel to open pores which will give a closer shave. Always remember to use a sharp razor because dull razors can cause irritation, in-grown hairs and cuts. 

Men should also use hydrating, light, oil-free products during the summer such as Biotherm Aquapower and consider using a facial mask. The Clinique Emergency mask is a low-maintenance, five-minute to additional comfort. This product leaves the skin feeling tight, fresh and minty cool.

Women:  Makeup is a culprit in many women's skin problems and can be an obstacle to obtaining beautiful and healthy skin. Always remove makeup thoroughly, especially in the summer when our faces tend to accumulate more oil. Summertime products used on the body and face should be oil-free and light. Beware of heavy night creams. A light firming cream such as Transvital Firming cream and a thin eye gel rather than cream would suffice with the summer heat and moisture. 

Face and Body: With the summer's heat and humidity, how do we keep our skin looking its best? Showering too often can irritate the skin. To keep it gentle on the skin, take cold showers rather than hot. Using a minty body wash will cool the body down. Cold showers will reduce irritation and will firm the skin. After showering, do not neglect body lotion. A firming lotion mixed with sunscreen is ideal. After thorough application of body lotion, do a body once over with baby powder. Be generous in areas such as armpits, knee-pits and "down there."  This will keep the sweat minimal and also prevent our skin from sweat irritation. 

In case of sunburn, never take a hot shower. Take a cool shower. Shred up a potato and layer it on the burned area until dry. Rinse off after about half and hour then layer on aloe vera gel to cool the skin. The best thing you can do is to keep the skin moist so that it peels very naturally.

For those who are shy of the sun, you must slather on the sunscreen in the summer. This will eventually become your best friend. An SPF 30 value or higher is recommended. If these measures still do not prevent the darkened skin, a daily regimen of whitening toner, essence and lotion can be used to accelerate the skin into the lighter shades. Most brands currently have whitening lines. For your body, a good homemade concoction can include squirting lemon juice into a sunscreen. Lemon juice is a natural whitening agent similar to peroxide, yet is a more natural alternative. 

On the other hand there are those who like summer's golden look.  For those who like the tanned look, there is the original method of lying out in the sun but this can cause a lot of irreversible skin damage and accelerated aging.  Wide varieties of self tanning sprays are a better alternative. These are easily applied at home and can last for as long as two weeks. To get a nice result, the trick is to have a good pre-application routine. 

Before self tanning, exfoliating is a must. A nice beady scrub will remove dead skin and even out skin tone. Next, washing with a moisturizing body wash is ideal. When you are done showering, air dry and start applying the self tanner while wearing a latex glove before your body is completely dry. Be stingy around the knees, elbows and ankles.  These areas have many grooves and hold on to the colour. Do not apply on hands. Leave the product on for 24 hours so the colour lasts longer though many products say showering after two to four hours is okay. After this, enjoy your beautiful artificial natural looking tan. It'll look like it took weeks for you to achieve this.