Beach Booty

The sun is shining, birds are chirping, and beach is beckoning. Still, it’s a bittersweet season. What’s the bitter? If you’re a woman, you don’t have to ask: busting out the bikini…and crossing your fingers that you still fit in it after all those cozy winter nights watching reruns of The Hills with our buddies Ben n’ Jerry. So you face your fears and look yourself in the mirror…not so bad! But many women forget that although you don’t see your backside in the mirror… the rest of the world does. To get a perfect booty like beach bunny Jessica Biel, you might need to sign your life away to the gym. But to fake a perfect Biel bum, all you need is a brush and some contouring and highlighting powders. Simply brush a waterproof contouring shade in a circle around the perimeter of each “cheek.” Then take a highlighting shade and fill in the circle! This bootylicious little trick will create the appearance of a perfectly sculpted bum in seconds. Go ahead beach babe, strut your stuff knowing you look hot…front and back.

When to go O!

The organic apples or the non-organics…That is the question! But what exactly does this incredibly popular (and uber healthy-sounding) buzzword actually mean?! Simply stated, organic products are grown or created without the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, genetically modified organisms, or ionizing radiation. When it comes to animals that produce meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products, organic means they are not given antibiotics or growth hormones. Hmmm…sounds like organic is pretty darn good. But if you’ve compared organic and non-organic at the grocery store, you’ve noticed that organic is going to cost you. If your pocketbook doesn’t allow for a complete organic transformation, you should focus on going-O for certain products that have the highest content of pesticides, additives, and hormones. If you get your five daily servings of fruits and veggies from the 12 most contaminated produce items, you’ll end up consuming an average of TEN different pesticides a day. Ew!! To avoid chowing down on pesticides, go organic when it comes to these 12 most contaminated items:

-Apples
-Cherries
-Grapes
-Nectarines
-Peaches
-Pears
-Raspberries
-Strawberries
-Bell Peppers
-Celery
-Potatoes
-Spinach

Want to save a little green? No need to go organic for the following “safe” foods: Bananas, kiwi, mangos, papaya, and pineapples. Organic fruits and veggies typically cost 50% more than their generic versions, but when it comes to the dirty dozen list above…it’s well worth it!

Get cheeky, darling!

Ever see those supermodels with insanely high cheekbones and assume you would have to be scary waif skinny to get them? Think again! You can be a healthy, beautiful girl AND have supermodel cheekbones. All it takes is a little sculpting. Here’s how.
1.Take a contouring shade (like those found in My Sculpted Face), one to two shades darker than your skin tone, blend it along the line underneath your cheekbone. Not sure where that is? Make a “fish face” and fill the indented line in with your contouring powder.
2.Take your favorite blush and a blush brush. Dip the brush into your blush, then lightly touch it to the top of your hand to get off the excess. Pop the brush right on the apple of each cheek then blend. Blush belongs on the apple…nowhere else!
3.Using a fan brush, sweep highlighter along the top of your cheekbone and up around the outside corner of your eyes.
4.Work it. That’s right. You’ve got supermodel cheekbones so strut your stuff, girl!

Get out of your makeup rut…

How’d you do your makeup today? Look anything like it did yesterday? Mine is pretty much identical. If you’re anything like me, you have fallen into a makeup rut. And you can’t get up! But it’s time we mix it up. Yes, it takes a little more thought in the morning, but the results…oh so worth it! Need a little inspiration to draw out your inner beauty chameleon? Check out these pictures of Scarlett Johansson, a beauty whose look is constantly evolving: