5 Old-Fashioned Beauty Secrets That Actually Work

When it comes to beauty, maybe we should all be listening to our grandmothers more. Because while some of the beauty practices popular in the past were notoriously dangerous (ahem, lead white foundation), many of the simple, natural treatments women favored are not only useful, but pretty darn smart as well. So how can you amp up your beauty routine the easy, inexpensive way your gran would have? To find out, just keep reading.

• Sleep on silk or satin pillowcases. Yes, they feel fancy, but they also don't absorb moisture like cotton, and they're smoother. That means that your skin and hair don't lose as much hydration overnight, and that there aren't as many rough spots for your hair to catch on, which reduces breakage.
• Braid your hair before bed. This is another breakage preventer, and it also works when you're exercising or growing out bangs.
• Use plasters to help prevent and lessen wrinkles. Annie's talked about Frownies, the modern-day inheritors to old-fashioned facial plasters. These strips work because on your face, the muscles are attached directly to your skin. So when you use a plaster to flatten your skin out, it also "relaxes" wrinkles.
• Stick your nails in a lemon. Cutting a lemon in half and shoving your nails into it may seem a little silly, but it's actually a really easy way to whiten the tips and soften your cuticles. You can also use half an orange to soften up skin on your knees and elbows.
• Use beer as a clarifier. If my gran was recommending this, I would assume it was just an excuse to drink. But yeasty, hops-filled beer (think Guinness, not an IPA) helps pump up your hair shaft, giving you extra volume. And the acid in it helps remove product buildup to make your hair all shiny.
Source: Thinkstock

If you like this please follow me and I'll follow you back :) Thank you.

How to Grow Out Your Bangs

So you got bangs, but now you’re kinda sick of them right? Well you might be thinking : ” Great! Now I have to wait months and months for them to grow out!” Not true! There are actually specific things you can do to grow out your bangs faster than you ever thought! Plus, bangs are so last season! Celebs are now trading in their bangs for loose updos and longer, side-swept bangs. Here’s how!

Buy a stretchy hairband. Getting a chic, fashionable hairband is a great idea because it can be worn at any stage of the regrowth process. Put it right at your hairline, or push it back a little further to grab and hold any strays.

Use hairspray. Using hairspray will keep your bangs back as well as any flyaways. So if you’re sick of having them in your face, use some bobby pins to pin back the hair and follow up with some hairspray.

Do different parts. You can always experiment with different parts, which is probably the best way to grow out your bangs. You can divide your bangs right down the middle and use bobby pins to make them stay put, or use some gel to slick them straight back off the forehead for a chic, no-part look.

Be patient. Although these tips will keep your hair away from your forehead and speed the growth process, it will still take time. If you just got bangs and you’re already thinking about trading them in, wait for about 3 weeks, after which the hair will be more easier to style.

If you like this please follow me and I'll follow you back :) Thank you.

Get a Messy Bun

Sexy, messy buns are extremely hot right now, and so easy to pull off. Perfect for bad hair days, lazy days, and pretty much any day you want! They look great during the day, at night, at work, school, whatever you want! Here’s how to pull off a messy bun.

Start off by sweeping the front part of your hair to one side as to create a fuller crown area. Use your fingers along with a paddle brush to direct both sides to the back of the head.

Gather your hair into a loose pony and secure with an ouchless elastic (sides and back). The base of the pony should rest in the middle of the back of the head. Push your pony up slightly to create fullness at the top of your head. Add some hairspray.

Separate the pony into one inch sections, curling each section loosely. You don’t have to do this very carefully, as it is a messy bun, and you just want to get some waves. Holding the curler for about 3 seconds should be enough, depending on the hair thickness.

After each section is curled, use a bobby pin to secure the curl loosely against your scalp. When pinning the curls, make sure that you pin some at the top as to form an even and balanced shape.

Once you’ve finished pinning the curls, use your fingers to gently loosen up the curls, making it look messy. Finish off with a little bit of hair spray and you have a sexy, messy bun!

If you like this please follow me and I'll follow you back :) Thank you.

The girl with a flower in her hair!

If you like this please follow me and I'll follow you back :) Thank you.

Giggling girl.....

I thought it was time to buy some of these wet look legging – better late than never!!!
If you like this please follow me and I'll follow you back :) Thank you.

Few snaps as a brunette

This was me about 4 years ago, i got bored so off to boots to dye my hair, It last for about a year!

Britney Spears Is a Blonde...Again!

Fame Pictures

After spending the past couple months as a brunette, Britney Spears has gone back to blonde.

And not only did she change up the color, she also got some fresh new extensions. While the choppy, shorter hair on top brings back bad memories of another recent hair disaster, Brit does look happy, and really, isn't that all that matters?

Of course, the following day Britney emerged for a braless Starbucks run. Her hair color may change every two months, but Frappuccino love is forever

Is It Good to Rinse Hair in Cold Water?

The jury is no longer out on rinsing hair with cold water. According to much of my research, rinsing hair with cold water at the end of a shower closes the cuticle. This creates a healthy, shiny appearance, apparently. Many experts believe blasting hair with cold air also works by smoothing hair. This is why most dryers come with a cool air button.

Simple Trick to De-frizz Hair (Fast)

I love this tip I read in Glamour magazine. To quickly defrizz hair, rub a pea-sized amount of Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Creambetween your hands and then palm them over curls to the ends.

Rihanna Shaved Part of Her Head

Photo: Splashnews

It looks like Rihanna is piggybacking on the half-shaved head trend with a new partly shaved look of her own. She clipped the sides and back of her head, leaving a thick pompadour on top. It's like an updated version of the nineties boy cut. We think it works for her, but what say you?

Women’s Hair Trends 2009

There's little point in wearing clothes from 2009's fashion trends unless you have the one other major element just right: hair.

Taking their cues from 2008, in 2009 women's hair trends will play to the extremes. They might be extremely short, extremely girly, extremely sexual or extremely slick. It'll only be the bob hair cut which will sit somewhere to the left of extreme; and you're going to be hard pressed to find that hair style on fashion forward women.

2009 Hair Cut Trends for Women

The Cropped Bob

The Pixie Crop

Long Hair

The Bob

2009 Hair Style Trends for Women

Flowing Hair

Straight and Sleek

1940's / Mermaid Wave

Milkmaid Braids

2009 Hair Colour Trends for Women

Peroxide Blonde

Women's Hair Cut Trends 2009

Throughout 2008, women's hair cuts did one thing: they got shorter. There was the bob hair trend, the pixie-crop hair trend, and a plethora of others in between.

And unlike the length of women's hair, their popularity grew.

Which leaves us with an interesting predicament for 2009's hair trends: the fashion forward, short hair styles of 2008 are no longer fashion forward. They're no longer unique. Every woman and her chuiauia got one.

So in 2009, fashion forward girls have a choice to make: keep the bobs and blend into the crowd or, to stand out, cut their hair shorter or let it grow.

The Cropped Bob & The Pixie Crop

Girls who cut the bob in 2008 and want a fashion forward look in 2009, are going to have to either let their hair grow out or go something more extreme. Enter the cropped bob and the pixie crop; both perfect for Spring/Summer 2009, but far more difficult to wear for Autumn (Fall)/Winter 2008/2009.

The Cropped Bob

To put it bluntly: the cropped bob is extreme. It's not quite a pixie crop (below) nor a bob. Short all over, even with a heavily shortened blunt cut fringe, it's can only be worn by those who ooze confidence. Just look at Agyness Deyn's cropped, fringed bob (right). Attention grabbing, it's even far less subtle with peroxide blonde hair which I'm tipping as the best colour to wear it with

The Pixie Crop

The pixie crop started as a hair trend in 2008 but, as a natural progression from the bob hair cut, expect to see plenty of it in 2009.

For those fashionisers who are willing to really take scissors to their hair, the pixie crop offers a bold look far less subtle than the cropped bob, and one that is both young and funky when done right. And doing it right has everything to do with the styling: as we learnt from Katie Holme's pixie crop a lack of styling and product and you can look suddenly middle-aged.

The Bob

Perhaps both the cropped bob and pixie crop are too extreme for you? Or perhaps you've just got a bob and are eager to keep it. Never fear, the bob hair cut is still in fashion in 2009. It's just not as unique, but paired with the right clothes (check out 2009's Spring/Summer clothes trends here) and hair style you can still own this look.

And what hair styles should you pair a bob with in 2009? If you're bob is chin length, look at sexing it up with the bed hair style, or if your bob is shoulder length also consider an adaptation of the mermaid / 1940s wave style as well as bed hair.

Long Hair

You got short hair trends in the form of the pixie crop and the cropped bob, and in the middle is ye olde simple bob; so what does that leave us with? Long hair in 2009. And it's what I'm imploring all girls grow.

You see, the bob is done and dusted for the truly fashion forward, and the shorter variations simply aren't going to suit everyone; but long hair? Long hair, cut and layered correctly leaves you able to take advantage of most of 2009's hair style trends. Consider just a few of the looks from the Spring/Summer 2009 catwalks.

Women's Hair Style Trends 2009

Flowing: 2009 long hair style

Add a bit of oomph to a long hair style by wearing it in a heavily voluminous fashion, a look perfect for pairing back with 2009's Bohemian Luxury Autumn (Fall)/Winter fashion trend.

Flowing hair trend on Donna Karan (left and right) and Anna Sui Spring/Summer 2009 runways (middle)

Straight and Sleek: 2009 long hair style

Sleek and straight hair trend on Doo Ri (left) and Matthew Williamson runways (middle and right)

Mermaid / 1940s Waves with Side-Part

1940s Waves with Side-Part hair style on Proenza Schouler (left and right) and Tuleh runways (middle)

Milkmaid Braids

Milkmaid braids are our first tip for women's 2009 hair style trends, as socialites and celebrities are increasingly seen with them off the red carpet. Like so many other trends of recent times, it was Sienna Miller (left) who did the most to push the look but that was way back in 2007. In 2009 it seems that milkmaid braids will be a hair style trend on and off the red carpet.

Women's Hair Color Trends 2009

Peroxide blonde hair colour: 2009 hair trend

When she wore a peroxide blonde, blunt-cut fringed hair style in 2007, hypermodel Kate Moss set two 2008 hair trends at once. And at the tail end of 2008, she may have done it again. In a photo shoot for Interview magazine, you'll find a peroxide blonde Kate Moss; one likely to make peroxide blonde a key hair color trend in 2009.