Kardashians, Victoria’s Secret, Make a Play for Tanning Customers

Whether it’s a new tanning salon down the street or the recent rise of mobile spray-tan purveyors, competitors have always tried to get a piece of the tanning pie. This summer, be on the lookout for two retail opponents – new self-tanner lines from Victoria’s Secret and the TV powerhouse sisters, the Kardashians.

Last week, Khloe, Kim and Kourtney announced the launch of Kardashian Glamour Tan, a “colorless, odorless self-tanning gel that creates a gorgeous color in just a few hours.” The product is available nationwide at Sephora cosmetic stores. Continued Looking Fit

When Bad Tans Happen To Good People

Spray tanning is not an exact science, and if you are new to it, then there could be a learning curve until you and your spray tanning technician figure out exactly which product works best for your skin type. This sheet is not meant to concern you, but rather educate you in case you need this kind of information in the next couple of days. This is by no means an exhaustive list of the many tricks that can help undo a bad color result. You will see dozens of suggestions floating around on discussion boards and blogs in the sunless tanning community about this subject

Hair:  The most important thing you can do to prevent this is to wear a hair cap during your sunless tan, and to massage a conditioner along your hairline prior to the application of the sunless tanning product. If some color still manages to get onto your hair, all you need to do is go to your local beauty supply store and pick up any hair color remover product. That should fix the problem. Try a HAIRSaver

Face: No one wants to have an off colored or splotchy face. If this happens, don’t panic. Your face will fade faster than any other part of your body. That said, if you don’t want to wait for the blotchiness to even out on its own, you can simply apply baking soda and massage it into your face until the sunless tan becomes more even. If it’s the color that you are not satisfied with, then your best bet is a facial toner, preferably alcohol-free. That should do the trick.

Fingernails and toe nails: This particular tip has been around for a long, long time. If your nails are stained yellow (or any other color for that matter), you have a few options. It is widely accepted that Polident in a glass of water is a great soak to whiten your nails. And don’t forget about homemade remedies like lemon juice.

NAILSavers and TOESavers would be a nice alternative

Palms and soles of feet: This discoloration is so widely associated with sunless tanning that I want to make sure to address it. First off, it’s best to try to avoid DHA coming into contact with your palms and the soles of your feet altogether. Barrier creams should be used on both your hands and the tops of your feet, along with Sticky Feet. If you end up with discolored palms or soles, then go to your local beauty supply store and purchase body hair bleach. Be sure to only leave this product on your hands or feet for a few minutes and then wash it off.

I never left it on my feet (before Sticky Feet was around) for more than 10-15 minutes. You may have to repeat this process more than once, but it will lighten the discolored areas.

Body: This little trick will be handy for you whether you want to remove your entire tan before your next sunless tan application, or if you just had a bad sunless tanning color result. First off, relax; grab a robe and some baby oil. Massage the oil into your skin and then wait at least 30-45 minutes for it to absorb into your skin. Slip into a bath for about 10 minutes, and then gently exfoliate with a wash cloth. It may take more than one visit to the tub, but this will likely get you where you need to be.

How to Remove a Sunless Tan

By Bridget Gannon Smith, eHow Contributing Writer

Spray tanning agents are created by a sugar-based chemical derived from natural plants and amino acids that safely tan or stain the skin and last for about a week. This safer alternative to tanning beds and the sun’s harmful UV rays is applied with an airbrush. However, when applied incorrectly, or with the wrong shade, spray tans can leave your skin looking orange or splotchy. Instead of wearing head to toe clothing for a week or avoiding people all together until it fades, you can remove a bad spray tan from your skin the same day it was applied.

1. Mix 2 cups of granulated sugar with a warm water to make a thick paste. Add the water slowly as you mix until you reach a paste like consistency.
2. Add 1/2 cup of lemon juice to the sugar and water paste and mix well.
3. Apply directly with your hands or a washcloth to all areas of your body you want to remove spray tan from. Let it sit on your skin for 10 minutes.
4. Scrub with a loofah sponge to rub the mixture into your skin. You can use a pumice stone on your feet and cuticles to remove the stubborn stains.
5. Get into a warm shower and rinse mixture off of your body. Use a washcloth to get the granulated sugar off of your skin completely. You will notice the water in the drain will be an orange color. Not to worry, as that is the tanning spray residue coming off of your skin. With the help of lemon juice that lightens the skin and the granules from the sugar that have exfoliated the first layer of your skin.
6. Check your body once you are finished rinsing to be sure you washed everything off of your skin. Step out of the shower and towel dry as usual.

For more great advice check ehow about “How to do Everything” If you would like to protect your nails and hair use NAILSavers, TOESavers and a HAIRSaver

Summer Nail Care By Fresh Outlook Magazine

Summer Nail Care  By Fresh Outlook Magazine

Summer calls for healthy, beautiful nails!  Treat your nails with care this season – here are some tips to help you.

Always treat your nails as if you’ve just had them polished.  Instead of using your nails for the daily exercise of scraping, picking, pulling and opening, use the pads of your fingertips.  Along with preventing splitting, chipping and breaking, this will make your hands look more elegant.  When cleaning the house and doing the dishes, be sure to wear gloves; prolonged exposure to water can cause nail damage because it will dry out your skin and nails.

Healthy Nails
The best way to make sure your nails are healthy is to moisturize them daily and care for your cuticles.  The cuticle is the nail’s protection between the exposed dead part of the nail and the matrix, where new cells are generated.  Removing the cuticle destroys the nail matrix, which is essential to healthy nail growth.  On the other hand, you do want to keep cuticles from becoming overgrown, which suffocates nail growth.

The solution: Liberally apply a cuticle remover (not cuticle oil or cuticle cream), which will make the cuticle more pliable.  Then, take an orangewood stick and anywhere the cuticle skin touches the nail plate, push it back using tiny circular movements.  Hold the stick at an angle so that you do this gradually and gently, without going inside the cuticle.  Use a moisturizer daily to prevent dryness.
Eat right.  Though you can’t feed the nail directly, a good diet is essential to overall nail health.  Biotin-rich foods like eggs, soy, whole grains and liver are said to be extremely helpful to nails, along with foods rich in sulfur minerals like apples, cucumbers, grapes, garlic, asparagus and onions.  Also, be sure your diet includes essential fatty acids, or EFAs.  Like vitamins and minerals, foods rich in EFAs, such as salmon, nuts, seeds and tuna, help keep nails shiny and pliable.

Filing and Shaping Your Nails
It is best to file your nails only when the white part of the nail — the tip — has grown 1/2 inch from the nail’s stress point, which is where the free edge meets the pink part of the nail plate.  If you file your nails before this point, it can weaken them.  At the same time, if you let your free edge grow longer than the nail plate, it is certain your nail will break.  Do not file from side to side, which can weaken the stress points of the nail’s free edge. Be sure to go from corner to center in one direction, using the groove on the side of your nail as a guide.

Brittle Nails
Brittle nails can be caused by exposure to sunlight, a poor diet or the prolonged use of commercial nail hardeners.  Avoid the use of hardeners containing formaldehyde, which has a drying effect on nails, and try using a waterproof coating that seals moisture in the nail and repels water and dirt.  Believe it or not, a waxy lip balm can be quite effective at softening nails.

Hangnails
Picking and biting your nails, exposure to detergents and chemicals or general nail neglect are all causes of hangnails.  Use a sharp cuticle nipper to remove existing hangnails.  (A dull, cheap cuticle nipper will not allow you to get at the hangnails and may create more damage.)  To help prevent hangnails altogether, use massage cuticle oil,

Ridges
Ridges on the nail are mostly genetic.  Though you can’t change heredity, you can smooth the ridged nail surface with a buffer and buffing cream.  When grooming your nails always make an effort to be gentle on them so they will grow back normally.  Apply lotion at least once a day.

White Spots
White spots on the nail can be caused by a blow to the nail, applying too much pressure on the nail matrix during a manicure or too much pressure and pushing on the nail, generally.  Let the spots grow out, and make an effort to be gentle when manicuring your nails since prodding beneath the cuticles, where new growth is generated, can cause spots.

Yellow Nails
Yellowing of the nails could be caused by not using a base coat underneath your polish, or it could be a more serious nail fungus that needs to be treated.  Lighten discolored nails with a whitening scrub containing a mild abrasive, or with a remover containing a lemon juice-like ingredient that bleaches out the yellow.

Are Artificial Nails for You?
Artificial nails are an option if you have trouble growing out your nails.  Some women have artificial nails applied to kick their habit of nail biting; others simply want beautiful, low-maintenance nails to survive their hectic lives.  Be forewarned: Artificial nails will not improve your nails or make them healthier.  Indeed, they may look beautiful, but they can damage your nails.  There is not one artificial nail that is better than another.  Talk to your manicurist to find out what he or she does best, or find someone who is an expert in applying the type of nail you want.  If you decide to get fake nails, remember, once they are applied, you have to go back.

Types of Artificial Nails: Sculptured Nails
In this process, acrylic, gel or fiberglass is applied to your nails, and the material is lengthened and sculpted over metal or foil.  Or, a plastic nail tip can be applied with glue, and then gel, fiberglass, silk or acrylic can be laid over the entire nail.  As the natural nail grows out, your manicurist will fill in the base and file down the artificial tip.  Eventually, you will end up with just the overlay on your natural nail.

Acrylic Nails
Acrylic nails are the strongest and last the longest of all the nail overlays.  But, if it’s not done well, these nails can look thick and very artificial.  Find a manicurist who is an expert at applying acrylic nails, and you can get a very thin, natural-looking nail.  They usually need to be filled in every two to three weeks as your nails grow, but depending on how hard you are on your nails, you may need to see the manicurist sooner to avoid nail loosening, which can lead to mildew if water gets trapped underneath.  And, if a professional removes them properly, the acrylic nails should cause little weakening to the nail plate.  Acrylic is the most commonly used artificial nail; if you travel a great deal, it will be easier for you to find a place to repair or fill in your manicure than with silk wraps, for example.

Silk, Linen and Fiber Wraps
Wraps are pieces of silk, linen or fiberglass that have been cut to the desired shape and glued to the nail plate.  This adds strength, and sometimes length, to the nail.  Though done on natural nails, wraps are most commonly used to strengthen tips.  Silk is the most natural-looking wrap and provides a lot of flexibility, but it is often too delicate for those with an active lifestyle.  Linen is stronger, but it is not transparent and appears quite thick.  Fiberglass is the best of both worlds, since it provides the natural look of silk and the strength of linen.

Gel Nails
Once, these nails were made of dental porcelain gel-powder.  Now, manicurists use a Mylar form to sculpt your nail, and then cure, or set, it under an ultraviolet light.  Because of this process, gel nails may need to be filled in less often than acrylic nails, though fill-ins are still necessary, and a professional must remove the tips.

GOTCHA Covered NAILSavers Featured in “Meet the Makers” Island Sun Times May 2010

To “Meet Other Makers”  please go to Island Sun Times

After Tan Skin Care

1. Before tanning, it is recommended to gently exfoliate your skin to get rid of any dead skin cells. This can be accomplished with a soft loofa and mild body wash. Choose a body wash infused with vitamins and moisturizers this will prepare your skin for your tanning session. After towel drying your body, apply a moisture rich lotion.
2. Before you tan be sure to have your GOTCHA Covered tanning accessories. Then apply a recommended indoor tanning lotion. Cover your hair with a HAIRSaver and your face with a FACESaver. This will protect your hair and face for UV over exposure.
3. After your tanning session apply a salon recommended tanning moisturizing lotion. Allow your tan to set for a minimum of 4 hours before you take a shower especially if you have used a tanning lotion with bronzers. This will help you get the maximum color your tanning session.
4. When you are tanning it is important to moisturize at all times. Keeping your skin moisturized,  minimizes the long term effect of UV exposure and your skin will have a healthy, just spent the day at the beach glow.

How to Care of Your Skin Before and After You Tan

The Practice of Good Skin Care is Essential for Staying Young

Stop and listen. The practice of good skin care is essential if your goal is to turn back the hands of time, and enjoy the youthful appearance you thought had escaped you long ago. In order for you to be successful in reducing the wrinkles in your skin, or in eliminating them all together, you need a line of anti aging products working for you that have been developed using healthy, all natural ingredients.

If you think that you are already using healthy products in order to treat your skin, but are not seeing the results that you expected, then you might want to check your labels. Even formulas that come highly recommended, or are heavily marketed as being effective, may not be giving you exactly what it is that you need in order to revitalize your appearance.

Good skin care begins with choosing a set of anti aging skin care formulas that possess a carefully selected blend of all natural ingredients. These natural compounds will provide your skin with all of the nutrition that it needs in order to recover from much of the damage done to it over the years. The products you choose should contain ingredients that are capable of reversing the causes of aging.

What causes the development of wrinkles in the skin is the decline in production of your collagen and elastin, the breakdown of your hyaluronic acid, and oxidative damage done to your cells through free radical activity. In order to return your skin to its former state of glory, the formulas that you choose must be both safe and clinically proven effective. A formula that meets these requirements is a rare find.

The bulk of the cosmetics formulas being offered do not even come close to qualifying as good skin care products. The majority of the formulas being made are mostly comprised of chemically developed synthetics, which don’t offer your skin any benefit and could even prove to be dangerous over an extended period of time. The wrinkle reducing compounds in these formulas are typically either useless, or potentially harmful.

Everyone has tried at least one of the anti aging formulas featuring collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid as ingredients, but most of us don’t understand why these products didn’t work. The truth is that it is impossible for these compounds to make a difference in your appearance, because they are all too molecularly dense for the skin to absorb them.

The other anti aging products that fail to qualify as good skin care products are the ones that contain one or more of the Botox alternatives such as Argireline. What the primary compounds in these products are designed to do is induce sagging in the facial muscles by temporarily paralyzing them. The chance of this paralysis possibly becoming permanent should be enough to keep you away from these products.

Good skin care is the use of all natural products containing Cynergy TK protein and enzyme mixture, and Phytessence Wakame kelp extract. These formulas increase the production of collagen and elastin, stop the breakdown of hyaluronic acid, and supply all of the antioxidants and vital nutrients you need. In other words, they actually work.

If you’d like to learn more about little known but clinically tested natural ingredients that are used for treating aging skin, visit my website today.

About The Author

Laurel is a long time user and passionate advocate of natural skin care products. Visit her site now to discover cutting edge, anti-aging skin care products she recommends after extensive research: http://www.beautiful-skin-site.com.

GULF COAST OIL SPILL – HOW SALONS CAN HELP

Anyone and Everyone: salons, groomers, individuals can sign up to donate hair and fur clippins and nylons for our Oil Spill Booms. Our Excess Access program sign up is free, fast and helps us to coordinate the masses of donations.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO DONATE HAIR / FUR / NYLONS

Thousands of pounds of hair and nylons are coming in by UPS and FED EX from every State in the US and from Canada, Brazil, France, UK… Booms are being made all along the Gulf Coast near beaches and marshes. What a community feeling! We all get it. We shampoo because hair collects oil! More Info

OIL SPILL HAIRBOOMS AND HAIRMATS
Here we look at fibers (hair, wool, fur, feathers…). Thousands of salons mail us hair clippings, swept up off their floors, and the fibers are stuffed into booms or woven into hair mats. We all know about shampooing our oily hair, but it took Phill McCrory, a stylist from Alabama, to realize that hair was also an efficient and abundant material for collecting and containing petroleum spills.

For how you can get involved please visit Matter of Trust

Check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg9vdnOuEhk