What can you do with a degree in liberal arts? Become a fashion designer! This is a great way to express your natural creativity, and it is something that you can do with minimal training in the long run. Before you go to college to become a fashion designer, you may want to learn about the money to come with this profession. If it seems profitable enough for you, you can start looking for a fashion design degree program to enroll in. Here is an overview of the money you may expect to make in this career.

Common Earnings Based on Position
The specific career you choose to go with will make a difference in your overall earnings. The higher the position, the higher the possible pay rates. Here is a look at the money you might make in various fashion design positions:

• Technical Designer in Apparel: $29,590 – $82,480 per year
• Product Development Manager: $57,100 – $120,000 per year
• Graphic Designer: $30,500 – $52,500 per year
• Fashion Designer: $34,765 – $100,671 per year
• Chief Fashion Designer: $114,783 – $180,000 per year
• Assistant Fashion Designer: $29,361 – $45,095 per year

Common Earnings Based on Years of Experience
Experience is an important factor in your earnings because most employers will want to hire people who have been in the industry for years. If you are a fresh college student looking for work, you may not get a well-paying position right away. Over time though, you can show people your past work and land better clients in the long run. Here’s a look at how your income may vary with experience:

• Less than 1 year of experience: $30,500 per year
• 1-4 years of experience: $36,240 per year
• 5-9 years of experience: $54,977 per year
• 10-19 years of experience: $80,483 per year
• 20 years of experience or more: $75,000 per year

Common Earnings Based on Company Size
The size of the company you work for may not matter much, but it could have a slight influence on your pay rate. You might assume that larger companies will pay more money, but statistics suggest quite the opposite. In some cases, you may actually make more money by moving to a smaller company. You can see that here:

• 1-9 employees: $37,974 per year
• 10-49 employees: $40,604 per year
• 50-199 employees: $35,585 per year
• 200-599 employees: $55,000 per year
• 600-1999 employees: $63,000 per year
• 2000-4999 employees: $47,000 per year
• 5000-19999 employees: $49,617 per year
• 50000+ employees: $44,700 per year

Common Earnings Based on Location
Some states have higher paying jobs than others because their economies are better. If you land a job in a high-paying state, you may be able to make more in the long run. Possible earnings by location include:

• Wisconsin: $58,314 per year
• Texas: $38,446 per year
• Pennsylvania: $42,533 per year
• Ohio: $58,509 per year
• New York: $48,656 per year
• Illinois: $51,000 per year
• California: $46,602 per year

Think carefully about the earnings associated with fashion design and see if they line up with your goals. You may not be a millionaire right after college, but you should be able to make a pretty decent living in this profession. All you need is a good education to get started.

My hair is bone straight, and the only way I can give it any volume at all is by curling it. I have been doing this since I was a pre-teen, so I have discovered a ton of different ways to go about this process. If you have straight or wavy hair that you want to add some volume to, you should know that there are many different ways you could curl it to make it look amazing. Whether you’re trying to dress up for a hot date or you want to look good for the office manager, you can find a curling technique that is going to help you look your best every time. Here are some suggestions to help you get your hair looking sexy and sultry every time.

Curling Iron

The fastest way to curl your hair is by using a curling iron. This only takes about a minute to heat up, and it will instantly curl your hair on contact. The problem with using curling irons is the fact that they get really hot, which tends to damage your hair over time. Think about putting a clothing iron on your hair repeatedly. You’re basically doing the same thing with a curling iron. If you need a last minute curl though, this is a great solution.

Hot Rollers

Hot rollers are a lot like curling irons, but you have to put them in your hair like traditional rollers. They contain heat to make them faster to use than regular rollers, but you still have to put them in your hair and wait for them to work. I don’t like hot rollers because I usually burn my fingers with them, but they are pretty convenient if you learn how to use them. Just roll them up in your hair and take them out when they’re cool.

Sponge Rollers

Sponge rollers are the ones that we all remember from our childhood – the ones that our grandparents used to put in our hair before bed so we could have pretty curls in the morning. To use a sponge roller, you need to have semi-wet hair. Then you just roll them up, clip them in place, and wait for the hair to dry. Hopefully you will roll out some beautiful curls to call your own.

Braids

You can braid your hair to make it look curly, but this does not always work out. The best look I’ve seen from this was from a girl French braiding her hair when it was wet and taking it out when she woke up the next day. Even then though, she had to use a curling iron to fix some pieces that got kinked up in the pony tail holder. You can try braiding your hair if you don’t want to use any of the other tools on here, and you may be able to come up with an option that looks good on you.

Round Brush

Round brushes aren’t good for spiraling hair, but they can be used to curl the ends and smooth out the hair. When your hair is still wet, use a round brush with your blow dryer to blow it out in the curled perfection you want it to be. Follow the movement of the brush with the dryer so that the dryer is blowing the hair onto the brush. Do this all the way around your head, and you will have a salon style without having to take a trip to your hair salon.

I have had jet black hair for a while now, but I really wanted to put some bright highlights in it. In order to do that, I have to turn parts of my hair into a pale blonde color so the blue, pink, or whatever else will show up well. Going from blonde hair to black hair is no trouble at all, but going from black to blonde is a downright nightmare. It makes me partially regret dying the hair black in the first place.

In lieu of the fact that I have gone through the black to blonde transformation, I thought I may help you get a feel for how the process works. That way you can determine if you want to use part of your hope scholarship to pay for the process. Here is a look at what it takes to transform from a brunette to a blonde.

Find a Good Hairdresser

A good hairdresser can make all the difference in the success of your transformation. I have tried this process several times over, and it was not until this last round at Procuts that I finally got the results I was looking for. You need to find someone in your area that is experienced in taking black to blonde. Otherwise you will end up with white hair at the roots and orange hair for the rest. This is what happened to me at a Walmart salon once, and I ended up looking like I was unintentionally going for a candy corn theme on my head. It was awful, just awful. Do some research to find out who you can potentially work with in your area before you trust your hair to just anyone.

Prepare for Stages

In most cases, you will have to lighten your hair in stages. There are rare occasions when hair will go as light as you want it to go the first time around, but that does not happen often. For the most part, you will have to lighten two or three times over in order to get it where you want it to be. My hair is currently a caramel color because that is the lightest it would go without melting my hair off. I have to go back to the salon in three weeks to get it the blonde color I want to be. Just be prepared to have a slightly different color of hair than what you may wnt overall, just so you can transition into blonde.

Let the Black Fade (or Grow out)

If you can wait for the black to fade or grow out entirely, you are going to have a much easier time lifting it to go blonde. I tried to do this for about three months, but the black wasn’t fading and the hair wasn’t grown out. As a result of this, we had a really hard time getting the black out of the hair. If you have the patience to wait for the roots to grow, you will have a much easier time being the blonde you want to be.

Brunettes and blonds are sexy in different ways, so you really just have to figure out which one you want to be. If you want to be a blonde, you need to prepare to go through several steps before getting there. If you want to keep the black in your hair, just know the complications that may result from that later on. With all of the information above in mind, you should be able to make the best decision possible for your hair in the future.

You go out of the house for 29 days straight looking as perfect as perfect can be, and the one day of the month you decide to look like a frump is the day that the hottest guy from your calc class decides to ask you to meet him for coffee in 10 minutes. Does this scenario sound familiar? We’ve all had something like this happen at one point or another, so we all know how frustrating and utterly embarrassing it can be. With a makeup emergency kit, you can quickly spruce up your face whenever beauty calls. Here is a quick guide to help you put together one of these kits so you will be prepared for anything that happens in the future.

The Contents of the Kit

The contents of your makeup emergency kit will depend on what you normally like to wear. Here is a list of what I have in mine:

• Tweezers
• Concealer
• Translucent powder
• Mascara
• Black and purple eye shadow (in a two pack)
• Eye liner brush
• Chapstick

You may have slightly different tools in yours, but you basically need something to cover the basics. I have the tweezers to pluck any unsightly chin hairs that may crop up, and I have the concealer to quickly touch up trouble spots on my face. The powder is just enough to set that in place without changing the color of my skin. I put a little spit at the end of the liner brush and dip it into the black eye shadow to create my own liner, and then I usually wipe the purple on my lids. I finish off with a little Chapstick, and I’m good to go.

The Holder for Your Emergency Kit

You don’t need more than a small pouch to hold all of your makeup in your emergency kit because all of your products should be travel sized. I usually use the travel bag that comes with my big makeup carrier, but you could use a Ziploc baggie if you had to. You just need something that can house everything you need and fit in your purse, car, etc. Believe it or not, I don’t carry a purse, so my kit has to go in the center console of my car. I’m with that car all the time though, so that is convenient enough for me.

You may want to get a holder that has multiple compartments, just in case you need to put nail clippers, jewelry, or other quick fixes in there. I have a cute little pocket on the outside of mine that I usually throw a pair of earrings into. These are pieces that I don’t normally wear but they’re generic enough to go with anything I may have on. Remember that we’re talking about the necessities here, not everything and the kitchen sink. Pick your carrying bag accordingly.

Conclusion

Whether you’re a college student out on the prowl or a parole officer scolding with a scowl, you deserve to look your best. If you don’t have time to do that before you leave the house, you should at least have a backup kit to fall back on. If you can do that, you will be able to spruce yourself up whenever something happens unexpectedly. Emergency kits are super easy to put together, so you shouldn’t have to spend a lot of money doing this. Any money you do spend will be well worth the investment in the end.

When it comes to accessories, sometimes less is more. A lot of women think that more jewelry automatically yields more beauty, and that is far from the case. If you want people to really take notice of you, you have to learn the art of minimizing your accessories so that you get the right effect from them. Your jewelry should not be so overwhelming that it competes with your facial features. It just needs to provide a subtle highlight. If you get more compliments on your jewelry than you do on the way you look as a whole, you need to scale down a bit. Here are some suggestions that can help you accessorize without taking things too far.

Earrings or Necklace, Not Both

You may have a fantastic earring and necklace set to wear with an outfit you own, but that is going to be counterproductive. You don’t need both of those elements to make an outfit look good. You only need one. If you try to wear too much around your face, you lose focus of your natural beauty. That is why it is usually best to choose. It may not be bad to wear studs with a necklace or a really long necklace with big earrings, but you can’t get too much going on around your face. That is going to make you look a lot worse in the end.

Color Matters

The color of your jewelry could impact the way your face looks, for better or for worse. It is no different than eye shadow colors or blush in that regard. If you have a red skin tone, red earrings will make your cheeks look super rosy. If you have blue eyes that you want to bring out, you can do that with some blue earrings. The jewelry could make your face look better or worse, depending on the colors involved with it. Think about the colors that work best with your face before you pick out jewelry to wear.

Location, Location, Location

The size of your jewelry will make a big difference in the way your face looks. That is because different sizes land in different locations. If you have really long earrings, you are going to make your face look longer. If you have some that barely go below the lobe, you will emphasize your cheek bones. The same applies to your necklace, which may emphasize your neck, your boobs, or your belly, depending on how low it goes. You have to find a way to get the jewelry to go where you want it to go.

Subtle Success

If you really want to make people see you for you, you need to make sure that your jewelry is as subtle as possible. You may only need a pair of diamond studs to add that little sparkle that your face needs. I wear the same necklace almost every day because it is subtle and interesting at the same time. Rather than overwhelming your face with gaudy jewelry, just keep it simple. A subtle dose of style will go a lot further than you think.

Don’t let your jewelry compete with your face, no matter what you do. If you think you look too over the top for where you are going, you need to take some of the jewelry off and re-focus your efforts. The last thing you need is for people to think you’re a drag queen when you’re really a network administrator. If you can learn to keep everything to a minimum, you will draw people into your face itself and hopefully drive them crazy with jealousy (women) or mmmm-break-me-off-a-piece-of-that (men). Test out this theory and see what it could do for you.

Your hair is an extension of who you are, and it really can define your look. I have cycled through my fair share of hair colors in my day, to the point that I am usually surprised to see what color my hair is when my roots come in. If you have been debating between a few hair color options, there are some things you can keep in mind to help you find the perfect match. You have to take all kinds of factors into consideration before picking the perfect option for you. Here are some tips to help you select the color that will truly work best for your hair year after year.

Think about Your Natural Hair Color

In some cases, you may just want to get a color that is close to the color your hair is naturally. There are a few reasons for this. First, you will probably look good with a color close to your natural color because that is what is going to automatically fit your face. Second, a color like this will fade over time and still blend in with you roots. Third, changing your hair color ever so slightly gives you a chance to figure out if you want to go darker or lighter, which can help you transition into a more extreme color. If this is your first time getting your hair dyed, you may just want to adjust what you already have and see what happens.

Try on Wigs

If you have a wig shop in your area, you may want to go through to test out a few different color options. This will not show you what your hair cut will look like, but it will help you see what the color looks like against your skin, eyes, smile, etc. It is sometimes hard to visualize the real impact a color will have until you see it all over your hair. If you can try on wigs, you should be able to get a feel for the best option for you.

Assess Your Face

Your facial features are going to be right next to your hair, so you need to pick a color that is going to emphasize them in the right way. For instance, let’s assume that you have naturally rosy cheeks. You may want to steer clear of colors that have hints of red in them because that is going to make your cheeks look even rosier. You need something that is going to bring out the color of your eyes or the richness of your skin, depending on the look you are going for. You need to really analyze your face and the colors you think would look good with it. You can formulate a hair color from there.

Consider Your Lifestyle

You really need to think about where you work before you get a color that is too over the top. Hot pink hair may work for a job at Walmart, but it won’t work if you’re a paralegal at Binder, Binder, and Cline. Your profession and position in life is going to have a big impact on what color is right for you. You may have to work with something classy and neutral if you spend most of your time in a corporate office. In that case, just play around with your clothes or jewelry instead of your hair. That way you can still express yourself without losing your job.

If you take the time to really test out your hair color options, there is no reason why you can’t find the perfect color for you.

When most people think about smoky eyes, they think black. That is just the natural reaction to have. While you can get great looking smoky eyes with black eye shadow, the fact is that you don’t necessarily have to use black to get your eyes looking fabulous. You can choose a different color that complements your face better, and that will give you a chance to really make your eyes pop on your face. Black is too harsh for some people, so you need to find the right smoky shadow for your overall look. The tips below can help you do just that. Here is a look at some of the options you have when smoking out those sultry windows to the soul.

Plum

Plum is a really pretty eye shadow shade that works well for most eye colors. This is particularly true for people with green or hazel eyes. The plum color contrasts with the green in the eyes and really makes them stand out on a person’s face. If you can find the right shade of plum for your smoky look, you are guaranteed to turn heads every time. Just be careful with over using it because that can make you look like you have a giant bruise. You need to take on a subtle approach, with just enough color to draw attention to your blinkers.

Hunter Green

Hunter green is not a color that works well for everyone, but it can be a really neat alternative to black smoky eyes. I have seen people with hazel eyes wear it in the past, and it made their eyes look a really cool golden brown color. You could also pull this off if you had light brown eyes or maybe even blue eyes. You just have to be careful with blue and green together because they can look overly cartoony if you use the wrong shadow. Hold up a hunter eye shadow container to your eyes to see if that color complements you well enough.

Navy

Most forms of blue eye shadow are far too Mimi from the Drew Carey Show for most people to wear nowadays, but navy is different. It has the sophistication of black without actually being black. Navy colors work well for people with brown eyes, but they don’t work well with blues, greens, or hazels. If you have brown eyes and you want to try something new, you should definitely give this a try.

Dark Brown

A really nice dark brown color looks great with blue eyes. It really makes them stand out. Brown is the only color that can contrast to blue without making it look like a crayon. It is professional enough for any medical administrative assistant to wear. There are many different shades of brown out there, so you need to make sure you get one that will look good with your eyes. Most women look great with a mahogany color, but you may look better with chocolate or coffee. You just have to test out some different shadows and see what you think.

Don’t jump to the conclusion that you have to wear black in order to get a great smoky eye. With the right application techniques, you can get this look in any color you want. I wear dark purple eye makeup all the time, and I absolutely love it. You just have to find the color that works best for you. If you put it on well, your eyes should pop off your face and grab the attention of anyone passing by.

A lot of people think that women wear makeup to impress men, when in all actuality they do it to compete with women. From my experience, men actually prefer the way that most women look without makeup as opposed to the way they look with it on. My husband tells me this all the time, but I usually ignore him because I like the way I look with makeup better than I do without. With that in mind, it is nice to know that he sees me as a beautiful creature even when I look my ugliest. The men in your life may think the same thing. Here are some tips to help you achieve a stunning natural look without having to cake on a second face.

Take Care of Your Skin

One of the first things you need to do to have a great natural look is keep your skin as clear as possible. If you have a lot of acne marks or blackheads, you may not look as attractive as you should. Find a good facial cleanser that works for you, and try to stick with it as long as you can. You may want to use something like Proactiv to keep your skin looking smooth and supple. With clear skin, you will have a great foundation for your all natural look.

Whiten Your Teeth

A white smile is also a key component to a great natural look. You may have naturally white teeth at the moment, which means that you won’t have to worry about this step. If you have discoloration issues though, you may want to invest in some sort of whitening solution. This could be something as simple as using Crest White Strips on a regular basis, or it could involve a trip to the dentist’s office for a professional whitening treatment. Just brighten up your teeth a bit so they shine well when you smile. That will make a big difference in your natural look.

Wear Lip Balm

You don’t have to be 100% natural to still have a natural look to your face. You can apply a little bit of Chapstick to your lips to give them a moist, vivacious appeal. This will be subtle, but it could transform the way your face looks for the better. All you need is a little bit of shine on your lips to make them look enticing an inviting. If you have the right lip balm to use, you could easily make your smile stand out on your face. Test this theory out a few times and see what you think. It may be more important than you realize.

Avoid Fussy Hairdos

You can’t pull off a natural look if you have unnatural looking hair. This isn’t to say that you cannot fix your hair before you go out. You just need to fix it in a way that complements your natural look. By avoiding updos and crazy hair concoctions, you will have the best chance at getting compliments on your look in the future. People will definitely do a double take if they think you look good “au naturale.”

You may not think that you look good without makeup, but a lot of other people probably do. Women have been raised to think that makeup is the key to being beautiful, but that is not the case at all. Try to reduce the amount of makeup you wear in the day and see what sort of looks you get. You may be pleasantly surprised by what you find.

Most people try to save money on their hair by dying it themselves, and then they find out that the dye in the box is not all it is cracked up to be. I have done this a few times over, and every time I have had to go to a professional salon to get my hair dyed the color I actually wanted it to be. Even though a professional dye job costs extra money, that money is well worth it in the end. I cannot tell you how much I could have saved over the years had I just gone to the pros in the first place. Let’s take a look at some of the pros that come along with having someone else dye your hair.

Professional Products

I don’t care how much money you spend on dye in a box. It is still going to come out looking like a crappy version of good hair color. Hair salons have the right products to make your hair look the best it possibly can. Their bleach is more effective than anything you could find in store shelves, and their dyes in general are going to last longer on your hair. That may actually save you money in the long run because you will not have to re-dye your hair over and over again. One job will be enough to last a month or more.

All-Over Coverage

I always seem to miss half of my hair whenever I try to dye it on my own, and that is because I cannot see what is going on all over the place. A hair stylist can quickly look at your hair and put the color right where it needs to be. If you want highlights, you can get them in the places that will actually look good on your hair, not the places you can reach. It is just better to get someone else to put the dye in because they can see everything that you can’t. That sight goes a long way in determining the success of your hair dye.

Knowledgeable Efforts

You probably don’t know a thing about dying hair other than what you can read on the outside of a box. My knowledge only extends a little further than that because I have seen a lot of episodes of Tabatha’s Salon Takeover. When you have a professional working on your hair, you can benefit from having his or her expertise around. If something goes wrong with the dying process, that person can quickly fix the problem. You would probably be stuck with the issue until you were able to get down to a salon to have it fixed. You cannot underestimate the power of professional dying services. They will make a big difference in the way your hair looks as a whole.

If you want to have the best looking hair possible, you really need to spend some of your pediatric nurse salary to have someone else do the work for you. I know that is going to probably cost $70 to $100+, but that is a small price to pay for fabulous looking hair that you can turn heads with. I refuse to dye my own hair anymore, even if it may save me a little bit of money. I just go to the salon and let them work their magic. As long as I go to a good salon that I know I can trust, I always come out looking better than when I went in. Hopefully this article will encourage you to do the same.

If you enjoy doing your own makeup and you feel you have a natural talent for it, you may want to consider doing that for a living. Most people do not realize they can make money doing makeup for a living because this is more of a hobby than anything else. If you get the right certification or the right employer to give you a chance, you could actually make some decent money doing makeup for other people. Whether you like to actually work with makeup or you prefer the tools used for special effects and costumes, you could find a career in this industry. Let’s take a closer look at this line of work to determine if it is right for you.

The Makings of a Good Makeup Artist

There is no specific type of person that makes a good makeup artist, but there are certain skills and personality traits that need to come with the job. Those qualities may include:

• The ability to choose the right colors to compliment a person’s facial features
• Good communication skills to give people what they want
• A clear understanding of the angles on the human face
• The ability to apply makeup quickly without sacrificing quality
• A willingness to learn new skills and techniques throughout your career
• The ability to work on a team to accomplish a common goal

If you have a natural talent for doing makeup and a charming personality that people are drawn to, this could be a great profession for you. You just need to get some formal training to make sure that you know what you are doing.

The Earnings of a Good Makeup Artist
Before you decide to enter this career, you may want to learn about the salary levels you could earn along the way. This is not the most profitable career in the world, but it could pay the bills at the end of the day. Some makeup artists make really good money, but that is usually after they develop a really good reputation. Carmindy is living proof of that. Here are some charts to show you the salary you could expect to earn in this profession:

Salary by Years of Experience

• Less than 1 year: $7.61 – $17.11 by the hour
• 1-4 years: $8.04 – $24.02 by the hour
• 5-9 years: $10.16 – $50.00 by the hour
• 10-19 years: $11.79 – $59.18 by the hour
• 20 years or more: $10.88 – $122.34 by the hour

Salary by Industry

• Cosmetics: $9.52 – $24.72 by the hour
• Day Spa: $11.79 – $15.26 by the hour
• Department Stores: $8.07 – $18.38 by the hour
• Film Visual Effects: $12.50 – $95.00 by the hour
• Hair and Beauty Salons: $7.50 – $25.50 by the hour
• Retail: $8.15 – $23.23 by the hour

Salary by Employer Type

• Company: $8.97 – $23.78 by the hour
• Contract: $20.17 – $86.48 by the hour
• Franchise: $8.72 – $13.50 by the hour
• Self-Employed: $9.88 – $75.33 by the hour

As you can see, there is some decent money to be made in this career. You just have to make an effort to get good clients and keep them coming back for more. As long as you maintain a passion for your work, it will pay off in the end.

When I was a little girl, I always thought that makeup was supposed to match whatever a woman was wearing. If she had a hot pink hoodie on, she should wear hot pink eye shadow. If she was wearing a bright red belt, she should have bright red lips. While these theories sound logical as a whole, they aren’t necessarily good ideas. The fact is that your makeup doesn’t have to match your outfit. It just has to “go.” (Fans of “What Not to Wear” should know what I’m talking about. Here are some tips to help you wear makeup that suits your face and your wardrobe at the same time.

Your Face Is More Important Than Your Clothes

Before I start talking about how to pick the right makeup for your overall look, I need to point out the reasons why your makeup doesn’t need to match your clothing. The whole point of makeup is to enhance your natural features. If you wear color coordinating eye shadows, you take away from that naturally beautiful effect. You need to pick the colors that are going to make your face look the best, not the ones that are going to match your outfit. At the end of the day, you just need to know where your priorities are.

Picking the Right Colors for Your Face

For the most part, it may be best to establish some sort of neutral look that you can wear with just about anything. Find a color that is going to be relatively subtle but still makes your eyes look amazing. You can do the same with your lips, your cheeks, and everything else. It may be best to find out what “season” of makeup you fall under, and then you can pick colors that correspond to that. Then you will be able to have a go-to formula whenever you want to put on your makeup.

Changing the Tones to Fit the Outfits

With a good color palette in place, you can consider changing the tone of your makeup to match your clothing. Let’s say, for instance, that you like wearing purple on your eyes. You may want to choose a smoky purple for a black outfit and then a light purple for a colorful one. I have three or four different sets of makeup that I try to select based on the outfit I am going to be wearing. The colors do not match per se, but they go together. That is all that matters. If your face doesn’t contrast your overall look, you will come across as very put together.

Experimenting with Your Look

If you can’t decide what sort of makeup to wear with an outfit, just test something out and see what you like. I once did this with a bronze shade that I decided to wear with a maroon shirt, and I ended up with some incredibly awesome eyes when I got done. It was very va-va-va-boom, I tell ya. Makeup is supposed to be fun, so you might as well play around with it as much as you can. There is no reason to get stuck in the same makeup routine day after day. Then there is no excitement in your look. Play around with some different options and see what you think. You never know what will look good until you try it.

Keep the tips above in mind, and always highlight your face first. If your face looks good and the colors fit the outfit alright, you will look like the put together bombshell office manager you really are.

I recently got a haircut at Walmart for the first time ever, and I never ever ever want to go back again. The reason I decided to go the Walmart salon is because I was already at the store and they didn’t look too busy. All I needed was a trim and a relatively simple dye job. How bad could it be? I can now say firsthand that it was bad. Really bad. The customer service was terrible, and the work was shotty at best. I figured I would take the time to share my story with you, just to vent and possibly give you a little laugh. Read on to hear my haircut horrors in full blast.

When I went into Walmart, I knew I wanted to have blonde on the underside of my hair and black on top. I had black dye in my hair from awhile back, so I was not hopeful that the blonde would work. Nevertheless, the stylist assured me that there was a good chance it would come out looking alright, so I trusted her to do the work.

She sectioned off my hair in a funny way for the dying, but I didn’t think much of it. I had a similar experience of confusion in the past that turned out looking fantastic. So I let her do her thing and I sat in the salon chair for over an hour trying to get my hair to bleach. The stylist used her flat irons on the foils multiple times over to try to heat them up, rather than putting me under the hair dryer to heat the hair.

When everything was said and done, the underside of my hair was orange with white roots. I seriously looked like a piece of candy corn. The woman offered to have me come in to fix the hair by way of lightening it again, so I said I would be back in a few days. I came back a few days later, and of course she wasn’t there. The other stylists said they were incapable of fixing someone else’s hair so I would have to come back. I did, and to this day I regret going back.

When I got to the salon the next time, it was full of people –mostly those waiting for others to get their hair fixed. I sat down in the chair and tried to wait for my stylist to complete the cut she was working on. Then all of a sudden I hear the manager shout, “The company card was declined?!” That was loud enough for 15 or so people to hear in the salon. Apparently one of the workers had tried to pay for Sonic on a company card and the card got declined. I’m not sure how Sonic is a company expense, but who am I to know that, right?

In any event, the manager keeps talking about how embarrassing it is to have a company card declined, and she’s doing this loud enough for half of Walmart to hear it. Then she proceeds to tell one of the other employees that she’s just going to take the money out of the drawer tonight and “if they’re short, oh well.” Those were her exact words, and my jaw just dropped.

When I finally got to sit down with my stylist, I told her that I just wanted to dye everything black to avoid the lightening potentially not working again. She then proceeds to tell me I would have to pay $20 for that, even though they were going to relighten my hair for free. I told her that didn’t make any sense because I would still be using the same amount of product and I would actually be taking up less time. If anything, I was saving the company money by going dark.

She said that the manager was the one who told her to charge me, so she was going to have said manager come talk to me. The manager came over and asked what was going on, and I explained why I thought it was ridiculous for me to have to pay for darkening. She proceeds to give me some bogus story, and then she tells me she would have to contact her supervisor after she got done with a haircut (which she hadn’t even started at this point). I asked how long that would take, and she said about 10 minutes. I prepared to wait accordingly.

Immediately after talking to me, she goes over and starts gossiping about me with another client. Here chair was no more than 10 feet away from the chair I was in, and she was loud as hell. I told the stylist I did not appreciate being talked about “behind my back” and asked her for the number to the corporate office. After that, she just went on to dye my hair the way I wanted it to be dyed. I came home, called customer service, and explained the whole thing to them. They were just as stunned as I was.

Long story short, don’t ever go to a Walmart hair salon. If you care about your hair at all, skip the convenience and go for the quality. You’ll be kicking yourself in the behind if you decide to go through what I did. Guaranteed.

For the most part, mascara is a black goopy substance that we women love to put on our eyes to make the lashes pop. Black is a universal color that enhances every eye color and skin tone imaginable, and it is overall the perfect complement for any eye look you are going for. What happens when you want something more out of your mascara though? Why not pick a cooky color that helps you stand out a little bit? You can look good in college without having to stick with the same old, same old. Here are some fun colors of mascara that you may want to try.

Blue Mascara

I know that blue eyewear is a little too 1980s for some people, but for others, it is a great way to make their eyes truly stand out. I actually adore wearing cobalt blue mascara because it makes my eyes stand out and it gives people something to talk about. I don’t suggest wearing this with blue eye shadow because it may not show up well then. I typically wear it with matching blue eye liner and then just a light shade on my eyes. That way the mascara literally pops right off my face. You can play around with the blue look and see if it works for you.

Just don’t wear it to work if you work in a professional environment. Most law firms won’t want you to be a legal assistant for very long if you come to work with blue mascara. Save this for times outside of work where you can be as funky as you want.

Brown Mascara

A lot of us have brown lashes naturally, so I don’t know why more women don’t wear brown mascara. I have a friend that used to wear this dark brown, almost mahogany mascara all the time, and her eyes looked stunning. This is one of those subtle changes that people may not notice at first but they will over time. The color of the mascara will pull out different colors in your eyes, and that will cause people to turn heads. This is especially true for people with hazel eyes because the brown makes the green stick out. It does wonders for blue eyes too though, so you should be able to pump up the sex appeal with brown mascara no matter what.

Gold Mascara

Gold mascara can add a really funky flair to a look without much effort at all. If you are going out for a night on the town, this could be a way to glitterize your face without having to actually use glitter on it. The metallic shimmer will reflect off the lights in the club, and that may enhance your abilities to cast a “come hither” look to the hotty standing over in the corner. You’ll be rolling around the sheets with someone special in no time if you use the powers of the mascara correctly.

Clear Mascara

Believe it or not, you can buy clear mascara to wear if you don’t want to buy a specific color. This will give you a chance to truly enhance your natural beauty, not odd additives whatsoever. Clear mascara can be expensive, and it may not do everything you want it to do. Nevertheless, it is something cool to try if you are looking for a new way to make your eyes pop. With the right amount of experimentation, you may find a few fitting substitutes for your boring old black mascara. Live a little and see what sort of transformations you can go through along the way.

Hazel eyes are often the easiest to enhance with makeup, just because they are so complex to look at. As a proud owner of a pair of hazel eyes, I have never had a problem finding colors that make my eyes stand out and melt any onlooker coming my way. For those of you who don’t know what “hazel” refers to, this is basically an eye color that can’t be defined as blue, green, or brown. There are many different kinds of hazel eyes, but they all fit in that indefinable category. If your eyes are part of our little misfit community, there are a few things you can do to really make them stand out. Here are some tips to help you do just that.

Choose Your Favorite Color

The first thing you need to do when dressing up hazel eyes is determine which color you want to be most prominent from your iris. My eyes are green with little flecks of gold and brown in them, and I like to make them look as green as possible. A friend of mine has grey-blue eyes that she tries to make look as blue as possible. Examine your eyes closely and figure out which part of them you want to bring to everyone’s attention. That will determine how you go about highlighting your eye color.

Use Opposing Eye Shadows

Once you have chosen the eye color you want to enhance in your hazel eyes, you need to try to find an eye shadow that is going to contrast that color as much as possible. By putting a contrasting color right on your eye, you will make the color you want stand out as much as possible. Since I like to make my eyes look green, I try to wear a lot of purples and maroons. My friend with the grey-blue eyes wears a lot of gold to contrast with the blue tone. Hold some different eye shadows next to your iris and see what they look like. You will eventually happen upon a shadow that brings out your eyes considerably.

Enhance with Eyeliner

If you want to have multiple colors around your eyes, you can try to do that with eyeliner. I use a black liquid liner most of the time to give my eyes as much pop as possible, but you could choose to go with a certain color instead. I saw Carmindy from What Not to Wear use a hunter green color on a woman with hazel eyes once, and it looked awesome. I sometimes play around with deep brown eyeliners if I feel like switching my look up a bit. You will just have to test different combinations of shadows and liners to figure out what works best for you.

Get Some Colored Mascara

If you really want to take your look over the edge, you may want to try using colored mascara. Standard black mascara is great as a whole, but sometimes it’s nice to have a little more pizzazz. I like to use blue mascara, surprisingly, just because it makes me feel like a total rock star. I had a friend in high school who used to use dark brown mascara, and her eyes always looked stunning. Several makeup companies offer intense colors for your mascara, like metallic gold or deep plum. You should test out something like that if you truly want to stand out in the crowd.

It’s time for the hazels to start taking a stand, right ladies? Let’s make those eyes pop like the mesmerizing man-eaters that they are, and we’ll be ruling the world in no time. Muhahahaha…

Whether you have two sets of eye shadow or you have a bathroom wall devoted to makeup, you need a case to carry all of your beauty products around in. It only takes one embarrassing trip with makeup-in-a-Ziploc-baggy to make a woman realize it’s time to get a carrying case for all of her makeup needs. Finding the perfect case for you can be a bit of a challenge, considering the sheer amount of cases out there. This is going to be your mobile beautification station, so you need to get something that is truly going to suit your needs. Here are some tips to help you find the makeup tote that is right for you.

Start with the Size

You will need to look for a makeup case that is going to fit all of your makeup in it. If you have a ton of makeup, you will obviously need a fairly large case. I don’t have a lot of makeup, but I bought a large case so I can hold my perfume, deodorant, hair accessories, and more all in one location. My case is like a mini makeup tackle box, and I absolutely love it. If you are worried about taking a big case around with you when you travel, you can always buy a smaller case to hold the essentials. That way you get the best of both worlds.

Check the Storage Options

You will obviously need a makeup case that is going to function the way you need it to, so try to find one with the right amount of storage compartments. I mentioned before that mine is like a little tackle box, and it really is. It has two towers of little shelves that fold out to organize all of my makeup products. I’ve seen other makeup cases with pockets, secret compartments, and tons of other storage options you may want to look into. Just try to find something that will function the way you need it to so you can get the best use out of the case you buy.

Get Something Durable

If you’re anything like e, you probably move your makeup case around a lot. Mine always seems to be in the way, so I am constantly having to grab at the handle to move it from place to place. This can put a lot of wear and tear on the handle of the case, which I have actually seen rip off over time. I have now learned to get something durable if I want to use it for more than a few months. I have a hard makeup case with a thick plastic handle, but you may be able to get something totally different and equally durable. Just make sure that you test the strength of anything you are thinking about buying to avoid having to replace it in a month’s time.

Consider Creative Alternatives

You don’t have to use a definitive “makeup case” to store your makeup. I’ve used bead cases to separate my sponges and brushes before, so I know firsthand the power of creative alternatives. Try to think outside the box when you start searching for your makeup case, as the answers may lie in a completely different section of a store. Small tool boxes and tackle boxes make great options, and even some sewing cases can work if you find the right ones. Take a trip around Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Lowe’s, and anything in between to find a good case that could potentially store all your makeup. As long as you can get something that doesn’t suck up all the money you got from your nursing scholarships, you should be just fine.

Your fingernails are an expression of your personality, and in many ways, they define who you are on the outside. You can test this theory out on your own by looking at pictures with different sets of fingernails. Whether you like it or not, you will automatically cast judgment about a person based on the way her nails look. I guarantee it. With that in mind, you may want to figure out what your nails are currently saying about you. If you want to change that statement to make it reflect you better as a person, the tips below can help you define your style with fake nails.

Establishing a Vibe

Your nails are going to have a “vibe” about them that identifies your status and personality. If you have a set of solid white nails, that vibe may have something to do with a professional, simplistic lifestyle. If you have neon green tips with hot pink flowers on top, you are going to give off the impression that you lead a funky, carefree life. You probably wouldn’t see a medical assistant with fuchsia nails because she has to give off a professional appearance. Think about the tone you want your nails to have, and that will determine the style of nails you get.

Creating a Signature Look

If you get your nails done on a regular basis, you may want to come up with a signature look that you always use. I used to always have colored tips with a black like underneath them because I wear black all the time. I cycled through pink and black, blue and black, green and black, and everything in between. The black line was just my signature, mainly because I have elements of black in most of the clothing I wear. Recently, however, I decided to change my signature look to be sparkly white tips with a colored line underneath. As you can see from the picture, I’m currently rocking a set of white tips with a blue line underneath, accompanied by festive snowflake for the holidays. You need to think about what you want your signature look to be, and then you can stick with that every time.

Getting the Best Look Possible

If you have the option to choose between painted color and powder color, you need to go with the powder. This is going to cost more money, but it is going to look a whole lot better in the end. I used to have my previously mentioned black line painted on, until my nail stylist suggested doing two powders on my nails. I trusted his judgment, and I ended up with a set of cleaner, longer lasting nails. You can’t change out powder like you can paint, but you can still get the base of the nails filled between color changes. At least this way you don’t have to worry about the look fading over time. It will be there as long as you need it to be.

I spend about $50 per session with my nails, but I only have to get them done once a month. Then I go back in and get a new set put on with a new color scheme. I try to change things up pretty regularly, but my signature look remains the same. You could come up with a signature look for yourself, and then people will subconsciously identify you by your nails. Think about what you want your nails to say about you and make your fingers speak accordingly.

Hickeys are fun to get, but they aren’t exactly fun to cover up the next day. Whether you’re going to your first make-out party or you’re just getting a little freaky with your special someone, you are liable to get a hickey at some point in your life. Getting rid of a hickey isn’t impossible, but you may have to go through some trial and error to figure out how to cover it up. Here are some tips to help you get rid of a giant love mark on the side of your neck.

The Toothbrush Method

I have never seen positive results from the toothbrush method, but a lot of people say this is the only way to go. Brush the hickey with a stiff bristled tooth brush, but make sure you don’t push down too hard. That may inflame the area and make the hickey look worse. Rub in circles for a few minutes, and then wait for 20 minutes before touching the area. Then apply a cold press for 15 minutes to calm the area. Wait for another half hour or so before checking on the area. If you still have a hickey, you may want to repeat the process.

The Toothpaste Method

We’ve all heard about using toothpaste to remove pimples, but the same process could help you get rid of hickeys. Put a layer of toothpaste on your hickey and let it sit long enough to stop tingling. This should only take a few minutes. When it’s done tingling, wash the area with a warm wash cloth. You can repeat this process the next day if it doesn’t work. In a worst case scenario, you can at least have a tasty neck for your next round of…you know.

The Concealer Method

If your hickey is light enough, you may just be able to put some concealer on it. You may have trouble doing this with dark hickeys, simply because they are hard to cover up as a whole. Put the concealer on the whole area so you don’t draw attention to that one spot. Try to get a green-tinted concealer because that should counteract the red in your hickey. If the concealer works well, you may be able to put some powder on it to finish everything off. Then your skin will look relatively innocent, if you know what I mean.

The Turtleneck Method

This is probably the corniest option of all, but it can work. If you can’t figure out any solution to help you cover up your hickey, you may just want to wear a turtle neck the next day. This may be a bit suspicious in July, but it might not be noticeable in January. You could also try wearing a scarf or a large necklace, depending on where the hickey is. Just look around your closet and see if you have anything that would cover the area where your love bite remains. If your friends ask what’s up with the outfit, just say you’re going for a new look.

The I Don’t Give a Sh*t Method

When everything else fails, flaunt your hickey with pride. You got it because someone found you to be damn sexy. What’s so wrong with that? Sure your parents, your preacher, your peers, your professors, and possibly your probation officer may throw you a dirty look, but who cares? Just be proud of what you have on your neck, and no one will even notice that it comes from a not-so-clean act. You’d be amazed by how distracting confidence can be.

Some people think that using blush makes you look old, and others think that more blush equates to a better looking face. There’s no happy medium, where people use blush properly without overdoing it. The right amount of blush can actually make your cheek bones look more pronounced, but it has to be the right blush for your face. Otherwise you can get that fake, clown face that makes you look more like Mimi from the Drew Carey show than anything else. Here is a look at what you need to do to get the right blush for your face from the start.

Finding the Right Color

The color of your blush will make a big difference in the way it looks on your face. If you go with something too dark or too hot pink, you’re not going to get the results you want. Most women look good with pale, peachy blush. That color provides just enough of a sun kissed glow to make the cheeks stand out without looking over the top. You may also try a soft mauve color if you want, but you will need to make sure that you use it sparingly. Otherwise it will show up as a really dark spot on your face. Test out a few different color options and see what works best for your skin tone.

Find the Right Consistency

The kind of blush you buy will also make a big difference in the way it looks on your face. Ideally, you need to look for a mineral based powder because it will be light and vibrant at the same time. If you can’t find that, you may want to use some kind of mousse based blush. This will be thicker, which means that you will need to make sure you rub it in well. Otherwise it may come off as war paint. You can use traditional powder blush, but make sure you tap your brush before you apply it. That way all the excess blush won’t get stuck on other parts of your face.

Find the Right Amount

You should only be using a small amount of blush every time you apply it. Otherwise you will get that overkill effect going on every time you put it on. Try buying the blush in small quantities so it doesn’t go bad. Over time, your makeup can get pretty gross. If you just have a small set of blush to work with, you will have a chance to use it up before you buy more. Test out some different products to see what you like, and then buy the small or medium size of the product to use. This will keep your makeup fresh well into the future.

Applying Blush the Right Way

When you start applying your blush, focus on the apples of your cheeks. If you make a fish face, they will be easier to see. Move from the outside of the cheeks in so that the bulk of the blush goes toward the outside of the face. If you do this in the opposite direction, you may end up with a harsh dab of color right around the nose. Your blush should look natural, and that definitely isn’t natural.

Blend the blush in well, to the point that most people don’t know it’s there. It should be a subtle touch of color, not a blatant paint smear on your face. The last thing you need is for someone to think a tattoo artist put a big gob of ink on your face. If you can apply it with that in mind, you should be good to go.

Having acne sucks, but what sucks even worse is having to deal with the scars that acne tends to leave behind. If you want to get rid of acne marks, you may be afraid to use some of the lightening creams on the market. The fact is that many of them actually cause more damage to your skin than they help, and they cost far too much money for what they have to offer. Rather than wasting money on solutions like that, you may want to look into natural solutions for your past acne problems. The suggestions below may be able to help you do just that without spending much money at all.

Tomatoes

If you don’t mind the smell of tomatoes, you can look to them as ways to get rid of acne marks. All you have to do is cut a tomato in half, and then you can use one of the halves to make your skin tighter and your acne scars lighter. By rubbing a tomato directly on your skin, you can allow it to absorb the juices inside. These naturally improve the way skin looks, but they may not be pleasant to smell all day. It is best to do this at night so your skin can breathe and the smell can dissipate. Make sure to wash off the juice after 20 minutes.

Lemons

You can do the same thing with lemon juice that you can with tomato juice, assuming you have it around. The lemon juice is similar to the acid in the tomatoes, which is why they work in a similar way. You should also wash the lemon juice off after 20 minutes of use. Note that if you have active acne, the lemon juice may irritate it. Thus this would not be the best solution if you are looking to target one scar in a field of existing blemishes. Whether you have a forensic psychology degree or no degree at all, you can make this work for you.

Olive Oil

If you have some spare olive oil in your kitchen, you may want to use it to remove acne scars. Rub the oil into the scarred skin, and let it set for a while. Then lightly dab it off with a warm wash cloth. The oil will soften the skin and reduce the appearance of scars over time.

Egg Whites

Egg whites are the clear parts that come out when you crack an egg. If you have some eggs in your fridge, crack one in a bowel and scoop out the yolk. At the end of the day, put a dab of the egg whites on a cotton ball and rub it on your face. Leave it on overnight and wash your face off in the morning. The egg whites will tighten your skin and remove scars over time. Seeing that the cost of a single egg is next to nothing, this could be a cheap and easy solution for your skin care needs.

Other Solutions

If you are looking to the natural solutions to get rid of acne marks because you want to reduce the amount of money you spend, you may be pleased to find out how affordable Biofade is. This solution also contains no harmful chemicals, so you can use it to safely and effectively lighten your skin. A lightening cream like this is going to be much faster acting, and it will not come with the awkward smell of food. This will help you use it to your advantage. Take a look at some products like this and see if any of them would be more suited to your needs than fruits and at home remedies.