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Sara’s Beauty Hacks

17 March 2021

Thicker Eyebrows

Thicker eyebrows are in and a natural and budget friendly way to grow your brows is pure pressed castor oil. You can get this in most health food shops. It contains fatty acids and protein that hair needs to grow long and strong. 

Using a cotton bud or your finger tip and apply the oil to your brows. Leave the oil overnight, wash it off in the morning and repeat as regularly as you can for best results.

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Body Scrub

If you want to scrub your skin naturally while you are in the shower all you need to do is add a little sea salt to your shower gel. Exfoliating is important if you want your skin to look bright and fresh but if you want to save the pennies, take the natural route and exfoliate while you wash. 

Spotlight on … Exfoliation

While daily cleansing and moisturizing is needed to maintain great skin, the not-so-hidden beauty secret to glowing skin is through exfoliation. Exfoliation treatments can help with skin rejuvenation, elasticity and collagen and removes dead skin cells from the surface. It will help tired, scarred or old skin look fresher, softer and smoother . You can exfoliate your face and body, and you can either do professional treatments or DIY at-home treatments.

I recently tried Declare’s soft Cleansing enzyme peel €26.95 which uses enzymes to gently exfoliates the surface of the skin. Because it is not a mechanical exfoliant, it is perfect for all skin types even the most sensitive of skins. It leaves your skin feeling really smooth straight after the first use. It get a thumbs up from me. 

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Beauty Hack Brows Featured Posts Treatments

Lucy Zender tells us how to achieve a flawless brow

28 February 2021
woman in red lipstick hiding behind green leaves

Lucy Zender is the creator and founder of Tweezerfile, an award-winning and innovative new beauty product that allows you to sharpen your old blunt tweezers and bring them back to life. Hold your tweezers with the blades together, then slide the tweezer up and down the Tweezerfile, gently applying equal pressure on the top and bottom blade. After a few strokes, your tweezers will be back to their old glory, gripping even the shortest hair!

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I caught up with Lucy Zender, creator and founder of Tweezerfile and she has given us the following tips and tricks to achieving a flawless brow.

Eyebrows out of control, following lockdowns and restrictions or do you just want to keep them as neat as possible until you can next get to an appointment? Or perhaps you have been taking a more do-it-at-home attitude to your beaty regimes over recent months.

Whatever your motivation, if you’re planning to do a DIY eyebrow tidy, you want to do it right. Here are my 6 top tips for getting flawless eyebrows in the comfort of your own home.

Get prepared:

Pluck your eyebrows after a bath or shower, so your pores are open and your skin softer. If you don’t have time, hold a warm, damp flannel to your brows for a couple of minutes to achieve a similar effect. Make sure you’re relaxed and have everything you need to hand. Most importantly, ensure your mirror is completely clean and fit for the job and that you have good light – but avoid magnifying mirrors and very bright lighting as that can lead to over-plucking.

Determine your eyebrow shape

In order to pluck your natural line, you need to determine the three vital points of your brows. Then you can pluck around these markers. These points are: 

  1. Start – With your eyebrow pencil, hold it vertically against your ‘nasal wing’ (the fattest part of your nostril). Mark with your other pencil where it meets your eyebrow. 
  2. Arch – this is the highest part of your eyebrow and can be determined by holding your pencil against your nasal wing again but this time at an angle so that it runs past the outer part of your pupil. Where this meets the eyebrow is your arch point. Again, this should be marked.
  3. End – With the pencil still on your nasal wing, turn it so it runs past the outward corner of your eye. Where it touches the brow, mark the end of your eyebrow.

Careful plucking

Work from the inside, over to the outside then underneath i.e. first pluck the hairs between your eyebrows, then pluck the hairs above your arch, to properly define it. Next, take out any hairs that are on the outside of your end mark. When you have done this, pluck under your brow. This is where you can determine how thick or thin your brows are. Be really careful to keep the plucking underneath consistent in both eyebrows! 

In fact, make sure you don’t do one eyebrow and then the other. Instead do a few hairs on one eyebrow and then even it up on the other side. Stop regularly and check that they are coming out even.

To make your plucking most efficient, stretch your skin tight and pluck from as close to the root as you can get. This makes it far less likely that you will break a hair and leave it too short to grab with your tweezers. Also, pull the hair in the direction it grows, to make it easier to pluck.

Trim stragglers:

Once you have your shape, you may want to just tidy up long hairs that have a nasty habit of pointing out at odd angles. Take your brow brush and brush your hairs up, then very carefully use your eyebrow scissors to trim them to the right length.

Add finishing touches:

It’s likely the skin around your eyebrows will be inflamed and sore once you have finished, so have a soothing cream to hand. 

Once they have calmed down you can go the extra mile with a couple of finishing touches.

  • If you still have errant hairs, use a specially-designed transparent gel to smooth them into place and keep them there.
  • If you did over-pluck or have small gaps in your eyebrow, use your eyebrow pencil to gently draw some tiny lines to replace the errant hairs.
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Look after your tweezers:

After a few times plucking your own brows, you’ll probably have got the hang of looking after them. However, don’t forget also to look after the tools of your trade, namely your tweezers. 

Many people simply throw their tweezers back in their makeup bag when they have finished with them. The trouble with this is that they are more likely to get the tips blunted and blunt tweezers are not effective. Blunt tweezers tend to bend and break hairs or simply not work at all.

So, when you have finished perfecting your brows, wipe your tweezers clean and store them either in a special storage pouch or point-up in a pot or other receptacle. If your Tweezers came with those little plastic covers on the tips, keep hold of them and replace them after each use to protect them from dust, etc.

However well you look after them, they will blunt eventually and what do you do then? Well, most people simply throw them away and get a new pair. Alternatively, look for a Tweezer file designed specifically for tweezers that is easy-to-use and will ensure your tweezers are always in tip top condition and will last and last!

I hope you’ve found these tips useful and that you can enjoy nice trim brows, whether this is a change for good or just until your favourite beautician is able safely reopen their doors! However good your DIY job, I suspect you may be glad to let them work their magic again when the time comes!

Tweeerfile is available in two beautiful colours, coral and petrol blue. Available via Tweezerfile.com and from Amazon. 

Web: https://www.tweezerfile.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tweezerfile/ 

Brows Hair Makeup Skin Treatments

The return of the beauty industry after Covid

17 January 2021

The beauty industry is one of the safest - Boris Johnson must get ...

The global beauty industry has been shocked by the covid-19 crisis, but the industry has responded positivity to the crisis. I spoke to a few owners across the beauty industry and asked them how they are coping since re-opening, the challenges they face and how long do they think it will take for the industry to recover.

‘When we closed our doors in March due to Covid 19, it was like we were living on a movie set it was so surreal. I was devastated but knew it was the right thing to do, being closed for almost 4 months was the hardest hurdle we have faced in business and being a new business of just 2 years as we were still building our brand and closing left us very unsure of the future and almost felt at one time we would be starting all over again but we knew we would be doing everything in our power to make sure our doors reopened.  We used the time to upskill and carry on learning about everything that we love to do. We made maximum changes in line with all guidelines to ensure the best customer experience and to have a safe salon for clients and staff members. We have always been an upbeat fast pace salon with walk ins always welcome and we have now had to extend appointment times to accommodate all the extra sanitising before and after each client. Hygiene was always at the highest standards at Darque but now we are above and beyond with very strict protocols in place, we have sanitisers all around our salon, PPE is worn by staff & clients, social distancing is very important and we are very firm with it, we have Perspex between sections and portable Perspex for any clients who may be extremely nervous. Our client numbers have also been reduced as we no longer have a waiting area and we are limited to the numbers in our salon at one time.  I feel like the salon experience still feels the same for our clients, just with a few twists. We have had amazing support from clients and great feedback with regard to all the work we have done to the salon to keep everyone feeling confident that safety is key when they enter. I do think our industry will take quite some time to bounce completely back to how it used to be if it even does, I honestly think this is the new normal now & I do think everyone will adjust to it and that amazing salon feeling that we all love will again return. It’s one of the safest places to be as our industry always has had the highest hygiene standards so after some weeks, I can see things getting better once everyone remains careful and all advice is always adhered to. We love what we do, and we are so happy to get back doing what we love the most and seeing our clients support us as soon as we open our doors is an amazing feeling. It won’t be an easy road but with passion and drive we will give it our all, we look forward to welcoming old and new clients back to Darque to experience the new salon experience’. Melanie, Owner Darque Tanning Studio & Blow Dry Parlour

‘Since covid shut us down, reopening will be a huge challenge for people especially within the beauty industry. We all need to make sure we protect ourselves and our clients with best practices and good product hygiene. I see the future being bright again, and I already have people rebooking back in – but it will take time’. John Paul Payne Makeup

Due to Covid 19, Gellicious Nail & Beauty Stuido & Gellicious Academy were closed from the 16th of March. Staff used this time to educate themselves on the virus and up-skill in salon cleanliness for a safe re-opening. Gellicious re-opened on the 29th of June following all guidelines set out by the HSE and we are delighted to welcome back our loyal clients that have stuck with us through this strange time. A constant effort is being made at Gellicious to monitor all updates regarding Covid 19 as both our clients and staff health and well-being are a priority to us. We hope to see you soon for your nail appointment, we have missed you all!

Kathy, Natalia & team – Gellicious Nail & Beauty Studio and Academy

‘I closed my salon doors on St. Patrick’s weekend and I never imagined it would be nearly four months before I held a set of tweezers in my hands again. While I’m delighted to be reopened I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit anxious as to what the future holds for my small business. The long term impact is that even when the Covid crisis is over people will still be very cautious about their intimate experience with their beautician. I think people are taking a step back and thinking ‘Is this the cleanest most hygienic place I can put myself in’. That being said the beauty industry has always adhered to strict hygiene procedures. I have totally revamped my salon with a new air purifying system and a sanitising unit, so I’m open for business looking forward to doing lashes for my amazing clients. Debbie Gibney – Lashes by Debbie Gibney 

Brows Skin

All about Brows!

17 January 2021
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A good brow product should define your shape, fill in any areas that need extra help and give you a natural yet full finish.  For anyone new to filling in brows, pencils are great. Pencils are buildable so it can prevent you going OTT.  If you’re using a pencil, use short, hair-like strokes to mimic the natural look of your brow. If your brows are extra thin and you need some serious fill in action, use a pomade and a slanted brow brush. If you don’t have brow pomade, put some hair spray on your finger and wipe over your brows to keep the hairs in place.

Sara’s Favourite Brow Pencil: MAC spiked brow pencil €18.00. I absolutely love this eyebrow styler. I use the color Spiked. I’ve used a few eyebrow pencils, pens, and gels but I keep going back to this one! A self-propelling, self-sharpening, water-resistant styler.  The fine tip makes it  easy to draw individual hairs if you want to and makes it handy for getting that perfect shape without being too messy. It glides on nicely and stays put.

Sara’s Favourite Brow mascara: NYX brow mascara 8.00  in noir.  The formula stays put on the brows throughout  the whole day! I’ve no need to reapply and one coat does the job all day. I find it to be equal to a lot of more expensive brow products. The pigmentation is really strong and it dries very quickly with no flaking.

Sara’s Favouritie Brow pomade: Anatasia Beverely Hills €22.00

 I tend to switch up between the colours that I use for myself (dark brown, medium brown, and chocolate) because there are just so many shades to choose from and depending on the eye look I want to achieve, It does take time to find your perfect shade in dipbrow, but regardless, it really makes transformations happen. A little does go a very long way. If you’re stuck with sparse, light-haired natural eyebrows, dip brow is truly a blessing. Pair it with a little concealer around the edges, and you will not regret it!

Brow Lamination at a glance

What is it?

Brow lamination is the process of restructuring brow hairs to keep them in the desired shape. 

Who is it good for?

It is a perfect treatment for someone with full brows whose hairs are irregular in direction.

How does it look?

It will give the appearance of perfectly groomed full brows.

How long does brow lamination last?

With proper care, brow lamination can last four to eight weeks.