pretty in RED

It seems as if this entire summer has been filled with rainy days…. much like the past week. Usually, I don’t mind rainy days. They can be a nice change of pace, a chance to sit around and catch up on Project Runway and Rachel Ray. However to many rainy days and not enough time to enjoy some sunshine just plain sucks.
By the end of June I’m usually so tan that my tan lines make it seem as if I am wearing a bathing suit all the time. However this year my tan lines are barely visible and I’m still using my winter makeup, which means my tan is seriously lacking. So besides using vast amounts of sunless tanner, I’m in a search to find out what I can do to appear more tan without actually laying out in the sun or in a tanning booth. (Not to mention hopefully giving my skin a break from harmful skin cancer causing rays).

What I’ve found is that lighter tones make your skin appear darker, but deep hues such as brown and purple can work as well (as long as you are not paisley to begin with). Yellow seems to work for people with darker complexions as well. Orange can work as well, but it can also bring out the orange tones in your skin and make you look fake baked. White works best for every complexion and black is a close second. These colors work by contrasting with your skin tone.

As far as make up goes, the usual combinations of bronzers and blush seem to be the only solutions to fake a sun kissed look. Applying the bronzer in the correct way will help you look like you just stepped off the beach, not like you just spent hours in front of the mirror. When applying the bronzer use a larger brush. Apply the makeup starting at your forehead making the number “3” down the side of your face. (The hairline, cheekbone, and jaw line). Repeat on the other side of your face. Also make sure that the bronzer you buy matches the color that your skin looks when naturally tan, and that it does not have any orange undertones. By applying the makeup in this way it emulates the natural places the sun hits your face. Applying blush can be tricky, because where and how you apply it all depends on the shape of your face. Personally, I use a large brush and apply the blush to my cheek bones, then a quick swipe across my forehead, chin, and nose because those are the places on my face that receive the most sun.

When it comes to nail polish, the same theories apply to your nails as your clothing. Light pinks and oranges will make toes and fingers appear darker. As opposed to bright reds (as much as I love red toe nails, the color doesn’t do much to make skin look darker). Paired with a white or black sandal, if nothing else your feet will look as if they have just stepped off the beach.

Hopefully these tips will help out the girls who have been stuck inside all summer. If you have any tips of tricks that you use to fake a sun kissed look, let me know!

There are two categories of girls in this world. Girls who have curly hair and those who don’t. Girls who have curly hair usually wish their hair was as straight as a pin. While girls with straight hair just don’t understand what it is like to have curly hair. Straight hair girls claim that they would love to have curly hair, yet they don’t seem to realize how much work a girl with curly hair has to put into her hair to have a good hair day. When you have curly hair there is no just “get up and go” in the mornings. (Unless you plan on wearing a hat). Curly hair is something that needs to be cared for everyday in order for it to look its best.
Naturally curly hair has a mind of its own. You can try to tell it what to do with gels and hair mouses, but rarely will it listen. And if it is rainy outside or even the least bit humid, forget about having a good hair day. Magazines try to give the occasional helpful hint to control curls and friz, but they never offer the support and understanding of what it is like to deal with unruly curly hair in a world that favors straight hair.
If you are reading this and have curly hair, you understand where I am coming from. You have fought with your hair in the morning, you have traded hair products with your friends claiming that you have “finally found the product that gives you amazing curls” yet it never seems to work more then once, and you have desperately wished that you were born with straight hair. If you are reading this with straight hair, there is no way to understand the unspoken camaraderie that exist between us girls with curly hair.
However, for the first time I believe that there is hope for girls with curly hair. www.naturallycurly.com is a web site that provides tips, products, humidity forecast, support, and much more for girls with curly hair. This website will help you to not only learn how to manage curly hair, but to also love and embrace your curly hair even throughout the most intense down pours.

After many frustrating weeks of trying to set up a blog with my own URL I have officially given up. (Or at least until I find someone who understands this hole FTP upload msql html php thing). My hope was to create a blog using an original layout, my own URL and basically turn it into a super awesome website. But until then, I am going to continue to post on the original pretty in RED and hope that more people will read it.

This summer my days have consisted of waking up around 9 or 10, going to the gym, working and watching Sex And The City.(nothing exciting but relaxing none the less). One of tonight’s episodes discussed models and “modelizers”. The girls were frustrated with men lusting after models and not them. Which made wonder what exactly is it about a model that is so attractive to men? Is it really how beautiful they are? Because not all models are beautiful, and some are so skinny that they have bodies more like a teenage boy then a girl. Or do men lust after them because of the “unattainableness” that surrounds them?

I also wonder how men feel about this issue. How do they honestly feel when they hear us girls lusting after one of the perfect guys in a Nicholas Sparks novel turned block buster, or just any super sexy man with a six pack. Do they then feel the need to have the perfect body the way women feel when compared to models?

These questions also lead me to wonder why women feel the need to look like models anyway. If men also feel the pressure to look perfect, why do females feel the same way? Since both sexes are trying to look perfect to impress the other, why can’t we except each others imperfections. This way we could actually enjoy stuffing our faces on dates, and after dinner enjoy getting ice cream and/or pie after. If people actually lived like this, I believe the world would be a much happier place, because in my mind ice cream makes everyone happy. I would be lying if I said this was not the way I already live… no matter how much I eat, I still find ways to eat ice cream after. However, the next day there I am at the gym asking myself why I have no self control when it comes to food. I’m stuck in the middle of eating whatever sounds good in the moment, then regretting it soon after.

So what is a girl to do? I don’t know if there is much that can be done. However, if I could control what is considered beautiful, I would suggest eating a couple brownies and only working out to stay healthy, not to impress the guys at the beach. And as far as "modelizers" go, some men need to realize that real women don't have the body of a teenage boy.