8 Clever Makeup Tips You Haven't Heard Before

by BellaSugar

Makeup artists know all the secrets to looking great — those little tricks that can be picked up only by living in the beauty world 24/7 as they do. Fortunately, they're often as generous as they are knowledgeable. We talked with some of the best makeup artists in the business to get their best out-of-the-ordinary tips. (And no, we're not using the old "white eyeliner makes your eyes look bigger" thing. You've read it a hundred times.) Read on to see some of the best tips you haven't heard before.

Ditch the oil slick To keep shine in check, Revlon Global Artistic Director Gucci Westman always keeps blotting papers on hand. But in a pinch, she has an unusual way to keep oil at bay. "Believe it or not," she says, "I sometimes put deodorant on my finger and dab under my eyes and t-zone to help create a matte look."

Try a colored eyeliner Changing your eyeliner can make eyes look bigger and brighter, says makeup artist Tina Turnbow, who has worked with stars such as Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore. "Try swapping black for plum, olive green or indigo," she suggests. "Black can close up the eye and make it appear smaller, because darker colors make the eye recede. Some colors, even brown, can be softer."

Go for sheer foundation Adding aloe to foundation gives it excellent slip, says makeup artist Brett Freedman, who's helped women like Vanessa Hudgens and Leighton Meester get gorgeous. "Sheer out your favorite base by adding a half a pea size of aloe to your foundation before you apply," he explains. "Also, you can apply aloe to your face and while still dewy, spread on a little foundation. You're ready for summer!"

Style your brows, size up your eyes Doug Howell, NARS makeup artist, has an easy trick for making eyes stand out more. "Use a powder to define the entire brow, but give extra attention to the center arch area of the brow," he says. "Since this is the highest area of the brow, it tricks people's eyes into thinking your eyes look bigger." Use a brow brush to apply powder eye shadows that correspond with your hair color. He recommends NARS single eye shadows in these shades: Blondie for lighter hair, Bali for medium hair and Coconut Grove for dark hair.

Create a wet look — for your lashes "There’s nothing sexier than the way lashes group together when they’re wet, like after getting out of a pool," says MAC Senior Artist Victor Cembellin. "Here’s the secret to the look: Apply MAC Brow Set in Clear to the eyelashes first, and then top with a coat of black mascara." The result: grouped, wet-look, sexy lashes.

Leave your lipstick in place The same product can be used to keep lipstick in check, says MAC Senior Artist Louise Zizzo. "MAC Brow Set in Clear used around the rim of the mouth will help prevent lipstick from bleeding," she explains.


Create a camera-perfect manicure When working with stars like Joy Bryant and Sheryl Crow , Dior celebrity makeup artist Ricky Wilson pays attention to details like fingernails. "One thing that I always do for nails is mix a bit of Dior's Skinflash pen with Dior Creme Abricot to get rid of any nicks at the base of the nail bed," he confides. "It also adds a beautiful sheen that I like to call 'red-carpet-ready' hands."

Get Bambi lashes without mascara You don't need mascara to make your eyelashes stand out, says mark celebrity makeup artist Mai Quynh, who has worked with actors including Emma Stone and Ashley Greene. Just add eyeliner, she says: "To get voluminous-looking lashes, apply dark brown or black waterproof eyeliner to the upper rim of your eye — not on top of the lashes, but in between and underneath them. This gives the illusion of thicker, fuller lashes without having a lined eye."

High salt + low potassium = early death - U.S. study

By Julie Steenhuysen | Reuters – Tue, Jul 12, 2011

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Put down the salt shakers. Eating too much salt and too little potassium can increase the risk of death, U.S. government researchers said on Monday.

The findings from a team at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are a counterpoint to a fiercely-debated study released last week that found no evidence that making small cuts in salt intake lowers the risk of heart disease and premature death.

"Salt is still bad for you," said Dr. Thomas Farley, Health Commissioner for New York City, which is leading a campaign to reduce salt in restaurant and packaged foods by 25 percent over five years.

Most health experts agree with Farley that consuming too much salt is not good for you and that cutting salt intake can reduce high blood pressure, which raises the risk of heart attack and stroke. Salt intake has been rising since the 1970s, with Americans consuming about twice the recommended daily limit.

The CDC study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, specifically focused on growing research that shows a diet high in salt and low in potassium is especially risky.

Farley, who wrote an editorial on the CDC study, said it is one of the best yet looking at the long-term effects of eating too much salt.

"It is entirely consistent with what we've said all along about sodium intake," Farley said in a telephone interview.

For the study, researchers looked at the long-term effects of sodium and potassium intake as part of a 15-year study of more than 12,000 people.

By the end of the study period, 2,270 of the study participants had died; 825 of these deaths were from heart disease and 433 were from blood clots and strokes.

POTASSIUM IS KEY

They found that people who had a high salt intake and a low potassium intake were most at risk.

"People who ate a diet high in sodium and low in potassium had a 50 percent increased risk of death from any cause, and about twice the risk of death -- or a 200 percent increase -- from a heart attack," said Dr. Elena Kuklina of the CDC who helped lead the study.

She said consumers need to increase the levels of potassium in their diet by adding more servings of fresh fruits and vegetables, such as spinach, grapes, carrots, sweet potatoes, and low fat milk and yogurt.

The Salt Institute, an industry group, challenged the findings, pointing out that the CDC study found that the link between salt intake and heart disease was statistically insignificant.

"This is a highly flawed publication that reveals more about the anti-salt agenda being pursued by the CDC than about any relationship between salt and health," said Mort Satin, the Salt Institute's Director of Science and Research.

"The only significance is between low potassium and mortality," Satin said in a statement.

Dr. Robert Briss, director of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the CDC, said the findings support the general weight of evidence and suggests that higher doses of sodium are linked with poor health consequences.

And it suggests "that higher potassium may be better for you," Briss said in a telephone interview.

"About 90 percent of Americans consume more sodium than is recommended. This impacts their blood pressure," Briss said.

"Most of that sodium is not related to the salt shaker but it is in foods and especially processed and restaurant foods that we buy and order from restaurants. Consumers, even motivated ones, don't have as much choice as they could," he said.

Kuklina said potassium often counteracts the effects of salt in the diet. This equilibrium is affected when people eat highly processed foods, which tend to increase sodium levels and decrease potassium content.

"If sodium increases your high blood pressure, potassium decreases it. If sodium retains water, potassium helps you get rid of it," she said.

Instead of focusing only on salt, Kuklina said researchers should focus on the balance between potassium and salt.

"We need to strive to do both -- decrease your sodium intake and increase your potassium intake," she said.

(Editing by Sandra Maler)

Top migraine triggers

by Health.com, on Tue Jun 28, 2011 1:27pm PDT

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For people who experience from migraines, certain foods, strong perfumes, flickering lights, and weather changes and other environmental factors can set off an attack. But not everyone has the same triggers, and not every time—and that makes the migraine trigger a frustrating prey to hunt down.

Health.com: The 5 types of headaches

There is, however, general agreement about the most common triggers. Here's how to spot them and reduce your headache frequency.

Food triggers
Here's a partial list of major food triggers, according to the National Headache Foundation:

• Ripened cheeses (such as cheddar, Emmentaler, Stilton, Brie, and Camembert)
• Chocolate
• Marinated, pickled, or fermented food
• Foods that contain nitrites or nitrates (bacon, hot dogs) or MSG (soy sauce, meat tenderizers, seasoned salt)
• Sour cream
• Nuts, peanut butter
• Sourdough bread
• Broad beans, lima beans, fava beans, snow peas
• Figs, raisins, papayas, avocados, red plums
• Citrus fruits
• Excessive amounts (more than 2 cups total) of caffeinated beverages such as tea, coffee, or cola
• Alcohol (including red wine and beer)

Menstruation
For many women, the menstrual cycle is a major trigger. Attacks usually occur a few days before or during their period or, for some women, at ovulation. A drop in estrogen is believed to be the culprit. As women near menopause, fluctuating estrogen levels may also trigger an increase in migraines.

Health.com: 11 surprising headache triggers

Your environment
Strong perfume is an immediate trigger for some, making common spaces (offices, churches) a challenge, and the beauty counters in big department stores a particular hell. For others, it can be flickering lights—even a movie screen in a darkened theater or sunshine flashing through trees on a road as they're driving.

Stress
The most common migraine trigger is stress. Migraine sufferers are thought to be highly responsive emotionally. Anxiety, worry, shock, and sadness can all release certain brain chemicals that lead to a migraine headache. (Ironically, the sense of release after a stressful period can also lead to migraines, which could be the cause of weekend headaches.)

Jenny DeFino, 36, of Yonkers, N.Y., has learned to live with her triggers. For her, consistency is key.

Health.com: Head-to-toe solutions for stress

"There are so many external things that can wreak havoc with your life. A lot of the time it has limited my social activities. I can't stay up late with friends because I need a consistent sleep pattern. You just have to try to be very controlled in your environment."

Don't avoid all triggers just yet
Remember that triggers are different for everyone, so the foods and stressors here are a list of suspects, not convicts: You need to narrow it down to your own personal triggers. Try keeping a headache diary to help you identify the ones that trouble you.

"I don't have my patients avoid these things, I just have them be aware of them," says Larry Newman, MD, director of the Headache Institute at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York City. "Not every trigger is a consistent trigger, so chocolate may do it to you some days but not other days. It may be a combination of you having chocolate when you are vulnerable and on your period, or having chocolate and it's about to rain, or having chocolate and you didn't sleep enough the night before."

Health.com: Get headaches? Smart ways to deal

If you keep track of patterns over time, you should be able to make changes that will help you cope—without having to sacrifice unnecessarily.