EXPERT SECRETS | Backstage beauty tips

HAVE YOU ever wondered why models’ skin always looks so luminous even though they’re notorious for having bad skin (thanks to a poor diet and lifestyle)? Or how their vertiginous hairstyles stay in place? All is not as it seems in the world of backstage beauty thanks to a few ingenious tricks from stylists and makeup artists. Over the years, I’ve learned quite a few of these tricks of the trade. My favorites? The big tease, applied arts and owning it...

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Originally written by Jessica Teas for Smarter Beauty Blog in a three-part series. Image credit: flickr.com/photos/37210152@N02/3675088916/sizes/m/in/photostream/

EXPERT SECRETS | Backs of the thighs... out of sight, out of mind

HERE'S A quick tip for all of you donning shorts and little tea dresses this season...

For all the bronzers, cellulite creams, serums, potions and lotions we buy, there's one thing we're really missing from this skincare equation -- proper application. I catch myself in this scenario all the time: vigorously rubbing into my legs said expensive cream. My calves get a good dose, the quads a bit less attention and by the time I get to the upper thighs and the backs of the thighs, I swipe my hands over them and call it a day. Seriously. And let's be honest. None of us buy leg creams for the look of our calves, do we? IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF THE BACKS OF THE THIGHS!

So, next time you get out the self-tanner, bronzer, cellulite cream, lotion, body brush or WHATEVER, pay attention -- the most attention -- to the backs of those thighs. You spend all that time, neck craned over your shoulder, staring at them in the mirror and yet... and yet we spend, oh, 90% of our product and energy on the calves and the other easy to reach and highly visible (to us) areas.

Image courtesy of fitnessexplore.com

TRAVEL TALES | Beauty at the bonfire

EVERY summer I look forward to camping season. It wasn’t always that way. Growing up, I protested furiously every time the van was packed for the weekend. I would take out the maximum number of books allowed on my library card and sit in the back of said van reading the entire time. I’d even sleep in there to the annoyance of my parents. As I got older, I pouted less and, what do you know? Camping was actually fun when I finally put down the paperbacks and gave it a chance.

As an adult, it’s still fun. Although, I get different things from it than I did when younger. Now it’s a welcome escape from daily life, from the trappings of the house, the city and all the noise that comes with modern life. I admit, it’s not always easy to just drop everything and flee to a campground. But you know what? You don’t have to go whole hog and become some wild cave woman (if you don’t want to), wild of hair, dirt smeared and grooming free. You can maintain some glimmer of glamour in your life even if your bed is a mat in a tent and you wash up in a bowl of water....

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