Winter SKINCARE - Jojoba / Hohoba oil works - even for acne prone skin

WATCH the VIDEO {HERE}

A big thank you to Arizona Midday for inviting me back this week to share some beauty fixes with viewers on Channel 12, nbc in Phoenix. 

Even in Arizona temperaturea drop, and heaters go on, and our skin dries our more quickly - looking dull and dreary. In fact, if you are experiencing tightness,  or flakiness, it could be a sign that you need to upgrade your moisturizer or apply more frequently.

Moisturizers and lotions are really just emulsions of oils and water. You might be skeptical of using a straight out oil on your face or body, but this is a trend quickly becoming adopted by many beauty fanatics, and for good reason - especially when your skin is in distress.

Jojoba oil - [pronounced hohoba] - is known as an oil, but technically it is a wax ester. This is important to know because wax esters are the closest compounds to natural skin oil or sebum. When you use jojoba [hohoba] oil, your  skin believes it is responsible for producing enough oil, thereby reducing it's own oil production. Good news! this is why jojoba oil is non-comedogenic even for acne prone skin! Jojoba/Hohoba oil is readily available for about $10 in health food stores and at Whole Foods.

When your skin is suffering and chapped, it can easily become inflamed which is the time you should reach for an OTC Hydrocortisone Cream before applying moisturizer. And for those deep cracks use Vaseline, oils or Aquaphor ointment.

TRICK for using: After bathing apply the petroleum jelly, oil or ointment BEFORE you dry off - they all spread super easy. Then, finish drying off with a towel. These products will create a barrier on your skin - trapping the water and forcing the hydration back into your skin and protecting it from losing moisture because of evaporation.

To  listen to more winter skin care tips you can  watch my entire segment here:

Hung over. Beauty Fixes for a late night.

Today you may be thinking that ringing in 2015 may have been better without that fourth glass of champagne. Here are some quick easy tips to looking your best today after a fun night of toasting to the New Year!

1. Hydrate. Duh...
We all know that drinking water first thing when you get up in the morning can kick start your internal organs and help your skin glow. However, there is new research that links drinking 8 glasses as soon as you rise (a traditional Ayurvedic treatment) and waiting an hour before eating anything, with positive results for weight loss, cancer, asthma and other diseases. This resolution is mine for the next 30 days - to see what a difference it can make. 

2. Aspirin. Not just your for your head but also to alleviate inflammation in your face. Dissolve the aspirin with a little water in your hand and use it as a mask. More on that {HERE}

3. Two coats of mascara 
This will help cancel out the redness in  your eyes and make them bigger. Just avoid the lower lashes which could weigh down your eye by drawing attention to any darkness underneath. Also use cold spoons that have sat in ice. underneath your eyes to reduce puffiness

4.  Pop on some blush and lip gloss - preferably in pink.  This will make your face look flush and healthy.

5. No shamPOO.
 You spent a lot of time getting the perfect NYE do, so juzz it up with some dry shampoo to keep volume all day long without having to shampoo again. How to make your own with corn starch {HERE}

Wishing you all a beautiful 2015!

XO Shelley

Victoria Secret Backstage Runway Model Tricks YOU Want to Know!

The Victoria Secret Fashion Show has now become a tradition for the holiday season, attracting over 10 million viewers in over 180 countries ... it is hands down the most famous runway production I know of. 

However, what you might not know is that the model's call time is 9 am ... for a 7pm show. That's 10 straight hours of hair and makeup. So if you feel badly when you're watching tonight because you don't look like they do, just keep in mind that neither did they 10 hours earlier! So when you walk into the room, you might want to incorporate a few of these model's backstage tricks to look your best!

A big thank you to Arizona Midday for having me on their show today to talk about these behind the scenes tricks. You can watch the video {HERE}:

• Hairspray to stop the Jiggles and Wiggles

A strong hold, aerosol hair spray can make the difference for jiggly thighs or underarms. Just spray generously on whatever area you want to stop wiggling and hold straight and still until dry. It should feel like you are shrink wrapping your skin.  Plus there's an added bonus if your using this trick for the back of your thighs - it will help hide cellulite because the reflection and shine of the spray will deflect the light and minimize the appearance of any "dimples".

• Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs

I see bottles of Sally Hansen airbrush legs spray behind the scenes at a lot at photo shoots because it really works to make your legs look flawless! Not only will this easy to use spray hide flaws, it will give you color. Best of all, it is water resistant so it will stay on your skin and NOT transfer to your clothes or sheets.

Available in 3 colors, choose a shade darker than your skin and after you've sprayed it, use your hands to rub it in to make sure you didn't miss anywhere. The added color will give you the optical illusion that your legs are leaner - remember anything darker will look smaller!

• Biosilk Shine On

One thing these leggy supermodels do not have is matte colored legs. A shine down the center of your leg will make then look longer. To get a perfect sheen without looking like a glitter bomb use a product that is really made for hair called Biosilk's Shine On. I like this because it won't transfer onto other things and it is more subtle than a shimmery lotion.

• Tea to Tan by Terry

A water color bronzer - this product will help create the high cheekbones that you weren't born with. Bronzers are the easiest way to Contour the face but they can be super intimidating to use. This liquid bronzer is an easy way to build color one step at a time. Beautifully sheer and a color that works on almost every skin tone.

• Facial Sauna

At some point we all feel like we have caked on the makeup. To help the makeup blend into your face, hover your face over a facial steamer for 15-30 seconds. This will help take away any powdery look, giving you a glow and letting your natural skin see through.

• STILA Highlighter

An all time fave and easy to use highlighter by Stila called Kitten. A perfect combination of shimmer. Dust both colors together and use on the high point of your cheeks, center of nose, under the brow, and on your clavicles for a little extra radiant glow.

photos via CBS

Best Products for Hair Growth: Biotin, Vitamins and Folic Acid for Longer Hair

Many myths exist surrounding hair growth. The truth is there we are born with as many hair follicles as we will ever have. Nothing can add more or reduce that number and you CANNOT generate new ones. When you were smaller, you may think you had more hair because your scalp had not fully grown so the density of that finite number of follicles made your hair appear thicker, but it was only perception.

Hair grows on average about half an inch each month. Each hair follicle will only produce about 20 hairs in a lifetime. The completion of a lifecyle of hair is 2- 8 years. So, even if you are cutting one of those hairs it is still growing from underneath the scalp. The cycle is such that at any one time about 90% of the hair on your scalp is in the growing phase. You might all notice that in pregnancy your hair appears thicker - it's not that you're actually growing more, but the hormones of pregnancy influence the hair follicle to extend it's growth cycle such that you are losing less. Then, after you give birth the body sheds the hair more quickly, losing what you really would have to make up for the hormonal influence.

What you eat will influence how your hair looks. Hair is also made up of 5% water so it is important that you keep hydrated with 8 glasses of water a day for beautiful locks. Below is a list of Vitamins and supplement that can also improve hair growth.

1. BIOTIN
Many experts recommend Biotin - it is probably the number one supplement that is mentioned and used for hair growth. I like it because it is water soluble which means that your body will get rid of whatever is not needed by excreting it. The other reason I like it is that you can find it in drugstores for not a lot of money.

Biotin is a B complex and the most significant food sources for it include peanuts, carrots, egg yolks, fish and cauliflower. You can also find it in pork, raspberries, and whole wheat bread.

Try: Biotin Dietary Supplement Tablets from Walgreens or Costco for about 15 cents a tab.

2. FOLIC ACID - WARNING 
You may be thinking to yourself that if your hair looked great pregnant why not just take a prenatal vitamin every day. This is tricky because remember it was the hormones that are most responsible for those thick locks.

A much more compelling reason not to take prenatal vitamins is new research linking breast cancer with supplemental folic acid. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition women who take supplemental folic acid increase their breast cancer risk by 20-30%.

Prenatal vitamins also contain more iron than most of us need if not pregnant. The danger is that even mild iron toxicity can increase your risk for a heart attack, diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver according to the Iron Disorders Institute.

This is why even with natural supplements and such we really need to research what we take and get the advice of our physicians before adding vitamins or supplements to our daily routine.

3. Vitamin D
It seems that the sunshine vitamin may also play a role in our hair health!  Besides helping to keep your bones and skin healthy, researchers at Harvard have shown that Vitamin D may play a role in waking up hair follicles that have been dormant. In fact, the research on this long time vitamin is exploding as it may be responsible for turning on the genes for hundreds of other diseases. 

I live in Arizona where the sun shines almost EVERY DAY and for that reason I wear sunscreen EVERY DAY. Statistics show that over 1 billion people in the world are Vit D deficient.  It is very hard to get enough vitamin D through natural sun exposure if you are wearing sunscreen so I take a low dose supplement just to be safe.

4. VIVISCAL
My girlfriend swears by this Scandinavian over the counter hair product. It has become highly hyped for the reason that it works for many people. It has a few ingredients you might be skeptical of like Shark Powder and Horsetail Extract along with Vitamin C and a fish protein. It does contains Biotin, but in such a small amount that many people will add a Biotin supplement along with Viviscal.

5. HAIR EXTENSIONS
Of course the fastest way to make your hair appear fuller and longer is to use hair extensions. My number one recommendation is Halo Crown Extensions - this is a new design that will not damage your natural hair like clip ins, tape ins or fused in salon extensions. The best part is that it will take less than a minute to put in your hair and is temporary - causing no permanent damage. 100% real human REMY hair - these look natural and healthy. It is the quickest solution for more hair and safest! Buy yours here: HaloCrown.com

Holiday Makeup Tutorial - The Makeup Artist Secret Products they use on Models

Tiffany: a beauty before - a BOMBshell after!

Here are the products to use to glam up your look for the holidays! 

I was at this shoot with professional Makeup  artist and PRO photographer Micheael Franco and he says that besides using his new favorite "HALO CROWN" hair extensions these are THEE products to create his signature looks that he depends on for picture perfection! 

• Tom Ford foundation stick for face
• Stila "kitten" highlighter for high points of cheek
• Kevyn Aucoin skin enhancer for concealer
• Mac's studio fix fluid NC50 to contour under cheek bones- Just a WARNING: the counter girl will tell you this is too dark, she will not want to sell it to you because she thinks you will return it. Trust me, this is the magic trick. Learn more on this here ●●►  Contouring is the new Photoshop!

Finally the hair secret everyone is obsessed with - the newest and hottest selling hair extension on the market that literally takes a minute to put on and take off ... the Halo Crown! They are not permanent, they won't damage your hair, and there are no clips to hide. 100% real human REMY hair on a wire.  Here is a video of Tiffany putting it on herself without even using a comb!

Buy yours at https://halocrown.com