Some people have it and some do not…hair with natural volume that is.  If you are among those who have been blessed with voluminous hair, congratulations!  On the other hand, if you haven’t and still crave volume, don’t despair.  It can still be achieved!  In addition to using volumizing shampoos and conditioners, there are also supplements that can be taken to help hair.

B-vitamins, zinc, and iron can help boost hair volume and growth and are the key ingredients that help prenatal vitamins seem to work so well.  During the styling process, creating the illusion of volume is also possible.  Try blow drying hair while bent over at the waist and flipping hair upside down.

Applying hairspray while flipped over this way will also help to volumize hair, but be sure to avoid putting a stiff layer of laquer on the top of the hair as it will weight it down and reduce the voluminous look.

No matter where these tips and tricks originated from, they are some of the most tried and true home remedies for creating healthy hair.

* Mayonnaise may not be the healthiest of condiments, but it can do wonders to help condition hair.  Slather up to half a cup of mayo on dry hair and let sit for half an hour.  Rinse and shampoo as normal.

*Combine 1 cup of water (preferably distilled or filtered) with ½ cup of strained lemon juice.  Comb this through hair after shampooing to brighten hair.  Since lemon juice reacts unpredictably to heat and sunlight, avoid doing this in the summer months or right before blow drying hair.

*To reduce static electricity in dry hair, rub a dryer sheet over the comb and then run through hair once styling is finished.

*If hair seems to have an excess build up of conditioner, styling gel, or hair spray, add a tablespoon of baking soda to shampoo once a week.  Rinse and dry as usual, but skip the conditioner on this one day.  An alternative to this is to mix 6 tablespoons of beer to 1 cup warm water and use as a final rinse once a week.

*For a quick, dry shampoo and to eliminate that greasy hair look, rub a small amount of talc or baby powder into your hair.  Be sure to brush it out completely.

These home concoctions cost much less than expensive name brand treatments and are usually more natural and environmentally friendly.

Since this is a website about obtaining free makeup samples and free makeup tips, I don’t normally promote products that are expensive unless I really feel strongly about them.  This skin care product is one of those times!

Recently I have been using  SkinCeuticals Retexturing Activator at the recommendation of my sister.  And if you can’t trust a sister, then who do you trust!!  It was expensive (it retails around $70 for a small bottle).  I found it at the link above for much less than that.

Anyway, this product is in a small bottle, but you don’t need very much since it is a serum. In fact, some users complain that it makes their skin feel sticky. I think that is because they are using too much of it. The instructions say you only need 4-6 drops for your entire face. If you stick to that, then it really does seem to do a good “retexturing” job.  My skin feels smoother than it has in a long time, and it gets rid of the dryness too.   My regular makeup goes on much smoother too and lasts longer.

I think I am going to get more than my money’s worth from this skin care product. Here’s the link if you want to take a look! SkinCeuticals Retexturing Activator

One step that most of us usually skip or don’t know about is applying makeup primer. It may sound like something you do when you paint your house, but isn’t that what you’re doing, painting your face? In one small step, you can make your makeup appear smoother and make it last longer. Plus, the shine it gives can be amazing!

You can find a primer anywhere, from drugstores to Sephora. Tarina Tarantino makes an excellent slightly shimmery kind that is worth the money you will pay for it. If you don’t want to shell out $30 on it, any makeup aisle in a store should stock a cheaper brand that will also work well.

When you apply, it will make you skin feel silky smooth, which is always a plus! You can even apply it to your eyelids, which makes the eyeshadow stay uncreased. It will adhere your makeup to your face in a way, creating a long-lasting look. There’s just absolutely nothing bad about it!

In a world where we paint our faces daily, we should definitely get the same smooth treatment that anything else would.

I am not a liquid foundation girl. Although I tend to have slightly splotchy skin due to all my freckles and sun damage, I still steer clear of overall foundation, especially the liquid kind. I just prefer a more natural fresh look as well as feeling. It’s just a personal preference. I am able to even out my skin tones by other means.

So, after I apply concealer to spots that need to be hidden, and sunscreen over everything, I finish the look with a powdered foundation. I use Revlon ColorStay Mineral Foundation in the color “fair”. It has an SPF 10. For some people, this product could feel very drying. I think that since I use it over my regular sunscreen that isn’t a problem for me. It fills in my pores and makes everything smooth and even. It also lasts a long time and stays in place. It’s so much easier to get a smooth even look with a powdered foundation as opposed to a liquid one. I use a big fluffy brush to apply it.

Remember, liquid foundation is not a preference for everyone, and this is a great option if you’re looking for an alternative.

In the final installment of the actual products that I use regularly as part of my daily routine, I will discuss my perfume. There are a few different ones that I like, most of which are not too expensive, but this is my favorite. It’s L’Air du Temps from Nina Ricci.

This perfume was first given to me in a tiny little half ounce bottle from my grandmother as a gift when I was younger. I fell in love with it immediately! It has been around a very long time and is not as popular as it used to be, but for me it’s perfect. The reason I like it is that it is very light and doesn’t offend. It has a gentle scent that is somewhat flowery without being to sickly sweet like most floral scented perfumes. I have very little worry of “overdoing it” with this perfume like I do with some others occasionally.

Generally I use the Eue de Toilette spray, and the talcum powder is also very nice. The price is certainly reasonable. It is a perfect compliment to my every day beauty routine.

Straight Sexy Hair using Smooth & Seal spray for your hair. My hair stylist first introduced me to this product. He and another stylist were actually fighting over the last bottle of this product in the salon that day. He always used it on me, but I just didn’t realize how fabulous it was until we almost had a cat fight at the beauty salon!

This isn’t a traditional “hair spray”, although you do spray it on your hair. I have naturally wavy (sometimes frizzy!) hair, but I love to wear it smooth and straight most of the time. This stuff makes it shine and it also makes my flat iron glide right through my hair without pulling or sticking.

It works best for me if I blow dry my hair until it’s about 80% dry, then spray it with this product, and then flat iron it. At that point it is usually completely dry and gorgeous. Another plus is that it also seems to take care of the static problem that dry straight hair can often have, especially in the winter.

In the never ending search for the perfect miracle cream to stop these wrinkles, I am currently using Loreal “Advanced Revitalift Anti-wrinkle concentrate”. I have not been using it very long, so the jury is still out on this product for me as to whether I will continue to purchase it in the future or not.

From what I have learned so far, it does make my skin feel very silky and not gummy like many other moisturizers. It does seem to produce some toning to my skin as well. I wish I could say that it has erased my wrinkles, but I think it will truly take a real miracle to do that. Either a miracle or something more drastic like surgery, which I am not exactly keen on doing. My vanity has not gone there yet!

The Revitalift cream comes in a very handy tube, which I really like, as opposed to those awkward jars that most creams come packaged in. This should make it easy for travel.

So, while I wait to see if it truly has wondrous effects, I do know that I already like it better than most other similar products I have tried. I wonder if others will have the same beauty results.

For my continuing reviews of my daily products, I am now to my lip color. For several years now, I have been a huge fan of CoverGirl Outlast All Day Lip Color. The color I wear most often is #815.

This product comes with two parts. First is the color part. It reminds me of a paint. You must apply it to dry lips. It won’t look good on lips that are already very dry or flaking though. After you apply the color, you wait a minute or so and then apply the top moisturizer coat. That part is clear and glides on very smoothly. If you wear it with out the moisturizer, it will feel very drying and uncomfortable, not to mention that it won’t look that good. I have found that a very light coat will give me a lot of color that lasts a long time.

As for it’s lasting ability – I have found that it lasts a very long time! Even all day, including eating and through some “light” kissing LOL. However, greasy foods will cause it to come right off onto your napkin. In fact the only way to remove this lip color is with some cold cream greasy type makeup remover, or some sort of oil based remover like vaseline.

It seems to be a pretty good value when you consider how long it will last. However I usually use up the moisturizer tube long before I run out of the color. Fortunately I can buy more tubes of the moisturizer separately without having to buy more of the entire product.

They have a huge variety of colors to choose from, and the long lasting look is definitely my favorite part!

My daily makeup routine includes Almay Powder Blush. I use “pink” number 140. It seems to be the color that is best suited for me, and I have had trouble finding similar colors in other brands. This has resulted in me using this for a long time. Recently when I did finally locate some after having trouble, I bought 3 packs of it so that it would last me a long time before I had that trouble again!

This blush does not have that shimmery look to it, which I hate. I don’t like a shimmery blush because it tends to accentuate my wrinkles (I know! I can’t believe I am admitting I have wrinkles!!). It is also not overly scented like a lot of other blushers. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s highly scented makeup which conflicts with the scents I actually want to wear.

It blends easily and looks very natural. I often use it to add a little color just under my brow area as well, so that I don’t look so pale.

It doesn’t last as long as an “all day” type blush would last, but I find that it blends better than the cream blushers do, which definitely meets my needs. The application brush is a little small for my needs though, so I usually use one of my nice long-handled brushes to apply it.