For Females

I am not saying that the following will work for everyone, we are all quite different but this is how I prepare myself for an evening out.

The Basics

It all starts with the basics, long before an actual evening out and about. Starting with proper skin care, getting enough sleep, watching what and how you eat and what you drink all adds up to a more beautiful you, both inside and outside the body.

First, try to get about 8 hours sleep. Some need more, many get less and feel they don’t need anymore but not only is sleep better for stress management; it can do wonders for the soul and eliminate those bags under the eyes. Those bags can also be managed by drinking plenty of water. You should drink 8-10 8 oz. cups a day. Tea, coffee and soda are actually de-hydrating as well as fattening, so avoid those and anything else with sugar in it for a beverage. Cucumbers are said to work wonders for bags under the eyes. As for other treatments, L’Oreal makes a product called “Revit-a-lift” that is every bit as good as the $30-40 department store eye creams and it is available at all drug and grocery stores for as little as $10.00!

Wash your face twice a day. Use facial liquid soaps not the bar soaps as those all have lard as an ingredient which can clog pores, causing blemishes. After a wash, wait an hour and then blot your “T-Zone” that is the forehead/nose area with a paper tissue. If it shows a residue, you have oily skin. If you wash your face and immediately afterwards your skins feel dry or tight, you are using a too harsh soap. Notice that these are not the same things, you could indeed; still have “oily” skin. If there is no residue, you could have dry, normal skin. Combination skin is when your forehead feels oily after an hour but your cheeks feel dried out.

All of this goes into how to take care of your skin. When you have oily skin, you can forego using a moisturizer. On the other hand, dry skin begs for it. If your skin does show blemishes, even with proper two-a-day washings, you have clogged pores. Rinsing with cold water and attacking the blemishes with an anti-septic, such as those that you get when you have your ears pierced, will make most spots go away in a matter of a couple of days. Avoid the Clearasil-type treatments. They are too drying and don’t treat the problem, they only make it worse. Be aware that this is a simple overview. You may have to go to a dermatologist for specific problems. Blemishes can be caused by hormonal changes within the body and heredity among other things. Water helps here too, purifying the skin from the inside and keeping it pliable.

The area around the eyes is the most sensitive and there is less muscle there. The skin is also thinner. When you wash your face, rinse with plenty of water and when taking make up off, do not stretch the skin. Keep moisturizers not made for the eye area away as the fragrances and other additives can cause puffiness.

Do wash your make up off every time you wear it. Use the least strong removers that still do the job. Waterproof mascaras are the hardest to remove. The “Beauty without Cruelty” brand makes products that are excellent makeup removers. For regular face washing, Cetaphil is extra mild and dermatologist-recommended. Department store brands are the most expensive but not necessarily better. Going to bed with makeup on is a sure way to clog the pores. There are many products you can try; this is a hot market right now. There are wet-wipes and other methods available to use with or without water available.

There are products that are preparations for foundation that might be worth looking into. These help fill in the lines on your face for a smoother complexion. Always however, investigate the products label for ingredients that you may be allergic to or that can cause a reaction. It helps to try a new product in a discreet area first and wait 48 hours before you put it to use.

Shaving

For the face normally I would just shave out of the shower sing a gel and waiting about 3 minutes for my beard to soften. I would then starting with the sides of my face shave using a Gillette Mach III and a sharp blade use downward strokes, followed by my neck then chin and then mustache area. If I was going for the smoothest shave to wear make up, I would wait to shave as late as possible before going out and following the procedure above, maybe going in more directions such as up and sideways until there is no more stubble. I wouldn’t do it this way normally because it is much harder on the face and you could wind up with skin blotches. I would then, if I were going to use it, apply a moisturizer for my skin type and wait 10 minutes for that to soak in before I applied my foundation.

The shower is the best place to shave the rest of your body. Working from the top down, either in tub taking a bath or standing up taking a shower after about 10 to 15 minutes your skin is ready for a closer shave. Using a gel, such as those Gillette makes for women or the King of Shaves”, hold your arm up high and carefully shave the underarm in downward strokes. Follow this with again downward strokes over your chest, especially carefully around your nipples and on sown to the belly area. At the point from your navel to the genitalia, move across your body, instead of downward from the outside inward. Use extreme caution around your genitals if you do that area at all and then proceed to the legs keeping the razor free of hair all the while. Shave with downward strokes again using a gel, one leg at a time taking long strokes. It is especially hard getting the backs of the thigh area and indeed don’t expect just one shave is all that it takes. Don’t be discouraged, if this is your first shave, it could take 3 separate days of shaving to get it all. Check later to see those hard to get to or easy to miss areas. Shaving an area such as the knee or ankle, you will want to be especially careful bending your leg to shave the knee and stretching your leg (as in the underarm area) works best. Hair grows on your toes as well as the tops of your feet so don’t forget these areas. After you have done a few shaves, for maximum closeness you will shave up the legs and follow with your other hand to sense missed spots. You will get the hang of it eventually; just don’t expect to go out after one shave with smooth skin. Follow all of your showers now with a body lotion. By the way, just as in washing your face I would recommend a liquid, moisture-rich cleansers for use on your body, not a bar soap. Loufa’s, body buffs, etc, can be used to help exfoliate, that is get rid of dead skin cells, bringing more fresh skin to the surface. These are not recommended for the face. Instead use and exfoliating cleanser one to three times weekly as part of your twice daily face cleansings.

Use a lotion on you’re your hands, arms, legs and feet nightly, a special skin-tightner type lotion on the face avoiding the eye area and especially good is to use a Vaseline on your feet and cover them with socks overnight. Use lotion on your hands frequently through the day.

Nails

Once a week give yourself a manicure, Toes and hands. Let your hands and feet soak in water for about 10 minutes. Then using a cuticle removing cream, cotton and an orange stick, push the cuticles back, due not clip, to the skin. Let your fingernails grow and keep filed to approximately ¼” white showing. In a single direction, file your nails straight across then under the corners, rounding them slightly. Do the same for the toe nails but keep them shorter. One reason is we don’t want to go through more hose than we have to. Make sure they are smooth. The trend in fingernails these days is medium length. Wear extensions for special occasions, if so desired. A French nail, where you use a masking tape and paint your tips white, is nice to wear on occasion for a clean look but nothing beat a full nail polish. Reds are best for toes and anything goes for the fingernails. The color does not have to match your outfit, indeed it rarely does. Use darker shades as you would for your lips and eyes for evening and lighter, paler colors for day. Remove polish using cotton balls and a non-acetone polish remover, Cutex makes the best. Soak the cotton ball with the remover and hold on nail for a brief 10-15 seconds, makes the polish come off much easier. One ball should remove polish from both nails. Dispose in the toilet, then flush. Use cotton balls for your eye make up as well. Let the solution set on your eyes about 30 seconds, giving it time to dissolve the mascara and then wipe without pulling or dragging the skin. Rinse then wash with a liquid facial cleanser and rinse again. Waterproof makeup is especially tough to remove to may want to take a close look as another cleaning may be necessary. Working the cotton ball up as well as down and sideways will probably be necessary.

Keep in mind there are several ways to take of nails. Buffing them, using a nail hardener or a matt finish polish on them are all things you can try besides regular polish.

As for polishes, your nails are the last things you do before going out, unless you have the luxury of being able to use a polish all of the time. The express or quick-drying formulas are not as smooth nor does the product last as long in most cases as the regular polishes do. Even so a quick dry one will take about 10 minutes to be dry enough to put a coat on and at least 30 to 60 more will be needed for a real hard finish.

Keeping a polish in the refrigerator can help an older one go on smother. Trying to bring them back to life with a solvent is not a good idea. To eliminate streaking dip the polish brush in the bottle for each nail. Twice may be necessary for the thumbnail. Using the stroke method, apply the polish down the middle from the skin outward. Follow this up with a stroke along each side of that middle one, not to the edge of your nail at the finger. That is not necessary; in fact not going “edge to edge” can make your nails look longer! It is also far easier to get the polish off for a no-tell after finish when it has been removed after your evening is over. Before you use a color on your nails it helps to have a base coat to allow easier removal of all the color later. Women use a base to help fill in the nail for a more finished look as well as a strengthener. There are “correcting pens” to remove mistakes but these are not necessary. After each nail, if a mistake was made use your other hands finger or thumb nail to remove the excess polish and then wipe onto a tissue in between. Doing this right away as you go will be far easier and successful than waiting till later to them all at one time. If you are able to wear polish all the time the excess that falls on the skin will come off with wear and/or subsequent washings like on your toes. Following a base-polish with another layer whether it is a quick dry coat or topcoat is not necessary in our case, only for long term wear.

For Males

I am not saying that the following will work for everyone, we are all quite different but this is how I prepare myself for an evening out.

The Basics

It all starts with the basics, long before an actual evening out and about. Starting with proper skin care, getting enough sleep, watching what and how you eat and what you drink all adds up to a more beautiful you, both inside and outside the body.

First, try to get about 8 hours sleep. Some need more, many get less and feel they don’t need anymore but not only is sleep better for stress management; it can do wonders for the soul and eliminate those bags under the eyes. Those bags can also be managed by drinking plenty of water. You should drink 8-10 8 oz. cups a day. Tea, coffee and soda are actually de-hydrating as well as fattening, so avoid those and anything else with sugar in it for a beverage. Cucumbers are said to work wonders for bags under the eyes. As for other treatments, L’Oreal makes a product called “Revit-a-lift” that is every bit as good as the $30-40 department store eye creams and it is available at all drug and grocery stores for as little as $10.00!

Wash your face twice a day. Use facial liquid soaps not the bar soaps as those all have lard as an ingredient which can clog pores, causing blemishes. After a wash, wait an hour and then blot your “T-Zone” that is the forehead/nose area with a paper tissue. If it shows a residue, you have oily skin. If you wash your face and immediately afterwards your skins feel dry or tight, you are using a too harsh soap. Notice that these are not the same things, you could indeed; still have “oily” skin. If there is no residue, you could have dry, normal skin. Combination skin is when your forehead feels oily after an hour but your cheeks feel dried out.

All of this goes into how to take care of your skin. When you have oily skin, you can forego using a moisturizer. On the other hand, dry skin begs for it. If your skin does show blemishes, even with proper two-a-day washings, you have clogged pores. Rinsing with cold water and attacking the blemishes with an anti-septic, such as those that you get when you have your ears pierced, will make most spots go away in a matter of a couple of days. Avoid the Clearasil-type treatments. They are too drying and don’t treat the problem, they only make it worse. Be aware that this is a simple overview. You may have to go to a dermatologist for specific problems. Blemishes can be caused by hormonal changes within the body and heredity among other things. Water helps here too, purifying the skin from the inside and keeping it pliable.

The area around the eyes is the most sensitive and there is less muscle there. The skin is also thinner. When you wash your face, rinse with plenty of water and when taking make up off, do not stretch the skin. Keep moisturizers not made for the eye area away as the fragrances and other additives can cause puffiness.

Do wash your make up off every time you wear it. Use the least strong removers that still do the job. Waterproof mascaras are the hardest to remove. The “Beauty without Cruelty” brand makes products that are excellent makeup removers. For regular face washing, Cetaphil is extra mild and dermatologist-recommended. Department store brands are the most expensive but not necessarily better. Going to bed with makeup on is a sure way to clog the pores. There are many products you can try; this is a hot market right now. There are wet-wipes and other methods available to use with or without water available.

There are products that are preparations for foundation that might be worth looking into. These help fill in the lines on your face for a smoother complexion. Always however, investigate the products label for ingredients that you may be allergic to or that can cause a reaction. It helps to try a new product in a discreet area first and wait 48 hours before you put it to use.

Shaving

The shower is the best place to shave your body. Working from the top down, either in tub taking a bath or taking a shower, after about 10 to 15 minutes your skin is ready for a closer shave. Using a gel, such as those Gillette makes for women, hold your arm up high, touching your back and carefully shave the underarm in downward strokes. At your genitalia, use extreme caution moving across your body, instead of downward from the outside inward, if you do that area at all and proceed to the legs keeping the razor free of hair by rinsing it periodically. Shave with upward strokes, again using a gel, one leg at a time taking long strokes. Shaving an area such as the knee or ankle, you will want to be especially careful bending your leg to shave the knee and stretching your leg always to keep the skin taut, works the best.

Follow all of your showers now with a body lotion. By the way, just as in washing your face, I would recommend liquid, moisture-rich cleansers for use on your body, not a bar soap. Loufa’s, body buffs, etc, can be used to help exfoliate, to get rid of dead skin cells, bringing more fresh skin to the surface. These are not recommended for the face. Instead use an exfoliating cleanser one to three times weekly as part of your twice daily face cleansings.

Use a lotion on you’re your hands, arms, legs and feet nightly, a special skin-tightner type lotion on the face avoiding the eye area and especially good to use, Vaseline on your feet and covering them with socks overnight. Use lotion on your hands frequently throughout the day.

Nails

Once a week give yourself a manicure, toes and hands. Let your hands and feet soak in water for about 10 minutes. Then using a cuticle removing cream, cotton and an orange stick, push the cuticles back, do not clip, to the skin. Keep your fingernails filed. In a single direction, file your nails straight across then under at the corners, rounding them slightly. Do the same for the toe nails but keep them shorter. Make sure they are smooth. The trend in fingernails these days is medium length. Wear extensions for special occasions, if so desired. A French nail, where you use a masking tape and paint your tips white is nice to wear on occasion for a clean look but nothing will beat a full nail polish. The color does not have to match your outfit, indeed it rarely does. Use darker shades as you would for your lips and eyes for evening and lighter, paler colors for day. Remove polish using cotton balls and a non-acetone polish remover. Soak the cotton ball with the remover and hold on nail for a brief 10-15 seconds, making the polish come off much easier. One ball should remove polish from hand, the lighter shades, two. Dispose in the toilet, then flush. Use cotton balls for your eye make up as well. Let the solution set on your eyes about 20-30 seconds, giving it time to dissolve the mascara and then wipe without pulling or dragging the skin. Rinse then wash with a liquid facial cleanser and rinse again. Waterproof makeup is especially tough to remove so another cleaning may be necessary. Working the cotton ball up as well as down and sideways is sometimes necessary.

Keep in mind there are several ways to take care of nails. Buffing them and using a nail hardener or a matt finish polish on them are all things you can try besides regular polish.

The express or quick-drying formulas are not as smooth nor does the product last as long in the bottle as regular polishes do. Even so, a quick dry one will take about 10 minutes to be dry enough to put a second coat on and at least 30 to 60 more minutes will be needed for a real hard finish.

Keeping polish in the refrigerator can help an older one go on smother. Trying to bring them back to life with a solvent is not a good idea. To eliminate streaking, dip the polish brush in the bottle for each nail. Using the stroke method, apply the polish down the middle from the skin outward. Follow this up with a stroke along each side of that middle one, not to the edge of your finger. Not going “edge to edge” can make your nails look longer! It is also far easier to get the polish off. Before you use a color on your nails it helps to have a base coat to allow easier removal of all the color later. It is also used to help fill in the nail for a more finished look as well as a strengthener. There are “correcting pens” to remove mistakes but these are not necessary. After each nail, if a mistake was made use your other hands finger or thumb nail to remove the excess polish and then wipe onto a tissue in between. Doing this right away as you go will be far easier and successful than waiting until later to them all at one time. Excess that falls on the skin will come off with wear and/or subsequent washings. Following the base coat, polish with another layer, wait for that to dry and finish with a top coat for long term wear.