Beauty & Fashion Tips - Rags & Rouges Style Tips

Whether the stars were going for old Hollywood glamour, or just sleeking things back for some elegance, we saw a lot of the same looks crossing the red carpet. The weather word was that there was some wind accompanying the stars on the red carpet, so celebs and their stylists compensated by pulling things back. You can achieve these looks too, a sexy or sleek ponytail is the simplest beauty secret there is to know.

Cameron Diaz is one that takes uber cas and pulls it together with a Dior gown for some major glam. Her ponytail was pulled back with a super messy look and she pulled some bangs in the front for a very pretty face framing look. For this look, you don’t want to care *too much* when you are pulling it together. The key really is in the mess.

Miley Cyrus was another beauty queen who took the ponytail with a sleek edge. The ponytail was pulled and pin very low and she gave the pony a much more elegant look with wavy side-swept bangs. Curl your bangs first to achieve the wavy look, and then comb them back with a fine tooth comb to get the sleek factor. Pin with a bobby pin sprayed with some hairspray and you got yourself a sleek ponytail. Spritz on some shining mist to give a little extra gloss.

Anne Hathaway was a timeless beauty in her Marchesa goddess gown and she went the other direction with a ponytail that was high and accentuated her intense features. Curl your hair in long loose waves with a wide curling iron. Tease the crown just ever so slightly and then pull hair back into a ponty. Anne has an extra piece pinned at the base here, which you can try too, or just go with the whimsy of the high pony if you like. This is a fun look for a night on the town or an afternoon at the mall.

Sleek is chic right now and if you are looking for a new look, sleek, straight hair may be just what you need to change your look without making any drastic changes. Whether your hair is long or short, straight locks are easy no matter HOW late you are waking up in the morning.

Tools You Will Need: clips or bobby pins, fine tooth comb, flat iron, straightening serum, shine spray or mist

Step 1: Separate hair into sections (with your clips or pins) that are as wide as your flatiron.

Step 2: For each section, start at the root with your comb, and glide it down each section. This will smooth the hair for your flatiron. Follow right behind with your flat iron. Don’t have a flatiron? Try this iTech Wet-&-Dry Ceramic Tourmaline Flat Iron, 1-1/8 , Model 83824. This tool is nice and wide with a 1 1/8” barrel and works on both dry and wet hair saving you those few extra minutes in the morning. In fact, if using this on wet hair will give you a much longer lasting hold.

Step 3: Smooth some straightening serum like Jonathan Product Create Straight, Straightening Serum over your hair. The best way to do this is put a dab in your palms, rub your palms together, and smooth your hands over your hair.

Step 4: Finish the look and set your sleek with some shining mist like this Frederic Fekkai Glossing Sheer Shine Mist to give your locks some gloss and set it in place for all day sleek.

When the celebs aren’t wearing navy nails, they are going with bright red nails to match the red carpets rolled out for them. Why are we so hesitant to try this look? More often than not I have slathered on a dark color and went EW in minutes. But go for it. Bright red nails tells the world, and your man (or…prospective) that you have confidence, that you aren’t afraid to take risks, and that you have your finger on the pulse of the latest trends. Literally.

Beauty Tip – Pick a color based on your skin tone. If you are in the warmer tones, you want to choose reds that have brownish bases. If your skin is cooler, go for tones that have a more bluish tint to them. I love this new formula by e.l.f. in their new revolutionary non-drip bottle, and you can’t beat the price. Try the Color-Lock Nails for a Buck! for a long lasting color with beautiful shine. And you will love the quick dry factor as well. Can’t beat it!

Beauty Tip – You also want to apply a shiny top coat. For starters, this will beat the chip factor and extend your manicure by at least a few more days. Also, shiny top coats are SO pretty. Go for e.l.f.’s
Chip Resistant Nails for a Buck! formula.

Beauty Trick – one thing about dark nails is that it will leave some pigment on your nails when you remove the polish. Scrub your nails with baking soda toothpaste and an old toothbrush to buff off the yellow stains. That will do the trick. Remember to moisturize your nails afterwards and baking soda can be harsh.

Ok, so it’s Saturday and I’m just feeling very *Saturday*. So this is hardly an inspiring beauty look, but it can be very pretty. A ponytail doesn’t have to just be a ponytail. And no, you don’t have to look like Rachel Bilson to make even a ponytail look pretty. This ponytail she has here is a poofy low ponytail and it’s very simple.

Beauty Tip – The key here is low, low low. You don’t want to go sleek, but soft and feminine. How you do that is by tying the elastic 2 inches below the nape of your neck. It may not feel natural at first, but the look is so pretty. Pull out a few wisps like Rachel to frame your face.

Beauty Trick – To take this look into evening, go sleek. Take the elastic out, and brush your wisps back into the elastic and make the pony nice and sleek. Mist on some spray or gel for a very pretty, elegant, evening shine.

This is a look that every woman covets. If you can not be blessed with flawless bone structure, perhaps you could learn a few makeup tricks that will give you the sculpted cheekbone look that Jennifer has. You can do it, and the illusion of a bone structure that is prominent and sculpted is very flattering, and slimming at the same time. You will see here, if you look closely, that Jennifer has two colors on her cheeks. A sweet rosy color on her apples, and a darker shade underneath. This is the look you want. You can apply whatever color you like to your apples, whatever generally works for you, today we are going to look at how to achieve that contour. How do you do it?

Tools You Will Need – a stiff blush brush, blush powders — one for your normal shade, and one for your contour. I really like this JOEY New York Chisled Cheeks Powder Matte/Highlight Blend Blush, Infatuate because it takes all the guesswork out of deciding which shade to use.

Step 1 – the key to this look is in the shade of blush that you choose. You are going to do your contour first because it is easier to correct the contour with your other blush application if it doesn’t work out perfectly. Choose a shade that is approximately one shade darker than your skin tone, not much darker than that. And the stiff brush will really help you with your precision, so try not to use a brush that is too ‘fluffy’. Using your stiff brush, sweep the powder underneath the raised line of your cheekbones. This will add contour to your face, which gives you the sculpted look.

Step 2 – Smile, and put that pretty fresh color right on the apples of your cheeks.

Beauty Trick — As we had in step 2, lot of blush tips tell you to smile and apply to the apples of your cheeks. This one is the exact opposite. If you are having problems finding the line to hit with your powder, smile, find those pretty cheek apples, and apply the powder BELOW those areas. Blend a little and play with it to ensure a natural finish.

Ok, we’ve done defined eyes before, we’ve even done defined eyes like Angelina before. Last timewe discussed her cat eyes but here you are seeing a slightly different look. This one is more of a tapered effect, giving you bold dramatic eyes without too much of the meow factor. The end result is a ‘subtle simmer’ that starts off thick, and gradually thins into a very pretty look. The trick is both in the technique, and in the product. I always try this at home before I bring it to you. I am the worlds biggest clutz, if I can pull it off, you can too. This look is VERY pretty and would make for an excellent evening look if you want to wow a certain someone.

Tools You Will Need – liquid liner is going to be your most precise, safest bet here.

Step 1 – For your liquid liner, I do recommend Dr.Hauschka Skin Care Liquid Eyeliner Eye Color, Black . Dr. Hauschka is loved by the stars, and it is so affordable you can’t help but love it too. And EASY which is always a big selling point for me. The first thing you want to do is draw a thin rim along upper lashlines. Start from the corner of your eye, and move outward from corner to corner.

Step 2 – Line again, but this time start at the halfway point, where your pupil is, and line again out to the corner, extending only slightly beyond your original point.

Step 3 – Here’s the real secret to the look. Line ONLY the bottom corner of each eye. Look here at Angelina and how her eye is lined in the bottom corner. This is what you want to do. This accentuates the outer edge and gives the illusion of an exotic almond shape. Ok, so she has almond eyes, but you can too with this trick. If you do it right, like here, the outer corners should look like a sideways capital Y.

Beauty Trick – try this at home before the big night. Like, on a Saturday afternoon or something when you are bored and experimenting. This one takes time, but once you get it, you get it. Keep on hand some Q-Tips and makeup remover. Dip the Q-Tip in your makeup remover and dab on your oops spots. Pat the area with a towel or tissue to wipe off excess remover, and then try try again until you get it. You will.

Beauty Tip – Lastly, I have said this before and will keep saying it for every related post. But if you go bold on the eyes, you go (say it with me) neutral everywhere else….That’s right. Love the pairing of the nude lips here with the eyes. So pretty!

BTW — is anyone else as excited as I am to see this girl with some wrinkles? Or am I just being a righteous b*&%?

Gone are the days of Tyra’s blown out look, and the past few years she has been sporting sleek new locks that are straight and elegant. While this look is pretty, if you don’t have bone straight hair it can be tricky. I do have bone straight hair, and even I am prone to the frizz factor if I catch the wrong wind, precipitation, or get caught too long beside an open car window. So how can you achieve, and maintain this look for an all day long sleek style?

Tools you will need: Flat iron, straightening balm, hair gel (just a smidge), and moisturizing cream. Yep, that’s right!

Step 1 – Use your flat iron to flatten your hair from root to tips. And yes, even if you have straight hair use it. I use it whenever I wear my hair down, it’s just an added precaution to tell you hair what you want it to do that day. I swear by HairArt Ceramic Straightening Iron Model H3000, 1-3/8 Plate as it’s never let me down.

Beauty Tip – If you DON’T have straight hair, keep the iron on your locks longer than normal. It will straighten, and if you DO have straight hair, you only need to sweep it down your hair like you would a brush. You don’t want too much heat on your hair if you don’t have to.

Step 2 – Use a straightening balm like this fail safe Philip B. Drop Dead Straight Hair Straightening Baume. You only need to smooth it over your already straight hair. Rub a drop and smooth it over, that’s all you need for stay put style.

Step 3 – If you have really stubborn locks, you will need to go a step further and use some hair gel. And this Rene Furterer Fioravanti Anti Frizz Straightening Gel will do the trick just fine. In fact, keep it in your purse to smooth hair as the day progresses.

Beauty Trick – Here’s where the moisturizer comes in, and you can use whatever brand you like. As the day progresses, if you find yourself stuck with some flyaways, rub a dab of moisturizer between your palms and smooth it over. Your locks will be sleek AND shiny all over again. I repeat, DAB of moisturizer. Too much and you will look like you really need a shower!

Beauty Trick – Want to carry this look over an extra day? You can with little effort. Run some baby powder through your hair first thing in the morning to eliminate any greasy buildup. Again, less is more here girls. You can run a flat iron over it again to just tame flyaways, and use the same product. But you already have some in from yesterday, so minimize here and maintain your look with your smidge of moisturizer. Noone will ever know you went without a wash! Little hint though, by the end of day 2 you have a lot of product in your hair. I don’t recommend pushing this a third day….

Smoky eyes are all the rage right now, and you may want to play around to achieve this look. Besides drama, a great benefit to smoky eyes is that they offer a look of depth that most other eye looks can not achieve. How do you get this look that Minka Kelly has? The key is in the product here.

Tools You Will Need: Teak hued eyeliner, neutral earthtone shadows, and volumizing mascara

Step 1 – Start off with the teak hued eye liner and rim both top lashlines and lower lash lines. Be sure to also rim the outer edge of your lower lashes. Try this eyeliner by Chanel as it will offer the most precision for this look. The color is shown in the swatch here.

Step 2 – You then want to set the liner by applying earth tone shadows. Here you are seeing Chanel’s eye shadow quad in Dunes. These particular shades will add to the depth of the eye by offering a glow that is more smoky and neutral and not heavy. This way you can even pull off the smoky eye for day if you want.

Step 3 – Finish the look by applying volumizing mascara, TWO coats, to both upper and lower lashlines. You have gone pretty dramatic with the liner, and dramatic liner looks naked without dramatic lashes.