Tips for luscious lips

DEAR LUCY,

My lips are so dry, my eyelash curler never does its job on my lashes, and my tweezer pinches my skin instead of pulling out stray hair! Help me find the right tools, please.          

ABBY

For your lips I suggest you head to The Body Shop — they have a lip scrub that works well yet is still so gentle on the skin. After you use the lip scrub, make sure you get a moisturizing lip balm. The Body Shop has one that is colorless and very moisturizing. Otherwise, you can get the one from Kiehl’s, which is a favorite.

For me, Japonesque and Shu Uemura have the best eyelash curlers.

To keep eyebrows neat, Rubis is wonderful. Tweeerman never fails as well. Please have your eyebrows professionally shaped, then maintain the shape between visits by using these great tools.

LUCY

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Look like you’ve had a manicure, even when you haven’t

DEAR RISSA,

I’ve been so busy the past few months that I don’t really have time for manicures. Is there any quick beauty fix I can do in the meantime to make my hands look and feel nice Heven without a manicure?                   

LAINE

Our hands are one of the most abused parts of our body, together with our feet. To keep them pretty and polished, right now I like ANNY Cuticle Softener To-Go because it makes my nails look like they got a manicure! Because of ingredients like natural almond and avocado oils fortified with vitamins C and E, it helps soften dry, damaged cuticles and encourage strong, healthy nails. Application is easy, too, because of its pen-type applicator. When I need my hands looking great during photo shoots or jewelry fashion shows where hands are the focus, this is a magic wand that instantly puts my nails in tiptop shape. Another bonus: it acts as a supernatural gloss for your nails!

When you do have time for a manicure, do go to Nail Spa (I go to the branch on the fifth floor of Shangri-La Plaza Mall, tel. 687-7011 and 687-4991). I’ve been going there for years and no one does it better than they do. Nail Spa is responsible for most of the magazine covers that feature celebrities with perfectly polished nails. You’ll never go anywhere else after you’ve had a manicure and pedicure with them.                                                                

RISSA

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How to streamline your style

HI, REGINA!

I feel like the way I dress is so cluttered. How do I streamline my style so that it seems more cohesive?        

KINA

One thing you can do is to establish a palette that you’ll follow for the season. Select the colors that best suit you and build a wardrobe around those, switch some colors out depending on the time of year (for example: including teal and yellow in the summertime, oxblood and emerald towards the “-ber” months). Lately, I’ve been dressing mostly in black, white, navy, and gray, with an occasional color accent (usually a jewel tone), and I find that it’s easier to put an outfit together now that I have a general idea of what I want to look like.

Another thing you can do, apart from selecting your colors, is to build a wardrobe around silhouettes that you like. Slouchy tee with skinny trousers? Tank tops with loose, flowy pants? Long-sleeved tops with cutoffs or skater skirts? Figure out which combinations of tops and bottoms look best on your figure, and come up with lots of permutations of those like a uniform of sorts. Switch up your colors and shoes and accessories so that you don’t always look exactly the same.                                                          

REGINA

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Send e-mail to Lucy Torres-Gomez at ltg@pldtdsl.com. E-mail Rissa Trillo at stylesos_rissa@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter @RissaMananquil. Send Regina Belmonte your questions at vivatregina.tumblr@gmail.com or tweet her @vivatregina.