Girl’s Day Out

Here are some tips to keep you looking and feeling fresh on a long outing.
You are all excited about a day-long outing with your pals - maybe to the amusement park, the beach or the farmhouse – wherever you and your buddies go for some serious playtime. The only bummer: heat and humidity can wreak havoc on your looks, resulting in frizzed-out hair, raccoon-like eyes and a shiny, oily face. Not to mention the aroma factor! If you think your only choice is to grin and bear it, think again. Armed with a few beauty products and some secrets – you too can stay fresh and feel good all day long.

Hair
Morning Plan
No matter how long you primp, curl or blow-dry your tresses, ‘hot humid day hair’ will always win. So don’t kid yourself that a fancy hairstyle will stay. The best bet: go with the natural texture. Some easy tips:

• Work some leave in conditioner into damp straight hair or wavy locks to weigh them down, or try this slick trick: mix a dollop of facial moisturizer with a styling lotion before applying it.
• If your strands love to spiral, run a styling lotion or gel designed for curly hair through damp curls and allow them to air-dry. Styling products made for curly hair help it keep its bounce in windy situations.
• If you’re afraid to let your waves go wild, a ponytail would be a great idea. Add a conditioning gel, pull your hair back and fasten with elastic. Slick shorter locks off your face and secure a few pieces behind your ear with bobby pins. This will keep them in place for a longer time.
  
  
  Midday Maintenance
• Pack a spray gel to detangle straight or wavy hair and tame flyaways. Then put your head down and brush vigorously from the roots to the ends. This will bring the bounce back to the hair.
• If your hair is curly and you catch a case of frizzies, simply wet it: the water reactivates your styling gel to redefine your coils.
• If the hair has become completely out-of-control, the best bet would be to put it up or tie it. Never leave home with some sort of hair clincher!

Makeup
Morning Plans

• After cleansing, wipe your skin with a toner that contains salicylic acid to unclog pores and absorb access oil.
• Apply a layer of sunscreen, with SPF30, since even the slightest burn can put you in the fast lane to wrinkledom.
• Skip heavy foundations. Stick to the natural, fresh look. Lightly cover spots with a light concealer.
• Sweep a light powder foundation on top to avoid the shiny look that can result when oil-based makeup is exposed to the sun.
• Apply a light blusher. Use a powder blush as it’ll absorb extra oil and stay put. Go easy on the blush and stick to a light and natural look.
• Outline your lips with a neutral, lip-coloured pencil and smudge the colour inwards, so that it stains your entire lip. Use a lip balm to add some shine.
• To keep your eye makeup from spreading, dust a tiny bit of translucent powder on your lids before applying shadow. If you use a liner, opt for pencils and then smudge some shadow over the liner to make it last longer.
• Coat lashes with smudge proof mascara.

Midday Maintenance

• To soak up shine try blotting paper instead of powder.
• Pack a colored lip balm. If you find yourself balmless and in dire need of some lip color, try this: grab a cherry or strawberry lollipop or candy from a snack stand. Rub the treat on your lips for a light stain. But don’t go overboard, or you’ll look like ‘The blood sucking Dracula.’

Body Aroma
Morning Plan
It’s a fact of life. Whenever the mercury rises everyone becomes a little umm… less fragrant. So here’s your line of defence:

• Try applying a coat of anti-perspirant at bedtime. The smell stopping chemicals will be better absorbed by the body, since you sweat less while you are sleeping.
• In the morning lather up with anti-bacterial deodorant soap, or shower gel. Post shower, reuse a strong anti-perspirant after you’ve dried off. To super sweat proof your body, dust on a lightweight absorbent powder anywhere you tend to perspire more – usually underarms, groin and just under your breasts.
• Trade your nylon and polyerster clothes for cottons.
• If your feet get stinky, wash them with exfoliating scrub to remove dead skin cells. When you get out of the shower, dry your feet completely and dust some powder between your toes. Try putting some antiperspirant on your soles.
• If you are wearing socks, make sure that they are 100% cotton, so they’ll absorb sweat and let your skin breathe.

Midday maintenance

• Pack a cooling body spray and spray it on when you are over-heated. However if you are already sweating heavily and the body odour has started troubling you, do not spritz a heavy spray to camouflage the BO. Nothing is worse than the overpowering smell of sweat combined with heavy perfume! Instead, wipe your underarms as well as other problem areas with a wet tissue, (a handkerchief soaked in water will do, in the absence of a wet tissue). Allow the body to dry and then put on that spray. Remember to keep the fragrance fresh and light.
• Try to drink at least eight glasses of water throughout the day --- if you keep your body cool and hydrated from inside you won’t sweat as much on the outside. But this might lead to many inconvenient trips to the cloakroom, especially if you are travelling.The solution: sip small quantities water at short intervals, instead of gulping down one or two glasses when you feel hot.
• Steer clear of sweat- inducing foods like sugary, caffeinated drinks or anything spicy. Smoking ups the sweat factor too.
  
  
  What you should you carry in your bag on your day out
  
• Sunscreen SPF30
  
• Antiperspirant and deodorant
  
• Fresh smelling body spray
  
• Coloured lip balm
  
• Tissues
  
• Wet tissues
  
• Hair brush
  
• Bobby pins
  
• A hair clincher