#BEAUTY WITH GUEST AUTHOR STEPHANIE QUEEN

USA Today bestselling author Stephanie Queen lives in New Hampshire with the trees, rocks, her cat Kitty, and some brave squirrels. Somehow she finds inspiration to write stories filled with romance, intrigue and a dose of humor. Learn more about Stephanie and her books at her website. 

Beauty Tips by Stephanie Queen (not a beauty queen!)

I may not be a beauty queen—and I’m definitely not like the gorgeous heroine in my latest novel, Shana George, who like most romance heroines, may as well be a beauty queen. But I’m just like the next girl in real life, and we all want to look our best—especially when we’re out somewhere special or in front of scads of people. On occasion, we all want to go out and stun the world—or at least a few people in our immediate vicinity who may have forgotten their eyeglasses at home. Kidding. We all have it in us!

Here are 5 Tips to Maximize the Bloom—even for those of us (theoretically) past our bloom:

1. Get a GOOD night’s SLEEP – 7-9 hours. No more and no less. And it’s okay if you wake up in the middle of it—just roll over and go back to sleep until you put in your time. Poor Shana George never gets to sleep in Beachcomber Baby!

2. Get a GOOD face powder to layer over the moisturizer and the foundation – but very lightly. I use Lancome. It’s pricey, but noticeably better than the drug store brands. I don’t think Shana has applied makeup once in the entire Beachcomber Investigations series. Luckily she works in the dark a lot!

3. Pay MOST attention to your EYES when deciding on makeup! Light them up! Experiment until they look glamorous and gorgeous and like you, only brighter! I use eyeliner and highlight the brow bone with a lighter shadow or even a concealer to give extra depth and pop. Shana has fabulous green eyes but she scowls a lot—mostly at her lover-nemesis Dane Blaise. Don’t scowl in real life!

4. Wear EXCELLENT undergarments. Wear comfortable undergarments designed to fit your figure, whatever it is. No bulging, cutting or even squeezing! Enhancing is okay! (It goes without saying that all your clothes should fit correctly—nothing too tight and nothing too loose or baggy!) Shana shamelessly ignores this rule and has been known to wear tight dresses and bikinis. No wonder Dane can’t remember that she’s forbidden fruit!

5. Wear your COLOR!  If you haven’t had your colors done, you might want to try it, or at least read up on what your best colors might be. They might not be the colors you like best, so you might not be able to tell for yourself. Some people look good in lots of colors, but you want to find the one that’s the BEST! And run with it! Shana’s colors are beach colors, teal and aqua and cool blue like the ocean at State Beach on Martha’s Vineyard.

Although there’s a million other tips and tricks, these are my top five because they’re high impact and mostly easy. These are things you can do at any age and any condition.

So if you see me out in public, as author Stephanie Queen, signing books or speaking—feel free to grade me on the 5 Tips to Maximize the Bloom!

Also feel free to check out my latest novel, Beachcomber Baby and soon-to-be-released Beachcomber Investigations, now on pre-order. This romantic detective series features the perpetually beautiful detective, Shana George, who’s paired up with her perpetually dangerous partner in crime solving, Dane Blaise. It’s all about this couple of crazy in love-hate private investigators on Martha’s Vineyard!

Beachcomber Baby - Beachcomber Investigations series book 3

A romantic detective series

Dark and dangerous Dane and shamelessly sexy Shana team up like oil & water on a mission to save a baby while they wage a personal war of love & hate between them.

Ex-special ops legend Dane Blaise doesn't like cases involving babies. In his experience, they always end bad. Really bad.

When Father Donahue hands Shana a baby and the mission is to find the baby's mother, the ex-Scotland Yard detective can't resist taking the case. She convinces Dane to help her with only because it's not the baby that's missing--it's the baby's mother.

But they discover the priest dragged them into the tip of an iceberg full of trouble with an ex-Russian KGB operative turned-criminal and his comrades. Things look bad. Really bad.

To keep Dane on the mission, Shana will need to uncover the dark secret of his terrible past baby case. Can she convince him to forget his past to save this baby--and save their partnership?

Buy Links

paperback 

ebook 

BEAUTY WITH NICOLE-- MAKE-UP BRUSH CARE

Beauty editor Nicole Emmerling has some tips today for caring for and extending the life of your make-up brushes. -- AP

Thanks, Anastasia! Many of us have moved away from cosmetic wedges and are now using brushes to apply everything from foundation to powder to lipstick to liner and shadow. Good make-up brushes can be pricey, so you want to treat them with care. If you don’t, you’ll be replacing them often.

Here are some tips that will help extend the life of those brushes:

For brushes where you change color often (eye shadow, liner, and lip brushes), you’re going to need to remove the color after each use. The easiest way to do this is to place a moist paper towel in the palm of your hand. With the brush in your other hand, twirl the brush around the paper towel until you’ve removed all the color. Place the brush on a clean towel to dry.

With repeated use, bacteria and oils will build up on make-up brushes. To sanitize your brushes use a make-up brush cleaner every week or two. Follow the directions on the brush cleaner.

Every few months you want to give your brushes a deeper cleansing. Wet the bristles with warm water and massage a small amount of your face cleanser into a lather. Swish the brushes around in warm water to rinse off the cleanser. Use your fingers to squeeze out any excess water from the bristles and reshape them. Place on a clean towel to dry.

Hmm…sounds quite similar to the way I care for my watercolor brushes. Thanks, Nicole! Readers, do you have any similar tips you’d like to share with us? Let’s hear from you! Post a comment to win a book from our Book Club Friday guest author. -- AP

BEAUTY WITH NICOLE-- WINTER SKIN CARE TIPS

As promised last week, beauty editor Nicole Emmerling is back today with some tips for caring for your skin during the winter months. -- AP

Thanks, Anastasia! First and foremost, it’s important to stay hydrated. We tend to drink less water during the winter because we don’t get thirsty from the heat, but it’s still important to keep up your daily fluid intake. And remember, part of that fluid intake should be from vegetables and fruits that are rich in nutrients.

That leads me to my second tip: Eat a balanced diet. Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids are also important during the winter to maintain skin hydration. So make sure your diet includes fish as well as walnuts, Brazil nuts, soy beans, pumpkin seeds, flaxseed, and olive oil, soybean oil, and canola oil.

Exercise is also important for maintaining good skin health throughout the winter. Exercise increases blood flow, and if you remember from last week’s article, cold temperatures impede blood flow, leading to dry, itchy skin.

Use a humidifier, especially if your home is heated by forced air heat.

If you’ve been outside in the snow or icy rain, make sure you remove wet gloves, socks, and any other damp clothing immediately once you go inside. Leaving on damp clothing, thinking they’ll dry soon enough from the indoor heat will, will lead to skin irritation and itching.

Repeating something mentioned last week, keep those showers and baths lukewarm and short. The hotter the water and the longer you stay in it, the more you’ll irritate your skin.

Don’t use soap. Always wash with a moisturizing cleanser. Soap dries out skin.

Use a soft towel to pat your skin after bathing or showing, rather than rubbing, and leave your skin slightly damp. Then, immediately lock in the moisture by applying lotion to your damp skin.

Thanks, Nicole! Great tips. Readers, do you have any tips you’d like to share? Remember to post a comment to be entered into the drawing for a book from this week's Book Club Friday guest author. -- AP

BEAUTY WITH NICOLE-- WINTER SKIN CARE MYTHS

We still have more than a month of winter ahead of us. This snowman is sitting in front of a house a few blocks from me. Gives you some indication of the winter we've had in NJ this year. It's hard to tell in the photo, but he's close to three stories tall! 


Winter weather means all sorts of winter skin problems, too. Beauty editor Nicole Emmerling is here today to dispel some skin care beauty myths. -- AP

Thanks, Anastasia! For those of you who live in areas of the country where winter means cold temps and snow, you know that your skin can take quite a beating from the weather. But do you know why? Blood vessels constrict when your skin is cold. This reduces blood flow to the skin and your oil-secreting glands, which in turn causes skin cells to dry out and flake off, thus irritating your skin and making you itch.

We all do various things to counteract the effects of winter on our skin, but many people don’t realize that some of the remedies they use to fight the dryness, irritation, and itchiness are actually adding to the problem, not helping it.

For instance, do you enjoy a long soak in a hot tub on a cold night, thinking it helps hydrate your skin? Wrong! Whether you’re bathing or showering, super-hot water can irritate your skin. Keep those baths and showers short, use lukewarm water, and always, always slather on body lotion afterwards.

Do you think the only way to counteract dry, cracked skin on your feet is to use a pumice stone? If so, you’re making a bad situation worse. That pumice stone is only going to irritate your feet more. Instead, slather on foot lotion and slip into a pair of socks.

Finally, do you believe that the sun isn’t as strong in winter? Do you skip sunscreen for that reason? You shouldn’t. UVB rays are not as strong in cold weather, but UVA rays remain consistent throughout the year. Get into the routine of using sunscreen year-round.

Thanks, Nicole! Good things to know. And readers, Nicole will be back next week with some more tips for keeping your skin healthy throughout the winter. Remember to post a comment to be entered into the drawing for a book from this week's Book Club Friday guest author. -- AP

BEAUTY WITH NICOLE--HAIR SPRAY TIP

Beauty editor Nicole Emmerling has a great tip for us today. -- AP

Thanks, Anastasia! Raise your hands. How many of you have tossed out cans of hairspray before they’re empty due to clogged nozzles? I’ll bet every one of you has suffered that wasteful frustration at one time or another. Well, guess what! You don’t have to ever again. Here’s a simple solution for unclogging that nozzle.

Pour a little rubbing alcohol in the hairspray can’s cap, enough to cover the nozzle. Pull the nozzle off the can, and let it soak in the alcohol for a bit. Rinse the nozzle, and insert it back into the can. Voila! Your can of hairspray is as good as new!

Thanks, Nicole! I would imagine this tip might work for other spray can products as well. I’ll have to give it a try the next time one of mine clogs up. What about the rest of you? Do you have any special tips to share? Post a comment to the blog this week, and you're entered in the drawing for a free book from our Book Club Friday guest author. -- AP

BEAUTY WITH NICOLE--10 TIPS TO LOOKING YOUNGER

Beauty editor Nicole Emmerling offers us 10 tips for looking younger today, and who among us doesn’t want to thwart the march of time? -- AP

10 TIPS TO LOOKING YOUNGER

Some things you can’t change, like your genes, but many of us have some bad habits that make us age quicker. Break those habits to slow the aging process. Here are 10 things you can do for younger looking skin.

1. Stop smoking! Aside from being really bad for your health, smoking creates wrinkles, especially around your mouth.

2. Stop tanning! Again, like smoking, tanning is really bad for your health. It’s the leading cause of skin cancer. It’s also the leading cause of wrinkles.

3. Use sunscreen! (See above.)

4. Keep make-up light! Too much foundation, concealer and powder actually makes you look older and can exaggerates the flaws you’re trying to hide.

5. Drink less! Alcohol increases the level of inflammatory agents in your bloodstream which hastens skin sagging.

6. Don’t ignore your neck, chest, and hands! They age along with your face. Use the same products on your neck and chest that you do on your face. Treat them as one. Twice a month use your microdermabrasion product on the back of your hands. Use hand cream with SPF 30 every day and a retinol product on the backs of your hands every night.

7. Get a decent amount of sleep each night! Lack of sleep causes stress, and stress shows on your face. Also, it’s while you’re sleeping that your body repairs the day’s damage.

8. Stop eating junk food! By replacing processed foods with high-protein foods and whole grains, you’re providing nutrients to your hair, nails, and skin, as well as your body.

9. Start exercising! Exercise releases tension and stress, which shows up on your face. It also increases blood flow to your skin.

10. Don’t forget to exfoliate! The older you get, the longer it takes for dead skin cells to slough off. Dead skin cells are what create dull looking skin.