Since this is beauty’s first month away from fashion, I thought it’d be great to start at the beauty beginning, and offer a refresher course for beauty and skincare tips. As a thank you to our readers, there is a giveaway posted at the bottom of this article, so keep reading!
Skin Care
A previous Fashion and Beauty article covered skin care in depth, including product recommendation, so I’m just going to touch on the basic concepts.
Choose good products! You don’t have to purchase really expensive products in order to take care of your face, but using bar soap and body lotion won’t cut it. If you want a clear, beautiful face, you’re going to need a product that is made just for your face. You may need to experiment with several products before you find one you love, so refrain from purchasing more than one bottle at a time until you know you’ve found your match. If money is an issue, keep an eye open in the Sunday paper for coupons and local sales. Once you have a product you love, stock up when there are good sales (buy one, get one free is a great sale). Note the characteristics and ingredients of products that are not good for your skin, and stay away from them. Fragrances in facial lotions may be harsh on sensitive skin (go frangrance-free), and benzyl peroxide can often cause breakouts and rashes on sensitive faces.
Use your products! Your skin care products will do nothing for your skin if they sit, barely used, on a shelf. Place the cleanser in the shower, and keep the toner and moisturizer with the rest of your after- shower products so they will be convenient to use.
Make-up
Have a good foundation. It’s okay to use cheaper eye shadows and blush, but make sure to have a decent foundation to avoid breakouts. I’m not saying to go to the make-up counter at department stores (we’re talking big bucks here), but the dollar store isn’t the place to shop, either. Purchase something that’s fairly inexpensive, but good enough to not damage your skin. I personally love Cover Girl, but you can experiment and find something that works for you.
Don’t shell out a ton of money for trendy looks. If you want to try silver eyeliner or blue eye shadow, go for it, but this is where you’ll want to purchase cheaper products. There’s no sense in spending a lot of money on something you may only use a few times!
Choose flattering colors. Purchasing foundation that is darker than your natural skin color will not make you look tanner – it will only make it look like you want to look tan, and it will not blend in with the rest of your skin, giving you a clown-face look. If you’re fair skinned, avoid harsh black for eyeliner and mascara; instead go for a softer brown look. If you have a darker complexion, avoid pastels. They will look washed out on your face. Generally, if you look pretty in a certain color top, you will look nice wearing that same color as your eyeshadow (be careful not to go overboard though). For example, if you receive compliments when you wear a certain shade of purple, try out that color in an eye shadow. You may be pleasantly surprised with the result!
Less is more. When my mom taught me how to apply make-up, she told me that make-up is to enhance our natural beauty, not to change our looks. That is so true! Some people wear a ton of make-up all the time, but they’re missing the entire point! God made all of us beautiful in our own unique ways, and we don’t want make-up to hide that (Psalm 139:13–14). We need to let our natural beauty shine through.
Apply it
Start with a fresh, clean face and clean hands. Apply your foundation first, smoothly over your entire face (but not your neck). If you have a liquid foundation, you can use your fingertips. Otherwise, use a make-up sponge. To go really low-maintenance, use a tinted moisturizer, and skip the foundation and concealer.
Once the foundation is in place, use a concealer, if you need one. I love all-in-one concealers – I can fix under my eyes and any blemishes in one quick step. Be careful not to go too light with a concealer under your eyes, or you will have the reverse raccoon effect. A good rule of thumb is to go a shade darker than your normal skin tone.
Now comes the really fun stuff! If you’re going to use eyeliner, use that next. Pull your eye slightly out to the side with one finger, and apply the eyeliner in short sweeps around the outside edges of your eye with the other hand. Repeat on the other side.
After the eyeliner is applied, put on your choice of eye shadow. Doing this after eyeliner softens the harshness of the liner, giving a fresher, more natural look. The lighter color goes on the lid, and the darker shade goes in the crease. Applying white eye shadow directly under the arch of your eyebrow and in the inner corners of your eyes instantly brightens the entire eye area. Make sure to blend all of the shades or they will look too harsh and unflattering.
Next it’s time for the blush! This is an easy step to mess up. Apply blush only on your cheeks–on the apples, or cheekbones– where the sun naturally touches. You’ll probably have to experiment with this a little before getting it just right. I’ve found that crème blushes are easier to use because I can apply them with my finger to get just the right amount. Some common mistakes are using the wrong color, applying too much, or covering too large an area. Experiment to get the right shades and placement on your face.
Add a light powder over your face to set your make-up in place, and to keep down any possible shine. Put on a little mascara, your favorite lip gloss (save lipstick for special occasions), and you’re ready for a refreshing night out, or in, with your favorite people!
Beauty Product Giveaway
As some of you know, the Pierce My Heart editors have decided to begin hosting monthly giveaways. This month, we’re giving away a bag of fun beauty products!
To enter the contest, simply leave a comment below (comments are moderated so they may take a day or so to appear) by Thursday, January 29, 2009, telling us your idea for a new name for our beauty column. Make sure to include a valid e-mail address in your information (this will not appear in the post). We will choose the winning title, and the winner will be e-mailed on Jan 31 so they can claim their prize.
Ready, set, begin!
Davonne Parks
1) We’re only as busy as we allow ourselves to be. It can be very tempting to make excuses like, “Well, I have to do that,” or “This person needs me to do this for them,” or “I have to finish this by tonight.” The excuses will go on as long as we allow them, but it boils down to the fact that if we are so busy we don’t have any time for anything other than the urgent, than we’re too busy and it’s our own fault! Really look at your schedule, be honest with yourself, and see what you can cut (sports, dates every weekend, after-school events or clubs, working full time outside the home, etc.).
6) Ask for wisdom. If we are diligently seeking God’s will, and asking Him to grant us wisdom, He will give it to us. When you don’t know what to do, study His word (which we should be doing anyway) and pray for wisdom. With God’s blessing, refuse to be a victim of your circumstances, and take charge of our own life! Ask Him to show you the way, then don’t be afraid to follow where He leads.
This photo was taken near Grotto Falls, Gatlinburg, TN, on a family vacation. This was the beautiful part, obviously. But what you can’t see in this shot is the sign that was just below my feet that read, “DANGER: Hazardous Cliff.” Along the way there were also numerous signs that were equally, if not more, disconcerting: “DANGER: Falling Deaths Have Occurred…” I can’t say I felt exactly safe, but after affirming my surroundings and staying alert, I was more at ease.
When I was a teenager, politics really didn’t interest me all that much. I couldn’t vote (until I was 18, of course), and I really didn’t pay any taxes because any money I paid was returned to me with a simple tax form every April. So, why should I care about all the uproar that goes along with choosing a candidate and showing support?
Whether you are old enough to vote for them or not, state representatives represent the people of their state, not just those over 18. If you have a concern or see something that needs changed, write your state representatives. Voting is not the only way to make a change. As Americans, all of us have the right and responsibility to make changes that will make our country better.
Christmas is over. The New Year is here. It seems as though it’s finally time for things to settle down. Now that parties with your friends are over, exams are behind you, and routine is becoming, well, routine again, gather your family, and settle in for an evening at home.
It’s a new year, and everyone is making resolutions. Whether they are to be a better listener or to get more organized, we’re all thinking about the things we want to change. What better time is there to find a new way to reach people, than now? You can even use food to display a great example of what a Christian is supposed to be like. Actions speak louder than words, and if people see you helping others, they’re going to be thinking great things about not only you, but most importantly, Christ (and remember to give Him the glory!).
I’ve heard many complaints about Mondays, but I love them! After a busy weekend, it’s nice to get back into the routine of the week. I am blessed to be able to work from home, so I’m able to take care of the house between other tasks, but I know many working women don’t currently have that option. Many women dread Monday because it means getting back to the same old routine of rush, rush, rush.
stressed out all the time. My family’s actions reflected my frazzled attitude. We were all constantly tired, and our life became one big rush to do everything we needed to do with not enough time to do it in. My goal of having a home full of love and happiness completely went down the drain and my new goal became a desire to just survive. Just trying to make it through the day happens to all of us on occasion, but if it’s happening all the time, we really need to look at our lives and reprioritize.
January is a great time to focus on renewing ourselves with our friends! The 
Okay, so let’s say you don’t have two TVs. You can still host both parties at your house! The girls can hang out, talk (not gossip), paint their nails, or give each other makeovers. Do this in a room the guys aren’t in, of course!
For the past two months we have studied and focused on the first six fruits of the Spirit: 
The eighth piece of this great gift is gentleness. There is something special about your boyfriend when he is gentle and tender, right? I don’t necessarily mean mushy, but sweet and considerate. When I am sad or down, it means the world to me for my boyfriend to give me a hug or just let me talk about how I feel. His gentleness portrays the love that I know he has for me. I am always thankful for those times in our relationship.
be saving your relationship, because many times after sex the relationship is never the same and you can’t continue together. I suggest that you talk with your boyfriend and make the mutual decision to abstain from sexual activities until marriage to help protect your relationship. There is always the possibility that someone reading this may have been sexually impure before. What I want you to really understand is that there is still hope; there is always hope. God has promised forgiveness, but it’s up to you to take advantage of it.
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