Have you ever wondered if it really matters if you go to bed with your makeup on? Well, this is a photo of a woman who slept in her makeup, not washing it off for an entire month.With Halloween right around the corner, this itself is pretty scary for the beauty obsessed! 

photo via the Drs.

You can see that she looks about 10 years older, and the quality of her skin has definitely changed. Inflammation and clogged pores which appear larger because bacteria that causes acne has become trapped. 

We've all been guilty of skipping this important skin care step after a night out with the girls, and damage is likely not permanent, but it will take longer for your skin to bounce back.

Not washing your face can also speed up the aging process because of free radical damage. It's important to wash away pollutants that stick to makeup and contaminate our skin, attacking healthy skin that can result in a decrease in the production of collagen, which means premature wrinkles.

Moral of the story - you know it already, wash off your makeup every night! To help, buy some cleansing or baby wipes and leave them on your nightstand. This way you'll have no excuses and it's better for your skin than skipping it entirely. 

I partnered with Cover Girl in the video below to bring you some more helpful tips regarding some things you might be doing that  are actually aging your skin. 

For example, did you know that you should wash your face after you shower? Sometimes the products you use to wash your hair and body can get trapped in your pores and make them appear larger. Watch below for some more helpful tips.

Halo Couture vs Halo Hair™ Crown vs Halo Hair Extensions (UK)

In a world of sinners, the Gods of locks, have given us the answer to all of our hairy prayers ... the Halo. The easiest extension ever to use, taking less than a minute to put on without any clips to hide, messy glue or damage to your own hair. To see how easy it is check out my post about Kelly Ripa's Halo hair {Here}

But the question remains - which Halo is most awe inspiring of all? To find out I ordered all three and here's what I found. 

THE PRICE

Halo Couture is by far the most expensive starting at $350 for their 16 inch extension which is sold primarily only through salons. Halo Hair™ Crown, in comparison is less than half the cost at $175. And the Halo Hair Extensions from the UK are £89.99 (roughly $144) but it ships from England.

Difference in width

THE HAIR

All three have equally great hair, similar texture, silky and luxurious. 

As far as the amount of hair, Halo Hair™ Crown wins weighing in at 120 grams, which is 20 % more hair than either Halo Couture or the UK Halo.

The Halo Couture and Halo Hair™ Crown are both equal in width across, about 13 inches of hair that goes ear to ear. The Halo Hair Extension from the UK is only 10 inches across. I prefer the wider halo because is gives me volume like a whole set of extensions, not just in the back of my head.

Here are some before and after shots of me wearing the 16 inch Halo Hair™ Crown, that I had cut and styled to add volume to my own hair:

As the old beauty queen within me would say,

"Love your hair, hope you win!"

If you look at the photo above taken on my 49th birthday last week,  you are probably saying to yourself ...

"Well, I already have that skinny arm on the hip trick mastered, is that all you got?"

However, as obvious as this one seems, many women are still not using this pose to their advantage!

I am often asked by magazines for quotes about the tips and tricks of posing for better photos, and there's a lot that goes into getting a perfect photo, the lighting, the makeup, the styling. I'll be doing more televised segments about all these, but yesterday I got the chance to talk about the importance of posing for Arizona Midday - take a look here:

The skinny arm on the hip trick is completely overused on the red carpet because it does incredible things for women ... smaller waist, longer legs and creates curves. It's best if you choose the arm closet to the lens of the camera for this trick and remember to lower your shoulder. However, if you don't want to look like a teapot in all your photos, you can get the same effect if you understand why this pose works.

The basic cheat being used here isn't the hand on the hip, it's the bent elbow and separation of the body and arm, that makes this work. If must have light between or the width of your arms next to your body will make you look bigger than you actually are! You don't have to over-exaggerate it every time to get the benefit of this trick. Simply put a slight bend to your elbow and pull your arms away from your body. Or hold on to something, a purse, a drink, a  pocket .... It will make a massive difference in your pictures.

Placement of the hands is key. A model rarely shows the back of her hands. The reason? They aren't pretty and they look big. The sides are much prettier and dainty. Secondly, never clump your fingers together, instead let fingers relax and be apart.

One of the biggest mistakes women do is place their hands lower than they should when working this pose. If you do, the part of your body you will draw attention to is your hips, the widest area of your body. Instead cheat the hands up a little higher on your waist and this will give you the illusion of longer legs ... Nothing wrong with that!

Most of the time you will want to keep the weight of your body on your back foot, however if you need to fake some curves you can do what I did in the top photo and keep your weight on your front leg instead or try popping your hip toward the camera.

The other important thing to do when standing for a photo is to angle your body to the camera. We must create the angle, because the lens of the camera will flatten you out to a 2D version of yourself and make you look wider than you are if you don't! So angle yourself to the lens of the camera pointed at you. The worst thing you can do is stand front and center to the lens. This is why people say the camera adds 10 pounds. Face the camera and place your hips and feet at a 2 or 10 o'clock position to it. Then create a smaller waistline by turning your face to the lens, twisting yourself without moving your feet. Ahaha - instantly you have created a slimmer waistline too!

Practice. Practice. Practice. The mirror is your best friend and a perfect tool to teach you how to develop your own signature pose. Like I said in this video, if you try to emulate Taylor Swift's cross legged go to pose without checking yourself first, you may just end up taking a photo that looks more like you have to pee your pants instead of a young goddess with long legs.

Finally, with social media and sites like Instagram and Facebook, it's nearly impossible to get out of taking a group shot now and then, assuming you have a life outside of the world wide web. To get your best group shots just keep in mind that anything closest to the camera will look the biggest. If this happens to be you, just take a step back or hide a part of you behind the person next to you. And never get sandwiched between two people and let your arms flatten next to your body. Just remember the tips above and try to work in a slight angle and to keep some space between your body and arm for great pics on girls night out!

So many pictures, so little time ...  Hope this helps!

XO 

Shelley