FASHION Magazine

Have you ever heard the saying, “Prevention is better than a cure?” Well your complexion craves a great deal of that. In order to keep that glow, banish acne and start minimizing any signs of aging, you need to form a healthy barrier of products to expedite the recovery process. Just as your office requires […]

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We could all stand to punch in some more hours when it comes to beauty sleep. From hours spent staring at your phone screen, to nights out spent with friends, a helping hand in the form of overnight beauty products are in order. The sad truth is that those late nights and early mornings can […]

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If you’ve ever found yourself confused and overwhelmed in the makeup aisle of a drugstore while trying to decipher the various products on the shelves, you’re not alone. There are so many different products and categories on the market that are designed with specific purposes and are available in a variety of formulas, making the […]

The post The ultimate skin makeup guide: BB, CC, and DD creams + everything in between appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

See the easy gif tutorial that will help you master this bold look » It may be frightful outside this holiday season, but that doesn’t mean your makeup has to be, right? The holidays are a great time to experiment with your beauty routine and add some more-daring-than-usual elements, so follow this step-by-step holiday party […]

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Every week our Beauty Fix columnist takes on your questions about makeup, skincare, hair and more. Have a beauty question we haven’t answered? Email us at beautyfix@fashionmagazine.com or ask away in the comments below. I have acne-prone, oily skin and I’ve never been able to find a mattifying foundation that matches me. Any suggestions? If […]

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Every week our Beauty Fix columnist takes on your questions about makeup, skincare, hair and more. Have a beauty question we haven’t answered? Email us atbeautyfix@fashionmagazine.com or ask away in the comments below.

What’s the simplest alternative to professional gel manicures? They’re too time-consuming to commit to!
If you’re not able to commit your time (or money!) to gel manicures done by a pro, rest assured that you have a long-lasting alternative that you can pick up at the drugstore. Sally Hansen Miracle Gel (shown in “Mad Women”, $11, at drugstores) is the latest and greatest from the nail authority, and this formula is heavy-duty without the fuss of a UV or LED light-curing process, boasting up to 14 days of chip-free wear. Simply apply two coats of gel colour (no base coat required) and finish with the Miracle Gel Top Coat. Both the gel colour and top coat formulas contain similar ingredients, but the top coat contains a photoinitiator that cures with natural UV light, so the gel colour becomes more durable as time passes. Bonus: 47 shades in a slew of different finishes means this system is one you’ll definitely be able to embrace wholeheartedly!

Every week our Beauty Fix columnist takes on your questions about makeup, skincare, hair and more. Have a beauty question we haven’t answered? Email us at beautyfix@fashionmagazine.com.

My brows are well defined, but they are unruly and gel isn’t doing the trick. What else can I use?
If you’re blessed with full brows and have no use for brow powders or pencils at all, consider yourself lucky! If you’re blessed with brows so full that they verge into unruly territory, you probably consider yourself frustrated when hairs stray from your natural shape. If gel isn’t keeping brow hairs in order, try something more pliable that will really grip hairs and keep them together, like Sigma Beauty Brow Wax ($11, sigmabeauty.com). This pencil format means convenient application. Run it through brows, and your body heat will warm the wax up, allowing you to brush it through with a spoolie into your preferred shape.

In the days before the Academy Awards, actress Lupita Nyong’o could have stuck to primping for her big night, but instead she chose to speak about “dark beauty” at the annual Essence Black Women in Hollywood luncheon. She read aloud a letter from a fan who, after seeing her success, had decided not to buy a skin-lightening cream. Nyong’o explained that she too once hated her skin tone, that she was teased and taunted, and that her “one prayer to God was that I would wake up lighter-skinned.” That fan wasn’t the only one paying attention: When Vanity Fair was accused of lightening the 12 Years a Slave star’s deep brown skin for her portrait in its February 2014 Oscar issue, armchair comments ranged from “Black people like to be adequately lit too” to “It’s so nice to finally see a black celebrity with really dark skin.”

It’s easy to think of Beyoncé, Rihanna and Freida Pinto as symbols of inclusivity; they are, but with their light skin and/or light eyes, they represent a beauty ideal that many women of colour can never hope to achieve. Colourism (or shadeism) is a type of discrimination that occurs within ethnic groups, creating a quiet divide between light- and dark-skinned people of colour. It drives women to choose too light a foundation; use lightening creams with dubious ingredients and results; or opt for surgical treatments. If you’re any type of brown, hearing an auntie say, “Stay out of the sun or you’ll get too dark!” is about as common as being told to eat your vegetables.

Every week our Beauty Fix columnist takes on your questions about makeup, skincare, hair and more. Have a beauty question we haven’t answered? Email us at beautyfix@fashionmagazine.com.

Is it actually possible to repair split ends without cutting my hair?
If you’re attached to every bit of your hair length, the desire to hold off from making a cut can be strong—even when split ends are everywhere. That being said, there isn’t a way to fully repair split ends. However, if you’re interested in minimizing the appearance of split ends between haircuts, that can certainly be achieved with the right products. Tresemmé Split Remedy Shampoo & Conditioner ($7 each, well.ca) contains positively charged polymers in a gel base that’s attracted to your negatively-charged split ends. This seals the split ends and provides a smoother appearance of each strand—while allowing you to wait out your next haircut with sleek, not scraggly, hair.

See all the Christmas gift ideas for men »

Whether or not he’s your paramour, choosing the right gift for the man in your life can be tricky: Gents are not exactly known for being communicative, so you’re pretty much on your own. And because a bottle of Scotch can get tiresome, we’ve got 61 ways to add a little chic to your man’s everyday.

Dr. Martens are back and they are better than ever with this season’s twist on the Pendelton-infused traditional dress shoe. For those of you with a musical man in your lives, an amp styled iPhone dock will add the perfect old school vibe to his digs.

Every week our Beauty Fix columnist takes on your questions about makeup, skincare, hair and more. Have a beauty question we haven’t answered? Email us at beautyfix@fashionmagazine.com.

I bought a bright blush on a whim and it’s much more pigmented than I thought. How do I apply it?
Working with intense pigmentation can involve a bit of a learning curve, especially if you’re used to a more forgiving formula. When dealing with a mega pigmented blush, such as a mighty magenta shade like Nars Blush in “Coeur Battant” ($32, narscosmetics.com), it all boils down to how you apply the product. Take your blush brush and tap it very lightly in the blush and tap it lightly on the back of your hand to remove a bit of the pigment. Now you can apply the blush to your face as you usually would. Step back and evaluate the colour payoff and repeat this process until you’re pleased with the outcome. The idea here is that it’s easier to gradually add colour to the face instead of inundating your cheeks with a bold shade that would overwhelm your whole look.

See the our classic summer fragrance picks »

Booster Juice
Perfumer Rodrigo Flores-Roux didn’t know much about the mystery fragrance he was concocting in the mid-’90s. Told only that the outer packaging would be orange and that he should “think happy,” he relied on his muse to help him fill in the rest: “My sister, Marielle, the happiest person in my life.” Flores-Roux gravitated toward citrus and tropical blooms and kept the feeling of “walking barefoot in the garden” in mind. The red grapefruit, orchid and Hawaiian wedding flower-infused scent became 1997’s Clinique Happy ($59, thebay.com). It was an instant hit and still is, especially with his muse: Marielle wore it on her wedding day.