You’re late again! Maybe it’s the household chores or office work you got caught up with but now you just don’t have time to do your nails or to fix your hair. You have no choice but to step out wishing you had just a few minutes more for dressing up. Here’s where we step in. These quick and easy beauty shortcuts will make sure you look your best everyday even when it’s only a couple of minutes that you can spare. Read on.
1. Beauty task: Fastest way to grow out a bad haircut
The basic way to go about the task: Wait for your hair to grow back as you fret over it and curse your stylist.
Beauty time-saver: Okay, lets face it. There is no magic formula that can make your hair grow back in a weeks time. Instead of fretting over your ruined haircut, try different hair accessories to create a new style altogether. Choose from the many cute hair bands and hair clips that are available these days. Hair bands can effectively hold back even the shortest of bangs while a bun or a ponytail can camouflage the uneven layers. If just accessorizing or styling doesn’t work, visit a well-known and experienced hair stylist who can re-shape your cut.
2. Beauty task: Fastest way to dry nail polish
The basic way to go about the task: Wait for the polish to dry as the clock ticks away
Beauty time-saver: Waiting for the nail-polish to air-dry can take up valuable minutes leaving you with very less or no time for other tasks. After you have applied the nail polish let it dry for 2 minutes after which soak your fingers in a ice-cold bath for about 3 minutes. The ice-cold water freeze-dries the polish, seals and hardens it, accelerating the drying time. To ensure even better drying of successive coats, use cool air from a hair-dryer in between coats.
3. Beauty task: Fastest way to get rid of puffy eyes
The basic way to go about the task: Applying ice cubes till the swelling reduces
Beauty time-saver: Eyes become puffy and swollen when the eye tissues retain fluid. Simply wrap a frozen vegetable bag in a towel and place it on your eyes for about 10 minutes. Why use a vegetable bag instead of ice-cubes? It’s easier to apply and takes the shape of the contours of your face. Cooling the area under your eyes improves the blood circulation, brings down the fluid and thus reduces puffiness of the eyes. If puffy eyes are a frequent problem, cut back on your alcohol intake, consuming too much salt in your food and increase your water intake.
4. Beauty task: The fastest way to conceal grays
The basic way to go about the task: Applying hair packs, using melatonin shampoos, taking pills, using hair concealers.
Beauty time-saver: High levels of stress, hormonal imbalances or genetics can cause the hair to turn gray, even in your early 20s or 30s. If you have only a few gray hairs that you need to cover up, use a mascara or a touch-up product that will give a temporary color which will wash away the next time you shampoo. If you have more than a few gray hairs, try adding volume to your hair. Use volumizing spray before you blow-dry your hair. The flatter your hair is, the more noticeable will be your grays. Also, when you get your hair cut, get one with lots of layers. It will give movement to the hair, thus helping to hide your grays.
5. Beauty task: Fastest way to soothe post-waxing irritation
The basic way to go about the task: To apply ice-packs, cold compresses or soothing lotions.
Beauty time-saver: The most commonly seen side-effects soon after waxing are irritation and redness of the skin. Forceful pulling off the wax strip causes inflammation and sensitive skin is more susceptible to it. Apply a 1 percent hydrocortisone cream to the affected areas which will calm the inflammation and reduce the redness.
6. Beauty task: The fastest way to dry hair
The basic way to go about it: Blow drying, starting at the the top layers.
Beauty time-saver: Most often while blow-drying the hair, we start at the top layers and work our way down to the bottom layers. Actually, the quickest way to dry the hair is to do it the opposite way. This means, the bottom layers should be dried first. Before you start to blow-dry your hair, apply mousse which will coat the strands and prevent them from absorbing more water. Now flip your head over and start drying the bottom layers. Once they are dry, use a brush to help smooth and dry the top layers. This method will help you cut down on the drying time by at least a third.
7. Beauty task: Fastest way to repair a torn nail
The basic way to go about it: Trying to fix it with fake nails and nail glue.
Beauty time-saver: Here’s a very simple solution for broken nails. Cut a small piece of paper from a tea bag to cover the tear entirely, apply some nail glue on the paper and press it on top of the tear. Let the glue dry for a few minutes and then file it in the shape of the nail. Finish with a layer of a base coat, two coats of nail color and a top coat.
8. Beauty task: The fastest way to smooth away pillow creases from your face
The basic way to go about it: Splashing face with water and waiting for the creases to fade away on their own.
Beauty time-saver: Our skin cells contain fluids that keep the skin plump. When we sleep face down on a pillow, this fluid seeps out of the cells causing creases to form on the face. To get rid of these creases splash your face with warm water and follow it with a moisturizer. The warm water enhances blood circulation in the area while the moisturizer rehydrates it.