Beauty Wonkette is Loving Shu Uemura Art of Hair Touch of Gloss

Sometimes your hair bestows upon you one of those magical days when every strand falls into perfect place. But while it's winning in the style department, it might be missing some shine (especially if it's day-two hair). Shu Uemura's latest product, Touch of Gloss, is a lightweight gel-cream packed with mica minerals that will give your follicles that salon-fresh brilliance back. A small dollop is best applied to both wet or damp hair for a quick-absorbing finish that won't leave behind that stickiness sometimes associated with similar products. And, best of all, the cherry-blossom scent seems to last even after you've washed the stuff out.

Shu Uemura Art of Hair Touch of Gloss Brilliant Melt-in Balm, $38

Blow me baby ! or :D The Brushless Blowout Tutorial

For all my fellow Beauty Wonkettes who DO NOT reside in NYC, let me tell you.....  blowout psychosis has seized the town.  There are "blow bars" everywhere you look.  Hi end blow bars, bargain blow bars.... No wonder Bill Clinton has chosen NYC as his hometown....

Anyway, Beauty Wonkette is more of a do it yourself kind of gal, so when New York magazine's The Cut ran this tutorial, BW studied it like she hasn't studied since she took her bar exam.  And, it changed her life!  (Well, okay, maybe not her LIFE, but her hair looks AWESOME).  Here it is, my lovelies:

Step 1: Create sections in the "mohawk" area of your head. Lift up a section, starting from the front of the head, and liberally spritz volumizer directly into the roots. "Product application is key," Josh mandates. "This is the foundation to getting the product in the root which will help you keep the style all day long." Tip: "Do this section by section through the Mohawk area until your arms physically can't go backwards anymore, then you've done enough."

Step 2: In the same way you sprayed product in sections, blow dry your hair systematically from the top. Aim the nozzle of the dryer right at the roots, while using your free hand to lift and tug the hair up as your move along. Tip: "Get the blow dryer in there while your hair is still wet with product. Once the hair is dry you've lost your chance."

Step 3: Starting at the top of your head, grab a section of hair and aim the blow dryer from behind. You'll notice a beveled shape in the hair, almost like a pompadour. Blast it with hot air. Once hair is dry, finish that section with a cold shot of air to set. Do this repeatedly through the Mohawk section of your head until your arms can't reach back anymore.

Step 4: For the very back of your head, blast hot air to dry follicles while running your fingers throughout your head. No sectioning or lifting necessary.

Step 5: Use your fingers to style and shape your finished look.

BTW, that's hairstylist and colorist to the stars Harry Josh doing the errrr blowing.  He's using the The Harry Josh Pro Tools Pro Dryer 2000.  Apparently, Harry decided to teach us his brushless blow out technique to show off his new dryer's styling abilities.  "It's to avoid that uptown look," he explains. All it takes is lots of volumizing spray (he chose Serge Normant Meta Lush Volumizer) and his new toy.  His dryer looks awesome, has all kinds of whistles, and lights, and stuff, but it also runs about $300.  Beauty Wonkette would love one, but she's managed to master the technique with her current blow dryer.  You can too!

Make your own Color Depositing Conditioner with FANTASTIC results !

If you color your hair, no matter how well you care for it, the color eventually fades. I've tried the various color depositing conditioners out there. Aside from the fact that they're expensive, I also hated all of 'em.

My hair stylist provided me with the solution. Since I'm in a generous mood (and not in the hair coloring business :D ), I thought I'd share.....

Mix equal amounts of your color of choice and 10 or 20 % developer - I use between 1/2 to 1 oz. of each, but I have ALOT of hair

plus

Approx. an equal amount of your favorite lightweight conditioner - I use 2 oz.

You can use shampoo instead of conditioner but it doesn't deposit near the same amount of color as using conditioner does.

If you only want a temporary color boost you can skip the developer, but Beauty Wonkette thinks this is a waste.

Apply to towel dried hair and leave on for 15 minutes. Rinse.

In addition to using this to refresh my hair color, I have also used it to adjust my color when I felt it necessary i.e. to add more red tones, to tone done red, to create depth, etc

In a pinch? Beauty Wonkette's Anti Ouch Guide :D

Okay, my lovelies.  Repeat after Beauty Wonkette: This will be the summer I do not destroy my feet.

We really want you to keep your promise so here a few ways to protect yourself from blisters, cuts and other icky injuries--without forgoing style, of course.

Prevent rubbing
Before strapping yourself into a new pair of gladiators (same goes for flip-flops), coat your feet with a blister-preventing balm such as Sole Goddess. We’ve used Body Glide for years on the back of our heels and anywhere a strap might hit.

Keep your feet in place
It’s basic gravity: Sweaty feet slide forward. Keep your tootsies where they should be by inserting nonslip pads into your shoes. Beauty Wonkette also suggests (stop making that face and TRY IT) using medical tape to secure your pinkie toe to its little-piggy neighbor. This combats the painful smushing commonly associated with peep-toes.

Have spare flats on hand
Beauty Wonkette's purse approximates the size of Texas.  However, we don’t care how small your purse is; you can fit a pair of roll-up ballet flats in there. If you can't, you deserve a new, adult size purse. Pop ’em on when your stilettos give out.

Learn how to wear heels
If you’re going to insist on Louboutins, Jimmy Choos, and Manolos (we know we do), at least know how to walk in them. Shoe-loving podiatrist Emily Splichal’s book, Everyday Is Your Runway, teaches the basics of foot safety.

Hint: After a night out, roll each foot on a tennis ball to avoid arch pain.  Even better:  Get your honey to give you a foot massage.  Mr. Beauty Wonkette has become an expert (because practice really does make perfect).

Does your foundation kind of roll off your face even when you use a primer? Beauty Wonkette SCREAMS : "get a Beauty Blender"

It is only very recently that Beauty Wonkette even thought about wearing foundation (fancy shmancy job requires a more "polished" look), but alas, she found that she HATED everything she tried.  Fast forward to tinted moisturizer.....meh....no joy.  BB cream.....  CC cream......  DD cream..... (ok, now that we've proved we know the alphabet, let's move on.

Bottom line: nothing seemed to work.  Either the look was unnatural or greasy or chalky or just not very good.  To add insult to injury, most products seemed to ball up or pill (I KNOW you know what I'm talking about).  Finally, a good friend who really is into makeup (which BW generally is not) recommended a Beauty Blender sponge.  Beauty Wonkette rolled her eyes.  She'd already invested a small fortune in a variety of brushes.  Was she really going to go out and spend $20 on a damn sponge?!?!?!  C'mon now.  OF COURSE!  And Beauty Wonkette is just so glad that she did!

According to the corporate website, the BeautyBlender sponge claims to be the ultimate makeup sponge applicator. Invented by Rea Ann Silva, a Hollywood makeup artist, the sponge purportedly leaves users with a “professional finish and a flawless complexion” thanks to its suede-like material. Speaking of the material, it is latex-free, non-allergenic, and free of any odors.  Definitely a plus.  BW is going to skip all the verbiage about how to use it, etc.  Read the damn directions my lovelies :D.  The only truly important issue is whether it works.

The quick answer? YES!  Yes, it works wonderfully. BW has been using it for a month now and has had results that are nothing less than FLAWLESS.  No streaking, totally smooth, no pilling or beading anymore.  BW retried every highly recommended product she rushed out and purchased, then rejected.  Every single one of them suddenly looked natural.  Even the thicker stuff looked non-cakey or chalky.  In fact, except for the fact that her skin suddenly looked flawless, it would be very hard to tell that she had anything on at all!

The ONLY drawback is the cost.  But when you consider what you would otherwise spend on a good foundation brush, it's a bargain.  And, the Beauty Blender is readily available both in stores and online.

She's a rainbow..... at least temporarily :D

Beauty Wonkette has a job that demands respectability and normally, she complies.  But during the crazy, hazy, lazy days of summer, between weekends at the beach, music festivals, casual poolside parties, well, summer SCREAMS for Beauty Wonkette to experiment.  But, since those experiments really do have to be temporary, BW decided to enlist some help to achieve a temporary rainbow makeover for her tresses.  Wanna play?

Colored Hair Gel
This gel is opaque, so it works well on dark hair. Start by creating some neon streaks with the gel using your hands, raking them through your hair.

Pull your hair back into a ponytail — the messier, the better.

Continue streaking your hair by coating small sections throughout the ponytail with gel. To finish the look, wrap a heavily-colored strand of hair around the elastic.

If you prefer a messy bun to a ponytail, twist the hair around into a voluminous bun and secure with bobby pins.

Isn't that cool fun?  It was SUPER EASY.  There are other products you can use:  hair chalk (which Beauty Wonkette found super difficult to work with) is one, spray on color another (easier than chalk, but harder to control than gel).  But, especially if you have dark hair, BW thinks hair gel is most definitely the way to go.

It's easy peasy and fun, so go ahead and play.  You really have nothing to loose.  BW used:

Manic Panic Dye Hard Dry-Hard Temporary Hair Color Styling Gel, $8.40, at Walgreens.

Strolling off, humming softly SOMEWHEREEEEE OVER THE RAINBOWWWWWW.......