5 Easy Makeovers to Try This Minute!

A ballerina bun piled high and red lipstick are easy
(and quick!) ways to update your look.

ONE OF the reasons I never started watching the popular television series “Ugly Betty” is because I wanted Betty Suarez (actress America Ferrera’s character) to be made over.

After all, who can’t resist instant gratification, at least in the realm of beauty?

Here are quick and easy prettifying moves you can try anytime, anywhere.

1. Try a pop of red

Fire-engine red is the rage this season, next to neutrals, military details and leopard prints. A crimson pout is one of the easiest and most glamorous ways to update your look. It takes only minutes to perfect it (even less than one minute, if you’re in a pinch).

When donning red lips, keep everything else bare and low-key. To create a clean “canvas” and backdrop for the “cherry” on top, even out blotches on your skin by blending in liquid foundation or tinted moisturizer as needed. For precise edges and avant-garde look, use lip brush to apply color. For a stained and more natural effect, apply rouge using your pinkie finger, concentrating on the middle and smudging outward.

2. Gauge little ‘greige’

This shade—a combination of gray and beige—coined by fashionistas can be tricky to wear in clothing. It’s a fine line between looking modern and donning the color of an old dish rag. Yet, on nails, this taupey hue lends a dash of unexpected edginess and downtown cool.

3. Try falsies

False lashes placed side by side curled lashes creates an eye-popping gaze. And, they’re not as tricky to apply. The easiest way is to actually glue them on while you’re sitting down, with a mirror on the table. Hold up a strip (using tweezers) near your eye and see if it needs trimming. Apply glue along the edges of the strip, then secure as close as you can to the base of the lashes. Use liquid eyeliner along your top lash line to create the illusion of thick roots, and to shade any visible white glue as well. Re-curl lashes to meld the falsies and real fringe together.

4. Thicken arches

Full and lush brows have a youthful appeal to them (remember Brooke Shields in the ’80s?) and look more elegant than over-plucked arches. Use brow powder or the lightest brown pencil to thicken sparse frames. Run a brow brush along the filled-in area to soften the pigment and create little wisps that look like hair. When in doubt, have eyebrows professionally shaped at the salon once a month. Pluck stray hairs in between appointments.

5. Bun-dle up

Ballerina buns—sleek, piled high or even mussed-up—open up your face and give it some lift. Thanks to pulling the hair’s roots in an upward direction when you gather hair up. Bonus: A twirly updo is a quick and easy way to manage bad hair day. Rub gel between palms and smooth on top for a polished finish, and apply lots of pink blush for “cheek to chic” effect (or do the red lips in Step 1).

Photo courtesy of Allure.com/Yves Saint Laurent. Originally published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Inquirer.net. ("5 Easy Steps to Makeover").