Living in the spotlight is stressful in more than one sense. We expect our Hollywood celebs to be always perfect, never a hair out of place. But celebrities are human too, and we sometimes catch a glimpse of that human side. Even so, perhaps most of us are dying to know how do they manage to be perfect, well, most of the time. Here are some Hollywood beauty secrets for you, then.
1. Bird droppings
That’s right, a facial made from nightingale poo mixed with rice bran and water is all the rage in Hollywood. In fact, this skin treatment is an ancient Japanese beauty tip that has apparently just made its way into Hollywood recently. If you think it’s disgusting, remember that there’s no extreme that people wouldn’t go to in order to look their best. Plus, it comes out of nightingales, not chickens. That’s bound to count against the overall degree of grossness, especially given the fact that it does work. In case you’re wondering how and why it works, it’s because of two of its ingredients: urea, a nitrogen-rich substance, and guanine, an amino acid. These two lock in the moisture in the skin (urea) and add a subtle glow (guanine).
2. Yeast
While we’re on the subject of natural treatments, here’s another one shared by Hollywood insiders: dry yeast and lemon juice. This mixture can rid you of pimples in no time. It works by drying the thing and restoring your complexion to flawlessness. In case you’d rather use your yeast for making bread, you can go for just lemon juice mixed with some water. This means squeezing half a lemon, not buying ready juice from the store and using it on the face. The acid in the lemon will tighten the blood vessels and soak into the skin to deal with the infection. The yeast will nourish your skin and prevent overdrying. These two can also be used to cure acne outbreaks – even Hollywood celebrities are not immune to this pest.
3. Mascara is a must, even when you do a nude makeup look
Remember those recent photos of Uma Thurman that shocked a lot of us because we thought she’d had radical cosmetic surgery? It turned out that her makeup artist had just tried a totally new look that excluded mascara. Yep, that’s exactly what a big difference this one piece of makeup makes. Even if you want to go for the nude look, with a minimum of makeup, and that’s also trendy in Hollywood, do not forget the mascara. For an everyday good look you can use the clear varieties, but for special occasions, especially, if there will be pictures, bet on black, you can’t go wrong. And if you accidentally overdo it and you get a smudge, just dip a cotton ball into some foundation to fix it.
4. Perfect eyes
Some of the tricks Hollywood beauties use to get rid of puffiness and that tired look around the eyes involve aloe vera and raw potatoes. The aloe vera gel, applied underneath the eyes, works miracles like a quick-acting temporary firming film. With potatoes, here’s what you can do: put one in the fridge for an hour or so, slice it and soak it in cold water for a minute. Then put the slices over your eyes and leave them for five or ten minutes. Raw potatoes contain astringent ingredients that suck out the excess water from your skin and thus deal with the puffiness. In addition to that, in case your eyes are irritated, the starch that’s in the potato will take care of this and add some smoothness to your skin. If you can’t be bothered, grab a tube of Preparation H, the haemorrhoid cream, and use it instead. No joke. Or get a synthetic snake venom shot, it works like Botox, they say.
5. Spotlight on the lips
Most experts in the art of makeup advise that you only highlight one part of your face: eyes, lips, or cheeks, for instance. If you’ve decided to highlight your lips, here are two tips for you. If you’ve opted for the nude look, and you wanted to get fuller lips, line them with a neutral liner, and then use the same liner to fill them in apart from the central sections. Then add some clear gloss. If, on the other hand, you want the deep red look, first put the lipstick on, then blot it with a piece of tissue, then sprinkle some powder on the tissue and press it to your lips. Then, apply one more layer of lipstick. This exercise will make it last much longer than otherwise.
6. Quirky tips from the past
If you think bird droppings facials and haemorrhoid cream are extravagant Hollywood beauty secrets, look at what some of the stars in the golden era of Hollywood did to look prettier. Elizabeth Taylor, for example, shaved her face. That was because she suffered from a condition that’s characterized by increased hair growth all over the body. Even after the condition subsided, she continued shaving, perhaps out of habit. Rita Hayworth went even further in the hair department and had her hairline surgically moved up, so her forehead would appear larger. Marlene Dietrich, on the other hand, is rumoured to have had some of her molars removed to highlight her cheekbones, even though she herself denies this in her autobiography.
