howto - A Girl's Gotta Spa! (sm) Top beauty blog, spa, hair care, makeup, beauty trends, skin care | A Girl's Gotta Spa! (sm) Top beauty blog, spa, hair care, makeup, beauty trends, skin care

Need for Speed: New Quick Drying Nail Polishes

Today's modern polishes promise to dry faster than a speeding bullet, but which ones actually save the day? Top manicurists have known about pro top coats for years - those specially formulated clear coats that left lacquer intact for an extended wear manicure. Compatible with nearly every brand, topcoats like Read more

Verb Detangle+Defrizz Conditioning Leave-In Mist Review

To be completely up front about things, I hate washing my hair because it's a nightmare to comb afterwards.  It’s much like that of a 6 year old little girl. It tangles like nobody’s business and is a nightmare to comb after washing. It’s so bad that my hairdresser Read more

Delfin Spa Cellulite Reduction Apparel and Anti-Cellulite Lotion Review

Everyone deals with cellulite. And no one is a fan of it. We've written about coffee ground products like Gail's DIY Coffee Scrub or isola Jamaican Coffee & Sugar Scrub, that are said to help minimize the appearance of cellulite due to the caffeine. Now there is another product system Read more

Mom: Get Glamorous Twitter Party

This year we're mixing things up with our Mom: Get Glamorous contest! We're adding a Twitter party, where some of the great brands participating in the contest are also giving away products during our party. Come join us on May 15, 2013 from 1pm-2pm EST and tweet with @TheMakeupGirl @ClumpsofMascara Read more

5th Annual Mom: Get Glamorous Contest

// // Are you ready for our 5th annual Mom: Get Glamorous contest? This year I am partnering with Lianne of The Makeup Girl, Brittany from Clumps of Mascara, Christine from 15 Minute Beauty Fanatic and Bryce from The Luxury Spot to find the most deserving mom to award Read more

how-to

Gel Manicure Nail Polish Tutorial & Review

Great news for those of you that love your Gel Manicures! Sally Hansen recently introduced an easy to use, economical, at-home Gel Manicure Nail Polish Kit that costs less than $65. When you get a gel manicure at a salon, you can pay anywhere from $30 to $50 and up PER manicure. With this at-home kit, you can do up to 10 manicures that will last at least a week or more.

Now, admittedly, I had never had a gel manicure before this, so I didn’t have a lot to compare it to. That said, it wasn’t as hard as I anticipated it would be. It took me about an hour from start to finish and I don’t think it would take me nearly as long the second time around. The first 15 minutes was reading the enclosed instructions to make sure I knew what I was doing before I started. Always best to venture into these things well prepared!  Read more

Posted on by Sarah-Jean Ballard in beauty, Nail Polish Leave a comment

Sock Bun Tutorial

Ah, the sock bun. For working women everywhere, this is the hairstyle we’ve all been waiting for: a sleek updo that’s perfect for the office and can be done in under five minutes.

Though you can create this hairstyle easily with one of your own socks (simply cut off the toe portion and roll), I now create my buns with a hair donut instead. I found that the hair donut creates a much more sleek, perfected look – and  I didn’t have to sacrifice any more socks in the process.  You can get a hair donut at most beauty supply stores, and your local H&M usually has them for under $4.00.

You’ll need: One hair elastic, a round brush, 1 sock or hair donut, bobby pins, hairspray (optional).

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Posted on by Amanda Huggins in beauty, Hair Care Leave a comment

Hairstyle How To: Creating the Perfect Ponytail

Just like me, you’ve probably thought that creating a ponytail is just about the easiest hairstyle to accomplish.  I mean how difficult could it be? You grab a hair tie, pull all your hair back and secure it with the hair tie and you have yourself a ponytail.  Well as I have learned (mostly from being on set and watching hairstylists) that way of creating a ponytail is just fine and dandy, but if you want to create the perfect ponytail you have to throw a few additional steps in there and I thought I would share those steps with you, our fabulous readers.  So here goes!

Step 1: Take a parting from ear to ear (from the back of the ear, across the top of the head to the back of the other ear).

Step 2: Clip the front part of the hair out of the way and tilt your head back slightly (to ensure that your ponytail does not end up saggy or buckles.)


Step 3: After deciding on placement of the ponytail (low, high or middle of the head), brush rear portion of hair into your hand loosely holding it, and with the other hand grab the ponytail tight against the head and secure with a hair tie.



Step 4: Release the top section with your head still tilted back slightly and brush front portion directly into the other ponytail (trying to avoid disruption of the other ponytail but don’t be afraid to brush the hair straight into and over the previously created ponytail) and secure with an elastic hair tie in the exact same way as above.


Step 5: Using hairspray for fly-aways, lightly smooth and spray fly-aways with hands or a fine tooth comb…only lightly skimming the top of the hair.


Bonus step: If you would like to make the ponytail sleeker or dress it up a bit, try grabbing a small section of the ponytail near the elastic hair tie and begin wrapping it around the elastic to hide the hair tie.  secure wrap with a hair pin and bobby pin making sure that the pin is not visible.


And there you have it, two versions of the perfect ponytail…thanks to amazing hairstylist Pearson Knight for walking us through creating the perfect ponytail!

Posted on by Gail Lewis in beauty, Hair Care 8 Comments