5 Beauty Brands You Need to Try Before They Blow Up

 

While we love drugstore beauty products and high-end brands we see at Sephora, there’s something alluring about cosmetic offerings that are not quite as accessible (yet!). What can we say, the hunt just excites us; and there’s nothing quite like the feeling of discovering a holy-grail product before it hits the limelight.

From organic skincare products to cruelty-free make-up items, here are the brands to keep an eye for before they hit the mainstream.

  1. Primera

This skincare brand is owned by Korean beauty giant Amore Pacific, but it’s one of the less popular brands. It is an organic brand that avoids ingredients like parabens and mineral oil, and uses lots of natural extracts instead. If you have heard of Innisfree, Primera is a higher-end version of it.

  1. Doctor’s Knows Best

Aesthetics doctor Kevin Chua was using different skincare products for the past decades, until he realized that they no longer cut it and started his own beauty line. His HA Collagen Cream, one of his greatest invention, aims to plump the skin upon application and is said to diminish fine lines and wrinkles after continuous use.

  1. SauceBox Cosmetics

Many of this brand’s eye shadows are excellent high-end dupes. Although the prices of their eye shadow palettes are quite steep for an emerging make-up brand, they are much more economical than purchasing individual eye shadow pots from a high-end brand.

  1. Morphe

If there’s one brand that has had created the most buzz in the online beauty community, it would have to be Morphe. They first came into fame with their line of professional make-up brushes at affordable price. But that’s not all! They also offer an extensive line of top-quality make-up products, including blushes, cream shadows, concealers and foundations.

  1. Allies of Skin

For busy women with virtually zero ‘me time,’ this Singapore-based brand will become your new best friend when it comes to skin care. The brand’s effective products are especially designed for modern day multitaskers to go with their hectic lives. The brand believes that skin care should be, fast and easy, and we agree on this 100%. This emerging brand only offers their products online, so make sure to check out their website.

While MAC, NARS and Urban Decay generally dominate the world of beauty, there’s a ton of excellent indie beauty brands out there waiting to be noticed. Now that you know some of them, make sure to stock up on these brands before they hit the mainstream.

Ombré Obsession: 5 Must-Know Ombré Hair Tips

Hair colour trends come and go, but we know for a fact that ombré is here to stay. There’s a reason why regular people and celebrities alike flock to this hair look: It’s flattering and subtle, and there’s a version available for almost every hair colouring, length, and type. But similar with most hair colour looks, we’ve seen a lot of good and bad. So keep the following ombré tips in mind to ensure that you stay on the good side of this hair colour trend.

ombre-hair

  1. Understand that Tone is Everything

One of the most common mistake we see in ombré is a brassy tint, which is often caused by using bleach on dark hair with reddish undertones. A colourist knows how to follow up highlighting or bleaching with a corrective toner, but if you’ll be doing it on your own, make sure that you add an ashy or cool colour-depositing hair toner after bleaching your hair to get rid of the yellowish and orange-y tones.

  1. Keep Your Strands Healthy

Getting an ombré involves bleaching to lighten or remove hair pigment, which is a far more damaging hair colour process than darkening your strands. Ombré also focuses on the lengths and tips of the hair, which easily sustains damage than the areas closer to the roots. This is the reason why hairstylists recommend getting a trim before and after going ombré to avoid causing or worsening split ends. Also, get into the habit of using a colour-safe deep conditioner to keep your strands nourished and soft to touch.

  1. Ditch the Harsh Lines

A harsh line of demarcation where the hair goes from dark to light is never good to look at. Ombré should look sun-kissed and natural, instead of appearing as an obvious dye job. Most hairstylists use hand-painting techniques, and muss up the strands to evenly blend and distribute the lighter pieces. If you’re going DIY, a good technique that you can use is to rub the colour upward using a clean toothbrush to achieve a subtle gradient effect.

4-brown-to-pastel-blue-ombre

  1. Avoid Drastic Colour Changes

A good way to avoid having an ombré that looks fake is to consider your natural hair colour. If you have black or dark brown hair, your ombré shouldn’t go lighter than a soft medium to light brown; if you have light brown or dark blonde hair, however, you can go lighter towards the tips of your hair. As a general rule, the lighter your hair colour is, the lighter your ombré can be.

  1. Trust Your Colourist

Although a good DIY ombré isn’t impossible to achieve, it’d be best to leave colour processes involving bleach to the professionals – especially if you’re not skilled enough in home dyeing. There’s just a lot things that might go wrong, especially if you plan to intensely lighten very dark hair. A good hairstylist knows where to place the highlights to give you a more flattering ombré look.

Just like with other dyed hair looks, it’s quite easy to mess up an ombré look. So make sure that you keep these ombré tips in mind to achieve a flattering and natural-looking hair look.

tumblr_o0ok0q13Z71uxr8y3o1_500

The Ultimate Hair Hack List

Simple and Amazing Tips in Getting Great Hair

 

It’s not easy to get and maintain great-looking hair. No matter how much hair styling product you put or treatments you get, all these will be useless if your hair wasn’t in good shape to begin with.

Girls with chemically treated hair can still get amazingly soft and shiny hair, if they pay special care to it. Here are the best hacks to get awesome hair that will catch the attention of everyone you meet.

woman-soft-touchable-hair_xohgue

  1. Brush before wash

Studies show that people lose about an average of 100 hair strands a day, or even more. Majority of these go down the drain when we shower. Protect your hair from shower shedding by brushing your hair before you go into the shower to release any tangles. Furthermore, brushing your hair can energize the scalp.

 

  1. Condition the tips alone

Most of us make the mistake of conditioning our hair from roots to tips. This leads to hair looking limp and oily.  Make sure to condition the ends or at least three quarters of your hair and leave the top part alone. However, in cases of extreme scalp dryness, you can condition the scalp and roots.

 

  1. The secret in silk pillowcases

Silk is a better option for your pillowcases since it causes minimal friction and breakage as compared to the regular cotton ones. Silk also retains the moisture of the hair, unlike cotton ones that tend to suck all the moisture out.

 

  1. Scalp massage

One of the secrets to better hair is a good old scalp massage. It helps increase the blood circulation in the scalp, making hair grow quicker and longer. A massage also helps relieve headaches and stress.

 

  1. Wide toothed is the answer

It’s better not to comb wet hair because it is more prone to breakage. But there are times when we’re in a hurry that we have no choice but to comb our hair to at least look presentable before dashing out the house. In this case, it’s better to use a wide-toothed comb to get rid of tangles.

Wide-Tooth-Comb-For-Split-Ends

  1. Squeeze it

Towel drying hair can cause frizz and tangles. Instead of using the regular towel, reach for the paper towels because these are more absorbent.

 

  1. The task is to mask

Nobody is safe from split ends. To help prevent this frustrating problem, use a home-made hair mask to keep hair smooth and shiny. The mixture of honey, virgin olive oil and egg yolk is only one of the classic hair masks you can do yourself.

 

  1. Filter the water

There are chemicals found in our shower water that are unknowingly causing trouble for our hair. Use a water filter to filter out fluorine, chlorine, rust and other minerals damaging your hair.

 

  1. Use steam rollers

Curling irons destroy your hair because of the use of extreme heat. This can burn, dry and cause breakage. To get voluminous curls, use spiral steam rollers that curl the hair quicker minus all the damage.

 

  1. Get that humidifier

Using a humidifier as you sleep will give moisture for the hair and skin. Moisture is essential in keeping both the hair and skin healthy.

How-to-Humidify-a-Room