Knowing how to put your hair into a messy bun is a must for girls. It’s a simple style that almost every teenager resorts to on bad hair days, or even when just trying to get their hair out of the way. There isn’t one right way to make a messy bun, though, and the best method for you can vary depending on your hair thickness and whether it’s straight or curly.

A common method is simply piling all of your hair on top of your head and forcing it into a bun. This works well when you have curly or wavy hair, but it tends to fall out if you have straight or thin hair.

Another way to make one is to grab all of your hair—as if you were putting it into a ponytail—but twisting it several times into a bun (think ballerina). It still looks like the average messy bun, but it helps to prevent your hair from falling out.

Many girls make their messy buns by putting their hair into a ponytail, but then putting it into a bun after wrapping your hair tie around once. You could just grab all of your hair and put it into the bun, go back to the twisting method, or fold it a few times before tying it. There’s many ways to do this type of bun, and every girl has her personal preference for how to do this.

A messy bun can be compiled by numerable different methods, and deciding which one you like best just takes time and practice. After a while, you’ll soon have your own preference and will be able to create a messy bun in a matter of seconds.

When it comes to makeup, your options are limitless and there seems to be something new coming out every day. The only problem is simply being able to find exactly what you’re looking for. Makeup is literally sold everywhere, but when looking for something specific you might need to get picky about where you go.

Drugstores always have a decent supply of makeup and are usually worth looking at. They might not have a huge selection, but most stores do have a sizeable and up-to-date range of products. Usually, if you see something on TV, you can find it at a drugstore near you.

Department stores have a wide variety of makeup, and the benefit of shopping at them is that you can choose from several different brands. You can also do this at any drugstore, but Macys will have more brands than a store like CVS, for example. Another benefit of shopping here is that there will usually be tons of makeup specialists to help you chose something you’ll love.

A great store to go to for makeup is Sephora. It offers over 250 different brands, including its own. Of course, since it has such a wide variety, Sephora is always on top of new trends. All of the workers are makeup specialists that can easily find something that fits you. The products are a little expensive, but its good quality makeup and you really get what you pay for.

Makeup as a whole isn’t hard to find, but looking for something specific can be tricky. Drugstores are a good place to start since they’re close by, but sometimes you’ll need to move on to bigger places. If worse comes to worse and you can’t find what you need, the internet will always be there to get the exact product you’re searching for.

Whether you’re growing them out, having a bad hair day, or you just want them out of your face; all girls with side bangs can relate to the nuisance they become when you’re trying to pull them back. When growing them out, there’s that awkward stage when they’re too long to be bangs yet too short to be a regular part of your hair. And if you’re not growing them out, there’s days when they just won’t cooperate with you and seem to have a mind of their own.

The most basic way to get your bangs out of your face is to pull them off to the side, with bobby pins or a clip. This simple style can look a little more elaborate by twisting the hair as you pull it off to the side. It helps to use a teasing comb when doing this, and basically whenever you’re doing something that involves your bangs. Some girls won’t even need to use any hairspray for this basic, but cute, hairstyle.

Another popular way of pulling them back is to do so in a braid. The easiest way to do this is to simply braid your bangs and clip them off to the side.

Another version is similar to a French braid, in which you start off by braiding your bangs but keep on adding pieces in from your hair until you finish the braid. You can add pieces from both sides, or only on one side, depending on what you prefer.

An additional braid to do starts off by taking two strands of hair from your bangs, and twisting them around each other. Continue this action, but adding in a piece of hair each time until your finish.

All of these styles take some practice, and the braids tend to be harder than just pulling your bangs back. After playing with all of these and seeing which one suits you the best, getting bangs out of your face will soon be a problem from the past.

With summer rapidly approaching many girls have been worrying about getting tan before bikini season begins. There’s tanning salons, spray tans, creams, and many other cosmetics built to make your skin look tan. Of course, for girls lucky enough to go on vacation to a warm place, there’s also the natural way to get tan.

A simple method for making your face glow is using a bronzer. It doesn’t exactly make you tan, but it gives you a slightly darker tone.

Picking a shade isn’t easy to do, and I’d recommend asking someone that works with makeup for help. (You can find them at any Nordstroms, Sephora, etc). A basic guide to go by is based off of whether you have fair,medium, or dark skin. Fair skinned girls should get a bronzer with pink or mauve undertones, medium skinned girls should get one in a terra-cotta shade, and darker girls should buy a bronzer with a gold tint.

Once you find a shade, there’s also many different types of bronzers to use. You can use a powder, cream, liquid, or spray bronzer.

An airbrush application is good for getting an even shade quickly. If you just want a small tint of color, than a liquid bronzer with no foundation will give your face a touch of color. Powders and creams are the best if you want your face to have a natural but vibrant-looking tone.

No matter what you chose, bronzer is an easy way to give you a slightly tan look without going over-the-top. A big plus is that you don’t have to worry about giving your skin the orange color that occasionally comes from a fake-tan.

With summer being just around the corner and spring break starting next week, most girls are excitedly anticipating the warm weather. Winter’s okay, but summer means tans, no school, and going to the beach. It’s also that time of the year when it seems as if every girl’s hair color is at least two shades lighter.

Every hair color is beautiful, but blonde seems to be the desired color for most girls. Even the ones who are already blonde can’t wait for the summer months when their hair gets even lighter and blonder. Dying your hair isn’t very healthy and there’s always the chance that it’ll come out terrible, but you can easily lighten your hair with just the sun and some extra help.

If you have highlights, or if you’re planning on getting them, they’re bound to get lighter in the summer. Combine that with the natural highlights that most girls get from the sun, and your hair will be looking lighter after a few days spent at the beach.

Another trick that works is the old-fashioned lemon juice method. I wouldn’t recommend squeezing lemons onto your head, or pouring lemon juice into your hair either. But, mixing one part lemon juice with four parts water and putting it into a spray bottle works great. Just spray some on your hair and comb it out before going in the sun. This works better on girls with blonde or medium brown hair; if you have dark hair it might make it turn an orange-blonde color.

For those of you that don’t feel like making a homemade hair lightener, you can go out and buy a great product called Sun In. It pretty much works the same as using lemon juice, and it comes in different versions. You can find it at any CVS or similar stores.

So for all of you aspiring to go blonde, or to have a lighter hair color, the only thing really needed is to go out in the sun. Using these methods will just speed us the process. Not to mention the great tan you’ll get while lightening your hair.

Eyeliner is one of the most basic forms of makeup that many girls refuse to leave the house without. Most of us go for traditional, black eyeliner that produces a dramatic look. Other popular colors are brown or grey—for a subtle look, or even white— for a natural look.

Your eyeliner’s color isn’t that difficult to choose, and most girls have an inclination to a certain color. However, one of the more challenging choices to make is deciding what type of eyeliner to use. There’s many different types, but the 3 most popular are pencil, liquid, and gel.

Pencil eyeliner is the most common type and is usually one of the first types of makeup that preteen girls will begin to experiment with. It’s fairly easy to use; you really just need to color-in a straight line on your eyelid. Most girls will use it on their bottom lids or on their water-lines when going for a basic-look.

Another common type is liquid eyeliner. This is trickier to apply then pencil eyeliner and usually takes a decent amount of practice before you start getting it right every time. It’s mostly applied to your top eyelids and it sends out a more sophisticated and sleek look opposed to a pencil liner’s dramatic look. The bonus to using this type of eyeliner is that although it’s hard to apply, it’s commonly smudged a bit after application so you can fix any mistakes that you made.

Gel eyeliner is less common, but comes with the relatively easy application of pencil eyeliner and the smooth appearance of liquid eyeliner. This comes in a jar and is applied with a makeup brush to either eyelid. The end result is a smooth line that many women prefer over pencil and liquid eyeliners.

There are many more eyeliners out there then the one’s I mentioned, but these three tend to be a favorite among girls. They all have their own signature look and application method, and they all come with advantages and disadvantages. Whichever one you choose, it’s all really about preference and the look you’re trying to convey.

Split ends—something we all have but can’t seem to get rid of. Even after getting a haircut they come back almost right away. Unfortunately, there aren’t any products that can actually “heal” split ends, but there are ways to get rid of and prevent.

First off, get your hair trimmed on a regular basics (every other month is good). Also, between haircuts, you can cut split ends off yourself with a pair of scissors. Cut about ¼  inches above the split end, and keep doing this until your happy with the outcome.

Cutting hair is the only thing you can do to get rid of split ends. Even products that say they’ll repair split ends will seal them and make them look healthier, but won’t actually heal them. However, they do help to prevent split ends in the future.

Staying away from chemicals also helps to keep away split ends. That means dying your hair, getting highlights, and even going swimming. I get that it’s kind of hard for most of us to avoid chemicals, but taking small precautions against them can help a little.

Before swimming in a pool, ocean, etc, protect your hair by putting in a leave-in conditioner. Make sure it’s thoroughly washed before your go in (that causes your hair to absorb less chemicals) and it should be washed again as soon as possible once you get out. If that’s not an option, try using a leave-in conditioner again.

If you want to dye your hair or highlight it, just look for less-harsh hair products. Dyed hair should be conditioned more frequently than natural hair to keep it healthy.

Other smaller things to protect your hair are making sure you use safe hair ties (simple ones without bumps or complicated designs are best) and only one hair tie at a time. Try to minimize your hair’s sun exposure, which causes damage. For those of you who love the beach, find a conditioner that contains a sunscreen mix inside.

Lastly, make sure you conditioner your regularly, but don’t necessarily wash it every day. When you dry it, do it gently and try to avoid using a hairdryer if possible. Split ends are a fact of life and it’s impossible to completely avoid them, but if you really hate them then following these guidelines should help.

It’s 70 degrees outside, birds are chirping, kids are playing in the parks, and you can see flowers finally starting to bloom. Four days later, its thirty degrees and snowing. So much for Spring.

New Jersey’s a great state, but one of the annoyances of living here is having to deal with the bipolar weather all year round. Although we had some snow this past week after a beautiful Friday, Spring is here. It’s finally time to start trading in the sweaters for tank tops, uggs for flip flops, and heavy coats for light jackets. Along with a whole new wardrobe, Spring also brings new makeup trends.

One of the biggest trends for this Spring is the natural look. So, instead of applying the bronzer that you’ve been using all winter, stick with a basic foundation. Not only does it look more natural, but you soon won’t be needing it anyway once it gets nice enough out to go tanning.

Go for lighter, more neutral looking eye makeup. Shades of gold, silver, and brown would be perfect. If you want a little more color, try pastels like pink, blue, or purple.

Adding white eyeliner to the inner corner of your eyes will make them pop, while still looking natural. If using this effect you can also line the outer and mid corners of your eyes with a darker color. Another trick for making eyes pop is to mix layers, by first lining them with white, then tracing it with a darker color.

This girl applied a light purple eyeshadow and topped it off with white eyeliner

Top this look off with a light and pretty lip gloss color, like a pale pink. The color itself doesn’t have to be light, as long as it doesn’t come out too dramatic-looking. Even just a clear shade would make your lips shimmer. Lip stains in light shades would look cute too.

These light, shimmery colors from Mac are perfect for Spring

After a long, cold winter, it’s finally time for warm weather again. Going for a natural makeup look is not only easier, but it’s perfect for the upcoming Spring season.

Dyed hair—something many teenage girls either have, or want to have. Blondes want dark hair, dark haired girls want to go blond, brunettes want highlights; it seems as if everyone either has or is considering getting some sort of unnatural hair color.

Dying your hair is usually fine, and for most girls the only after-effect they worry about is not liking the way it turns out. But, before you do anything to your hair, first you should consider the risks of over-using hair dye.

One obvious “risk” is getting a bad color that you’ll be stuck with for months. But, the chemical process is very unhealthy to your hair and can lead to more serious risks. Especially when using bleach.

Hydrogen peroxide poisoning is something that occurs when large amounts of hydrogen peroxide come in contact with a person’s eyes or lung, and may need hospital treatment. This is the same liquid that is found in hair bleach. Dying your hair a few times won’t give you this, but many girls will dye their whole head completely every few months or more. This is the type of exposure that can give you hydrogen peroxide poisoning.

Another thing excessive dying can cause is serious hair damage. Girls who dye their hair too much, along with the risk of hydrogen peroxide poisoning, often develop brittle and dry hair. This has no real cure except to stop dying your hair, and in the long run it can cause you early hair loss.

One thing to remember when picking a color to dye your hair is that darker colors have the most risks, because of the excess chemicals in them. If you insist on going dark, at least try going for a lighter shade then you planned on getting. I can personally tell you that the hair dye will turn out darker than it looks on the hair swatches shown in salons or on the box. Last year I tried dying my medium-blonde hair to a medium-brown color, and it turned out a lot darker then I had planned.

Also, try to dye your hair as infrequently as possible. I know roots suck and everything, but at least try to wait several months in between.

Overall, hair dye isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Just be careful with how frequently you use it and the type of dye you use, and your hair should be fine.

The clock’s ticking while your rapidly running around your bedroom or bathroom, trying to get all your stuff together. Makeup is sprawled all over the desk, your hair straightener is lying around somewhere, and random outfits are scattered on your bed. On top of everything, your ride is coming to get you in five minutes.

Many of us have been in this situation before, and it happens all the time to me. You don’t give yourself enough time to get ready, and you’re totally unprepared in the final minutes before your ride gets there. One of the only things that could make this situation worse would be messing up your makeup.

Although you probably won’t be wearing much makeup at a time like this, there’s something simple that almost every girl wears before going out. That would be mascara.

It’s hard to mess up on mascara application, but it’s possible. One of the biggest problems girls have with mascara is that it tends to clump up on your lashes. Eyelash curlers can fix this usually, but there’s an easier way to fix this that takes up less time and costs no money at all.

When you apply your mascara, get an average sized business card and place it on your top eyelid, right where you would draw on top eyeliner. Look up a little so that you can clearly see your eyelashes on the card, and apply your mascara. This will prevent clumping and make sure that you get every lash. Using this technique will guarantee you gorgeous lashes; even on those days when your rushing to do your makeup in under five minutes.