Stealing Red Carpet Secrets of the Stars

With their teams of hairdressers, makeup artists, stylists, eyebrow gurus etc, who has more access to beauty secrets than the stars. As they get ready to walk the red carpet at the Oscars their secrets are coming out so we mere mortals can benefit! These are the things that work in the short term to amp up your glam potient. Peels, lasers and things that need some downtime will need to be done weeks or a month in advance. But there are the quick tricks you can "borrow" the next time you have a black tie or major event that requires you to look your best:

Custom Spray Tan
Nothing takes off the pounds and gives you a special glow quicker than a spray tan. If your dress or outfit will be exposing a lot of skin you can take it a step further by having a custom sculpting session. It will add the definition to your stomach, arms and legs that would have taken months at the gym to accomplish. Area tanning salons that offer spray tanning include Fit To Be Tan in Arlington, Glow Tanning Salon in Georgetown and Solar Planet with a number of area locations.


Body Wraps and Saunas

If you need to be particularly svelte for a clingy or form fitting dress you can lose up to 20 inches from body wrap or far infrared sauna treatment. In Hollywood the stars indulge in a $135 Slimwrap which consists of being wrapped "mummy" style in bandages soaked in minerals to detoxify and contour the body. They then bounce on a trampoline for almost an hour in a blue poncho with feet wrapped in baggies--sweating out the toxins and water weight. You can probably get a similar result with one of the wraps offered by Body Shape 7 in Sterling, VA or the Washington Institute of Natural Medicine in DC.

At Pureskin, LLC in Bethesda their Slimdone Far Infrared Sauna promotes an oil-based sweat that releases impurities and burns up to 600 calories on one 40 minute session--which will have you not only looking good but feeling relaxed and glowing.




Spanx
Octavia Spencer who is nominated for an Oscar for her role as Minnie in The Help admitted she wears not one but 3 pairs of Spanx under her gowns. I think they've found their new spokesmodel! If you watch a lot of the red carpet countdown shows you will hear many actresses admitting to getting a little extra help from the body shaping undergarments. Even someone in the best shape may want to make sure no bumps or lumps are showing under a slim fitting dress. And although I don't think you'll hear a lot of them admit to wearing them there is now a line for men so they can minimize their belly and boost muscles. Spanx are available at most department stores like Macys, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus.


Unexpected Beauty Products
As mentioned earlier there are tons of pros working overtime to make sure the stars don't commit any beauty faux pas on the red carpet. Slack skin, a sweaty brow or faded lipstick won't do so they employ some unexpected products to avoid any problems. Cellulite cream along the jaw line is one way to tighten up your profile. Using an anti-perspirant under makeup on the brow line and upper lip will prevent those areas from getting moist under the hot lights and cherry jello rubbed on the lips will give them a nice red stain that will last a lot longer than most lipsticks.

http://www.beautyindc.com/is your local resource for information and deals on beauty services in the Washington Metro area.