Summer is the season of fun and freedom. Who has time for labor intensive get ready sessions? Not us. Use these summer beauty hacks for a stress free beach season.

1. Sea Salt Scrunch // Hair should be easy, breezy this time of year. Put the blowdryer, straightener, and curling iron away, and get your scrunch on. At the beach? Use seawater. For the landlocked, try John Masters Organics Sea Mist Sea Salt Spray with Lavender.

2. Sand Scrub // You know how your feet get super dry over winter? Well those babies are coming out of hiding and it is time to get them flip-flop ready. When hanging at the beach, exfoliate tootsies with sand. Otherwise, Chocolate Sun White Tea Leaf & Citrus Blossom Body Scrub uses Dead Sea salts, Turbinado sugar, and antioxidant White tea for sloughing and softening.

3. Brush Off // Feel you are in a constant state of sand battlement when spending time at the beach? Just before heading inside or getting into the car, dust skin with Beach Organics Beachcomber Organic Body Powder (talc-free) to absorb moisture and get rid of sand. This works on little bodies post beach or sandbox too.

4. Tea Relief // When you’ve overdone the sun, relieve discomfort and inflammation with the help of anitioxidant tea. Apply cooled green tea bags to affected areas or stand in shower and spritz body with chilled tea.

5. Big Chill // Sun exposure, alcohol, party foods, and lack of sleep all contribute to puffiness. Freeze green tea and run cubes over puffy skin and eyes for instant calmed, toned skin. Helps soothe summer acne too.

6. Fight the Burn // One thing we all deal with at some point during summer is the dreaded razor burn. Chilled chamomile tea bags are said to soothe this problem. Dr. Shannon’s Organic Skin Balm also works like a charm for this and so many other things.

7. Soy Good // Already tired of the regular leg shave? Soy may be good at stunting hair growth and making the hair finer, so you need to shave less often. Worth a try. LOVEFRESH Body Butter contains soy and other yummy smelling ingredients.

8. Frizz Co-control // Coconut oil is soothing, hydrating, and cooling. This makes it an ideal body moisturizer for summer. Did you know it works on hair too? Add a dab to ends of strands to combat frizz.

9. Fresh Pits // Another use for coconut oil – mix with just a bit of baking soda and use as an armpit scrub to lighten and brighten skin in this area.

10. Tan Fix // Baking soda also comes in handy as a sunless tanner fix. Did your faux tan go awry in a few spots? Put a small amount of baking soda on a wet washcloth and rub onto mistake until it disappears.

11. Ready, Set, Tone // Let your toner double as a setting spray. Mist over freshly applied makeup to keep from melting and smudging. Also great for freshening skin throughout the day. Dr. Alkaitis Organic Herbal Toner is perfect.

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Image of woman on beach via Shutterstock

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If you’ve got what feels like millions of bobby pins, here’s how to put them to good use in every area of your life.

I love bobby pins, don’t get me wrong, but I only use about four in my hair at any given time, leaving the other 3,000 that came in the package to do nothing but collect dust. Luckily, they’re a surprisingly handy tool to have around when you’ve already got your pretty on.

Here are 23 unusual (and super useful) ways to use bobby pins:

1. Use as a dotting tool for nail art.
2. Clip onto the end of a nail to hold it in place while you hammer it into the wall. No more bruised digits!
3. Use every last drop of toothpaste by clipping a bobby pin onto the end of your toothpaste tube and sliding it toward the lid.
4. Use as a chip clip.
5. Make your own bib necklace.
6. Use as a bookmark.
7. Pit cherries and olives.
8. Clip a bobby pin to your clear tape when you’re done using it so you don’t lose the end.
9. Use one to tear open those annoying plastic seals on your food.
10. In a pinch, use one as a toothpick.
11. Use to press those teeny tiny reset buttons on your electronics. (Whose bright idea were these tiny buttons anyway?)
12. Pick a lock.
13. Attach notes to your gifts by clipping them to the ribbon with a bedazzled bobby pin.
14. Hold your electronic wires in place so they don’t get tangled.
15. Poke open air-sealed food bags/wrappers.
16. Clean up the edges of freshly painted fingernails.
17. Pin your bra straps in place, or any other awkward wardrobe malfunctions.
18. Use bobby pins to dislodge hair from a clogged drain (gross, but useful).
19. Make your BFF a Valentine’s Day card.
20. Use as a temp zipper should yours break when you’re out and about.
21. Use as Christmas ornament hangers.
22. Make colorful barrettes by painting bobby pins with nail polish.
23. Design your own earrings.

What are your favorite uses for bobby pins?

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Image: Bobby pins photo via Shutterstock

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Ah-mazing eyeliner tricks that’ll make your mornings sooo much easier.

Okay, so eyeliner freaks me out. One wrong move can derail your entire beauty routine – you know, the one you barely have time for in the first place. And have you ever noticed how one eye turns out perfectly and the other one totally doesn’t? Like, ever? Barf.

But hey, new year new you and all that jazz. I say it’s time we add 12 (count ’em, 12) new eyeliner tricks to our resume. Who knows? You might end up with eyes that match! (And by you, I really mean me.) Let’s get started, shall we?

1. Heat things up

If your pencil feels like it’s scraping your eyelid, heat it with your blow dryer for two to three seconds. This will soften it enough to glide across your waterline.

2. Wanna wear bright shadow?

To make your neon shadow pop, cover your eyelid with a white eyeliner first. This will cancel out the color of your skin so it doesn’t mute the color of the shadow.

3. Speaking of white eyeliner…

It can make even the most tired woman look rested. For real:

Image: musebeauty.pro

4. If you don’t have the steadiest hand in the world…

Or you do, just not when you’re clutching liquid liner, line your lash with pencil liner first then trace the line with liquid. Consider it the training wheels of eyeliner tricks.

5. Make your lower line stay put

To keep your lower line from getting all smudgy, apply pressed powder right underneath it with a small brush. Bonus: If you use a powder that’s a tad lighter than your skin, it’ll highlight the area and make you look less tired!

Image: The Beauty Department

6. Eyeliner crumbling?

Help your pencil eyeliner get its mojo back by popping it in the freezer for 10 minutes. The tip of the pencil will harden and you can get back to your regularly scheduled programming.

7. Never mess up a cat eye again

This is one of my favorite eyeliner tricks since it puts the rest of my Scotch tape to good use: Cut a one-inch strip of tape and dab it with your fingers to dull the stickiness (you want to go easy on your delicate eye area, after all). Apply it on an angle, upwards from your bottom lash line for a flawless wing. Here’s the full cat eye tutorial.

8. And here’s how to transition your cat eye from day to night

Image: The Beauty Department

9. Use eye shadow as your liner

You can morph any eye shadow into eyeliner in no time: Just wet an eyeliner brush and dip! Apply a thin line over your upper lash line and you’re good to go. The dampness will make the shadow look darker and last longer.

10. Connect the dots

Line your lid with dots first and connect them for a flawless (pressure-free) line. Just make sure your dots are the same width as the line you want to create.

11. Use your eyeliner to create a smoky eye

Image: The Beauty Department

12. For a perfect smudge

Sure, many eyeliners come with a built-in smudger on the end, but most of them leave a lot to be desired. To me, the smudges look too forced. Instead, use a shadow that’s the color of your liner, put it on a smudge brush and smudge away. It’s much easier to blend and looks hot instead of hooker-ish.

What are your favorite eyeliner tricks?

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Image: Ally Aubry

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Once your pout’s all… well, pouty, here are 10 more uses for lip balm.

If you think the only uses for lip balm is on your lips, you’re seriously missing out. The soothing formula and its consistency make it surprisingly handy for solving other beauty and fashion mishaps. This, my friends, is repurposing at its finest.

Here are 10 uber-useful ways to let your lip balm live up to its full potential:

1. Tame those flyaways

Your hair never gives you attitude when you’re actually near your hair products (pffft!) – lucky for you, you can use your lip balm to fight back. Just rub a small amount on your palms or fingertips and then run through your unruly hair to spruce up your ‘do in a pinch.

2. Groom your brows

I have this one eyebrow hair that has to stay in place no matter what. Otherwise, it looks like I have three eyebrows. Lightly dab some lip balm along your brows as you brush them into place to make sure they stay put.

3. Treat dry cuticles

If you’re out of cuticle cream or forgot your moisturizer, rub lip balm onto dry cuticles. It’ll help keep them moisturized and prevent hangnails from causing any more trouble.

4. Prevent blisters

So, you’re trying to break in a new pair of shoes. You poor soul sole. As you’re breaking them in and your feet start whimpering, rub lip balm on the friction-frazzled areas of your feet to offer up some relief.

5. Use as an eye primer

Instead of spending oodles of money on eye primer, just use your lip balm! Spread on your lids before doing your makeup to keep it looking fresh. You can also dab some around your eye area before bed to keep your peepers moisturized.

6. Shine your shoes

If your heels are falling a little flat (ha!), add some sparkle to your step by using lip balm to shine them. Simply spread some onto a clean, dry rag and buff away!

7. Remove a stuck ring

When you’re trying to slide a stuck ring off your hand, you never picture the experience ending with your finger still attached to your body. Bust out your lip balm and coat your finger to wriggle the ring loose.

8. Keep your hair color on your hair

To prevent hair color from ending up on your skin, rub lip balm on your hairline and ears to keep them so fresh and so clean.

9. Combat shaving nicks

If you’ve cut yourself shaving and your tub’s starting to look like a murder scene, dab some lip balm on the cut. It’ll help stop the bleeding and heal the cut that much faster.

10. Nix mascara smudges

Mascara smudges are the worst. One wrong move and you end up back at square one. Apply lip balm to the smudges. Believe it or not (I tried it because I didn’t), the oils in the lip balm gently lift away the smudge without massacring the rest of your makeup. You’re welcome.

What are your favorite non-lippy uses for lip balm?

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Image: polkadots_

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