There is no “one look is best” approach to nail style. Different looks work on different people at different times of the year. My own nail style is deliberately plain and this is more a question of aesthetic preference than time or maintenance.

• Hands: I might be alone on this one but I really like the look of short nails, sans finger nail polish. Once a year, I might venture out and pop on a bit of clear vanish, but never colour and I don’t do French manicures. I like to keep my hands and nails well moisturized, neat and au natural.
• Feet: I wear toe-nail polish from April to August. For years, my choice of toe colour has been either a shade of blue or green, and very occasionally a soft pearly white. I do not wear pink, red, purple, orange or brown toe nail polish and once again, French manicures are not for me. I also have this weird idea that for the rest of the year, my nails need to breathe so come the first week of September, my toe nails are stripped of their polish and we’re back to au natural.

What’s your nail style? Do you even have one? Would you like to make a change? I look forward to loads of variety in the responses.

For the last couple of years I’ve battled with dry facial skin, and I’ve tried everything under the sun. From all sorts of lotions, potions and creams, to oils, tablets, vitamins and Vaseline. No stellar results. Finally, I succumbed to making an appointment with the dermatologist and I’m really glad I did.

The dermatologist said to stop using the products I was applying to my face. He prescribed an ointment called “locoid lipocream”, and an over the counter moisturizer called “Impruv”. That, plus my normal cleanser and sunscreen is all that I’m allowed to use daily. I came home with the Impruv but had to wait for the prescribed ointment since it was out of stock.

Right away, I started to use Impruv twice a day. You won’t believe it, because I didn’t either, but my dry skin started to dramatically repair without the prescribed ointment. I fetched the locoid four days later and used a little of that too. But I soon stopped because Impruv alone does the trick.

Apparently, the moisturizers I’d been using contain skin drying ingredients like alpha hydroxy acids and retinol for exfoliation. Ironic, but in my case the expensive moisturizers were drying out my skin. Impruv does not have these ingredients. Amazing. And all for under $13. As you say in the US, I’ll be darned.

For years I heard that you could use the same tube of mascara for a year before it went off. Last year a cosmetics sales representative told me that the shelf life could be up to four years! Shortly after that I heard six months. The most recent information I got from two different cosmetics counters is that one should toss mascara after three months of use because of the unsavory bacteria that collects around the brush after repeated contact with your eyes.

Who’s a gal to believe? I find it hard to throw away what seems like a perfectly good cosmetic before there are signs of it going bad. I can’t help but think that cosmetic companies are trying to turn their products around faster with a conveniently short expiration date. I’ve been using mascara daily for 20 years and it usually lasts for 6-8 months. I throw away the tube when it’s empty but not before. So far no problems. Should I be more careful with the suggested expiration date and toss the tube sooner? Or is my skepticism warranted.

Manicures, pedicures, facials, microdermabrasion, skin peels, massages, waxing, tinting and so much more. Spa services are expensive once you start adding them up. Before you know it you’ve spent hundreds of dollars each year pampering your body inside a soothing and sweet smelling beauty salon. Is it really worth it?

I think it’s a question of your priorities, your values and your budget. I indulge in one spa treatment regularly – facials. I take skin care seriously and find that having monthly facials makes a huge visual difference. I cannot steam and extract skin impurities on my own and the head and neck massage is therapeutic. It’s the one hour in a month where I get to completely relax. For these reasons the facial justifies the expense. For me.

I have pedicures far less regularly because I loathe them. But I grin and bear it because I believe that the foot grooming process is good for your feet and I cannot accomplish the end result successfully on my own (I’ve tried). Not only do I like the look of well cared for feet, but my calluses need close attention because of the all walking I do, and after some initial soreness my feet feel really good after the treatment. So that’s another spa treatment I find worthwhile.

As for the rest? I do my own manicures, tint and shape my own brows, do not need to wax and do not enjoy any other form of massage unless it’s part of the facial service. So I’m down to one spa service that I regard as a worthwhile frequent investment (facials), and another that I force upon myself from time to time because it produces excellent results (basic pedicures). Perhaps I’ll change my mind about the importance of other spa services later on in life, adding a few more to the list.

What’s your viewpoint on the value of spa and beauty treatments? Do you indulge? If so, why is it worth the expense? If not, why not?

Professional hairstylist Taylor said a fabulous thing  in a recent thread about hair on the YLF forum:

“I tell my clients to think of hair as an ACCESSORY, it is part of a TOTAL look”.

I couldn’t agree more (and that goes for blokes too). There are few things that impact your look more than a flattering new hairdo, a bit of colour, or both. Your hair is your crowning glory and maintaining a killer style is as important as wearing the best bra. That’s why I loved Kendall Farr’s suggestion of reevaluating your hairstyle BEFORE you attempt to reevaluate your closet. This makes a lot of sense, because you’ll view your wardrobe and the items that you purchase differently once your smashing new do is in place.

So the question is, if your hair is an accessory, how often should you change it up? I don’t think that there are hard and fast rules, but I do believe that an annual hair evaluation is in order. In some cases you might need and want a dramatic change like going from long blonde hair to a short red crop. In other instances subtle changes are the way to go, like taking off a few inches of length, cutting a fringe or adding highlights. Or your current do is still fab so leave it alone.

I enjoy changing my hairstyle because I like to keep my look evolving. Sometimes the changes are dramatic and at other times they’re slight. I fool around with the length, texture and colour, but I’m always blonde and the length is usually above the shoulder. Those are the elements I like to keep constant because they feel like me. I can’t go any shorter, so I guess my next step is to grow my hair out a little once I’m bored with this look.

Are you happy with your hair and if not, why not? How often do you change your hairstyle? Are you frightened of dramatic hairstyle change?

For the first 25 years of my life I cursed my pale skin, envying dark-skinned, tanned gals who always looked healthy and fabulous in Summer clothes. In the 70’s and 80’s, living close to the beach in a tropical climate would do that to you. Back then it just wasn’t fab to be un-tanned.

So in my early twenties I lay on a few sun beds and slathered blotchy self tanning lotions on my body in an effort to look sun-kissed and fresh. I thought it would increase my style quotient.

In my late twenties everything changed. I became paranoid about what the sun and tanning beds can do your skin. I started to loath the idea of rubbing self-tanning lotion on any part of my body. My deliberate sun tanning and self tanning days came to an end.

These days I am extremely mindful about protecting my skin from the sun. I use SPF 40 on my face and hands every day. On sunny days I use it all over. I am never tanned and stay my pale, fair-skinned self all year round.

My natural skin colour is what it is and I’m relieved now that I can embrace this fact. My legs are super white, but I wear dresses and skirts all the time. Dark-skinned, tanned gals still look healthy and fabulous in Summer clothes, but I have learned to love my milky complexion.

Over to you, pale skinned lasses. Do you find the need to tan or self tan? Do you feel better with a bit of colour? Or do you leave it au natural like me.

Thanks to your helpful comments on how to combat extra dry facial skin, my face looks and feels much better. After trying many of the products that were recommended and several others, I’m down to the following routine: taking fish oil capsules, drinking a little more water, using jojoba oil twice a day with super rich moisturizers AND applying Vaseline to my nose and cheek area daily.

I stopped using olive oil because I couldn’t handle the smell. Popping it into a jar with rosemary or lavender to mask the smell didn’t help either (I either reeked of roast chicken or a herb garden). I then tried products with olive oil as an ingredient to see if that worked. I also tried pure Shea butter, cocoa butter, Aquafor, apricot oil and coconut oil. The odour was an improvement, but the products weren’t effective. In desperation, I’m back to using old faithful and dirt-cheap petroleum jelly. If I leave it out and use only the other products I mentioned, my skin is still dry.

So what is a gal to do? The result of adding Vaseline to my facial routine is glowing (and I don’t mind the smell). But many of you are dead set against Vaseline because it’s not good for our health or environment. How bad can it be?

These two products have been around forever. I remember my grandmother putting them to full use when I was a little girl and they are still popular today.

Vaseline (or “petroleum jelly”) is a substance with magical powers. I don’t use the messy goo regularly, but know several stylish and well groomed people who swear by the product. I liked the Budget Fashionista’s wonderful account of its uses. I won’t list them all, but here are the ones I’ve tried myself:

• As a quick facial moisturizer
• As a last minute shoe polish
• As a lip-gloss (I’ve also known ladies who use Vicks, which apparently makes for an effective peppermint gloss)
• As a gel to keep eye-brow hairs in place
• As a remedy to sooth sunburn, windburn minor scrapes, burns and cuts

While it doesn’t have nearly as many uses as versatile Vaseline, my favorite classic remedy is Nivea. I use Nivea hand cream and moisturizing body cream daily to treat sensitive skin that’s prone to eczema. I keep a tiny travel size tin in my handbag at all times. After 30 years, Nivea is still my number one choice for moisturizing hand and body. No need to fix a formula that isn’t broken.

As a side note: I’ve tried most of the facial oils that were recommended after my post on olive oil. Jojoba oil has yielded the best results by far. It’s like liquid gold. I like the scent, texture and absorption qualities. I feel like I’ve hit the beauty jackpot.

You’ve got to love cheap beauty products (about $8 apiece) that keep on doing the trick.

Our downtown Macy’s store has a new “Brow Bar” that’s run by Benefit Cosmetics. A friend who was impressed with their service in California mentioned that her eyebrows had never looked better. I believe that eyebrow maintenance is important so I promptly went down to check it out.

You can drop by without an appointment and have your brows gorgeously groomed for $20 (either tweezed or waxed). The painless process took 15 minutes. The cosmetics consultant did a super job with the actual tweezing and shaping of my brows. At her encouragement I purchased the two Benefit products that she had demonstrated:

1. Brow Shaping Kit – a sweet little box that comes with eyebrow wax to keep your brow hairs in place,  brow shadow to fill in the sparse areas, and the tiniest tweezers for plucking.
2. Brow Lifting Pencil – a whitish pencil that resembles eye-shadow. The idea is to apply the pencil under the arch of your brow and blend. This gives the illusion that the brow has been physically “lifted” (the assumption being that lifted brows equal younger looking eyes).

I was in a rush and the light at Macy’s wasn’t perfect, so it was hard to see the full effect of the brow shadow, wax and lifting pencil until I got home. After having a closer look at the results I think that the products are good, but not my cup of tea.

• The brow lifting pencil is very effective. Too effective actually. I have naturally arched brows at the moment so I looked like Doctor Spock after the shadow enhancement. I won’t be using this product for now, but I’ll know what to do if I need to “lift” my brows.
• The brow wax and powder offers a perfect brow finish for an evening event, but it’s too much for daytime. I’m sticking to my Anastasia eye brow pencil for daily use because the finish is more natural (your brow hairs are still visible after application which is not the case with powder).

Even though I won’t be using these products regularly, the Benefit Bar is a worthwhile stop the next time you are in Macy’s. It’s quick, clean and convenient.

I suffer from tight, dry facial skin that often flakes around my nose and cheek area. Indoor heating and the dry Seattle air don’t help, which is why a recent trip to humid Hong Kong did wonders for my skin. It looked and felt great.

Now that I’m back, the change of weather has made my skin flake more than ever. The eight hour a day cream that I usually use to combat this problem has not helped, and neither has a facial, regular exfoliation, an alpha hydroxyl peel and super rich hydrating moisturizers.

Having reached the height of desperation, I’ve taken to using pure, extra-virgin olive oil on my nose and cheek area twice a day for the last week. I may smell like a Greek buffet, but it has worked beautifully. My skin finally feels hydrated and adequately moisturized (no more flaking). Am I crazy to apply the same olive oil that I use for cooking to my face? Is this risk-free? I’d love your input.