Have you ever considered donating your hair to women who have lost theirs during chemotherapy? Well, you can. Pantene’s new beautiful lengths program has a downloadable kit with instructions. Cutting off your locks for a cause is the easy part; meeting the requirements to donate hair is a little more tricky. Here are the requirements:

• Donated hair must be a minimum of 8 inches long (measure hair from just above the elastic band of the ponytail to the ends).
• Wavy/curly hair texture is fine (you may straighten hair to measure).
• The hair should be freshly washed and completely dry, without any styling products.
• The hair may be colored with vegetable dyes, rinses and semi-permanent dyes. It cannot be bleached, permanently colored or chemically treated.
• The hair must not be more than five percent gray.

Consider being socially responsible if you are contemplating a shorter style. You have the power to help a woman during the greatest fight of her life.

Dermatologists will tell you that there is no such thing as a safe tan: any hint of colour is a sign of sun damage. This in turn causes freckles, moles, wrinkles and, potentially, skin cancer. Foundations and facial powders generally contain low doses of SPF (between 4 and 15), but whether this is sufficient protection for your skin type is something only your dermatologiest will know for sure.

But being fair-skinned, I know that I’m particularly prone to harmful UV rays which is why I top up with a strong sunscreen every day. It took a while to find a couple of options that aren’t sticky. They are expensive, but I’ve been thrilled with them for years. Both products are smooth, odourless, long lasting and oil free (you won’t notice that you have them on).

• Clarins: UV Plus protective sun screen with SPF 40
• Shiseido: Ultimate sun protection lotion with SPF 55

I can’t think of a better cosmetic invesment than effective sunscreen. Remember to also apply liberally to your neck and the back of your hands, because other than your face, this is where aging is most visible.

Shiseido Sun Protection Lotion ($37) and Clarins UV Plus ($38) are available at Sephora and most department stores.

With Spring here and Summer around the corner,  contemplating “the big chop” is common. Short hair has been particularly popular amongst celebrities this season (with Michelle Williams, Elisha Cuthbert and Audrey Tautou amongst my personal favourites). Short hairstyles are certainly not for everyone, but the right cropped cut can take your face from “drowning in your layers and locks” to “all eyes, neck and cheekbones”. 

Whether short hair will suit you is beyond my expertise (I am not a hair stylist). But I sport a short style myself and have some thoughts to share about taking the plunge:

• Find a competent hair stylist. An excellent cut is crucial with short styles.
• Pay close attention to the colour of your hair. You’ll cut out a lot of your best hair colour (either dyed or naturally sun-kissed) when you chop it off. Short hair has to be the right colour in order for it to look it’s best because only then will different areas of the cut be emphasized, creating volume, interest and texture. 
• Dress your best on the day of the cut. This will give the stylist a better sense of the type of look that you’re after.
• Tweak your style and make-up if necessary. You might prefer to wear dresses, skirts, frills and darker lipstick after your haircut because you like the contrast of your boyish cut with a more flirty style. That bright green bag you thought you could never pull off suddenly works with your new sassy cut.

This is not an easy decision. If you are in the mood for an edgy cropped look, I’m torn between encouraging you to go short and advising you stay longer and more versatile. At worst, your hair will grow out. At best, you’ll have gone from drab to fab!

Michelle Williams, Elisha Cuthbert, Audrey Tautou and Selma Blair sport short cuts this season.

I like the look of translucent gloss, but I battle with its sticky consistency. Nevertheless, I was convinced that there had to be something out there to satisfy my picky make-up persona. So after lots of unpressured collaboration with the staff at Sephora, I found two good solutions:

• Cargo Purse lip gloss is especially non-sticky and feels just like lipstick. It isn’t quite as shiny, but that seems a fair tradeoff.
• Shiseido Make-up lip gloss is so light and subtle that you’ll barely notice that you’re wearing it.

I’m still not a gloss girl (I prefer lipstick), but it’s nice to know that less gooey options are available. Are there any other non-sticky glosses that you can recommend?

These glosses are in the $16-$20 range at Sephora.

Have you heard of Cargo Cosmetics? I was recently introduced to this wonderful, earth-friendly Canadian company at Sephora. Cargo has built a brand and a product around the belief that they “need to invest in the earth and our children for the future of our planet”.

I was particularly intrigued by their botanical lipstick. Not only is it affordable and magically moist, but each case of lipstick contains:

• A 100% biodegradable tube made entirely from corn, not plastic. Corn is apparently a renewable resource that is “greenhouse gas neutral”  which prevents it from contributing to global warming.
• An outer carton made of biodegradable flower paper embedded with wildflower seeds. A bouquet of wild flowers is said to grow if you moisten and plant this carton.
• Lipstick made of environmentally friendly “Orchid Complex” (no oils or petroleum).

Cargo also donates $2 from the sale of this lipstick to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. What’s not to love about this ecologically friendly and socially responsible lipstick? (I’ll let you know whether my wild flowers actually sprout.)

While I believe that less is more when it comes to wearing make-up, wearing nothing at all can leave you looking tired and sickly (especially if you are). There are a few exotically beautiful women in the world that can pull off “the absolutely no make-up” look, but most of us can benefit from a bit of polish.

Here’s how to do it in under 30 seconds:

• Cover the odd spot with concealer
• Pop on a bit of blusher
• End with a dab of lip gloss

If you can spare another 15 seconds, I’d throw in the mascara as well. This fast and simple make-up ritual can make the world of difference to how you look. Buy mini size cosmetics with built in applicators that you can keep in your handbag and refresh the blusher and the gloss mid day. The next time you catch yourself in a passing mirror – you’ll look fab instead of drab.

Selecting the right fragrance is not always easy. You need to live with a scent for a while before you know whether it really works for you. Fragrances are expensive and this can become a costly exercise. 

Joey recently shared a comment that is worth repeating so that more people can benefit from the information: Nordstrom will make a handbag sample of the scents that you like for $6.50 each! Forking out $50 instead of $500 is much easier on the pocket. This gives you the opportunity to wear each fragrance for several days so that you can make a more informed decision.

This cost effective and experimental way of finding your scent is an excellent way to maximize the quality of your decision and minimize your dollars spent.

Nothing frames your face quite like your eyebrows. Whether they are thin or bushy, looking after them is an extremely important part of “perfect polish“.

The perfectly shaped eyebrow is always about accentuating your natural arch.

• For thin brows – use eye shadow to add fullness and a pencil to add shape. A pencil will extend the length of your eyebrow and draw a stronger arch. Powdered eye shadow will fill in the areas where hair is sparse.
• For bushy eyebrows – if your brows are very thick or the hair points outwards; brushing them upwards first and then trimming the hair with eyebrow scissors is a good idea. Once you’ve done this – you can shape and shade as necessary.
• For blonde brows – dye your eyebrows a few shades darker then the colour of your hair. You won’t believe what a difference this can make. Shape and groom your brows after you’ve dyed them.
• Use gel – eyebrow gel or wax will keep your eyebrows in place for most of the day. The product lasts forever and is available at most cosmetic counters.  

If you can’t manage shaping, dying and tweezing your brows on your own – have them done professionally until you feel confident enough yourself. Eyebrow kits complete with powder, pencil and gel are also available and a good investment. Steal the time for your brows – your entire face looks alive when your eyebrows are properly groomed.    

Most of us are pressed for time when it comes to getting ready in the morning. Realistically, we have up to half an hour and that includes fussing with our hair. One of the most reliable style shortcuts is an excellent hair stylist. I am the first to admit that fabulous hair stylists are not easy to find. It took me 3 bad haircuts at 3 different salons here in America before I stumbled across somebody who gave me a haircut that satisfied me completely.

Loyalty is often a problem when it comes to switching hair stylists. Even if we have never been happy with their work, we invariably feel awful leaving the people who have been cutting our hair for years. It’s hard. However, you deserve a decent haircut!

You need a hair stylist who will give you a cut that works best for your hair type. Opting for a time-intensive, sleek flat ironed layered hair style is a bad idea when you have wavy and wispy fine hair. It may look wonderful at the salon, but won’t after the 10 minutes that you have to spend on your hair each morning. Tying it back into a ponytail everyday is also not the solution. The answer is simply an excellent haircut that will last you at least 6 weeks.

If you don’t have one now, begin your search for a good hair stylist today. If you see someone walking down the street with a good haircut – ask them for the name of their hair stylist. Remember that there is no such thing as bad hair – only a bad haircut.

Apply just enough to stain your lips, and no more. It’s when you apply too much at once that it smears and ends up everywhere else. As obvious as this may sound, I see women with lipstick on their teeth, face and clothing all the time because they simply use too much. The key is to make sure that your lips are moist before you apply your lipstick. That way, you’ll require only a thin layer to feel hydrated.

Licking your lips is not the type of moisture that you are after. You need one of the lip balms or moisturizers sold at the cosmetic stand in a department store. Apply this first and the smallest amount of lipstick will glide over your lips like butter. Your lip colour will look natural and you won’t run the risk of looking like a clown.