Beauty Tips For Us Copper Tops

Regardless of the variety you may be, us redheads all need to stick together, right?  There's a feeling of camaraderie when we cross paths with a fellow copper top.  It's something similar to being in an elite club.  For my daughter who was also blessed with the redhead gene, I will pass along all the tips and secrets I have picked up along my journey.  However, for those of us who were born "the only one" in the family, finding the right beauty products as well as a sense of peace with the unusual and rare coloring can prove daunting.

Here are a few beauty secrets I've picked up:

Blush: Skip the traditional pinky blush that looks great on most people-- we aren't "MOST" people-- and go instead with a bronzer.  Most redheads have subtle copper undertones both in our skin as well as our hair, so embrace it!  (Did your mother ever tell you the saying, "pink and red clash," too?  Not true for clothes.  If you like pink, I say by all means wear your pink proudly!  However, stay away from the truly pink makeups.

My personal favorite is Rimmel Natural Bronzer 020 Sunshine or whatever is close and available.

Eyeliner: Have you ever seen a redhead who was proudly wearing black eyeliner?  If you're into that particular look, then feel free to skip this section.  Me, personally, I prefer a less ghostly appearance and a more natural feel.  Stick with the browns.

Almay intense i-color in brown topaz has been my go-to eyeliner for oh, 10 years or so I think?  Maybe it hasn't been around for quite that long, but I've been buying it for ages and will continue to do so as long as it is on the market.

When you're needing to dial up the drama a little bit, I like to add brown liquid liner to the outside edges of my lashes.  It draws more attention to your eyes without toning down the color.  TIP: It also works to keep your eyeliner pencil in place if you have oily skin issues.

Here it is!  Almay intense i-color liquid liner in brown topaz.  My goof was to accidentally buy raisin quartz one time.  Purple, ick!

Mascara: Yes, it sounds quite repetitive, but here it is again... brown.  Finding it in that color with your favorite brush can sometimes prove to be a daunting task, but it's worth the hunt.  Now, here's the catch.  I use brown mascara as my base.  BUT, when I'm going out in the evening or for a special event I add true, honest-to-God black mascara just to the tips of my lashes.  I always feel as if exclusively black mascara makes me look washed out and scary, but using it to emphasize the brown is a nice little trick to keep in your back pocket.

My last trip to Wally World yielded only three brands that offered true brown mascara.  Covergirl Lash Blast is what I picked up and I haven't been displeased so far.

And last but not least, don't forget to color your eyebrows!  Us redheads are generally blessed with the palest of pale blondes for our facial features which results in non-visible eyebrows, so fill those suckers in with a little bit of color.  There are many tutorials floating around the internet on how to fill your brows and make them look amazingly dramatic, but who honestly has time to do that on a daily basis!?  Not this mommy!  I'm all about ease and simplicity.  Besides that, the pencils last absolutely forever AND you get 2 in a pack!

Covergirl blonde eye pencils

Funny Story: I used to be a die hard Mary Kay user.  I had been purchasing their brow pencil since middle school and either they quit making it, or I decided to switch it up-- can't remember now-- but I bought their brow liner instead of my normal pencil.  Something about their formula had a reaction with my skin and all my hairs got infected and then fell out.  I was the hairless wonder for a full month!  Nothing against Mary Kay in the least.  I merely had an unfortunate reaction, that's all, and it's funny to tell.

Best of luck in your ventures!

Please visit my website
www.AshleyGesslerSHD.com

My little trick for drinking more water

These long, Southern, summer months can be killer on the body.  I generally try to drink the recommended 8 glasses of water a day (and more when I'm outside "glistening" for extended periods of time), but my taste buds get rather bored with the monotony of it.


I've done the apple cinnamon water.  I love it... I really do... and I even add a little honey in, boil the ingredients in a little bit of water on the stove for a few minutes, and then dilute in a pitcher of water.  It's one of the most delicious ways of drinking water, in my humble opinion, but the apples and cinnamon are truly only good for one batch.  You have to toss and start fresh with each new batch, and I don't know if you've priced cinnamon sticks recently, but they are roughly $1 a stick... and that adds up!


I recently stumbled across a recipe for cucumber mint water.  Intrigued, I purchased the ingredients and made my first batch.  Absolutely delightful!  One downside was the cost of the mint leaves as well as the fact that they didn't keep fresh very long.  So, instead, I experimented with mint extract.  In place of the mint leaves, I used 1/4 lid mint extract (aka the very tiny lid on the bottle it comes in) and sliced half a cucumber my mom gave from her garden.  It is seriously the best water I have ever tasted!  I'm drinking an entire pitcher of just the mint cucumber water every day!  Best part is I already had the mint extract in my pantry and the cucumber was free (thanks Mom!).  I feel healthier PLUS I have ah-mazingly minty breath at all times.  Doesn't get much better than that!

Please visit my website
www.AshleyGesslerSHD.com