Having clear and glowing skin is wonderful but if you've suffered from acne you may notice those past breakouts haunting your present in the form of acne scars. Have no fear, follow our tips for hiding your acne scars for a flawless future.

How To Conceal Acne Scars

1. Treat: After washing your face use a dark spot treating serum to help fade the dark spots that acne scars can leave behind. Covering them with makeup is great but getting rid of them is even better.


2. Prime: If you have pitting caused by scarring use a makeup primer over your scars. The primer will help fill in divots and make your makeup application last longer.


3. Conceal: Find a concealer that matches your skin tone and use a concealer brush to apply the concealer on the scar. Draw a cross over your scar with the concealer brush to create two thin layers of coverage. Next, blend the concealer with your ring finger (this is the weakest of all your fingers making it the best for light blending)from the middle of the cross out. Do this till it's completely blended in.


4. Set: Now that your scar is covered, set your makeup in a loose or pressed powder to ensure all day coverage.

Do you have any tips for creating flawless skin with makeup? Share them with a comment!

 

 

2012 is almost here and at the Beauty Tips office we're busy wrapping up 2011 while planning for the new year. In the spirit of making a resolutions here are our beauty resolutions for 2012.

Remove Makeup

We're guilty of not doing this. Yes, it's terrible and it needs to stop. Sleeping with your makeup on will clog your pores and lead to acne/skin irritation. In 2012, we vow to remove our makeup every night—no matter how tired we are.

SPF Everyday

SPF is essential to protecting your skin and slowing the affects of aging. With so many moisturizers including SPF in their creams there is no excuse not to apply it everyday. Go the extra mile in 2012 and apply SPF to your neck, décolleté and hands. These areas typically show aging first and need daily sun protection too.

Toss Out Old Products

It's hard to let go of the makeup you love, but when in doubt toss it out. Once your products begin to dry/flake it's time to star anew. Makeup bag bursting at the seams? If you haven't used something in the last 30 days get rid of it. Your make up will look better, your skin will thank you for it and you'll be more organized.

Become a Salon Regular

Regular trims are essential to the health of your hair. This year when you go in for your first trim/cut make another appointment for three months later.

Signature Scent

If you don't have one already, make 2012 the year that you find your signature scent. A good perfume is the final detail in bringing together a great beauty routine so why not make the new year the best smelling one you've had yet?

Clean Up Regularly

Add cleaning your makeup brushes to your beauty routine. It's easy to do and will make your brushes last longer, makeup application look better and stop any bacteria from transferring onto your skin. Mix baby shampoo and olive oil together and wash in warm water. The baby shampoo will offer gentle cleansing without drying out your brushes while the oil will return softness to the bristles.

That concludes our beauty resolutions for 2012. What are yours?

We all know you're not supposed to pop your pimples. But we also know that it is extremely tempting. That said, it's very likely that you pop them regardless of the damage a pop zit can leave behind. Don't worry, you wont have to go into hiding till your skin heals—we've got some tips to get you back out in civilization without humiliation.

1. Reduce Swelling. The swelling of a blemish makes it stand out, hold an ice cube on your popped zit. The coolness will help reduce the swelling and minimize the chance of a further infection.


2. Get The Red Out. Putting a few drops of anti-redness eye drops on your blemish will help take the redness out of your zit and make it less noticeable.


3. Treat It. Dab on some benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid based acne treatment to help start the healing process. Popped your zit on the go and don't have an acne treatment? Mash one pill of aspirin with a small amount non-comedogenic lotion and apply it to your pimple. Aspirin has anti-inflammatory properties that will help reduce swelling.

Eat your way to beautiful skin. Sound good? Of course it does, who wouldn't want to indulge in some yummy food while getting all the benefits of flawless skin? Check out our five favorite food for skin health:

1. Strawberries: Strawberries are a great source for vitamin C which has wrinkle fighting properties.


2. Tomatoes: Tomatoes contain lycopene and lutein. Lycopene helps shield your skin from the sun while lutein works to keep your skin hydrated.


3. Dark Chocolate: Dark chocolate contains flavonoids that work to fight free radicals that can cause skin damage.


4. Green Tea: Green tea is full of antioxidants that work to protect your skin from free radical damage.

Want to make your own face mask using skin friendly foods? Check out these home remedies that use food to keep your skin acne free.

This green tea ice facial will help reduce redness, tighten pores, and fight free radicals that can be damaging to your skin. The best time of day to apply this facial is when you're done showering because your pores will be open and better able to absorb the contents of the facial.

How to Make a Green Tea Ice Facial

You'll Need:

• 1 glass of warm water
• 1 green tea bag
• 1 ice tray
• 4 Vitamin E gel pills
• Saran wrap

Steps:

1. Steep your tea bag in your glass of warm water, as if you're making yourself a glass of green tea.
2. Using a toothpick, poke a hole in one of the vitamin E gel pills and squeeze the contents into your glass. Repeat this step will the rest of the pills and thoroughly mix the contents with a spoon.
3. Remove your tea bag and pour the contents of your glass into your ice tray.
4. Cover the tray with saran wrap and poke a toothpick into each cube of the tray.
5. Place the tray in your freezer and allow the ice cubes to form.
6. After your ice has formed remove the saran wrap and you'll have mini facial popsicles that you can rub along your skin after showering or washing your face.

Do you love those pore strips that remove blackheads from your nose?

We do too! But we don't love the extra cost. Luckily, there is an easy and affordable way to create your own homemade strips with ingredients you may already have in your kitchen.

How To Make Homemade Pore Strips

You'll Need:

• Milk (any grade will be fine)
• Unflavored gelatin
• Microwave safe bowl
• Makeup brush

Steps:

1. Put one tablespoon of milk and unflavored gelatin into your microwave safe bowl.
2. Mix the ingredients. They should form a chunky paste.
3. Heat the ingredients in the bowl in a microwave for 10 seconds. The paste should be a gooey liquid after being heated.
4. Allow the mixture to cool a bit so as to not burn your skin.
5. Once the mixture is warm enough to apply, use your makeup brush to brush the mixture across your nose in the area where a pore strip would normally reside.
6. Allow your homemade pore strip to dry for about 10 minutes.
7. Once it's dry, peel it off and reveal your freshly cleaned pores.

Let us know how your homemade pore strip experience went by leaving a comment, sending us an email or giving a shout or on Twitter or Facebook!