Tips for Growing a Beard

If you think you would like to grow a beard, here are a few tips to keep in mind to best enhance your look:

The longer your face is, the shorter the beard should be at your chin because you don't want to elongate your face further. Strive for a balanced look to enhance your looks. Also, if you have a double chin, you can help to hide it by growing your beard right at the jaw line. This also helps to define and angle a round face.

You will also want to shampoo your beard each time you shower. Follow up with a tiny bit of moisturizing conditioner and rinse clean. The conditioner helps to avoid dry skin which can overstimulate your oil glands and lead to breakouts. It will also help your beard to feel softer.

A few tips on sideburns: Again, for sideburns you should refer back to your face shape for guidance on how long you want to keep them. If your face is round, you'll want to maintain sideburns at mid-ear or shorter, this will help to elongate your face. If you have an oblong or rectangular face then keep them a little longer; mid-ear to earlobe length. Don't let them grow too wide; narrow is better, so don't let them get any wider than about an inch or so.

Ladies, please share this with your man!

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YouTips4U

Hair Conditioner Product Review/Recommendation

Hi Everybody, please check out my hair conditioner product review video on YouTube. I think you will love this conditioner, and the good news is, it is so inexpensive. This conditioner will leave your hair soft, smooth and moisturized and help prevent damage and breakage. Here's the link: Hair Conditioner Product Review/Recommendation

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Should I Dye My Eyebrows to Match My Hair Color

Hi YouTips4U: I just had my hair lifted to bleach blond and I love it! My natural color is dark brown. My question to you is, should I also lighten my eyebrows to bleach blond to match?

YouTips4U Answer: I'm so glad you wrote, many people wonder the same thing. My recommendation is that you do not match your eyebrows to your hair color. Eyebrows should be a little darker than your head hair color and by no means should they be bleach blond. If you are dying your hair one to two shades lighter, no need to even touch your eyebrows, because your current natural color will probably be fine. But if you are making a big change from your natural color, for example, if your natural color was very dark hair and your eyebrows are very dark, then you can soften your eyebrows by tinting them with home hair color a lighter shade of brown for blonder hair shades. If you are dying your hair red, or a golden shade would be good for your eyebrows. You only need to leave the color on your eyebrows for about five minutes; much shorter than you would leave it on your head if you were coloring your hair. You can also ask your colorist to tint your eyebrows when you get your color done. Usually they will do this for free.

Thanks for writing and I'll see you on YouTube,
-YouTips4U

Protect Your Sensitive Scalp From Hair Dye

Many people experience an irritated, red, and itchy scalp from the chemicals in hair dye. You can help protect against this by not getting color if you have any scratches or abrasions on your scalp. If you do, just wait until they heal. There's an old trade secret that can protect your scalp from getting irritated from the chemicals in hair dye. Take two packets of Sweet 'N Low sugar substitute and combine with 1 ounce of skim milk. Add this mixture to your hair color formula before applying it to your scalp. This will prevent any redness or irritation associated with chemical hair dye. Salons do this so be sure to ask if your colorist does and you can also do this yourself with your at-home color as well. Adding this mixture to your hair color will help neutralize the harmful effects of preservatives and chemicals present in the hair color.

How Hot Should I Use My Flat Iron/Hair Straightener

Hi Everybody, I have some advice for those of you who use a flat iron to straighten your hair. I get so many letters from viewers who have damaged their hair with a flat iron that I want to share some suggestions on how you can prevent this. Many people think that when selecting the temperature setting, the hotter the better when straightening their hair. This is not so. You really want to use the lowest heat setting you can to accomplish your style. You may need to trial and error this to see what heat setting works for you. For those of you who have kinky hair or coarse thick hair, you may benefit from a bit higher heat setting, but please avoid the top settings. If your flat iron has a temperature gauge, keep it around 250 degrees F to 300 degrees F. Remember not to leave it on your hair but to quickly run it through your hair. Each time you clamp your hair with a flat iron you are removing moisture from the hair shaft. Do as little of your hair as possible to achieve the look you want. Many times this means only doing the hair that frames your face or the outermost layer on top. Remember to use a conditioner after you shampoo and to use a heat protectant before you flat iron. You want to preserve the health of your hair because once it's damaged, it can take a long time to grow it out.

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-YouTips4U

WHAT'S A SKIN TAG, AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT THEM

Hi YouTips4U, I have a skin tag on my eyelid and one under my armpit. What can I do to get rid of it? I'm always afraid I am going to cut off the one under my armpit when I shave. Thanks!

YouTips4U Answer: Skin tags are usually small, benign skin growths that can appear on your eyelids, under your arms, and on your neck to name a few common places. Many times hormonal changes can spur growth of them including things like pregnancy and weight gain. You really can't prevent them, but they can be easily removed by your dermatologist. Usually your dermatologist will remove them by cutting them off with a quick snip of very sharp little scissors. Please don't attempt to do this yourself as your dermatologist has special sterile tools for this and can stop the bleeding immediately. I had a tiny one on my eyelid removed years ago after my daughter was born and it doesn't hurt at all and heals very quickly, so if you find that you have one that has grown and you do not like the looks of it or it bothers you, definitely see your dermatologist who will remove it for you.

See you on YouTube,
-YouTips4U

Just Do It

If you haven't started getting into shape for summer, it's definitely not too late. Start tomorrow! "Just Do It" as Nike says because that's how you start. You just make the decision to do it. Start being more active and eating lighter. So tomorrow, plan on spending 30 minutes doing cardio. You choose what you want to do and when: walking, jogging, cycling, whatever it is, but do something to be more active. Also, for one of your meals; either lunch or dinner, have a salad with some type of protein, either chicken, fish, eggs, or beans. You can have a pretty good size salad, but only one piece of protein (i.e. a chicken cutlet, 2 eggs, one cup of beans, etc.) You get the picture. Now, be careful how much salad dressing you use. I recommend a tablespoon. If you are using oil and vinegar, then one tablespoon of each (you can add more vinegar if you like). If you choose a low fat dressing, you can have more than one tablespoon. Remember, do not saturate your salad with dressing or it will be as unhealthy as any other high fat meal. A little trick I do is to dress my salad about 15 minutes before I eat it because it gives the lettuce a chance to marinade and absorb the dressing. You will find that you use less that way. I always have my dressing on the side and then with my fork I place small amounts on my salad while I eat. I use much less dressing that way as opposed to tossing it with dressing. This is especially useful when you eat out at a restaurant when you don't know the caloric count of the dressing. So, tomorrow, don't forget! You begin anew! It's a lifestyle change. Please see my food bear video on YouTube for tips on how to portion control and eat from the various food groups to have a balanced diet. I hope you'll stop back tomorrow night and let me know how you did! You can share your positive feedback to help motivate others.

Enjoy your new active lifestyle,
-YouTips4U