How to DeBloat after the Holiday Parties!

The media suggest that the average American usually gains around 7-10 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years, but according to the most reliable study to date published in the New England Journal of Medicine, in truth, it is less than one pound!

If your clothes feel tight and your face puffy it is more likely you are experiencing the holiday "bloat" which can tip the scales up to 5 pounds plus.

Holiday festivities include family potluck gatherings, neighborhood gift exchanges, Thanksgiving dinner, cookie swaps, Christmas and office parties, not to mention the celebratory New Years toast!  All of these rich and processed foods that are being served usually mean more sodium - leading straight to water weight. 

It’s important not to freak out and remind yourself that weight loss and weight gain are mathematical equations and in a few days it would be nearly impossible to consume enough extra calories for a real 5 pound gain. 1 lb = 3500 calories AND 5 lbs = 17,500 calories extra.  Here are some  strategies to help you de-bloat.

1.  In between parties cut back on calories. 

This shouldn't be very hard to do since you have overindulged and feel full. Bethenny Frankel, author of Naturally Thin, suggests whipping up a big pot of vegetable soup to slim down. Just throw some onions, broccoli and carrots, in a fat free chicken stock and puree to eat with brown rice. 

2.  Fill up with loads of de-bloating foods to tell your body to get rid of all that water. Some natural diuretics are watermelon, asparagus, oats, cucumber, ginger, pineapple, and yogurts containing probiotics ("good" bacteria) can help.

3.  Eat fiber to help clear your colon of any undigested foods and air. Foods like bananas that are high in potassium  have also been shown to beat bloat by causing your body to flush out the water.

4.  Drink lots of water to stay hydrated. Sodium intake acts like a water retention magnet so you need to drink enough water to flush all of this from your system or your body will keep trying to save water reserves.

5.  Sweat it out. Working out not only helps burn calories away but you can sweat out unwanted water swelling. Before supermodel Heidi Klum gets in front of the camera she de-bloats with an Epsom salt-rich bath. Magnesium sulphate in the salts draw out the fluids from your body.

6. Plenty of Zzzzz's. Sleeping raises growth hormones and reduces stress. Stress can increase cortisol levels in your body over time and cortisol inhibits sodium loss through the small intestines. Water will stay where the sodium is which often causes water retention. So focus on getting to bed early and letting your metabolism get in check to help your body recover!

Shelley GoodStein is a FORD model who speaks to women through television, national articles and public forums about a model's secrets to looking good from the inside out and the beauty of aging! She is the author of Face This: Advice From Real Models, Photographers and Make Up Artists on How to Become Picture Perfect!

How to Depuff and Conceal Under Eye Circles

'Tis the season ... for no sleep.

 Which sometimes leads to under-eye circles and dark, puffy eyes. A one-way ticket to looking older than you are! 

One of the reasons you notice puffiness under your eyes so quickly after a sleepless night, crying, or overindulging in salty foods or cocktails, is because the skin around your eyes is thinner and more delicate than anywhere else on your body. Most likely the cause of puffiness is fluid retention, but sometimes genetics are to blame. If you see a bluish tint under your eyes, it is caused by the blood vessels underneath which become more noticeable as we age and the skin here becomes more translucent. 

In place of sleeping pills, here is my Beauty Fix ToolKit for under eye bags:

1. Depuff. Ideally you should sleep with your head elevated - totally impractical, and luckily gravity usually takes over by noon and naturally reduces some of the puffiness you saw under your eyes when you first woke up, but thankfully there is more you can do: Place anything cold under your eyes, like cold cucumbers or spoons soaked in ice to speed things up. Try Patricia Wexler's Instant De-Puff Eye Gel $19.50 or some of the new cool gels with caffeine to tighten that are sold in a rollerball applicator like Clinique's All About Eye Serum De-Puffing Massage $26. You may have heard beauty pageant girls talking about using Preparation H to constrict blood vessels under their eyes, but the ingredient that worked for this effect is no longer contained in the US version, so save your money unless your ordering it from Canada.

2. Stay Hydrated. Drink water to remove toxins and extra sodium from your body, and keep your skin properly hydrated with an eye cream rather than a regular lotion because they tend to have higher concentrations of emollients to help them remain in the ever-mobile eye area.  Daily use of any cream will temporarily plump up the skin so that the blue-ness of the blood vessels are less visible. I personally love using Clarisonic's Opal Sonic Infusion System, it vibrates at amazing speeds, delivering more than 7,500 micro-massages a minute to help the eye serum penetrate into the skin better. 

3. Brighten. A luminizing pen is one of the best kept secrets that models use for erasing those missed hours of sleep. It is seriously like a magic wand for under eye circles. The best is YSL's Touche Eclat $40. Just dot it under your eyes and blend! The light reflectors in this product will help make the area appear less depressed.

4. Conceal. Do this last after you apply foundation and use concealer with moderation, especially for puffiness or you may just draw attention to what it is you are trying to conceal. Be sure you choose a creamy formula and apply it using a concealer brush to get to the areas your fingers cannot saturate. This should be just a shade lighter or warmer than your regular foundation.

Be careful to avoid scented products and those that contain ingredients like salicylic, glycolic or alpha hydroxy acids and retinoids , which can irritate delicate eye tissue making redness and swelling worse. Also, skip mascara on your lower lashes alltogether so you won't look like a raccoon by adding darkness to your lower eye.

Shelley GoodStein is a 47 year old FORD model who speaks to women through television, national articles and public forums about a model's secrets to looking good from the inside out and the beauty of aging! She is the author of Face This: Real Advice From Real Models, Photographers and Make Up Artists on How to Become Picture Perfect!

Holiday Makeup Up Trends and One Perfect Dress

To view the Holiday Trends video {Click here} 

Deciding what to wear for the holidays can be a tough choice but so is choosing what makeup you'll pair with it so don't wait until the last minute ... just in case Mr Right shows up at the same party you'll want to be looking your best!

This year channel your inner  Hollywood glam and think luminous for makeup!

Smokey eyes and red lips are always in fashion for the holidays, but this year the red lips are also matte. Bold lips can instantly change your day look into a dramatic party ready lip! The eye gets a little update with a soft shadow and heavy winged eyeliner reminiscent of a 1940 pin up girl or Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra. A q-tip goes a long way in trying to perfect this look and clean up mistakes!

If you're going to a party after work, before piling on some extra mascara, take your eyelash curler and run it under hot water for a few minutes to heat it up. Then, carefully, so not to burn your eye, squeeze your lashes to soften them up so they are ready to accept another coat 

of mascara without gunking them up or ripping out your lashes. The heated eyelash curlers for about $25 by Dior is a great tool to use for this too, it melts the mascara and curls perfectly.

Gold, shimmery highlights are also a big trend for the season and the perfect glow with candlelight! The key is to choose choose just one place to shine so you don't end up looking like a glitter bomb!

Eyes, cheekbones, nails or lips can all benefit from the midas touch! For luminous, pearlescent skin try Benefits Girl Meets Pearl $30. TO use it, after all your makeup is applied, dot it starting at the top of your cheekbones creating a "C" all the way to your brow bone. Blend with your fingertips until it disappears. And for a golden pucker use Nars Lip Gloss in Albatross $24 over any lip color to give a golden shimmer. To do it yourself, take any gold shimmer eye shadow and dust it on top of cheeks, eyes or lips!

Shelley GoodStein is a FORD model who speaks to women through television, national articles and public forums about a model's secrets to looking your best! She is the author of Face This: Advice From Real Models, Photographers and Make Up Artists on How to Become Picture Perfect!

Learn how to take one red pencil dress and style it in different ways to take you to every party this holiday season by changing up three key pieces:  Footwear, accessories and the "topper"  - a key part of extending the life of this dress ... especially if you intend on party hopping!

A casual, biker influenced look. The cool as a cucumber vibe to take you for drinks with friends, holiday gift exchanges and date night!

Perfectly polished for an office party, church or charity brunch.

All blinged out for New Year's Eve!