Look like you lost weight without diets or photoshop!

We have all seen the amazing transformations of frumpy wallflower to skinny bombshell in countless weight loss ads filled with disclaimers like no photoshop, actual client. So how would you like to know the trick to getting the photo without the diet? 

First you need to remember that the camera lens itself can add or subtract pounds depending on the angle. Anything closest to the lens will look larger.

Marilyn Monroe was a classic example of using this distortion to her advantage by leaning forward and crossing her arms to look bodacious … and she became an icon for it. It’s best to have the camera lens positioned at eye level or slightly above, never let someone shoot you from a low vantage point. This angle adds 20 pounds automatically and make even a skinny girl look hippy! 

Andrew Dixon, a personal trainer, gave us a little proof of this instant gratification strategy in his Huffington Post article yesterday where he came clean about his before and after photos ... He admits that they were taken just an hour apart!

"I was feeling particularly bloated on the day, so I asked my girlfriend to take a before shot. I then shaved my head, face and chest and prepared for the after shot, which was about an hour after I took the before shot. I did a few push ups and chin ups, tweaked my bedroom lighting, sucked in, tightened my abs and BOOM! We got our after shot."

ANDREW IS SPOT ON WITH HIS APPROACH - MODELS USE THESE SAME TRICKS ALL THE TIME TO GET THEIR BEST SKINNY PHOTOS. I THINK YOU SHOULD KNOW THEM TOO!

• Engage your muscles for 5 minutes. 

 Many fitness models do a pre-shoot pump, so take a cue from them and engage your muscles by doing some curls, chair dips, pushups or squats right before you shoot your photo. Flexing during the photo is good but it takes some practice to keep your face soft and pretty at the same time. Never forget to model with the face and confidence because no matter how hot your body looks, this is what will make your photo sparkle, draw a viewer in, and is the ultimate secret to a beautiful photograph. 

•  Get a faux tan. 

It’s true that a spray tan can be visually slimming in photos. Anything darker recedes. You can fake six pack abs by using a bronzer or second coat of self tanner on the outer sides of your stomach to give the illusion of a narrower waist or along areas where you want to fake some muscle tone like the tricep line. 

• Skinny arm on the hip trick. 

Celebrities on the red carpet have this one covered! Most women complain about their upper arms looking big in photos. When you keep your arms locked next to your body it makes you look wider so to look thinner keep your arms slightly bent and away from your body. Modeling tip: When placing you hand on your waist, cheat it up a little higher to make your legs look longer. 

• Create Vertical lines.

So this is where Andrew might have went wrong, but then again he is a dude ... Longer hair with highlights, can create vertical lines that can help you look slimmer. Big, curly hair can also make your body seem smaller. Wearing v-shaped necklines and monocramatic (dressing in all one color) will elongate your body shape to look thinner.

 You might also like to read how to contour your face the Kim Kardashian way for a slimmer face {CLICK HERE}

DIY Caffeinated Coffee Mask to wake up your skin and depuff!

It's well known that coffee can help wake you up, but did you know it can recharge your skin too? Here's how to prep your skin with a DIY caffeined mask tomorrow morning:

• Recycle old coffee, making sure it's the caffeinated kind, by placing it in a jar in the refrigerator.

• Soak an old washcloth in the leftover coffee overnight in the fridge.

• Apply the washcloth to your face for at least 5 minutes ... This is a great time to meditate or think about what you want to accomplish for the day!

Caffeine helps with redness and puffiness due to it’s vasoconstrictive qualities. Plus, the coldness automatically reduces any swelling.

Watch my video about other beauty products incorporating  caffeine to help you look younger and depuff your eyes.

*Shhh, no one needs to know that you washed with Joe!

Makeup Tricks for an Instant Facelift in Photos - Without Surgery

One of the secrets in taking a great photograph is by always knowing where your light source is and getting in the most flattering light available, but there's a way to add light to your face too with makeup that makes your skin appear radiant and lifted when applied in some strategic places! 

It’s inevitable that with birthdays, our skin begins to sag, creating jowls and bags, so it's important to begin using highlighters, illuminizers, concealers - anything with light reflecting properties in precise, but subtle places that will play tricks to make anyone looking at you view your face with an upward glance instead, in keeping with a youthful appearance.

The secret is making sure that whatever you are using is pearlized and luminescent, not sparkly or metallic and can be as simple as that white-piink-gold shimmery eye shadow that you probably have in an old makeup palette. You want to think of adding "highlights" to your face.

Many of us already use this trick in the inner corner of the eyes and under the brow, but it is also important to use these same light reflecting principles on top of the highest part of our eyebrow arch. Not just under the eyebrow but a touch of light on top of the brow line to instantly draw anyone’s glance at you upward for an instant eye lift! 

As we age there is also a hollowing that seems to occur in the area outside the corner of the eye. This is why you don't want any eye-shadow to live below the outer corner of the eye. This too, can be a perfect place to highlight. Plus, reserve any heavy eyeliner for only the upper eyelid, to keep attention away from any under eye bags.

My all time favorite, most versatile product to use for this is YSL's Touche Eclat. It is one of the most popular buys in the beauty industry, but honestly one of the most misunderstood products even though it is legendary! It lives a dual life often bought as a concealer, when it's actually a highlighter and skin brightener. That's why I love it though - it works under the eye to reflect light and minimize dark circles, highlights and covers - it's especially great in your purse for touch ups.

Aging literally sucks the life, or collagen, right out of your cheekbones with the apples of your cheek appearing lower, pulling your face down. We must apply our makeup differently as we age, especially blush. Using little circles of blush on the apples of your cheeks will only highlight the situation, so sweep blush from the highest part of your cheekbones up toward the temples, or hairline, in a “C” like shape to bring the eye into an upward focus. Warm pinks and peach will make you look youthful. I really love the cream blushes and stains because powders tend to settle into fine lines.

For a slimmer nose, you can contour using bronzer down the sides and a bit of highlighter down the center to accentuate. And I always hit the tip of my nose with the last sweep from my brush of bronzer or blush to give the illusion of an ever so slightly (shorter) button nose. By the way, for those of you who have bought into the Pinnochio fairy tale that your nose grows as you age, I want you to know that your nose doesn't grow once you become an adult. However, it can change as you age or droop when elastin and collagen break down. Also in pregnancy noses can swell and appear wider due to sinus inflammation and weight gain.

Finally, youthfulness is associated with those bee stung lips, but careful with the fillers or you might look end up looking like a duck. Instead, line the upper lip with a pencil in the same pinky/nude shade as your natural lip, but instead of outlining the cupid’s bow perfectly, draw straight across it and blur the line with your finger. I don’t know why this little trick works exactly but it adds fullness to your lip line naturally! Finish with a rosy pink lipstick ...everyone looks youthful and good in this color!

Tightlining - Another trick to make your eyes stand out CLICK {HERE} to read how!

Wedding Day tips to be Picture Perfect - Nano Gold Technology What it is and Why You'll want to Use It!

Everyone is trying to save money where they can these days, but one area that you shouldn't cut back on is skin-care, especially if you are the bride to be! After the wedding is said and done and thousands of dollars have been spent, what you are left with is a photograph - one that you'll want to be glowing in! 

You can watch all of my picks to get you ready for any summer wedding as a guest or the bride in this video:

We choose to get married in gold bands because they last forever. As beautiful as sterling is, it has a flaw ... it tarnishes with time. But did you know that gold, specifically nano-gold also has beauty implications for repairing damaged skin cells and diminishing fine lines and wrinkles?

Nano-technology is generating alot of excitement in the beauty industry and you are going to be hearing about it more and more in future anti-aging products. Nano particles, because of their microscopic size, penetrate deeper underneath the skin to the cellular level to deliver higher doses of antioxidants, leaving skin looking younger, tighter and more hydrated.

Nano-gold will not make you rich ... 10,000 particles next to each other would only make up the width of a single strand of human hair, but they are being studied by cancer researchers for their implications and potential for melanomas, and other challenging dermatologic conditions.

Orogold Cosmetics is established in the beauty industry for using gold's beneficial properties in their skin care lines with products ranging from $28 to their 24K Nano Hydra Silk Mask at $1500. You might think that the price tag, like gold itself, is by the ounce, but products like these with nano particles of antioxidants are harder to make, so they will cost more, but you can indulge no matter what your budget is. Think of this as an investment in reversing existing damage and preventing issues later on. Afterall, beauty is a currency we all want to be rich in.

Some other posts you might like to prepare you for all those photos you'll be taking are:
1. How to get rid of the turkey neck {HERE}
2. How to tightline your eyes so the really pop {HERE}
and of course don't forget to buy my book, Face This: Real Advice from Real Models,  for all the secrets to getting that perfect pose and how to hide any figure flaw.

Brassy Hair - Brunette and Blond Enemy #1! How to keep the red out.

It's a classic argument over whether blondes or brunettes have more fun. Studies might show brunettes are taken more seriously, and gentlemen may indeed prefer blondes, but one thing's for sure no matter what your hair color, when summer comes we all fight brassiness. It is widely agreed that ORANGE is not a color anyone is happy to see hit their strands at the beach. I have been asked about this subject and how to get rid of red tint in hair many times so I thought I would give you some tips on fighting back!

Coloring you hair is really just a process of depositing colors on to the cuticle of your hair. Your color is a combination of red, yellow and blue in exactly the right mixture.

But even when you find the IT color combination for your hair type, the challenge is preventing the brassy side effect that happens over time because of oxidation. The blue molecules tend to leave first, leaving you with red and yellow, which we all know from elementary school make orange, BINGO!

The biggest hint to solving this issue again comes to us by viewing  the color wheel and seeing that the opposite of orange is blue. It is precisely those violet pigments that can shut down the brassy-orange shade in your hair that you've been obsessing about. This is why those DIY recipes of using grape Koolaid powder actually work when you mix it with your shampoo, but there are so many better options than Koolaid which could leave you with a bigger problem if things go wrong. Shampoos and conditioners that  are specifically designed for color treated hair to use just once or twice a week to keep colored locks looking their best.

You want to keep your hair as healthy as you can, damaging your hair cuticle causes it to become more porous, and it is harder then to keep color in. I recently read that playing outside in the sun for a week long vacation can be as damaging on your hair as leaving peroxide on your locks for 30 straight minutes!

Another way to filtering out harmful chemicals. metals and ions in your water is to use pure beauty water to wash it with - You can do this for less than $100 by attaching a purification system to your shower head. You can find them at Home Depot or at jonathanproduct.com     

Some violet based products to try are Loreal Colorist Collection Blonde, John Frieda Sheer Blonde Colour Renew line and my favorite ~ Clairol Shimmer Lights (just a warning for blondes that this may be a bit too intense, but is perfectly suited for brunettes) Don't be afraid to buy these if you are a brunette because the label says for blondes - these are the shampoos that work and the ones I use. (It's one of my inside secrets I want you to know about too!)

Another cool new technology to try out is a styling product called  Color Wow Brass Banned Mousse. It immediately counteracts brassiness by using a mouse that is teal tinted for brunettes and a purple-violet shade for blondes.

Color correction is a fascinating concept that stylists and makeup artists have kept mostly to themselves, but it's such an easy idea to understand, that I hope you embrace. Check out my post about how to use green concealer to cover acne or any redness on you face flawlessly {HERE - Best way to Hide and Conceal Acne}

For more tips on how to reduce the oxidation from the sun and water this summer check out my post {HERE - Prepare Your Hair for the Plunge}