In today’s sophisticated world of fashion, not wearing make-up feels almost like a crime. Make-up does a lot of wonders to a woman’s appearance and most times, we tend to feel vulnerable without it. Most women can’t even survive without makeup. But then we all have days when abit of a rush, we simply just don’t feel up to the task of going through the usual morning beauty routine of making up (I’ve been there too!). 
Does this make you less a diva? I don’t think so.
Looking beautiful doesn’t always have to revolve around getting your facebeat. Making up can be fun and can boost a lady’s confidence but it doesn’t have to be obligatory. You can be as stunning as you wish without make-up. 
Something I tell myself – “…beauty is from within. With or without makeup, I’m fabulous and I’m me!” Psyching myself? Well, it’s very necessary and it works! If you don’t feel happy and beautiful from inside, the entire cosmetic in the world can’t do that for you. Believe in yourself not in the makeup. Feel good about your natural looks, be confidence and accept who you are. You’ll be surprised how attractive you’ll become. 
Let’s discuss some more ways to dazzle without make-up:
#1. Good skincare: Cleansing regularly with a good moisturizer can make your skin glowing, soft and fresh. Believe it or not, a healthy and glowing skin is one easy way to feel fabulous without makeup. Simply use water at least twice daily in washing your face.
#2. Exfoliate regularly: Dead cells block your skin pores and often make your face look dull. But with regular use of skin scrubs, you get to make your skin come alive by getting rid of the lifeless dry cells. As for your lips, use your brush gently on them when brushing to remove dead cells too.
#3. Healthy Nutrition and Sleep: The food you eat isn’t just for the functioning of your internal organs alone. Your skin benefits majorly when you consume the right nutrients. The unique properties in Vitamin E for instance work in reducing wrinkles and help your skin retain that youthful look. Do you know that when you sleep, you skin makes new collagen? Don’t rob your skin its glow by not sleeping well. Look good always by avoiding puffy eyes and unnecessary wrinkles with good sleep.
#4. Keep your hands off your face. Do you know that rubbing your forehead can cause wrinkles? Popping a pimple or picking your face can also hurt the delicate skin on your face each time you do any of these seemingly little things. 
#5. What are your most attractive natural features? Enhance them. You’ve got lashes that need combing and eyebrows that need plucking? Do you know you can make your lashes look fuller and longer by combing through with Vaseline? Try it! 
#6. Maintaining good hygiene is another factor you should consider. Stay neat and well groomed. Keep your hair clean and your teeth sparkling; these small details are essential if you want to be stunning always. 
#7. Smile: There’s no limiting the wonders of a true smile. Learn to smile from within; let your smile reach your eyes. Smile at people, you will be so surprised at how attracting that smile of yours is. 
#8. And lastly, drink lots and lots of water! Water keeps your skin flexible, hydrated and glowing. With a glowing skin, you need not bother when you can’t makeup – you are a natural stunner!

Wow…the fabulous power of a perfectly shaped eyebrow (arch)! Brows are so major that they can either build or ruin your appearance. With or without makeup, your brow shape can notably change the shape of your face and your entire looks. Unfortunately, eye-brow shapes are not “one-size fits all”. Just like body shapes, facial shapes also differ, and there are varieties of eyebrow arches to fit different face shapes. 
Trying to groom your brows but don’t know the ideal arch for your face shape? Simply pull your hair back and with your ears exposed, take a good look at yourself in the mirror: 
-Your cheekbones are prominent but your forehead appears wider than your chins? Your face is oval shaped! Lucky you! You’ve got the most considered perfect face shape; well proportioned and ideal. A soft arch will maintain your already balanced face.
-If your face appears almost as wide as it is long, or probably widest at your cheeks, then it’s a round face. The most suitable eyebrows for round faces are angular high arched brows. These will definitely bring out the definitions of your face; make your face appear longer by giving it an oval-shaped illusion. Longer brows are also very agreeable in flattering rounded faces. Avoid straight thick brows. 
-You’ve got full wide forehead but it narrows into your chin? That’s heart shaped face! Heart shaped faces are almost similar to oval faces. Though most eyebrow arches are good on heart shaped faces, a rounded eyebrow arch is simply the best for your face shape. Lower rounded arches are feminine and will give you an attractive natural look. And if your face is a shorter heart shaped, try highly arched brows. They will add some length to create a dramatic look and balance out any hint of pointy small chin. 
-Is the width of your forehead, cheekbones and jaw almost similar? Your face is looking sculpted with square angular jaw-lines? Then you’ve got a face shape that’s considered masculine but sexy – Square face. An angled brow with a noticeable high arch will balance off your face’s strong features. Pass-up round angular arches but opt for softer curves to soften your looks. You may also want to leave your natural brows a little thicker as it gives a more natural but not overly defined brow shape.-Your face looks slightly stretched out? Is it looking like oval but longer than wide? Oblong shaped face it is! More than any other face shape, an oblong face (also called long face) needs a straighter arch to flatter it. Minimal straight shaped eyebrows or gorgeous flat brows will balance your face nicely by helping to shorten the overall length of your face. Arched brows are an absolute no for your face shape.  
Now you know your face shape and the best eyebrow arch that flatters you uniquely. What’s more? Enhance your face… flawlessly balance it off with stunning arches!

Marriage can be fun and sometimes stressful. And even when it’s perfect and running smoothly at first, be sure that marriage will definitely bring lots of changes to your life. Often heard the cliché “a good marriage takes work”? Well, as old and common as it sounds, it’s the honest simple truth. Despite existing love, it takes lots of effort and working together to keep it moving. Thus it’s important to always see marriage as work in progress. 
A happy marriage has nothing to do with being in love. It’s about endurance, acceptance, and most of all commitment. Marriage can be full of highs and lows that no one ever prepared you for. But be certain that some of these frustrations are those very things that make your love stronger – this indeed is the strange but intriguing beauty of marriage!
There are times you’ll go to bed angry and most likely wake up angrier. The need for a good argument with your spouse sometimes can’t be ignored. But when such arguments turn into silly back and forth trivialities, there’s a need to give it some rest. Calm yourself and let the emotions settle a bit. By then you would have gained some perspective and you can peacefully state your point. 
He wants to be by himself? Don’t feel bad. It’s only normal. There’ll be times when you crave being alone too. Being married doesn’t mean you both have to spend every free moment together. It’s quite healthy and sane to set aside time to do your own things; probably do a hobby or spend time with friends. You’ll be surprised how happier you’ll both be when you come together again. 
When single and perhaps while courting, you’ve always had your way with things. Now you are married, it might be same. You are two different people and opinions may tend to differ. Don’t lock horns when it does. Respect his views and find a way to strike a balance between conflicting views. Compromise when necessary and amazingly, he’ll be willing to do same too.
Another side of matrimony is sporadic sexual dry spells. Is that possible? Yes! Though not always but expect periods of “no-sex”. For one reason or the other it happens. And at times, it’s only natural if you aren’t in the mood or he isn’t. Not having sex daily doesn’t mean you love him less or he’s getting it elsewhere. There are times when after a demanding day, a good shuteye means much more to him (or you) than sex. Save yourself some anxiety, don’t get worked up. Some little bit of attention or contact (kissing / hugging) does help you stay connected during such periods.  
He’s not the perfect version of your ideal man? Well, don’t keep pushing yourself hard trying to change him. Most times we make that mistake of believing we can change the person we love, forgetting that he’s a full grown man with years of beliefs and habits. Such transformation is simply an effort in futility. Appreciate him and learn to love him as he is.
Keeping a tab on your husband’s errors and shortcomings? You’ve got yours too, you know. Admit it, you ain’t perfect. No one is actually! Marriage is an opportunity to discover your flaws if you haven’t. The truth hurts but there’s much gain in self-honesty. Deal compassionately with your imperfections, and you’ll see how easy it is to overcome frustrations. 
You are both human, so patiently discover, learn and progressively enjoy a lifetime of love and bliss!

My childhood friend came to Lagos from the U.S for the holidays with her entire family and we were comparing notes. A part of our conversation stayed with me into the New Year. She told me how her 6 year old was beginning to ask questions and make statements that she felt were too advanced for her age specifically, about getting behind the wheels of her car.
Soon after school began, after the summer vacation, she declared that as the oldest child she was ready to learn how to drive. On one of the occasions she was trying to convince her mum to let her learn to drive. Her strongest argument was she would ease the burden of driving off her parents especially at the end of the working day.
My response was when my 10 year old was the same age, I had to teach my youngest sister how to drive and often put her in the vehicle. One evening, she asked why we weren’t going on our rides. I told her, her aunt didn’t need any more lessons. She spent the next 20 minutes trying to convince me that after sitting in the car for so many days she should be taught how to drive. Knowing it was a battle of wits, I simply put her behind the wheel of my vehicle and enabled her appreciate the fact that her feet could not access the accelerator. That was the end of that discussion. My friend acknowledged that if she had thought along those lines she would have saved herself a considerable amount of energy debating with her 6 year old.
On my bedside couch, I remembered my grandmother’s favourite sayings “someone close to you is going through what you are going through or worse.’’ Learning from those around us is extremely key to simplifying our lives, giving us more resources (time and energy) to tackle the more important things. Maybe that is why most of the sermons in church these days are more about surviving everyday life than the mysteries of the creator and the supernatural. Most women must engage each other and not re-invent the wheel to drive down the highway of life.
Oh, my friend did have another conversation with her little girl. That cold Saturday evening, she put her daughter behind the wheel in her SUV and explained why she had to wait till she gets to high school to learn to drive. After taking off her coat in the house my friend receives one of the warmest embraces she could remember since becoming a mother. ‘’I am very glad you are my mummy, Mummy. You are the wisest mummy in the world.’’ Yes, you definitely do not have to become a 22nd century Henry Ford or Karl Benz to cruise smoothly down the highway called life.

If you have had to pay a professional makeup artiste for an event, you would know that adding false eyelashes will set you back about an extra two thousand naira. Very painful (at least for me).
I went out and bought a very affordable pack. After sitting hours trying (and failing), I learnt some things. Let me spare you the agony. May I also add you should buy good quality eye lash glue!

Before you do anything else, measure the length of the lash to make sure it fits your eye shape. If the strip needs to be cut to fit, snip the outer edge completely off with small nail scissors. This will avoid drooping at the corner
The next step is to prepare the glue. Now, you will not want to just directly apply glue to your eyelid as that can be very dangerous if you were to accidentally glue your eye shut or get it inside your eye. If you have a steady hand, you can squeeze straight from the tube onto the strip or use tweezers to hold the lash while you apply the glue. One smart tip you can use is to put a little bit of glue on your hand and run the eyelash through it. Then wait a few minutes for the glue to gel somewhat so it is not so liquid when you go to apply it to your eyelid
When accidents do happen though, merely take off your false eyelash, go rinse out your eyes and let the wet lashes dry, you can re-apply them later. Try to use as little glue as possible to avoid mistakes and injuries
Once you have applied your false eyelashes, you need to take out your mascara and put on a coat to both the real and false eyelashes. This will allow them to blend in and look as if they are all one piece
The final touch for how to apply false eyelashes on yourself is to add some eyeliner to fill in any gaps that may have been missed. And voila! Alluring eyes for less cost. And if you get good quality lashes, you can use them several times.

After a few weeks of using your makeup brushes, your face’s natural oils, makeup, and bacteria will start to build up. Cleaning your makeup brushes regularly will not only get rid of the bacteria, but it will also prevent your makeup colors from getting mixed.
Keep your makeup brushes in tip-top shape and ensure the bristles stay soft and bacteria-free longer. Try washing brushes at least once a week. Okay every two weeks.
 Here’s how to clean your makeup brushes:
• Pour a mild household liquid soap or baby shampoo into the palm of your hand and mix with water
• Use your hand as a cup for the warm, soapy water and swirl brushes in your palm until they are clean. This works if you used the brush for powder based make up. If the brushes have been used for cream-based makeup, they will need a deeper cleaning than the ones used for powder-based makeup
• Avoid getting water underneath the metal clasp of the handle as this will ruin the glue that holds the bristles together. Keep running the water through the brushes until you’ve rinsed away most of the old makeup. Make sure the brushes are angled downward into the stream of water. If water gets under the metal clasp of the handle, it may damage the brushes. Don’t use hot water, as the heat may damage the bristles
• Once the water runs clear, take the brush out from under the water and gently fold a towel around the bristles
• Squeeze the excess water out using your fingers. Remove the brush from the towel and reshape the bristles if necessary. You can do this by gently pressing on them, fanning them out, or pulling them together into a point. Try to recreate the original shape as much as possible.
Clean brushes help you get the application right for flawless results. Don’t get lazy about cleaning those brushes. Thank me later.

You can tell what generation a picture was taken just from the hairstyles and of course the eyebrows.
I have had a love-hate relationship with my hair for as long as possible. I mean it started with being able to do shuku and front and put plenty beads. I can remember tossing my hair from side to side just to hear the beads clank. It graduated from there to doing long brush during high school days. Then the real journey with my hair started after that.
As anyone who’s gotten a really good — or bad — weave knows, hair is so much more than just a look: It can be a reflection and reinforcement of who you are.
And sometimes your hair speaks for you, even when you don’t say a thing. I am not even exaggerating. If you have braids on for instance the world’s going to see you differently than someone with a short pink low cut.
We can change it so easily in ways that we can’t change any other part of our body. So what message are you sending with your hairstyle?
 
Straight hair can mean business
Speaking in a very general way, straight hair is often thought of as more conservative, and curly hair as more casual. By straight hair, I mean your natural or treated hair, and even a conservative weave. By curly hair imagine bohemian curls. You may not be able to work in some settings with that style.
 
Short Hairstyles
I remember when this was the trend. When I say short hair picture all the Rihanna short hairstyles from then. Also low cuts are in this category: it suits some people and then it’s a BIG NO for others. I imagine people with short hair are bold, fearless and no nonsense. Halle Berry is my favorite short haired girl. Yes, I also know Nigerians don’t naturally have that kind of hair. A cropped cut can be a way to show the world how strong you are. A woman with short hair is perceived as confident — not having to hide anything.
 
Long hair can look less professional
While short hairstyles can come across as powerful, sporting long hair in a workplace environment may have subconscious consequences.
Long hair, especially if it is a hair weave, can be perceived as more youthful and sexy to some people.
 
The tone of your hair can color perceptions
Those who have non-traditional hair colors can come across as rebellious. Women with purple or green or blue hair are considered as those wanting to call attention to themselves, such as artists, actresses, celebrities generally.
Purple and green hair are creative and youthful, but won’t go over well in a corporate environment.

I have never really considered going natural till now. I have always flirted with the idea of natural hairstyles but I’ve been scared about how I would look. I didn’t want to suddenly switch from having that good hair laid to looking unkempt or like I had joined a particular religious sect. The story is totally different now; just look at all the hotties on Instagram with natural hair!
African women are born artists. The most prominent and common evidence to their creative instincts is natural hairstyles. If you are not convinced, you only need to visit Kemi Lewis’ page. I don’t currently have natural hair so this is not an ad. There’s more options now with what you can do to your hair.
Afro-style hairstyles feature amazing and innovative braids, Faux-hawk or Mohawk updos and striking extreme short hairstyles.
Our typical natural curls, thick texture and dreadlocks allow us to create distinguished hairstyles that will make us stand out among the crowd and get the attention that women and girls absolutely love to get. Naturalist a blaas sport flashy volume in their hair and that gives them plenty of design options and they can style their hair in a ton of different ways. Creative braided hairdos are the most attractive type of natural hairstyles for black women. A modern day black woman still loves to wear classic Afro-hairstyle with a bit added modifications that truly make them stand out. That way, they don’t look typical when they walk down the street. Instead they stand out and everyone notices them.
There’s never been a better time to rock your natural coils, kinks and curls. Keep up to date with the latest trends in black natural hairstyles and check out these awesome looks below for your next hairdo. Even natural hair styles for nuptials these days. Check them out.