One of the trendiest and easiest to accomplish hairstyles is the messy updo or bun. These are not the carefully constructed updos of yesteryear, with every hair diligently sprayed and cemented in place. The messy ‘do is full and soft, feminine and elegant but fun and easy.

To achieve the look, gather hair in a ponytail at the nape of your neck and twist as you pull upwards. Then pin the twist to the back with hairpins or use especially designed “claw” clips. Ends should hang free. They can be straight and spiky or curled. Pull a few hairs at the sides, in front of the ears to further soften the look. These can be curled too, for tendrils that frame your face. Give yourself more height on top by back-brushing the hair in front before styling, or use your fingers to pull it out and up a bit. You can use a finishing spray or gel to tame shorter stray hairs and keep them in place. Add a hair stick or hair jewelry to jazz up your style.

Open up eyes with a glimmery liner under the lower lashes. With the smoky eye colors giving your eyes that depth and smoulder, add a light-catching underline to accent and draw all eyes to your eyes.

To get the look, try an eye liner or thin sharpened eye shadow pencil in shimmering bronze, gold or even a metallic silver. You can also use an eyeliner brush to apply glimmering shadow or highlight just at under the lower lash line.

Revlon’s Eyeglide Shimmer Shadow in Sky, Champagne and Nude is an easy way to add a little glimmer to eyes. The shimmer glides on and can be blended with the cushion tip.

Red lipstick is classic but many women are afraid to wear a bold red on their lips for fear they will look too made-up or worse, clownish. But everyone can wear red, if they choose the right color for their skin tone. True reds, like a fire-engine red, are fine for those with pink undertones in their skin while those with golden or yellow undertones should choose reds from the coral range.

When wearing a bright red lipstick, keep other make-up minimal. Your eyes and cheeks should not compete when lips take main stage. You can use a clear lip liner to keep the color from bleeding.

Favorite reds for lips:

Revlon Colorstay Soft & Smooth Lipcolor - Red Velvet

L’Oreal Colour Riche - British Red

Covergirl Outlast Smoothwear Lipcolor - Red Satin

There used to be an old joke that went:
“You have the prettiest blonde hair. Why’d you dye the roots black?”

Well, it had to happen. The newest hair trend is dark roots. Jessica Simpson has been seen wearing her roots long and in contrast, but Jessica started letting the roots grow for a movie role. It seems she likes the look and lots of celebrity bleached-blondes are following in her footsteps and letting their roots grow out. In fact, some are having the roots dyed to a richer color for more contrast.

I don’t expect this trend will last long, but consider it a free ticket to let your hair coloring appointment go a few more weeks. You will be fashionable with those dark roots and a little rest for your hair from the harsh chemicals can only be a good thing.