How would you like to get your own natural tan without hours spent in the sun or in a tanning bed and without the risk of skin damage or cancer from UV rays? One day that may be possible. And no, I am not talking about sunless tanning lotions.

There is exciting news on the tanning front. Scientists at the University of Kentucky are working on a new kind of tanning lotion, one that produces a tan by enhancing melanin production and also provides sun protection.

Sunless tanners on the market today stain the skin brown or orange and don’t provide a sunblock. Application can be tricky and results unpredictable. Sometimes users are discouraged by the results and go back to the sun or tanning beds.

But the lotion they are working on will produce a real tan by increasing melanin production. Melanin provides the skin its own natural protection from the sun’s damaging rays.

So far the researchers have only tested the lotion on animal models, but are hopeful that this lotion can eventually be used by even the lightest skinned individuals to create a natural tan and provide needed sun protection without the necessity of constantly re-applying sunscreen.

As regular readers will have noticed, Beauty on a Budget has undergone a little makeover of its own, sporting a new look. Our new header, designed by Clive Allen, is so pretty I can’t help trying to accessorize. You may have noticed the last few posts contained products whose colors matched the header colors. Note the face of flawless beauty that both blends and yet captures attention and the deepening rose that perfectly offsets but does not compete.

And that’s really key to accessorizing, choosing the right style and color accessory to set off your outfit or hairstyle. Finding the perfect balance of accessories that create focal points without detracting or being overdone.

For instance, with hair swept up on the head, a pair of long, dangly earrings will soften the severity of tightly pulled back sides and at the same time, enhance the illusion of a long, slim neck.

What price beauty? How does free sound? Many companies offer free samples and usually there is no real catch, although sometimes they will request you complete a survey or a questionnaire on the product you sampled.

At this site, there’s a long list of free sample offers with little required. To drop a few names, how about Olay, Sephora and Covergirl? I checked out quite a few of them and they all seem legitimate. In fact, I completed a request for my own free sample of a couple of products. A few of the offers are really contests you enter to win a free product, but again, the entry requires only that you complete a short survey.

Beauty Freebies

The new look in eyebrows is….natural. Fuller brows instead of skinny and softer arches instead of sharp angles are beginning to be sported by fashion and magazine models. This look was hot once before, back in the days when Brooke Shields introduced the world to her natural bushy eyebrow look. I am not sure this trend will last long, but here’s what you need to achieve the look.

The first step is easy - pluck less. You are still going to need to shape the brow and pluck strays but since you want to follow the natural arch and make the brow a little thicker, you won’t need to work as hard at it.

But you will need some essential items, both to fill in brows until they grow in and to manage them and make them look groomed and neat. Here are some important items to pick up:

* A good eyebrow pencil or shadow and brush to fill in empty spots and give you an even line.

* Eyebrow brush and scissors to brush brows and trim long hairs

* Clear or tinted brow gel. Choose a tint that matches your haircolor but not exactly. Gel will also help set your eyebrows and keep them looking well-groomed throughout the day.