The Latest Trends for Summer 2007

Summer 2007 stands for pretty colors, natural tresses, high wedges, and much more fun! Your goal is to bring back that natural look of a care-free goddess.

Hair:
Go natural. Embrace your glamorous curls, sexy waves, or edgy straight hair. This season is also a break from hair color torture! It's game over for bleached blond, and a new beginning to darker colors. While you're at it, take the time to pamper your hair and strengthen it against sun damage by using hot oil treatments weekly and applying a UV-protectant (spray, gloss, etc.) before going out in the sun. The sun can also fade the color of your hair, natural or not, so most color-protecting styling products provide UV protection anyway. I suggest using Canopy Thermal Protection by NEXXUS for protection from heat of styling appliances and harmful UV rays.

Skin:
The bronze is on, once and again. But don't fry your skin. There are several great sunless tanning products out there. Try Aveeno's Continuous Radiance Moisturizing Lotion with a Customized Dial to let you control the amount of color you get out of the bottle. If you are naturally bronze/tan, try Nivea's Silky Shimmer Lotion for added glow. As for your face in the morning, use a tinted moisturizer all over and accentuate your cheeks and sides of the nose with a bronzer. Applying bronzer to the sides of the nose will give the illusion of a narrower nose, and if you apply it to the tip of your nose as well it will appear smaller. At night, mix a little liquid or creme bronzer with your foundation to give your face a sexy bronze glow. Make sure to limit shimmer and glitter to eyes and cheeks only, because using it on the T-zone will accentuate shine. Dust a little bronze shimmering powder on your decolletage for added allure.

Make-Up:
Choose a brilliant mix of pastel and bright colors for eyes and lips. The fire red lips and dark smoky eyes are a bit too much for the summer anyway. Summer means fun, care-free times, so make use of that. Try new fun colors in eyeshadow and eyeliner. For blue eyes try taupe, violet, silver, turquoise, and fuchsia. For green or hazel eyes use bronze, lime green, golf, apricot, plum, and forest green. Brown eyes are the most versatile when it comes to matching shades. My favorites are copper, green, soft pink, champagne, gold, peach, khaki green, and royal blue. As for lips, know that medium neutral pinks are your best-friends! Medium neutral pink lips will distract sight and pull it away from blemishes and other skin problems on the rest of the face. You may also want to experiment with other soft lip colors such as shades of peach, pink, and bronze. Don't forget, a touch of gloss will make your pout even poutier and more inviting.

Nails:
You have all the pastel colors of the world to choose from, and there are countless shades of them. For light to medium skin, I recommend trying Ooh La La White Pearl from China Glaze and Tahiti Breeze by Sinful Colors (you can buy them online or from Walgreen's). For medium-dark skin, Rimmel's Lasting Finish nail polish in Baby Pink is a must! Add to that Sinful Colors' Morning Delight. For dark skin, you have to give China Glaze's Cafe Mystique a go! Also check out Revlon's Sheer Pink. And for all skin colors, make use of French manicures and pedicures for ultra sexiness and never ending glamor. But French mani's and pedi's on extra long nails are out; paint them on short-medium length nails.

Clothing and Accessories:
Accessories will prep up any outfit a whole bunch! They make any ordinary outfit super polished, giving it a more of an expensive and high couture appearance. As for clothes, again nothing screams "Summer FUN" like pastels and brights. The good news is that the wedge heals are definitely still in, so pack your painful stilettos away for now. Choose flowy, comfortably fitting clothes that are also colorful and youthful in appearance; it'll take years off of your look.

Stay relaxed, make your summer bright and colorful.