Olivia Frescura

los angeles beauty & lifestyle blog

5 Tips To Prevent Ingrown Hairs After Brazilian Waxing | Video

After my video last year about my first Brazilian wax reached over half a million views (😱), I thought it would be a great idea to follow up on the topic with what I’ve learned since…

Ingrown hairs are hairs that grow back into the skin, instead of out of it as they should. This can form painful, irritated bumps similar to whiteheads. If they worsen, they can become cysts. No one wants that to happen in one of their most delicate areas- so here’s 5 ways to remedy and prevent ingrown hairs!

Tip #1: Wear Loose Clothing– Tight clothing leads to chafing and sweating that can exacerbate ingrown hairs. When I get waxed I always wear a dress or go commando (maybe not both…) to prevent any discomfort.

Tip #2: Exfoliate Regularly– Exfoliating will both help prevent ingrown hairs and help any present ingrown hairs come up to the surface. Use an exfoliant meant for the bikini line, like European Wax Center’s Strut Smoothly Reveal Me Body Exfoliating Gel to gently exfoliate. Use this only on dry skin or it won’t work, and be sure to avoid getting it inside anywhere…

Tip #3: Use Tweezers– If you have an easy to remove ingrown hair- meaning, you can see the hair through your skin, or it’s a whitehead, tweezing them out is a good idea. You just have to be safe, gentle, and always sterilize your tweezers and body with some rubbing alcohol beforehand. I use the Tweezerman Point Tweezers to remove mine. But, after perusing their site, I discovered they have Ingrown Hair Tweezers and these amazing gold tweezers.

Tip #4: Neosporin– I like to use this both when I don’t have any ingrown hairs and when I do. Since it’s an antibiotic ointment, it helps prevent any bacteria from forming, which can help aid in reducing ingrown hairs. It gets a bit slippery, so I only really like to use this at night so I can forget about it while I’m sleeping.

Tip #5: Use A Serum– I use European Wax Center’s Strut Smoothly Smooth Me Ingrown Hair Serum to help prevent any ingrown hairs. It has tea tree oil, which is great for acne- and because ingrowns can sometimes resemble whiteheads, it’s great for drying them out.

Homemade Marshmallows Recipe | Video

Marshmallows have always been on my list of things to make. I love baking, and marshmallows always seem so hard to make. But, now that I’ve made them, It’s surprisingly easy! You guys need to try these for the holidays- they’re perfect to add into your Christmas hot cocoa.

Homemade Marshmallows Recipe (source: Food Network)

  • 3 packets unflavored gelatin
  • 1 cup ice water, divided
  • 12 ounces granulated sugar
  • 1 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup corn starch
  • nonstick spray

Combine 1/2 cup ice water, granulated sugar, salt, and corn syrup in small saucepan. Cover with lid & heat on medium high for 3-4 minutes. While that heats, add remaining ice water and gelatin to mixing bowl. Uncover pot & clip on candy thermometer (I used an infrared one that does not sit in the pot) and cook for 7-8 more minutes until syrup reaches 240 degrees fahrenheit. Immediately remove from heat.

Use whisk attachment & begin whisking while gradually pouring hot syrup into gelatin mixture on low speed. Once syrup is added, increase the speed to high and mix for 10-15 minutes. Add vanilla right before it’s done.

While it’s whipping, mix powdered sugar and cornstarch in a bowl. Coat pan with nonstick spray and starch/sugar mixture. Once the marshmallow is done, pour into pan & spread out with nonstick spray coated spatula.

Top the marshmallows with remaining sugar/starch mixture to prevent sticking & let set overnight. Cut into desired shapes, and press cut edges into sugar/starch so they are no longer sticky.

If you guys try out this recipe, don’t forget to tag me in your photos- I’d love to see! Let me know what you want me to make next.

Everyday Wearable Smokey Eye Tutorial with NUDESTIX Matte & Luminous Magnetic Eye Color

Save 10% off NUDESTIX with code OLIVIAFRESCURA10

Last week I was lucky enough to get the chance to film with one of my faves, Taylor Frankel from NUDESTIX to share their new Magnetic Matte & Luminous eye shades! We decided to do a tutorial on an everyday smokey eye- as that’s a look I always want to do, but wuss out!

The eye look was easy- we used NUDESTIX Magnetic Matte Eye Color in Taupe & Slate with NUDESTIX Magnetic Luminous Eye Color in Queen Olive to craft the perfect  smokey eye that you can wear anywhere and everywhere, from the bar to the office! I’ve been wearing this eye look so much lately, it’s so easy to do and looks great. I like to pair the look with NUDESTIX Gel Color Lip + Cheek Balm in Pulse to complete the look (which reminds me, I still need to review those!)

NUDESTIX Magnetic Matte Eye Pencil Terra Putty Slate Taupe Luminous Satin Queen Olive Copper Foil Review Tutorial

There are 8 new Magnetic Matte eye shades and 3 new luminous shades, which I have a selection of that I’ve been testing over the past week since filming. I really like these because they glide on creamy, and have ~45 seconds of play time before setting to a matte finish. They really last well, and with an eye primer underneath I didn’t have a creasing problem.

NUDESTIX Magnetic Matte Eye Pencil Terra Putty Slate Taupe Luminous Satin Queen Olive Copper Foil Review Tutorial Swatches
NUDESTIX Magnetic Eye Pencil Swatches: Putty, Terra, Taupe, Slate, Queen Olive, Copper Foil

My favorites of the moment are Slate, Taupe, and Putty, which I use to recreate the everyday smokey eye look. I want to try Fig next, because I love a rosey brown shade on the lid. All of these shades are perfect for fall, so if you’re looking for a new fall beauty wardrobe, NUDESTIX has it!

Want more NUDESTIX? See my review of NUDESTIX Intense Matte Lip & Cheek Pencil and NUDESTIX Eyebrow Stylus Pencil & Gel and Brow Wax reviews in the archives.

**This post contains products that I have received for free-for more information, please read my Disclosure Policy**

How to Photoshop Smooth Skin for Instagram Makeup Looks & Blog Selfies | Video Tutorial

I always see bloggers using Gaussian blur to blur their skin, so, I thought I’d put out my own PSA to tell people to cut it. Not a good look. So, I decided to do something constructive and do a tutorial on how I photoshop my photos to ensure that I have the smooth skin that still looks real. In this video, I teach you basic methods to get rid of blemishes (and stray brow hairs), lighten up a dark photo, and effectively blur skin without completely airbrushing. These tips are easier to do than playing video games with elo boost services or sites like overwatchboostpros.com for your shooting games.

Smooth Blur Skin Photoshop Tutorial Before and After
Before & After

Here are the tools you need to use:

  • Brightness/Contrast: take down the contrast in darker photos before or after lightening. Pro tip: you can do this more than once, as there is a limit to how much you can take it down. But, if you hit okay and go back to Brightness/Contrast it will let you do more.
  • Curves: I use curves to brighten photos, rather than using Brightness/Contrast. I like to pull up the highlights by making a point towards the top of the line and dragging it upwards. I don’t make it an S-curve!
  • Spot Healing Brush Tool: Using this makes removing blemishes and other things like stray eyebrow hairs a breeze. All you have to do is draw where you want to be erased & the content-aware tool corrects it based on the surrounding pixels.
  • Clone Stamp: Similar to spot healing, the clone stamp is used for the same thing but requires more work. You simply copy a section of pixels and paste it to cover any imperfections. It can take longer and some practice to get the hang of it as you need to make sure what you are stamping is identical in shade to what you’re covering up!
  • Surface Blur: this is the blur I use instead of Gaussian blur. This blur is a lot more natural. After blurring, erase sections that shouldn’t be blurred like eyes, eyebrows, hair, (sometimes) background, lips, etc. Then, take down the opacity to somewhere between 30-60%, I feel like this is the best range where it will improve your skin while still looking natural.

Anyways, let me know if these tips were helpful- I’m not a photoshop genius but I think my photos have drastically improved throughout the years. Let me know if you’re interested in seeing more photoshop, instagram, or flatlay tutorials!