Flaunt a perfect look this Raksha Bandhan

All of us especially women are awaiting eagerly for the festival of Raksha Bandhan to come. Raksha Bandhan is one of the important festivals, when brothers and sisters celebrate the loving bond between them. Like all festive occasions, girls love to dress up and look their best. As this is a joyous festival for all sisters, looking good and dressing differently is the main concern when talking about this sacred festival.

However, looking glamorous and beautiful on this special occasion is all about choosing the right shades of colour cosmetics. Selecting them according to skin colour and tone is as essential as learning the techniques of application.

Your natural skin tone is most important while selecting foundations. Try to buy one that is closest to your skin colour as possible. Face powder may be of the same shade as the foundation. If you wish to tone down a tan, select a powder that is one shade lighter, but in the same colour tone.

Watermelon juice is a good skin toner and relieves dryness too. It cools, refreshes and softens the skin. Apply on the face and wash off with plain water after 20 minutes.

Cooling mask: Mix cucumber juice with two teaspoons powdered milk and one egg white into a smooth paste. Apply on face and neck and rinse off with water after half an hour.

Mask for oily skin: Mix one tablespoon Multani Mitti with rose water into a paste and apply on the face. Wash off when dry.

After applying face mask, take two of the cotton wool pads soaked in rose water and use them as eye pads. Squeeze out the rose water and then apply on closed lids.

Lie down and relax, while you have the mask and eye pads on. Used tea bags can also do the trick. Soak them in a little warm water, squeeze out the water and apply on the eyes like eye pads. To soften rough, bushy or frizzy hair, mix some water with creamy hair conditioner and put it in a spray bottle. Spray the mixture on the hair. Then comb the hair, so that it spreads through the hair.

For eye make-up stick to eye pencils during the day. Or line your eyelids with brown or grey eye shadow. This gives a softer effect. Then, apply only one coat of mascara, which helps to make the eyes look darker and brighter, but prevents the "heavily made-up" look.

For lipstick, avoid very dark colours, like dark maroon. Go for light pastel colours, pink, mauve, light browns, copper or bronze. The colours should not be too intense. Or, use only lip gloss. First outline the lips with a lip pencil, same shade as your lipstick. Fill in colour with a lipstick brush. Obviously outlined lips are out of fashion.

Long hair is very much the trend, with cascading waves or curly and bouncy hair. Go for the softer look, with curls or natural waves, in the lower half of the hair. The classic ponytail is also dictating trends.

It suits most face shapes because one can wear a pony tail high or low, with a fringe or without, or with wisps or curls falling down, with that carefully-careless look. A ponytail is actually an easy hair do. With ribbons, or other hair accessories, it can even provide a touch of glamour. One can have a ponytail for a formal or an informal look.