Let’s work from top to toe.

Hair:

No hair dryer or straighteners mixed with rain and mud equals looking like some sort of scarecrow. Not a good look. Now some festivals have boutique hairdressing tents, with the option of a fully wash and blow dry, and GHD have also infiltrated some of the big festivals, much to our delight!

If this option is not available you have a couple of choices, either use dry hair shampoo spray or get a fashionable hat to hide the horror. A trilby should do the trick.

Face:

You need to remember to bring wipes for cleansing, moisturizer and sun screen. These items are very important. Along with that a basic make-up bag: waterproof mascara, under eye concealer (for the day after the night before) and a good lip gloss. Oversized sunglasses will also hide the multitude of sins while still making you look chic.

Clothing:

Denim shorts are a festival favourite, they look great teamed with boots or sandals. Playsuits are cute and bang on trend, although navigating portaloos could be a bit tricky.

For cooler days or nights add knee socks or change into jeans. Vintage t-shirts and a few long sleeve tops are great for layering while a dress is certain to impress in the dance tent. Another essential item would be a rain mac.

Footwear:

Wellington boots are pretty much a staple of the UK festival, with Hunter Wellies being the celeb choice. You may be trudging around in mud but you can look cool doing so, with a host of colours and patterns to choose from. If the sun does decide to shine, a pair of gladiator sandals would be perfect.

Whatever the weather you can too can be a festival goddess!

We’ve all seen them, and most of us have been them, the lobsters on the beach desperate, after a long English winter, to soak up every ray of sun without a thought for the UV damage.

The problem is, after months of hardly seeing the sun, and certainly no strong sun, our skin isn’t ready for the real thing.

Those who rush to the beach or pool side immediately after disembarking from the plane and sunbathe for 5 hours straight all too often end up looking like a flaky lobster for the rest of the holiday.

Pain, blisters, difficulty moving, cancelling tours due to the discomfort are the all too common symptoms of the desperate English holiday maker. And the worst part is the tan doesn’t stick. In fact, there is no tan!!!

This seems to be something that people too often forget. If you burn badly you simply peel. It won’t miraculously turn into a tan, it’ll just be red, painful, itchy and flaky. And by the time you get home you’re either patchy or pasty white again.

So what can you do???

First of all, buy a fabulous hat and a few different strengths of sunscreen before you fly away. If you’re very fair and have been indoors since last October, start with at least factor 30, 50 would be better. Plaster yourself in it on the first day of your holiday.

On the second day move down a few factors to 25. How long you stay at this level will depend on your skin type, how long it’s been since your upper legs and tummy had a peek at the sun and how hot your holiday destination is.

Don’t move down to 10 or 15 until you’re sure you’re ok and even then, if you’re going to be lying on the beach for hours move back up to 20 or 25. Anytime you’re stationary the sun literally bakes your skin. If you’re going to the market or touring, then a lesser strength sunscreen should be fine, especially if you wear a chic, wide brimmed hat.

At the end of every day have a cool shower, carefully dry off and then moisturise everywhere. If you have burned a bit (it should only be a bit!) you should immediately apply aloe vera gel or an after sun gel or cream. Moisturising keeps your skin from peeling and effectively locks in the tan, for a little while at least.

And please, please be careful of your breasts if on a nude or topless beach. The skin there almost never (and in most people’s cases absolutely never) sees the sun and it is about as delicate as a baby’s skin. If you want to topless sunbathe smother your lovelies in the strongest factor sunscreen you have. Anyone who has experienced a boobie burn will agree that it’s not fun.

Don’t forget the hat. Your lovely headdress should stay with you anytime you go out. Your face gets more sun than any other part of your body and it is the first part of you that shows your age so spare everyone the leather lines. Stick some day cream (SPF 15 or higher) on and glue that hat to your head.

Building up a tan by carefully controlled sunscreen application is the best way to go. Teemed with a religious attitude towards moisturising, this method almost guarantees a lovely, enviable tan by the end of your holiday. No peeling, no blisters, no pain. Just lovely sun kissed skin. And your older self will thank you for the lack of sun damage.

If you’ve got long hair, then there are a wide variety of choices available to you. Keep your length yet add bounce and structure with long layers or a razored cut. Go with an easy updo by pulling your hair into a ponytail, twisting the ponytail, then securing with a clip and tucking stray ends under the twist. For a sporty look, try two long braids. To soften the look, pull some wispy tendrils out and let them fall around your face.

For more ideas on how to style your long hair, check out some celebrity hairstyles. Great celebrity hairstyles for long-haired girls include those sported by Angelina Jolie, Kate Winslet, Victoria Beckham and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Hairstyles for Short Hair

Short hair can be anything from chin-length locks to a short cut. You can go glamorous with a bouncy short bob, or playful with a razored pixie cut. Try accenting short hair with pale highlights to add interest. Long layers can help add volume to a short cut.

To get an idea about the short cut that would look great on you, why not check out celebrity hairstyles worn by stars that share your facial structure (you should be so lucky!)? Sienna Miller recently sported a kicky short cut with long layers that would look great on ladies with oval or heart shaped faces. Or go shorter and try a cut like the one Halle Berry made famous in the nineties.

Wedding Do’s

Getting ready for the big day? For wedding hairstyles, choose the one that flatters your face shape as well as your wedding dress the most.

Colouring and Highlights

Colour can also make a big difference in your style. Choose highlights that are complementary with your natural hair colour and skin tone. For cool toned brunettes, try creamy cool shades of beige and toffee. For warm toned brunettes, go for caramel highlights. Blondes can go with highlights in shades like platinum and butterscotch. Redheads can add depth and interest with ribbons of auburn and gold. You can have your stylist do your colour, or do it yourself with one of the many home hair colouring kits offered on the market today.

Hair Care Basics

Regardless of which hairstyle you choose for yourself, keep your tresses looking great with some tender loving care. All hair types can benefit from a weekly deep conditioning. Be sure to get regular trims to discourage nasty split ends, and use a clarifying shampoo once a month to remove buildup left by styling products.

You’ve probably given your skin a good old makeover, but now is the time to start chucking out all of last seasons half used cosmetics and give your bathroom cabinet and face an over-haul. Since the sun has gone on holiday you can’t rely on your tan and minimal make up to look great anymore. You need to look more glamorous and more polished during this season. Velvety shades are the way to go for the winter woman.

Matte understated shades such as coffee, chocolate and smoky shades for eyes and berry tones for lips and cheeks replace the fresh summer face. And YAY! Gloss is back in again and so are our beloved fruity and spicy tones of cosmetics.

Here are some tips you can use this season:

A bit of sheen on eyes can be used for a change, especially if you are using nude shades; while on lips, it can help your lips to look more voluptuous.

Matt finish foundation is better for winters, as it will stay on longer, as well as contrasting with the shimmery tones on eyes and lips.

Either your moisturizer or your foundation should have a broad-spectrum sun protection factor to block UV as the sun is still harsh in the winter time.

If you want to sport long eyelashes, you could try fake individual eyelashes that can be applied using tweezers. But even if you buy cheap lashes invest in a good glue, you dont want them blowing off down oxford street.

Sheer layers of creamy blushers can boost up your subtle makeup, but if you slightly scared of ‘guilding the lilly’, try using tints – Benifit do a gorgeous tint for cheeks and eyes.

Smokey eyes look best in winters and you can use eye shadows in cinnamon, maroons and coffee shades for a sultry effect. If you’re not keen on these shades, draw a line under your eyes with black, get a flat tipped brush and smudge metallic green through.

Though normally black mascaras make a comeback every winter season, this time it is the shades of Aubergine. Its less harsh on the eyes as black can make your peepers shrink.

A dark brown shade of waterproof mascara is a multipurpose product too. Use on lashes and eyebrows to frame your face.

Tinted lip balms in honey, blackberry and red currant tones look great in winter when teamed with matte foundations.

Don’t be afraid to keep the bronzer out, its not just for summer, but maybe tone it down so you look flushed as opposed to Essex.

We all have things we can’t live without and it’s amazing how many of these essential items are relatively new inventions. Here are what I consider to be some of the most important beauty products of the last ten years:

Lipfinity: Lipfinity is one of the few products that actually does what it says on the tin. Lipfinity promises to stay ‘put’ for 8 hours. I’ve woken up many a Sunday morning with Lipfinity still on my lips. I originally put it on on the Saturday morning before heading off four hours of shopping, for two dinners, seven hours clubbing and a cheeky snog. And I’ve still had to brush it off with my toothbrush.

The great thing about Lipfinity is you can wear a lovely gloss over the top and not have to worry about the lipstick bleeding. I’ve been hooked since these came out six years ago and still don’t think that any other brand has quite cracked it.

Lash Architect: Forget the mascaras that paint your lashes white and then you add a second coat of black. Lash Architect is fabulous for both separation and longer lengths. Since I tried this out a couple of years ago I’ve never gone back, although pricey (you don’t get change from a tenner) this lasts longer than most mascaras that I’ve used, so it’s still value for money.

Bronzer: Can you imagine living without bronzer? Sometimes all you need is a bit of that lovely brown shimmer to make you feel delicious and you’re ready to go. The best bronzer I’ve tried is by Mac, it’s got 5 different shades of brown, so you can use it to highlight, or sculpt, or just run the brush lengthways to mix all the colours to your taste.

Leg Make up: this is a necessity for summer. Legs can look so dreadful, especially if you have broken veins, freckles, circulation spots or even ingrown hairs. Leg make up is a life changer for the summer season, and it means you don’t have to wear horrible tights with sweaty gussets.

It gives you both a lovely brown sheen and a light covering for all your blemishes. The best I think I have tried is Sally Hansen ‘Air brush Legs’. Every time I wear it I feel like a Californian beach babe.

It’s not just us mere mortals that have mandatory items. Celebs the world over have them, and probably use more than we even know existed although the gorgeous Kate Moss, when asked what she couldn’t live without, said ‘mascara and vaseline’. But for the rest of us normal heads, we’ll stick to the products that get us one step closer to looking like a super model.

Thankfully, help is at hand and there are plenty of styles to choose from that will not only sort out your problem bits, but make you look gorgeous, sexy and cool.

Big Hips:
A line dresses are perfect for larger hipped ladies. Go for knee length to draw attention away from the problem area. In practical terms what you should look for is 50′s style dresses that are not only so very ‘now’ but are a classic style and will never go out.

Things to avoid are dresses cut on the bias. The cross cut of the material makes them cling to big hips like nobody’s business. Also avoid severely tapered skirts and styles with patch pockets, all around pleating and horizontal details.

Show off your top half with strapless or halter styles, empire waist styles or anything that is tight around the bust or waist and flares slightly.

Small Breasts:
Shift dresses are great if you want to draw attention away from your breasts. Pencil skirted dresses work well as they’ll draw attention to the rest of your physique.

To be fair, small breasts can get away with most styles. Low cut dresses don’t look slutty on girls without cleavage, instead they look trendy, so don’t be embarrassed of your small boobs. Backless dresses are also great to draw attention away from your triple A’s and are extraordinarily sexy.

Large Waist:
Empire lines are great to hide a big waist, the key is to not get a dress that’s too tight, instead opt for a looser style. Drop waisted dresses (flooded the catwalk this year) are also excellent to hide this problem area. You can get these in styles ranging from 1920′s flapper, to cool hippy chic ala Kate Moss.

Big Breasts:
Your best bets are wrap dresses, which hide the tummy area and separate the bust, or sweetheart and open necklines, which elongate the neckline and draw the eye up.

Look for dresses with a slight flare to balance the lower and upper body. Avoid high necklines (like shift dresses, sorry girls) which unify the breasts, and halter styles, which can give you that ‘pouring’ or ‘chicken giblet’ effect. Other shapes to avoid are boxy or baggy styles.

We are going dress crazy this year, and why? This is the one garment that does pretty much everything; instantly stylish, incredibly cool and seriously feminine. Just throw one on and go.

If you are a natural beauty, read no further. But chances are, you’re not. If you’re anything like the average girl you have bits about you that you like and bits that don’t make the grade, regardless of whether it’s all in your head or you truly are minging.

Thankfully, there are plenty of make up tricks that you can use to accentuate the good, play up the mediocre, and hide the just plain ugly. Here are some tips that cover the main problems:

Small Lips: Dark colours are a no no for small lips. You know how you wear black trousers on your fat days to appear slimmer? The same applies for your lips.

Light colours and light diffusing glosses are the way forward. Choose anything from natural coloured to pink or peachy shades. Start off using a light glowing powder (I use a gold eye shadow) and trace the outer line of the top lip to give you a highlight. Then use a liner to trace around the edge (not too far from the edge, we don’t want to look like Jodie Marsh) use a long staying lipstick like Lipfinity. Then finish with a light and shimmering gloss like Bourjois.

Small Eyes: Avoid putting colour on your rims, this makes your eyes shrink down. Instead use a white liner to make the eye appear larger. Don’t use black liners, stick to dark browns and use them on the outer corners and above the upper lashes. Again, try and stick to outer corners so you don’t ‘close’ the eye down.

Gold and beige are great for putting in the inner corners and will make your eyelids appear bigger, especially if they have a shimmer.

False Lashes do wonders, but if you are afraid of gluing your eyes together then at the minimum use a lash curler and several hundred coats of mascara.

Cheek Bones: Never go for the eighties sculptured look, but you can achieve higher looking cheekbones with some clever shading. Use a bronzer all over the face to start with, then use a round tip blush brush to apply a light pink blush and put it on the apple of your cheek. Then if you are still not satisfied use a highlighter like Mac Highbeam (tried and tested by Victoria Beckham) on the highest part of your cheekbones.

Now you’ve got your eyes, lips and cheekbones covered, here are some quick tips for the rest of you:
•    Place dots of foundation on your forehead, cheeks, chin and nose. Rub in well with either your fingers or a make-up sponge. I find fingers work best.
•    Use make-up brushes to apply your eye shadow and abandon those tiny brushes that come with your cosmetics. BodyShop brushes are the best I have found unless you are willing to fork out for Mac brushes.
•    If you have an olive complexion, avoid shades of gray.
•    Eyebrow powdered shadows are better than liners for filling in your brows.
•    If you have a large conk, create a shadow effect. Use a dark foundation or powder and apply it down the sides of your nose. Highlight the centre of your nose by using a lighter colour powder.
•    If you have a pale complexion, stay away from bright, vibrant colours.

We all have bad habits when it comes to our health and beauty regime, we all know what we should be doing, but it’s far easier to smoke that pack of cigarettes, drink that 4th Cosmopolitan, go to bed with your make up on and ditch your morning run than stick to a routine. Who among us hasn’t made umpteen New Year’s resolutions, and failed on the first day (surely that’s not just me?).

You need to find a routine that suits you and isn’t too stringent, otherwise your going to chuck the whole thing. Here are a few tips that could help you stay looking younger, more vibrant and feeling healthier.

Keep away from the chocolate trolley, keep fruit or nuts on your desk to help stave off those mid afternoon munchies.

You can get a wide range of nuts, seeds and dried fruits that can replace naughty crisp cravings and keep you fuller for longer.

Cereal bars are handy, easy to pop in your handbag and you can trick yourself into thinking your scoffing a choccie bar.

Eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, its not as difficult as you might think. Juice, tinned and dried fruit count towards it. When serving your plate put on an equal amount of veg and carbs. You will still feel full but will also be eating healthier.

You don’t need seconds, even though most of us have been brought up to believe throwing food away is a waste, so is eating things you really don’t need. Make smaller dinners or order from the lighter menu.

If you’re going out after work for drinks, have something to eat first. Once you’ve had a couple drinks you will immediately want bar snacks that are laden with fat and calories and very little in the way of nutrition.

Try to drink at least one glass of water or non alcoholic drink for each alcoholic one. Most bars serve a nice range of juices or virgin cocktails. Remember women are only supposed to have between 2 and three units a day.

When it comes to that cheeky fag, the one you wouldn’t normally have but your being sociable, try to imagine your top lip as it would look if you became a smoker, yes that’s it, wrinkled and old. Should put you off a bit!

Climbing into bed, keep make up remover wipes that contain moisturiser next to your bed so you can at least have a quick cleanse, it’s definitely better than nothing. On the subject of moisturiser, find one that suits you and keep one at home, one in your handbag and one in your desk drawer, make sure its has an SPF content, even in the winter months.

When you alarm goes off for your yoga class/run/morning swim do heed its call, you will feel much better for it and your mood will be lifted as well. Regular exercise really does make you feel a million dollars.

Find a form of exercise that you really enjoy, it’s much easier to stick to. Try new things, climbing, spinning classes, rowing, horse riding, jazzercise… anything that you have fun doing and still keeping yourself in shape. You could even try some pole dancing lessons with a group of mates, it really does tone you up, but make sure you keep the day job.

Remember an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so look after yourself in the little ways now. If you fail a few times don’t stop altogether, once you get into healthy eating and exercise habits it will become second nature.

Now, if you’ve tried fake tanning before, you are probably aware of how easy it is to get streaks or ‘tide lines’. After my first couple of attempts which left me looking like a diseased carrot, I decided I needed to take some positive action and find out how to do it right. First, you want to find a product that suits you, the market is inundated with fake tan creams, gels, sprays and lotions. You can play it safe by using a slow build tanning product, like Johnson’s self tanning lotion, or use a wash off product. But whatever you decide, there are a couple of simple rules you should follow.

Exfoliate: Get rid of all the dry skin cells and rough skin before you tan, it will make you look and feel far better. You can use a body scrub gel or cream, or use a loofah or body brush. Believe you me, it does make a difference.

Moisturise: Moisturise your skin after exfoliating to get it all lovely and silky, this will make the fake tan far easier to apply.

When applying the fake tan, using a tanning mitt will not only make it easier, but will also save your hands from going a peculiar shade of orange, which is a dead giveaway. After you have thoroughly rubbed all the lotion into your skin, wipe your knees, ankles, elbows and wrists well with a cloth, these areas of your body are where the fake tan gets into the creases, and it’s a dead giveaway. It’s also a good idea to wipe behind your knees and the inside of your arms, to give you a more natural tanned look.

A product I absolutely adore, and is an amazing time saver, is Sally Hansen Airbrush Body Tanner. It’s best if you can get a friend/sister to do it for you, but is also completely doable yourself. Just simply spray on your body, and hey presto, you’re a gorgeous tanned babe in an instant. It is available in different shades, so you can choose the exact tone you would like to be. It simply washes off afterwards.

So there you go, we can all be amazing sun kissed goddesses without damaging our precious skin, so let’s get to it!

Lashes are in in in for spring, they need to be as big as possible, layer up as many coats as possible without clumping, they should be separate and lengthy. Believe it or not, if you count the amount of strokes needed to get this look you’d be reaching about 100. So stick with it, it’s worth the effort. If you don’t have the time to achieve this look on a daily basis but have the money to splash out, you could invest in ‘permanent’ false lashes applied individually. They last about a month but are quite pricey (I’ll be sticking to my 100 strokes then).
Fake tanned skin is in again as we come up to summer, but this spring DON’T over bronze! Think more Charlize Therons subtle tones rather than David Dickinson. Instead of using a powder bronzer try layering your fake tan with a light tanning crème set with a tinted moisturizer. The best thing about bronzed skin? You can go light on the rest of your makeup; this look goes perfectly with the large lashes and nude glossy lips. Add in a touch of shimmer. We love the look of shimmer on eyes & cheeks, especially on tanned skin, but again this needs to be kept understated, you don’t want to look like an Abba reject.

One look that has been trying its hardest to come back in for a good couple of years now (and one I swore I would never partake in) is coral lipstick. No longer should you associate it with moth ball smelling cardigans and blue rinses. Coral has been invading the catwalks globally like a pensioner with a free beans coupon. But please, be careful when running the coral route – matte is faux-par, opt instead for glosses that can be applied with the finger so you look as if you’ve just eaten a fresh piece of fruit.

One look that has stayed with us from winter is red. Red lipstick has seen us through those cold winter nights hiding the bluish tinges of frost beneath, and now it’s come through to the other side to tide us through to summer, but again, this should be in the form of stains or glosses, the matte look is so office Christmas do its untrue.