Make-up women love but men hate

Neon lips, blue eyeshadow, shimmering glitter, and golden bronzers: This spring, some of the most dramatic looks we saw on the runways are making their way onto our faces. But not everything we dabble on pleases everyone. We had a hunch that some of our biggest beauty obsessions might be turn-offs for guys...so we went ahead asked. Prepare yourself: brutal honesty ensues.

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1. Heavy foundation and powders: "The inch-thick powder is a huge turn-off," saysMaxim senior editor Nick Leftley. "No guy wants to kiss a girl on the cheek and then find he¹s wearing foundation himself." A flaking face is one thing, but when your cheek becomes a palette of skin-tone colors, men pay attention...and not the good attention. "I'm always amazed to see women with two-tone faces, two apparently different shades of skin on the face, as if they apply makeup in the dark," says James Oliver Cury, the online editorial director at Maxim. "I'd rather see one greasy face than some sort of melanin imbalance. The nose should match the cheeks."

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2. "Bumps": “I never liked, or knew of any other guy who liked, the Gwen Stefani "bumpit" look," says Henry Belanger, an editor at The Good Men Project. "Be wary of anything that makes your head look unnaturally large."

3. Neon lipstick: Most of the fashion world agreed that electric pouts were a beauty "do" this season. Some men, however, beg to differ. "Orange lips are definitely a departure from what we're used to and not necessarily something a lot of guys I know really respond to just quite yet,” say fashion blogger John Januzzi of Lucky and the fashion website, Textbook.

4. Too-thin brows:"My pet peeve is overly plucked eyebrows," says David Swanson, Maxim's Features Editor."I mean, really? It's basically an advertisement that naturally you're hairier than Robin Williams. If it looks natural, we'd never have to wonder."

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5. Bold eye-shadow: "I don't understand the revival of bright blue eyeshadow," proposes Maxim's Cury. "Is it retro? Is it purposefully over-the-top? To my eyes, it just looks tacky no matter how you wear it." Lucky's Januzzi isn't as bothered by color as he is by application. "Smoky eyes--when done right are great--very sexy and attractive but when done wrong they look a total mess," he says. "Seek professional guidance before trying at home."

6. Rosy cheeks: “As far as make-up goes, I think rouge is for old ladies,” adds Good Men Project's Belanger. "I think guys generally prefer the kind of make-up you don't notice is there, and since there's a lot that guys don't notice I think women have a lot of leeway." 

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7. Two-toned lips:Remember Kim Mathers? She was almost as famous for her lip liner issues as she was for being defamed by Eminem. According to our dude survey, the pucker problem was more serious. "When I see thin lines drawn around a pair of lips, I think: Is this part of some gang initiation rite?" says Cury.

8. Glitter:"Women need to be judicious with it," says Cury. "It¹s like any good seasoning. You shouldn't shake it all over. It can overwhelm the main course." That being said, he's not opposed to a heavy sprinkle of cleavage glitter. Figures.




Warm Regard, Sara Pandian

Eat This for Gorgeous Skin

The best get-flawless-skin regimen? It's not a trendy spa treatment. It's a way of eating. Yeah, yeah, we know that for years, experts said greasy foods and chocolate don't cause pimples and that, overall, what you eat has no effect on your skin. But research proves otherwise. So follow these four rules on how to feed your face.

Related: Smooth Your Lady Lumps: The Best Anti-Cellulite Creams

Lay Off the White Stuff
Turns out french fries do cause breakouts. But it's not the grease that's the culprit, it's the potatoes. In a recent study, researchers looked at 1,200 natives of an island near Papua New Guinea and 115 hunter-gatherers in Paraguay and couldn't find a single zit in the lot. What's their secret? "A diet that consists almost exclusively of protein, fruits, and veggies," says Loren Cordain, PhD, professor of health and exercise science at Colorado State University and lead author of the study. Absent from their meals: the simple carbohydrates — such as white bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and sweets — that are the basis of our modern diet. These carbs send our insulin levels soaring, and researchers speculate that this sets off a series of reactions that leads to breakouts.

Related: Your 2011 Get Gorgeous Guide

Simple food switch: Instead of refined white carbs, go for moderate amounts of complex ones like whole-grain bread, brown rice, and whole-wheat pasta (they're digested more slowly and don't lead to that skin-sabotaging insulin spike).

Find out another surprising secret to perfect skin.

Savor Seafood
Fish is a great source of essential fatty acids (EFAs) like omega-3 and omega-6, which reduce inflammation in the body. "Inflammation triggers the cells to clog the pore, causing acne," says Nicholas Perricone, a dermatologist and author of The Perricone Prescription. "It also leads to wrinkles down the line." The fish that contain the most EFAs are salmon, mackerel, and tuna (particularly the albacore and bluefin varieties). EFAs are also found in almonds, hazelnuts, and flaxseed.

Simple food switch: Have smoked salmon for breakfast, eat tuna-fish sandwiches for lunch, and swap hamburgers for salmon burgers. If fish isn't your thing, make a handful of almonds your afternoon snack.

Related: How to Look Amazing in Just 48 Hours

Banish Blush Triggers
While a little bit of color in your cheeks is flattering, full-on ruddiness isn't exactly the look you're after. And certain foods and beverages, such as spices, cured meats, MSG, and alcohol (particularly red wine), cause blood vessels to dilate, bringing on facial redness, says John Wolf, MD, chairman of the department of dermatology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Simple food switch: If you tend to redden easily, pay attention to which foods bring it on, since people have different triggers. If spicy foods get you, order Thai without the curry and steer clear of wasabi when you go for sushi.

Related: Fix-Anything Makeup Tricks
Indulge in Olive Oil
If you avoid fat for the sake of your waistline, your face could be paying the price. "A lot of young women have dry, flaky skin because they don't eat enough fat," says Joy Bauer, a nutritionist in New York City and author of The 90/10 Weight-Loss Plan. If you're getting fewer than 20 grams of fat a day (roughly 2 tablespoons of oil), your skin may not be able to lubricate itself and your body may not absorb enough vitamin A, which your skin needs to prevent premature aging.

Simple food switch: Sprinkle your salad with olive oil and toss in some avocados and nuts. We swear, this won't have an adverse effect on your jeans size. 

Check out our expert tips for preventing and healing dry skin.

What are your tricks for glowing, flawless skin?

Read more at Cosmopolitan.com!

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• Why Guys Dump Girls They Dig
• How to Decode His Body Language

Warm Regard, Sara Pandian