Here is the response from a discussion with Victor about a necklace I bought: “I would say since you purchased your necklace at a major retailer and not on a street corner or from a friend, the necklace is most surely 10k gold, just like they had said. Look for a stamp on or near the clasp part. You should see 10k or the numbers 417; both mean 10k. The numbers are the amount of gold mixed into the metal to make it 10k quality for jewelry.”

What is the main reason for the black smudges? Ok, it is gold then why does black get on you clothes? This used to be one of the great mysteries of jewelry but now the most likely reason is make-up. That means make-up like ladies wear. Make-up is ground into very fine particles and seems smooth. With a really close look with magnification, make-up has very fine particles in it. These particles act just like sandpaper on the gold!

Since the sanding action is so very fine, the particles of gold that rub off are too small to show the gold color to the eye and simply look black, like a smudge. I believe this is about 90% of the problem ladies have with gold showing smudges on skin or clothing. Seems strange but this is true!

Other reasons for the black smudges. Is, if you don’t wear make-up that could be getting on the necklace, there are some possible other reasons. The problem with these are elusive and hard to track down to one reason or the other for the smudges. If you have worn gold like this before and had no problems, it becomes sort of a detective case. Ask yourself if make-up brand has changed. Ask if any meds might have changed. Ask if you are using a hot tub or swimming in the new necklace.

We have already talked about make-up. The meds is mentioned simply because in some cases, changes in medicines can affect the body chemistry and the chemicals the necklace will contact on your skin. This can sometimes lead to smudges from a chemical reaction to the jewelry metal.

Hot tubs and pools contain chlorine and that is not only damaging to jewelry but can cause a tarnish that will then become smudges on clothing. The tarnish parts are so fine you might not notice on the necklace and general cleaning does not remove that from inside the necklace links; so, smudges can come from tarnish on the gold and get on your skin or clothing.

Salt air will also cause smudges. The chemicals in the air react with body salts and oils and stuff in the air to cause a tarnish on the gold. This tarnish will sometimes be rubbed off onto clothing as the necklace moves along the cloth.

That about covers the black smudge causes. Sometimes it is truly a mystery and I have seen it happen with 10k, 14k, 18k jewelry. My suggestion first of all is to think about what I have said and see if any changes in make-up or meds or living conditions have happened since the necklace was purchased.

If you have other 10k necklaces, do you get any smudge from them? If not, then it is some component in the new necklace causing the problem. Different manufactures use different mixes of metals to make 10k gold for jewelry. Some will work for almost everyone but once in a while a person will find smudge problems with no apparent reason.

Like I said before, I would have to believe the necklace is the gold the seller says it is. The smudges happen with all kinds of karat gold jewelry, depending on the person wearing the gold and the environment. There is no simple cure unless you get a clue from your life and my suggestions of causes.

I would suspect that then necklace is not gold or since it is stamped 10k it is a low karat gold, only 37.5% gold and the rest is what may be causing the black color. Do you get any blacj on your skin? Usually if you take the piece back to the retailer they will refund your money or give you credit for another purchase.

It is probably the alloys used for the mix in the 10k are not stable or badly alloyed and is causing the black color. The best thing to do is to take it back. Try to go up to at least 14k. If the same thing happends with the 14k then it might be that it is the makup that you are using or it is something totall different. Either way you look at it there is something wrong with the alloy or it is the makeup that you use.

It that is true then you should try out silver and see how that works out for you. You might not like the silver but if you don’t get black smuges on your cloths or skin then it might just be the gold itself or the kind of alloy.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for http://www.DiamondGems.info/. DiamondGems.info carries the best selection of loose diamonds, diamond rings, and diamond jewelry on the market. Browse through our selection of loose diamonds by size, cut, shape, type, and other features here: http://www.DiamondGems.info/subcategory/loose-diamond.html.

Eyeliner can be a fickle friend. You start off together every morning, it makes your eyes more defined, your lashes thicker and all is right with your face. When you peak at your reflection in the bathroom mirror at lunch, suddenly you look like you’ve been on a 6 day bender. Why would your eyeliner do this to you?

Actually, it’s not the eyeliner, it’s you. Or more specifically it’s the oils on your eyelids that breakdown the eyeliner so it has nothing to adhere to and it spreads all over the place. Does this mean you are cursed to a lifetime of ill-defined, lackluster eyes? Absolutely not! You just need a few tricks and products up your sleeve.

You may have read to put foundation on your lids and a dusting of translucent powder to stop the oiliness. This trick will work on moderately oily eyelids, but not for me. I need to call in the big guns!

Eye Primers are usually made with silicone and they create a barrier that the oil can’t penetrate, allowing your eyeliner to remain exactly where you put it in the morning. I recommend using a primer on your eyelid as well as just underneath your lower lashline. The cult favorite of makeup artists is Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, but many more lines are now coming out with their own products such as the Too Faced Shadow Insurance. The Too Faced product is in a tube so you can squeeze more product out … more primer for your buck!

The perfect combo for me is eye primer and Waterproof Eyeliner. Waterproof liner is not just for people who like to have defined eyes while swimming (and who are those people??). Waterproof liner is a great option for an oily lid, the product is designed not to break down with moisture. The liners come in pencil and liquid, in drugstores and department store brands. My favorites include Revlon ColorStay pencils, Urban Decay 24/7 pencils, Dior and Lancome waterproof pencils. Combined with a primer, you are not going to get any sort of movement from your eyeliner.

Now if that isn’t enough ammo for you, some makeup lines have their own waterproofing products. Benefit’s She-Lac is a sealant that comes with 5 different brushes to seal in your eyeliner, eyebrows, lipstick and more. It has alcohol in it, so be careful around your eyes. Make Up For Ever has an alcohol-free product called Eye Seal that will create a waterproof seal over your pencil liner or powder eyeshadow.

Just making a few simple product changes will allow you feel confident in your eyeliner (and makeup ability) all day long. Your smeary, smudged eyeliner will be a distant memory … unless you really coming off a 6 day bender! Even these products have their limits!

Christie Ingram is a makeup artist and Chief Makeup Analyst at PrettybyCritty.com, a new social networking site for people wanting to learn about and discuss makeup, skincare and hair styling techniques.

Lip gloss was originally used to give a shiny finish to lips, while adding a subtle hint of color. Liquid or creamy glosses are usually packaged in tubes or bottles that contain sponge or brush applicators. Solid forms are packaged in containers similar to that of lipstick and are applied the same way. Small boxes and pots containing a gloss rely on the use of a lipstick brush or fingers for application.

Flavored lip gloss is generally marketed to young girls who are not believed to be old enough to wear lipstick. It gives a little color, plenty of scent or flavor and makes them familiar to taking care of their lips. Women use glosses to form the same type of finished look for their face as they would with lipstick, without the extreme color it gives off. There have been new formulations of glosses introduced in recently that act as lip plumpers.

They contain ingredients that momentarily make the lips fuller and softer. Lip gloss enhances a look, or creates diverse effects, such as sparkle or a high-gloss finish when used over lipstick or lip liner. Though some formulations include moisturizing and conditioning properties, they are typically for cosmetic purposes. Lip balms are frequently confused with glosses. The balms are created primarily to protect lips from damage. They use camphor, beeswax and essential oils to stay on the soft, delicate skin.

Lip balm creates a thin layer to seal in moisture and protect the lips from exposure to the elements, such as dry air and extreme temperatures. Aloe, Vitamin E and sunscreen are added to help condition the lips and keep them soft. Application methods are similar to lipsticks and glosses. Solid formulations are in sticks and can be applied directly to the lips. Balm in small boxes and pots are applied with your fingers. Lip gloss packaging is responsible for much of its popularity.

For younger women, it is in brightly colored tubes and sticks. It often features their favorite cartoon or fantasy characters. For teens and women, packaging that is inspired by skin care products, or that is developed by their favorite brand of makeup are the most popular. Department store cosmetic brands often advertise lipstick with a lip gloss counterpart. Drugstore brands have taken it one step further. They merge the benefits of the long lasting color of lipstick with a slick, high-shine finish of a gloss.

To obtain sensual, dazzling Lip Gloss To obtain all seasons and occasions, head over to the Make Up Direct website today. Click here to get your own unique version of this article with free reprint rights.

The ways to save your marriage from a break up or worse, there are a few things you should know. There are many ways that people break up, but most of the time they could have saved a break up with the right frame of mind and patience. You are not going to fix your marriage overnight, but with a little work, you can have a happy relationship with your love for a very long time.

  What makes a happy marriage? Many different things go in to a happy relationship, but one of the most important things is to being able to talk to each other. I am sure you have heard it before and it’s true, talking things out with your partner regularly, with honestly is the best thing you can do for your relationship. Because when you are completely honest with your partner, there are no surprises and as a result less fighting. Even Little lies can add up and come back to hurt you.  

Talking things out that bother you at least a few times a week can do your relationship good. Most people won’t open up to each other, leaving them unhappy with the relationship. The last thing you want to do is to fall into a rut where everything is the same and you barely talk to each other.

To keep your relationship happy you need to talk as much as possible on all kinds of different levels. Come up with ways to spend time together and enjoy each other’s company. Doing these simple and fun things together will bring you closer and start to heal the damage that has been done in the past. Whatever has been said or done, you can move on past it and start fresh with a happy relationship. If you’re good for each other, things will work out. By acting confident and grown up, you heighten your chances of a very happy relationship. If you get along pretty well with each other, feel connected and really want to stay together, fix it. It is worth it.

There is magic in making up It is hard to find that special person. When you do find them you need to hang on tight through the good and the not so good. You need to come together and not break up. Why break up when you can make up? Remember too, making up can be a lot of fun! CLICK HERE

You have experienced it before. A heartbreaking end to the best relationship you have ever had. You feel empty inside. You long to be with that girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, or wife. You don’t think you can go on without them. You desperately have to do something to make this pain go away. So, what is the best way to get over a breakup? I have often wondered about that very question in times past. I have finally figured it out and I will give you the answer in this article.

Most people can’t imagine going on without this person in their lives. They feel empty. They can’t imagine having to try to start all over in the relationship game. Finding someone you are the least bit compatible with is a real job. And you liked the person you were in the relationship with; something just went wrong. What do you do? The answer is simple. You make up with the person you were in the relationship with. What? Make up? Yes, make up. I said it was simple, not easy.

The reason most people fail in relationships is because they don’t know how to make up with each other. I’ll be the first to admit that it is tough to make up with a person with whom you have been having problems. But, if you really want to be happy you need to learn to makeup with people, especially those close to you. Life has enough problems without losing the people nearest to you. Learn to make up! The best way to get over a breakup is to learn to make up.

If you need to learn the real secrets to making up and/or get that special someone back in a realtionship with you, let us help.

Our website will teach you everything you need to know about relationship problems and making up. Come see it now!

Interesting and exciting make up and dress up games are available at department stores and toy stores, as well as online. Nowadays, these game sets are used commonly as great birthday gifts. The essential requirement for these games is a fertile imagination. Any game can transform into a great fantasy game for your kids, with sufficient imagination and creativity. These games help the children to temporarily try on new identities. Usually, the simple costumes and unstructured free play that is offered by the make up and dress up games are enough to provide fun and effect educational improvement.

In make up game sets that are not online, the components used are feathers, flowers, paint and metal. Children can dress up in the costume of batman, Spiderman or phantom. The fairy and princess dress up sets, glamour dress up sets and career dress up sets are other commonly available sets. Career dress up sets include teacher dress up sets, chef dress up sets, doctor dress up sets, police dress up sets etc. Young children learn best by imitating.

Usually, these games are most popular among kids from ages 2 to 8. Most kids are happy with paper bag masks and sock gloves. They are happy as long as they can pretend to be someone else. Kids love to pretend to be other people, and make up and dress up games enable them to do just that. These make believe games are favorite pastimes of kids of all ages, from the toy chest to the Internet.

Most websites offer free educational games online. Online make up games offer various characters, avatars and faces. The kids are provided the options for making up or dressing up the characters. Children can apply eye colors, hair colors, eye shapes, hair styles, skin colors, freckles, lips, facial hair, glasses and hats; make up, jewelry and clothing. The children can do all these with the touch of the mouse or the click of a button. Certain websites provide an option for naming your creation and printing it out.

Make Up provides detailed information on Make Up, Eye Make Up, Make Up Tips, Make Up Mirrors and more. Make Up is affiliated with Nail Care.

Free make up samples are offered by cosmetic companies in an effort to introduce and popularize their products. You can get free samples of foundation, eye shadow, concealer, cream, lotion, powder, lipstick, perfume, shampoo, conditioner and hair care products.

Usually the free make up samples are provided in small bottles or in small packets. Trying out free make up samples is a practical and economical way to find out whether you want a particular product for continuous use.

Most companies provide their free make up samples online. An excellent way to find freebies is to visit company websites frequently. You can receive free make up samples, coupons and occasional special offers by filling out the corresponding columns provided by the websites. They are just looking for the people to try their products. If you join such websites, you will be sent to the page with free beauty and make up samples. From there, you can request the cosmetic companies online. Thus you can test the newest and hottest make up samples free of cost. Certain companies offer their summer beauty bags full of fantastic beauty essentials. They also find lucky winners. You may be required to register or provide your e-mail so that the company can keep you updated on its products. Ensure that the company has a secure privacy policy so that your e-mail ID is safe.

Department stores are other avenues for getting free make up samples. Besides this, watch out for advertisements of cosmetic companies that appear in magazines and newspapers. These give you guidelines regarding the availability of free samples of popular products as well as products companies may be planning to introduce. Another advantage of freebies is that since these are available in compact sizes, you can easily carry them while traveling.

Make Up provides detailed information on Make Up, Eye Make Up, Make Up Tips, Make Up Mirrors and more. Make Up is affiliated with Nail Care.

Eyes speak volumes when it comes to beauty and make up. Therefore, a perfect eye make up can work wonders in accentuating the beauty and expression of the eyes and contribute to the overall appeal. As the name suggests, eye make up concealer typically conceals the blemishes of the skin around the eye and works as a base foundation at the same time. The formulation of an eye make up concealer is denser than the regular foundations and if applied properly produces a perfect and flawless complexion. They are available in creams, tubes, and sticks, and are rich in vitamins that help not only in lightening the skin tone but also in evening out the skin texture. The best concealer is supposed to be the one that is not soluble in water.

Just as the eye shadow, it is also essential for a concealer to match with the skin complexion and needs to be applied inside the nose-bridge and outer corners of the eyes. The concealer is required to be spread over the area gently so that it does not come into the grooves of the fine lines around the eye, which might cause an unnatural effect because of the congealing nature of a concealer. To test the suitability of the concealer according to the skin tone, individuals can apply some on the blue veins of the hands and if the vein is no longer seen, it proves that the concealer is ideal for the individual. Mixing the concealer with the foundation or an eye cream can further help in blending the make up colors and reflect a smooth skin.

Based on what an individual wants to conceal, they can select the concealer accordingly. While a color correcting concealer is effective to reduce the redness around the eye area, a yellow concealer is ideal for concealing bluish tinges. For reducing dark circles, individuals may opt for cream based concealer with a shade lighter than yellow. To hide a scar or cover a birthmark, thick opaque concealer can be the best solution, whereas medicated concealer are prescribed for covering pimples.

Make Up provides detailed information on Make Up, Eye Make Up, Make Up Tips, Make Up Mirrors and more. Make Up is affiliated with Nail Care.

Make up plays an important role in presenting the appearance and defining the overall appeal of an individual. However, it is important to know the right techniques and application methods to bring out the best effects and optimize the beauty and look of the face by using make up.

While applying make up individuals need to remember the proper sequence of applying make up. The sequence starts with the application of foundations, preceded by the application of eye concealer if required. The perfect blending and correcting of the blemishes and flaws is then done by a gentle movement of the fingertips to spread the foundation base towards the hairlines, side of the face and then down to the neck area. It is important to choose the foundation shade closest to the skin complexion for the most natural look.

Once the base is complete, the appropriate color for the blusher can be used according to the occasion. The blush area falls between the parallel lines extending out form the bottom of the nose and the other from the corner of the eyes. Individuals can apply blusher on their cheeks gently moving the brush upwards towards their temple. A slight tinge of color applied on the forehead and the chin can enhance the effect of the blusher even more. While cream rouge is applied in small amounts with fingertips, powder blusher is applied with a make up brush.

In order to make the foundation last for a longer time blending it well with the powder is necessary. The powder can be applied through a puff and pressed firmly on the face without trying to smooth it by massaging it all over. The excess powder can then be whisked off using a brush with a downward movement.

The eyes can be adorned by the choice of colors according to the shape and color of the eyes. A lighter shade is recommended for the entire eyelid whereas a darker one suits towards the corner of the eyes. The liner can then, help in defining the shape of the eye with the mascara to enhance the lashes. An appropriate lipstick complemented by the liner and gloss can mark the finishing touches.

Make Up provides detailed information on Make Up, Eye Make Up, Make Up Tips, Make Up Mirrors and more. Make Up is affiliated with Nail Care.

The secret of effective make up lies in the techniques of its application. The best make up techniques can make the heaviest make ups look most natural and yet attractive, concealing the flaws of the skin to perfection. The most effective trick lies in choosing the right kind of make up depending on the occasion and time of wearing it.

After washing the face properly, depending on the skin type and complexion a moisturizer is essential to maintain the skin balance. In case of a day make up, a sunscreen moisturizer or sun block is essential, which would suit individuals according to their different skin types. Choosing the right foundation can make a huge difference that comes in different types such as liquid, cream and foundation sticks. The “stick” type is considered to have a better coverage and is efficient in concealing the blemishes and broken veins completely, while a liquid base provides a more natural look with its lighter coverage. One of the most important aspects would be to match the color of the foundation with the complexion imparting a natural look and feel. In case of oily skins, dry compact bases or oil free liquid bases are recommended whereas a dry skin would require cream based foundations with a moist appearance.

Highlighting the cheekbones can be done with bronzing powders specifically made for the purpose and not with darker shades of foundation bases. Testing them in the daylight would be better to ensure that they look natural when applied and can be thus, applied preferably on the jaw lines instead of wrists.

Blending plays a very important role in make up and when done with perfection changes the appearance altogether. Using the fingertips for blending is the ideal way, although use of a damp sponge can also help. Blending the make up finely with the hairline, jaw lines, sides of the face, around the nose and taking it down to blend it with skin of the neck is essential so that the face does not look like a painted mask.

The colors of the blusher, lipstick, and lip liner are to be chosen to compliment each other.

Make Up provides detailed information on Make Up, Eye Make Up, Make Up Tips, Make Up Mirrors and more. Make Up is affiliated with Nail Care.