Her thoughts: Kristen's front braid is a cute way to dress up a ponytail or bun. I just spritzed the top of my hair with spray gel and French braided it across my hairline. Once I pulled the rest of my hair into a ponytail, I misted the whole look with hairspray.
The hard part was actually taking some time to braid my hair, rather than just throwing it up into a pony. It took me a few tries, but the end result was worth it.
Photo 9/12
Gwyneth Paltrow's Hair and Makeup
Who tried it: Molly Roemer, Associate Editor
Approximate primping time: 5 minutes total
Her thoughts: Gwyneth Paltrow and I have a similar complexion and haircut, so I thought that I could pull off this look pretty easily and that the poppy pink lip color would, well, pop amid my pale skin. What else makes it appealing to me is that the makeup is low-maintenance (which I'm a BIG fan of), yet striking.
For this look, my hair pretty much did itself (since it's already straight) and doing the makeup was super easy. The key items are pink lipstick and bronzer, so I just did my normal powder-and-mascara dance and then highlighted my lips and cheeks.
I think that this look can easily transition from day-to-night. It's not too dramatic for the daytime, and the punchy lip color could easily carry you into after-work cocktails smoothly without looking like you're trying too hard.
Photo 10/12
Rashida Jones' Hairstyle and Makeup
Who tried it: Sarah Carrillo, Senior Associate Editor
Approximate primping time: 10 minutes for hair, 15 minutes for makeup
Her thoughts: While I'd never normally be this dressy at the office, I do really like this look. It was also pretty easy. For my hair, I just applied the smoothing cream and blow dried with a paddle brush (I didn't worry about getting it too straight since it was going in a bun anyway). Then I sprayed the shine spray into my hands and smoothed it over my hair (the bottle recommended this for fine hair, which mine definitely is). Then I ran my bangs through the flat iron, put my hair into a low ponytail, loosely braided it and wrapped it around the base and pinned into place.
My makeup was a little more involved, but still didn't take very long. I did my usual foundation and concealer, then lined my eyes with black pencil and followed up with black powder shadow. I lined my lower inner rims too -- which normally totally creeps me out -- and I think it was a nice touch. Then I used the pinky-peach side of the Maybelline palette for my lids and swiped on some blush.
My lips took a little experimenting to get close to Rashida's color. I used the CoverGirl stain, but it was a little dark, so I lightened it with the lipstick and gloss. What I learned: when in doubt, just keep layering, removing and playing until you're happy with it. After all, it's just makeup.
Photo 11/12
Jessica Alba's Makeup
Who tried it: Sharon Yi, Intern
Approximate primping time: 4 minutes total
Her thoughts: I chose this look because it looked simple with not a lot of crazy colors so I figured there�d be no room to mess up. Turns out I was right.
First I bronzed my skin with the bronzer all over until I got a natural glow. Then I started using the lightest color of the Maybelline eye shadow palette for the inner rims of my eyes. I used the darkest color on my base and softened the edges with my finger, then I used the same color to line the bottom of my eye. I curled my lashes and put on mascara but because I have such thin eyelashes, I added some fake lashes to give some extra oomph. Last, just a quick swipe of sheer lip gloss and I was good to go.
Photo 12/12
Nicole Richie's Hairstyle
Who tried it: Sharon Yi, Intern
Approximate primping time: 4 minutes total
Her thoughts: My hair was very low-maintenance. Because I have naturally wavy hair, I used Frizz Be Gone to prevent any frizz and let it air dry. This whole look took 4 minutes to do and is a really no-fuss look for the "gotta go" girl.
Whether you have a limited income, are a bargain-seeker extraordinaire, a true recessionista, or just someone who hates to waste money (we'll assume this pretty much covers everyone), you'll want in on this secret. Ready for it � you do not, we repeat, do not have to spend a lot of money to look like a million bucks. Skip ahead to see us prove it.
How did we discover this glamorous secret and come to believe it? We took a dare, a makeup and hair dare. We wanted to see if the staffers at Total Beauty could copy the makeup looks and hairstyles of celebrities that have tons of money to spend on stylists and big-budget beauty products using only makeup and hairstyling products found at drugstores, Walmart or Target.
We each selected a celebrity we envied for their luxe look, grabbed some budget makeup and hair care finds and tried our very best to recreate our chosen celebrity style sans a pro makeup artist or hairstylist.
Why did we do this? Because we know everyone, secretly or not, would love to have the resources of these A-listers. Shows like "MTV Cribs" or "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous" wouldn't exist unless we had a burning desire to ooh and aah over P. Diddy's yacht and dream that we might one day have one too. We spend millions of dollars annually buying lottery tickets in the hopes that we, against all odds, will scratch our way to the luxe life. And, most of all, we stalk celebrity gossip Websites and mags and fantasize about having Meghan Fox's even skin tone or Jennifer Aniston hair. It's, safe to say, a national obsession. But because the chances of hitting an oil mine Clampett style is slim, check out how we, and you, can get a gorgeous, luxe celebrity hair and makeup look using budget-friendly products.
