Category: DIY + HACKS

The ‘how to’ section displays the best ‘how to guides’ on latest style trends. The ultimate spot for those fashion freaks who want to explore variety of guides on how to dress, how to fashion tips, runway tricks and more. It’s time to break out the boring trends and follow the latest ones on and off the runway. Find personalised fashion solutions for your lifestyle with Trendspotters!

High school braids are back to transform the way you look

Hair braiding isn’t a school hairstyle anymore. They are back on the hair styling circuit and women are in love with them. Braids don’t just add a unique character to your hair; they do a very important job of making your facial features stand out. What’s best about braiding is that they are better for second/third day hair which means one doesn’t have to go through the hell of the hot dryer and other styling tools to make braids look good.

Depending on your styling choice, you may go absolutely wild or subtle with your braids. Don’t catch us? Take a look at these ways of sporting a braid this season and looking amazing.

1) The subtle braids

If subtlety is your choice when it comes to fashion, fishtail braids and rope braids are perfect for you. These braids look very hard to style but are really not. With a little bit of practice you can master these braids in no time. Sarah Hyland and Nina Dobrev tell us how to style them right.

2) The messy braids

If you like to keep your hair sophisticated with a hint of fun, we suggest you opt for messy side braids. These are easy to style, even easier to maintain and give the right look with a hint of messy. Take inspiration from celebrities like Jennifer Morrison, Blake Lively and Eva Longoria to get the side braid correctly.

3) The wild braids

Fan of trying the unusual? Go wild with your braids and be sure to make a statement. Just like other hairstyles, you can play around with your braids to match your style sensibilities and outfits. Take a look at these celebs giving us some wild looks.

September 21, 2015
DIY: How to fold a pocket square

Here’s a quick tutorial that would help you in completing your dapper look with these simple yet awesome ways to fold a pocket square! Take a look!

Here are the three ways to fold your pocket square

#1 Straight fold

#2 Poof fold

#3 One point fold

September 18, 2015
The ultimate guide to Korean beauty regimen

Koreans are famous for their porcelain, clean skin and their skincare routine is no monkey business. It is impossible to find any Korean woman who does not have flawless and hauntingly beautiful skin. So how do Koreans get such amazing skin? Or are they just too blessed to be stressed about any skin imperfections? Well the answer lies in the hardcore Korean beauty regimen.

While for most of us, a regular skin care regime is only limited to cleansing, toning and moisturising; the Korean beauty regimen is a multi-step, time-consuming process that they swear by and start at an early age.

Korean women are all about layering and have mastered the art of layering. And that is exactly how they have benefited by treating their skin at the right time with intense moisturising.

The Korean beauty regimen is quite different from any other beauty regimens followed across the world. Here’s how you can also get blemish free, dewy skin just like the Koreans by following the world famous Korean beauty regimen.

Step 1: Wash away by double cleansing

Korean women follow a two-step regime for face cleansing. They start off by using an oil-based face cleanser to remove their makeup and other impurities such as dust. They then use a soap-based, foam cleanser that cleans the skin throughout and removes excess oil, sweat and left over dust and makeup.

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Step 2: Buff and exfoliate

Koreans exfoliate their skin on a regular basis and sometimes exfoliate only on the target areas such as the T-zone or cheeks where they are more prone to blackheads/ whiteheads/ excessively oily or dry skin. Koreans prefer using a mild, natural, sugar based scrub that gently cleans and removes the dead skin.

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Step 3: Refreshing with toners

‘Toners’ are often termed as ‘refreshers’ in the Korean beauty glossary. They help remove pollutants and any residue from the cleansers and prep it for the next step while restoring the skin’s PH level.

Korean toners are less harsh and drying as compared to toners used elsewhere. They are hydrating yet clarifying.

Step 4: The ‘Essence’

Regarded as the most essential part of the Korean beauty regimen, essences are nourished liquid concentrates that contain active ingredients that work on the skin at cellular levels and cell regeneration.

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Step 5: Ample of ‘Ampoule’

Ampoule is commonly called serum in the West and is more concentrated as compared to essences. Another important step in the Korean beauty regimen, Ampoule, is the one solution for all your skin problems like ageing, dull skin, scars, uneven skin tone etc. Ampoule helps in brightening the skin, removing sun-spots and it also firms and hydrates the skin at cellular level.

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Step 6: The sheet mask

Korean beauty regimen includes use of sheet masks twice a week for maximum effectiveness. They are available in different varieties focusing on your target areas. They are also available in different shapes for you to focus on specific areas like under-eyes, nose, area around your lips etc. The Korean beauty market has different masks like clarifying, hydrating, whitening, anti-aging etc.

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Step 7: Eyeing the eye cream

Koreans believe that prevention is better than cure. They apply a thick eye cream twice a day to prevent wrinkles, fine lines and puffiness under their eyes.

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Step 8: Adding moisture

In order to seal all the products in, Koreans add another layer in their daily routine. They hydrate their skin with a thick layer of moisturiser and emulsify the skin. They use a light moisturising cream with SPF for the day and a thick moisture rich cream for the night.

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Step 9: Sleeping with a mask on

Sleeping masks are a very important part of the Korean beauty regimen. Sleeping masks provide an extra dose of hydration and restore firmness of the skin proving a dewy glow next morning.

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That’s not it! Korean beauty regimen also includes regular facials at frequent intervals. Koreans prefer home facials, they regularly steam their face and use different kinds of massage oils and facial creams at home that help in stimulating facial muscles, slimming down the face and cleaning the skin for a healthy, dewy glow.

September 11, 2015
Dear men, here’s everything you’ve been doing wrong with your watch!

Watches are a very important part of a man’s lifestyle. They’re classy, cool and they also show you what time it is! How awesome is that? But, there are men out there who think watches don’t suit them, let us tell you one thing, you’re wrong. For every wrist, there’s a watch. You just need to find the right one and with that you need to know this is how you pull off a watch!

#1 The everyday watch

To start with the everyday watch; this one you can wear when heading out with your friends, running errands, at work and more. The watch should be subtle and durable, of course. It can be in stainless steel, rubber or even plastic and a colour that goes with most of your clothes for instance a blue or a black.

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#2 The formal watch

Formal ones are for events, dinners, parties and other exclusive gatherings you might have to attend. They should go well with your outfit. It’s perfect if it’s in gold, silver or any other metal. Your watch should match your other jewellery too for example, gold watch would be perfect with gold cufflinks. Analogue display with diameter of 1.6 inches, that’s how it should be.

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#3 Sports watches are important too!

Going for a hike, a run in the woods, gym and whichever sports you’re into and you have a thing for watches? Great, get a sports watch and half of your problems go to rest right there. You’ll have a compass, it can measure the depth, speed and with the included features it already has for you, you can easily, without any problems enjoy your workout. Sports watches have got different kinds like, military watch, all-purpose watch and others. You can rock your watch with a full sleeves t-shirt. And no, it doesn’t go with your suit. Don’t even think about it.

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#4 A dress watch, heard of it?

A sleek leather watch is the perfect balance between classy and subtle. The leather can be brown or black or something like dark blue and it is best worn with a suit or a semi-formal look. Make sure the watch strap matches your shoes and belt. It makes your look complete and in place.

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#5 Which watch and which wrist

There are many myths like men should wear their watch on the right and women on the left but you need to remember that, comfort comes first. It’s completely up to you to wear it in whichever wrist you prefer. It shouldn’t create problems for you when on the move.

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#6 The right fit

It’s all good till you’re wearing a leather strap or any other adjustable watch but if wearing a bracelet watch, make sure it fits your wrist perfectly and doesn’t look like a piece of metal hanging off your arms. That’s what’s not cool.

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#7 Pocket watches

They’re old school yet classy. And sorry to say, not everyone can pull those off. But then again, experimenting is the key. It should be in the pocket that’s the easiest for you to reach. If wearing khakhis or denims, simply put it in the front pocket.

When wearing a waistcoat, you can loop the fob with the buttonhole and put it in the pocket on the other side.

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September 11, 2015
This is how Messi and Ronaldo are keeping the streets of London clean

In spite of being one of the fairly cleaner cities in the world, London has to deal with a wee bit of littering on the road. Yep, and you thought it only happens in India. This litter mostly consists of chewing gums or cigarette butts and the amount of this litter has reached an alarming number. To keep a check on this hazard, Hubbub, an environmental charity, came up with a very innovative idea to help ensure Central London’s cleanliness. The best part, it involves the people of the city itself and they participated happily. Here’s how.

The question is what did Hubbub do?

This. Let us make it simple for you. Hubbub came up with this brilliant idea of bringing the special kind of bins for smokers with a poll. Yeah, so the question was, “Who is the best player in the world?”

Messi and Ronaldo, being the obvious options, got all the football lovers on the street to take the poll and why not? There’s always been competition between both of them and their fans. And if it gets the streets cleaned, might as well!

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To keep the streets clean, this is probably the coolest idea anyone has come up with in a long, long time. And because it seems to be working, new polls would be taking place every week with questions about different sports.

And for the people who love chewing gum. Everybody loves chewing gum!? This is what Hubbub did. This is so much better than getting gum stuck in your shoes out of nowhere while walking down the street, rather, make a telephone booth appear!

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Also, we gave it a little thought, what if something like this was to happen in Delhi? We can imagine these special bins at places like, GK, Connaught Place, Hauz Khas and many more, and we’d have really good amount of cigarette butts to looks at and some good topics to actually talk about. But, then again, there’s more to garbage than just cigarette butts and chewing gums. It’ll take a good while to settle in and it is definitely worth the try. After all, it’s about keeping YOUR city clean.

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September 9, 2015
DIY tutorial: make these decorative paper roses at home

Make these beautiful craft paper roses at home in almost no time using your old magazines and some glue. Here’s how.

Supplies needed: Mod Podge, an old magazine, a brush and a pair of scissors

Take a look at the steps below

Step 1: Tear off colourful papers, preferably four to five, from an old magazine and cut their sides neatly.

Step 2: Using the pair of scissors, cut each piece of paper into a square shape with rounded corners.

Cut out a bigger square for a bigger rose and vice versa

Step 3: Now stack all of them together and make a spiral cut, just like this.

Step 4: Start rolling the paper from the outside. You’ll see the paper forming into a rose-like shape.

Step 5: Do not roll the last bit of the rose so as to form a base.

Step 6: Apply Mod Podge on the base and stick the rose to it. Let it dry. And you’re done

Make as many roses as you like and use them to decorate your room, workstation and gifts.

September 8, 2015
How to dry your nails in a New York minute

There are no two ways about the fact that women love to multitask. Getting two or more things done at the same time gives them a sense of accomplishment and rightly so. However, slowing down is something they don’t like even for very important things like waiting for their nail paint to dry. The important thing to understand here is that while your beautiful manicure will make you stand out in a good way, your smudged nails will surely grab some unwanted attention.

Flapping your hands sometimes becomes really irritating and annoying. So, avoid that little irritation with these tips that will help you dry your nails at a quicker pace. There’s no need to sit around and wait anymore, here are 5 ways that will help you dry your nails in a New York minute by cutepolish.

September 2, 2015
DIY: Add this galaxy pattern to your plain white canvas shoes

Plain white canvas shoes are a must-have for every wardrobe. They go with dresses, denims, pants and even shorts. Not only do they make you feel relaxed and comfortable, they add just the right amount of chic to every outfit. However if you get bored of your white pair of shoes, here’s how you can add some colour and turn them around.

To accomplish this task successfully, you’ll need a tie dye kit, surface cover, fabric paint in blue & white colour, sponge brush, paint brush, gloves and of course your old shoes.

Take a look at the steps:

Put your gloves on and drench your shoes in water.

Pour some pink dye in a plate and using a sponge brush dab the colour on to the shoes leaving some spaces in between.

Now run your sponge brush under water until it is fully clean and rub the sponge on to the shoes you painted to create a water-colour effect.

Now pour a little bit of blue dye in the same plate and mix it with pink to create a purple dye and dab this colour on to the shoes just like it was done in step 2.

Do the same with the blue fabric paint, on its own and let it sit for 15 minutes to make sure the colours blend properly.

Take some white paint on the paintbrush and randomly draw dots anywhere on the shoes to create a starry look.

You can also enhance the detailing to your galaxy pattern by adding a star.

Let it dry completely and you’re done!

Images sourced from here

August 31, 2015
Braid away: how to do a waterfall braid

Braiding is the hottest hair trend this year. You can braid your hair at work, for an event or even when you’re out for brunch with your girl friends. The best part about braids is that it suits every hair length, whether your hair is shoulder length or long, you can create a gorgeous braid in no time.

There are many ways to braid your hair and one such style of braids is called a waterfall braid. Also known as the cascade braid, a waterfall braid, which essentially mirrors the waterfall effect on your hair, looks a bit difficult but it is much easier to style than you think. The waterfall braid works best on straight hair and the best part is that it is a braid which lets you flaunt your long locks by leaving your hair down.

Watch this video by BecomeGorgeouscom and learn to do the waterfall braid yourself.

August 25, 2015
DIY glitter gradient nail art

This festive season dress up your nails like you do yourself. Use your old nail paints for this glitter gradient nail art and let your nails match your shiny outfit. Here’s how.

Things you need: A base nail paint of your favourite shade, gold nail paint, glitter polish and top coat

Take a look at the steps:

Start off by painting all your nails with a base colour you like.

Take a little bit of the gold polish on the brush and make sure to wipe off the excess.

Using short strokes, paint half of your nail giving it a gradient effect.

Repeat the process on all your nails. You may apply two or three coats of golden polish to make it more opaque.

Now add some glitter polish on top as shown in the picture below.

Let it dry for five minutes.

Apply top coat to seal the art and you’re done!

August 20, 2015
How to tightline your eyes like a pro!
If you haven’t heard of ‘tightlining’, we wouldn’t blame you for confusing it with some sort of advanced technique of painting or drawing. However, tightlining is that eyeliner technique everyone talks about, but few can really explain.

Tightlining, also called invisible eyeliner, is a technique which is achieved by defining your eyelashes subtly with the help of your eyeliner. This technique creates the illusion of fuller, darker lashes and adds definition to the eyes while maintaining a no-makeup feel. Tightlining is actually a term for a tricky eyeliner technique that gives a sort of I-am-not-wearing-any-makeup effect; it defines your lash line and makes your eyes look subtly brighter.

Most people think that this technique is to make your eyes look bigger but what it really does is make your eyelashes appear fuller and thicker. Instead of lining the skin above your lashes, you line your upper waterline and it can be used for any casual or formal occasion. It sounds more difficult than it is in theory; master the technique with just two simple steps. Take a look.
1. Use your finger to lift up your eyelid so you can see the base of your lash root which you will be filling in with the eyeliner.
1. Take your eyeliner and using short strokes, line your upper waterline. Wiggle the eyeliner back and forth to make it more intense.
1. Third step is to just flaunt your eyes because you’re done.:)
Tip: Use a kohl eyeliner for better results as it is formulated to hold in the wet area of the eye.

Images sourced from Source1 and Source2
August 17, 2015
DIY: Convert your old t-shirt into a crop top using leftover lace

Use your leftover lace to convert your old t-shirt into a crop top at home with just fabric glue. Watch this tutorial to find out how.

Things you need: old t-shirt, some leftover lace, fabric glue, a felt pen, a pair of scissors and a ruler

Take a look at the steps:

Place your old t-shirt on a flat surface. Using the ruler and the felt pen, mark the desired length for your crop top and carefully cut across the marked line. Now measure the required length of the lace to cover the circumference of the t-shirt fully.

Stick the lace on to the t-shirt using fabric glue. Let it dry for 10 minutes and you’re done!

Banner and Featured images sourced from here

August 14, 2015
How to wear overalls by Jen Chae of ‘From Head to Toe’

The 90s are having a major fashion moment and overalls are back in full force! Overalls could easily pass off as the most versatile out of all the outfits in your wardrobe and surprisingly enough they can be layered up as per your wishes.

Wearing overalls may seem a bit informal to a few people but there are smart ways to style overalls and make them look chic. Take a look at this video by the YouTuber and fashion blogger Jen Chae of ‘From Head To Toe’ and get some style tips to try your overalls this season.

August 13, 2015
Your ultimate style guide to pairing distressed jeans

A nice looking pair of distressed jeans should be a new addition to your wardrobe (if it already isn’t) since it’s one of the best examples of chic and effortless clothing when styled correctly!

Needless to say, it does have a casual feel to it but when put-together with just the right match, it promises to add a more polished look to the entire outfit. All one needs to know is what to pair it with so they look less grungy and more chic.

Watch this video by Wendy’s lookbook and get some style inspiration for pairing your distressed jeans. This look is perfectly suitable for a brunch/dinner date, shopping and for the office as well.

Featured images sourced from here

July 27, 2015
Say goodbye to split ends with these easy tips and tricks

Split ends are a common problem and unfortunately we all have to deal with it. The leading cause for split ends is the hair shaft losing its natural moisture making the strands split. Take a look at this informative picture for some amazing tips and tricks to bid adieu to split ends!

1) Get a Trim

The best way to avoid split ends is to get your hair trimmed on a regular basis.

2) Beat the Heat

Styling hair can cause major split ends but that doesn’t mean that you have to stop straightening or blow drying your hair. All you have to do is limit how much heat you subject to your tresses. Nowadays there are hair stylers that have adjustable heat levels that work right on fleek without damaging your hair.

Even hot water showers strip away the moisture off the hair so make sure you always rinse your hair with cool water at the end of every shower.

3) Shampoo & condition correctly

Most of the times when we shampoo we tend to over wash our hair and apply too much shampoo even at the ends. We even apply a lot of conditioner to the roots which makes them greasy in less than a day. One should always shampoo the roots and apply conditioner on the length of the hair.

4) Comb it out

Always use a wide-tooth comb to detangle your tresses. Hair tends to break and split more when it’s wet.

The most effective way to get rid of split ends is to get them cut at regular intervals especially for women trying to grow their length. Lack of proper nutrition and moisture can also worsen your hair’s health and continue splitting up to the length of your hair.

Here are few home remedies to get rid of split ends.

Remedy 1- Egg Mask

Whisk an egg yolk with 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of honey. Apply it on damp hair and leave it for 30 minutes. Shampoo your hair the usual way.

Remedy 2- Mayonnaise Mask

Towel dry wet hair and apply half a cup of mayonnaise to your hair. Keep it on for 15 to 20 minutes. Rinse it out and shampoo your hair the usual way.

Inpost images sourced from

Banner and featured images sourced from: Source1, Source2

July 24, 2015