How to Help a Lonely Friend

A Bad Haircut

The Tool Kit: Headband; hot rollers or curling iron; patience.

The Technique: Nothing makes hair grow faster. Your only recourse after an unfortunate cut is to wait for it to grow out (at a rate of about an eighth to a half inch every month). Until then, experiment with new textures. "Awkward layers are more apparent on straight hair," says hairstylist Gretchen Monahan, who recommends using hot rollers or a large barrel curling iron to create waves. If the problem is heavy bangs or harsh layers around the face, invest in a few headbands. (We like wide stretch designs, like the ones by hairstylist Eva Scrivo that come in suede and cotton faille, or Goody's linen version—more city sleek than Sandra Dee.)

Visible Roots

The Tool Kit: Volumizing shampoo and mousse; comb; baby powder.

The Technique: When a dye job's overdue, extra body at the roots can hide the evidence. Use a volumizing shampoo (and use it often—when roots are oily, they look even darker), confine conditioner to your ends, and work a volumizing mousse through damp hair. Zigzagging your part also keeps hair from lying too flat against the head and accentuating a line of demarcation. Powder (regular white talc works if you're blonde; Bumble and Bumble makes aerosol tinted versions for brunettes and redheads) can help blend roots as well. Monahan recommends shaking or spraying a bit along your part, then using your fingertips to work it in. (For a more lasting at-home root fix, Clairol Nice 'n Easy Root Touch-up kit now comes in 16 shades, all calibrated to match faded haircolor.)

Bruises

The Tool Kit: Red-based concealer (or lipstick); thick concealer and/or powder foundation that matches your skin tone; translucent loose powder.

The Technique: Once you've banged into that coffee table (again), it'll take at least a week for the violet-blue souvenir to fade away. While you're waiting it out: Makeup artist Scott Barnes recommends dabbing a bit of red-tone concealer (or even just red lipstick) on top of the bruise to cancel out the purple, setting that with translucent powder, and then smoothing on a concealer or heavier foundation that matches your skin tone (try MAC Face and Body). Be sure to pat the concealer around the bruise, softening the edges so it disappears into the surrounding skin. To keep the color in place, Roncal swirls a large brush into powder foundation and then presses it over the area before swiping it back and forth to remove the excess. And a self-tanner warning: While it works camouflaging magic on many other imperfections, it darkens a bruise. So before bronzing, smooth a bit of Vaseline over it to block the color.

Cellulite

The Tool Kit: Self-tanner; self-tanner; more self-tanner.

The Technique: For some reason, bronzed dimpled thighs are less conspicuous than pasty whites ones—"but the last thing you want to do is get a tan and break down collagen, making the problem even worse," says Lupo, who recommends self-tanner instead. For an added slimming effect, Barnes makes the outer and inner thighs a bit darker. Coat them with self-tanner first (spray formulas, such as ModelCo Tan Airbrush in a Can, are easier to control than lotions), let it dry for about 15 minutes, and then go over the whole leg. Roncal finishes with a layer of shimmer cream (like Smashbox Body Lights Glowing Lotion), which can help blur bumps and lumps.