Beauty is self-care, including everything from cosmetics to hair care, skin treatments to manicures and pedicures, tanning to fashion trends. Simple how-tos and helpful advice can match your outer beauty to your inner glow and save you time, money, and worry.

Assess spa treatments or find the right sunscreen, deal with acne or groom your eyebrows, find the perfect purse or ideal hair dye here. Instead of trying to stay on top of the latest anti-wrinkle creams and season's eyeshadow colors in print, bookmark this site as your one-stop cyber beauty counter for head-to-toe tips.

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beauty secret shared by Hilary Swank, Penelope Cruz, Monica Bellucci and many other famous women around the world is that of having their hair styled by Australian celebrity hairdresser Wendy Iles.

As well as Swank, Cruz and Bellucci, Wendy this year has styled the hair of Frieda Pinto, the star of the award-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire", Eva Longoria, of the television show "Desperate Housewives", Maggie Chung, of the movie "In the mood for love", Charlotte Rampling, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dita von Tesse and many other international celebrities.

Wendy has been busy this year styling the hair of celebrities in Hollywood, New York, Paris and London, like she has been doing for the last 10 years or so of her 25 years as a hairstylist.

Between jobs she likes to relax with her family at home in the countryside near Paris and once a year she likes to holiday
with them in the country setting of Latrobe in Tasmania where she was born.

She and her husband, Jacques Masi, and daughter, Beatrice, will visit relatives while holidaying in Tasmania this Christmas.

"As passionate as I am about hairstyling all year long, it will be lovely to take a holiday and visit my family back home in Australia after what has been a fairly busy year," she says.

Because she is so busy, she has had to trim their holiday in Tasmania to only one week this year.

Wendy seems to have become a celebrity in her own right by being so creative as a hairstylist and so popular with many famous women. She has even had a book devoted to her and her creations.

She will be available to the Australian media for interviews between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve.

As a freelance, celebrity hairstylist, her clients over the years have included:

Does your hair fall a lot? Don't worry, you're not alone. Millions of people from all around the world suffer from dry, brittle and weak hair. Some of the possible reasons for falling hair are:

* Tension
* Too much work
* Illness
* Poor diet
* Over-exposure to the sun
* Perming
* Amateur bleaching
* Too frequent and inexpert use of tints, rinses or other colourants

Here is what you can do to prevent hair fall

* Shampoo regularly. Remember, a CLEAN scalp is a HEALTHY SCALP.

* Brahmi amla oil also promotes hair growth.

* A high protein diet with plenty of fruits, green vegetables and dairy products is a must.

* Drink 10-12 glass of water everyday.

* Use a very mild shampoo and condition your hair at least twice a week. When you do, make sure you rinse out the conditioner thoroughly, otherwise residue build-up will cause your hair to look limp and dull.

* Know your vitamins! IRON is important for healthy hair and brittle, limp hair indicates an iron deficiency. Spinach has a good iron content, so gulp it down!

* ZINC helps prevent hair loss and greying. Eat adequate zinc rich foods. Overweight people tend to have zinc deficiency, which is inversely related to the body mass index. Thus if you are overweight and if your hair falls too much, you may want to increase your intake of zinc containing foods. Recipes containing stone ground, wholegrain flour are rich in zinc.

* A shortfall in VITAMIN B may cause dandruff, falling hair, loss of colour and could encourage grey hair. So B group Vitamins are essential for gloss, colour and thickness.

* VITAMIN C ensures the health of capillaries supplying blood to hair follicles. Make sure your diet includes plenty of fresh fruits and veggies.

* VITAMIN E encourages hair growth. Switch from refined flours to wholemeal and wheatgerm, eggs, vegetable oil.

* COPPER stops hair from falling. Studies show that the copper content in the blood serum of people with falling hair is less than normal. Different types of alopecia (falling hair) are seen to have a deficiency of this important trace element. Include small quantities of nuts, especially cashews and peanuts, seeds, whole milk and beans in your diet as these contain minute but important amounts of copper.

Magazines Vogue, Elle, L'Officiel, Mixte, i-D, Glamour, Vanity Fair, Harpers Bazaar, Amica, CitizenK, Ten and V;

Advertisers Christian Dior, Chanel, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Swarovski, Boucheron, Cacharel, Sonia Rykiel, Nina Ricci, Geurlain, Lancôme, H&M, Guess, Astor Cosmetics, Nivea, Palmolive, Clairol, Schwarzkopf, Herbal Essence, Wella, L'Oréal and Pantene;

Celebrities Monica Bellucci, Dianne Kruger, Penelope Cruz, Chloe Sevigny, Dita Von Tesse, Cat Deeley, Juliette Lewis, Amira Casar, Marion Cotillard, Lambert Wilson, Charlotte Gainsbourg; Charlotte Rampling; and

World acclaimed photographers Jean Paul Goude, Karl Lagerfeld, Ruven Afandor, Koto Bolofo, Rankin, Tyen, Ellen von Unwerth, Ralph Mecke, Christophe Kutner, Felix Lammers, Manuela Pavesi, Louis Decamps, Zanna, Simon Emmett, Daniele Duella and Iango Henzi, Indlekofer and Knoepfel, Vincent Peters, Eric Traoré, Boris and Sol, Jean Baptist Mondino, Phil Poynter.