Beauty 911

Exfoliate yourself raw? Slather on so much self-tanner you're a not-found-in-nature shade of orange? Bleach your hair into oblivion? Join the club. We've all fallen victim to the "if a little is good, then a lot must be better" trap in the quest to get gorgeous. But help is here. Read on for face- (and hair- and body-) saving advice from the pros.

OOPS! You've cut your bangs too short.
"Trimming your own fringe is tougher than it looks," says Mark Townsend, a Matrix celeb stylist in Los Angeles.
Fast Fix
"Sweeping your bangs to the side, rather than wearing them straight down on your forehead, will help disguise their length until they grow out a bit, which usually takes about four weeks," says Townsend. To style in the interim, he recommends coating damp bangs with a pea-size drop of light-hold gel, such as Biolage Sculpting Jelly ($14; biolage.com for salons), then blasting them to the side with a blow-dryer. You can also camouflage your handiwork by pulling the hair off your forehead with stylish bobby pins or a headband.
Best Beauty Advice
Even if you're not ready for a full-fledged haircut, go to the salon—most stylists will snip long fringe free of charge. "And if you can't make it to a pro, at the very least cut your hair when it's wet so it lies flat and you stand a chance of getting an even outcome," says Townsend. Then aim to trim the hair so it falls right below your brow line.

OOPS! You OD'd on highlights and now your hair's bleached out.
"A lot of women end up over-blonding, especially when they're highlighting at home," says Jason Backe, a colorist at the Ted Gibson salon in New York City. Usually you're successful the first two to three times you do your own streaks. But by the third or fourth dye job, you're overlapping the highlights (it's nearly impossible not to when working on your own head) and losing your natural dark undertones.
Fast Fix
Put your hair in a clip and hightail it to the drugstore. What you're looking for: an allover, demi-permanent color (a long-lasting, temporary dye that washes out in four to six weeks) in a hue one shade deeper than your highlights. "A demi-permanent dye tones down bright blond and gets rid of brassiness," says Marcy Cona, a colorist in Silver Lake, Ohio. A consultant for Clairol, Cona swears by the company's Natural Instincts blond shades in the "neutral" range ($9; walgreens.com) as opposed to those labeled "cool" or "warm"—which can leave over-lightened hair greenish or brassy. To apply, set the directions aside and follow these steps from Backe: Shampoo your hair; while it's still wet, comb the color through your tresses and wait three minutes. Rinse and blow-dry. If you want to subdue the hue even more, repeat the process. If your hair still isn't the shade you want, Backe suggests going to the salon to have a professional weave in some lowlights to reintroduce the darker undertones you've lost.
Best Beauty Advice
"When I'm coloring a blonde, I typically use three different shades—a light, a medium, and a darker tone—to make the results look realistic," says Cona. Because this kind of "multidimensional" highlighting is tough to do yourself, if you're simply seeking a quick hit of brightness, avert a disaster by sidestepping streaks and choosing a single-process color one shade lighter than your present hair color. After ward, wash with a color-protecting shampoo, like Pantene Pro-V Highlighting Expressions Shampoo ($6; at drugstores), to preserve your pigment.

OOPS! You irritated your skin with an exfoliator.
The abundance of do-it-yourself chemical-peel and micro-dermabrasion kits have made exfoliating at home easier and more affordable for women. However, "too often people don't read the instructions," says Pat Wexler, M.D., a cosmetic dermatologist in New York City, "and they wind up using something daily that's meant to be applied just once a week." The result? Major redness.
Fast Fix
Drape your face with ice-cold, skim milk–saturated cotton pads for 20 to 30 minutes. "The protein in the milk neutralizes inflammation in the skin," says Wexler. Then keep your skincare routine very simple for the next five to seven days, says Kate Somerville, a Los Angeles celebrity aesthetician. She recommends sticking to the mildest cleanser you can find, such as Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser ($11), and slathering on a light salve, like Aquaphor Healing Ointment ($8; both at drugstore.com) to keep the area moist. Then shelve the offending scrub or peel for at least a week.
Best Beauty Advice
To avoid irritation, opt for gentle exfoliators like Nude Facial Scrub ($52; nudeskin care.com), with skin-buffing beads, or Sonya Dakar Enzyme Peeling Cream ($85; sonyadakar.com), which dissolves dead skin cells in minutes so they easily splash away when you rinse. Wexler's rule: Unless a product is formulated for daily use, apply no more than once or twice a week. If you experience redness or stinging, stretch it out to twice a month.