Yves Saint Laurent celebrates the holiday season with some very lush offerings. The White Gold Celebration palette featuers three eyeshadows, three lipsticks, one gloss, one highlighter, and a blush ($67.00). There is a matching White Gold Lip palette that can be worn around the neck or attached to an accessorry. The heart has two textures, an intense lipstick and a natural gloss ($62.00). Check out their compact powder for complexion decorated with a heart imprint with a duo of Pink Beige and Rose Whisper ($52.00). The White Gold Eyeshadow palette contains four metallic shadows that can be applied wet or dry ($50.00). Don’t foret to keep your nails in the spirit with White Gold nail lacquer ($18.00), nor ignore your lips with lipstick with White Gold ($28.00). Of course, a real standout is the Opium makeup palette, which is gorgeous and detailed with a phoenix and flowers ($57.00). Now available at Nordstrom.com.
Stila brings us several fun-filled beauty “best of stila” gift sets for less than their actual value (yay for holiday sets!). Check out their Gift of Glaze collection, which includes mini versions of Nutmeg Spice, Candy Cane, Grapefruit, Apricot, Vanilla, and Brown Sugar lip glazes ($28.00). Their Gift of Glamour includes lip glaze in Fruit Cake, eyeshadow in Kitten and Barefoot Contessa, Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer SPF15 in Shade 01, and Multi-effect Mascara in black ($60.00). Their Gift of Glow Bronzing Kit has your essentials for a golden glow, including Sun Bronzer SPF 15, lip glaze in Brown Sugar, Smudge Pot in Bronze, baked eyeshadow trio in Gold Glow, and a mini eyeliner brush ($45.00). View all the goodies at www.stilacosmetics.com or www.sephora.com.
P.S. – Save 20% and get free shipping on orders over $40 with discount code “DANIELLEBFF“! (Saw this on craigslist on Thursday, so I thought I’d pass it on!) Be sure to shop at www.stilacosmetics.com to save! Good til November 2007.
LORAC brings a whole slew of nifty gift sets for this holiday season. Their big kahuna is “Fairytale Life” ($195 value), which is a Sephora exclusive and features eight eyeshadows in Star (Warm Beige Shimmer), Princess (Frosty Taupe), Rich (Light Khaki Shimmer), Jade (Green Shimmer), Glitz (Pink Champagne), Glam (Plum Shimmer), Elegant (Silver Crystal Shimmer), and Stunning (Navy Shimmer); two blushes in Dream (Tan Shimmer) and Fantasy (Rose Frost); two sparkling lip polishes in Fame (Cool Pink Shine) and Fortune (Warm Rosy Shimmer); Lotsa Lash Mini Fiber Mascara in Black; and a double-ended Eyeshadow/Liner Brush ($52.00). Total steal! They also have a darling set of lip glosses in their “Mini Mocktail Bar” ($67 value) which includes Razberi Cosmo (Raspberry Mauve), Guava Tiki (Peachy Pink), Tropical Dream (Peach Shimmer), Lava Flow (Dark Pink Sparkle), Caffeini Martini (Rose Brown), and Sex on the Beach (Fuscia) ($25.00). Don’t forget “Lotsa Gift”, which is a plumping set featuring lipstick, gloss, and mascara ($25.00). Still want more? Their “Showstopper Palette” is a gorgeous palette with eyeshadows in Sand (pale beige), Serenity (peach tan), Luxe (golden brown), and Glamour (smoky black); plus a blush in Couture (golden pink rose) ($35.00). Find your perfect gift at www.loraccosmetics.com and www.sephora.com.
Too Faced delights the holiday season with their “Lights, Camera, Glamour!” box filled with eight eyeshadows, six lip glosses, two blush powders, a bronzer, a face powder, a shimmer powder, a brow powder, and an eye liner powder ($40.00). Be sure to browse their Quickie Chronicles – The Miss Sixty Girl, “a runway-ready color palette for eyes, cheeks, and lips”, which features an eyeshadow quad, eyelinner duo, blush, and four lipglosses ($28.00). You can shop for these at www.toofaced.com or www.sephora.com.
Last week I asked readers to give their three best makeup tips to beginners when it came to makeup. Now, I’m going to share my top ten make up tips I think are important for anyone at any level or skill. These are in no particular order!
Accentuate your favorite features, and remember that focusing on one feature per look tends to achieve a better overall look. Doing dramatic eyes, cheeks, and lips can sometimes take away from beauty because it comes out overdone and perhaps even “clownish.” This is not to say you shouldn’t or you can’t do bold eyes and lips; it is more a word of caution when it comes to doing multiple focal points.
Confidence is the most essential piece to what you wear out. Anybody can rock any color eyeshadow, blush, or lipstick/gloss as long as they have the confidence to back it up. Being comfortable in your makeup is vital, because the awkwardness or self-consciousness will definitely be picked up by others. So, honey, take that bright blue shadow you’ve been lusting over, but haven’t dared to wear, and pull it off by just realizing how amazingly beautiful you are and how much fun can be had with experimentation and trying colors that aren’t your norm.
Looking polished is easily achieved by complimenting your makeup and not forgetting the parts of your face. Those with naturally fabulous skin can do well simply by moisturizing (and if you feel the need, a light powder or concealer), and others who have less-than-perfect skin have so many variations and formulas of foundation available to them to turn that skin into even, smooth, flawless-looking skin. Perfecting the skin can do wonders on your confidence, because so many of us fret over those teenage acne scars or the slight rosacea some of us have, and other various skin “flaws.” Sparse eyebrows are easily turned into glamorous sisters by gently filling them in. Lips are defined by lip liner and/or lipstick, or even a light gloss with only a hint of color to give off an image of lush puckers. Eyes can be enhanced with nothing but natural brown mascara, to lengthen and thicken lashes just slightly.
This tutorial is designed to go step by step through a very dark, sultry purple smoky eye, which is best suited for clubbing and special occasions – but great for fall.
Skill Level: Intermediate
Eyes: Smoke Signal pigment (burgundy), Cumulus eyeshadow (grayish blue), Thunder eyeshadow (dark purple-gray), Sketch eyeshadow (brown burgundy), Feline kohl power (black eye liner), and black mascara. Face: If you’d like to compliment the eyes, use Other Worldly blush (warm dirty brown) on apples of cheeks with Taupe blush to contour. Lips: For matching lips, try Sparks Can Fly lipstick with Lull lipglass. Tools: MAC 249 firm shadow brush, 239 shadow brush, 219 detailed crease brush
