With the holidays, I know I can’t help but treat my best friends to some of my favorite beauty products I’ve tried (and running a beauty blog certainly has given me a plethora of products to pull from!). In fact, I am a total gift-builder. I love to pick up baskets from a craftstore, add a few embellishments (like faux flowers, potpourri, etc.), and stuff it full of what I’m giving. I find it adds a great personal touch! Continue reading →

How do you keep your lips super soft? Are there certain miracle products you use? Is it all about the technique and the tricks? Tell us how you keep your pout looking gorgeous all winter long.

It’s really important to take a break from being cool, collected, and gorgeous and just have a little bit of fun with yourself. Knowing when to have a bit of spontaneous fun can do wonders for your attitude, outlook, and even creativity! Personally, I’m known as a work-a-holic, as I enjoy being productive above most things; whenever I’m not productive, then I really go all-out and be the laziest gal you can imagine (this means I sit around, catch up on ANTM and I Love New York, watch Criminal Intent, etc.).

I don’t “let loose” as often as I probably should, but I did tonight, and it reminded me that I should urge everyone around me to do the same every once in awhile. My boyfriend just purchased a new suit and had it tailored, so he modeled it for me earlier this evening. As a joke, I put on his jacket, and he convinced me to put on his pants, too. Since I made him model for me, I had to model for him (fair is fair, after all). He snapped four photos, and here’s a collage (larger size than the top photo) of the four he took so you can proof that I can be fun and silly at times!

What do you do to have a bit of fun and be silly?

DuWop’s Moon Venom ($17.00)

An iridescent-hued lip-plumping gloss that gives lips a stunning celestial shimmer. DuWop’s Moon Venom is just the product you need to pump up your lips to out-of-this world proportions. This tingly gloss is infused with the same essential oils as the original Lip Venom, including cinnamon, ginger and wintergreen, that enhance your lips’ natural color and shape by increasing circulation. Slick on Moon Venom for a pearlized, opalescent finish and the fullest, flashiest pout that can’t be achieved with ordinary lip gloss.

What makes it worth it: If plump is what you want, plump is what you’ll get. Moon Venom delivers on giving you a plump pout with a good dose of shimmer to add to it. I like how shiny and glossy the formula leaves your lips looking, and it did feel like the plumping power lasted several hours.

Why you might pass on it: Like DuWop’s other formulations of their original Lip Venom, Moon Venom is not meant for anyone who has sensitive lips or wouldn’t be able to handle a tingling/prickling sensation for more than a minute or two. You will definitely feel a bit of pain as the product plumps up your lips.

Find this product at www.duwop.com and www.nordstrom.com.

AVRIL LAVIGNE is famous (infamous?) for her incredibly dark, black smoky eyes. It is often hard to find her sporting anything other than black shadow and liner, but we find her testing out a smoky gray and gold-yellow at the 2007 AMAs. Apply your base of choice (we suggest Urban Decay’s Primer Potion). For the inner fourth of the lid, apply MAC’s Goldmine eyeshadow to the area, as well as the inner tearducts and inner lower lash line with the 239 brush. For the gray, we pick MAC’s Print eyeshadow. Using the 239 brush, apply all over the remaining portion of the lid, extending above the crease and blending upwards. With a highlighter like MAC’s Shroom eyeshadow, apply to browbone and just below it to blend the gray seamlessly into the highlight with the 239. We don’t see much of a crease color in this look, from what we can tell, but we like Carbon eyeshadow applied with the 222 just gently deposited into the outer portion of the crease for a slightly smoldering look. With the 219 brush, apply a thin line of Print eyeshadow on lower lash line. Use a kohl liner, like MAC’s Graphblack technakohl, on lower lash line. Afterwards, use the 219 brush to smudge outwards into the gray shadow. Apply MAC’s #3 lashes for pitch-black, dramatic lashes.

Though Lavigne’s skin looks practically flawless, she has focused on playing up her eyes rather than her skin. We like your favorite foundation as our choice for this look, but if we must suggest, we’ll suggest our holy grail: MAC’s Studio Fix Fluid. Apply dabs of foundation on your cheeks, chin, forehead, and nose using a concealer brush like the 194. Spritz a fluffy powder or buffer brush (we love the 182) with water of Fix+ (if you have it), and then spread out the dabs of foundation. Cheeks are minimally flushed, so we recommend MAC’s Springsheen blush with a most light-handed application.

Lips are also downplayed in this look, and we see mostly her natural pink lip with some lipgloss for sheen. Make yours like hers with MAC’s Sweetie lipstick, a sheer lipstick with moderate buildability, topped with clear gloss for the right effect. Smile a bit, and you’ll be rockin’ like Lavigne all night.

For the mother who’s addicted to beauty and makeup as you, we have this season’s best offerings lined up for quick shopping and catching up.

Now, you can find the best gifts to give! Continue reading →