Fashion and luxury brands, hand-selected styles, members-only preferred pricing. Welcome to the world of Gilt Groupe.

Gilt Groupe is a referral based online community dedicated to offering their members unique access to highly coveted luxury and fashion brands at the most desirable price points.

Gilt Groupe hand selects both established and up-and-coming designers relevant to its membership base. Every Shopping Event is designer-specific and held over a 36 hour period (or until sold out). All sales take place on our website www.glt.com.

As a preview to the actual Shopping Event, Gilt Groupe’s production team creates a trailer (short video reel) to introduce each designer and brand to its membership and makes additional background information available through our website so that each and every member has the opportunity to fully experience that particular designer or brand.

Today, Gilt Groupe Presents Lorelei followed by Alessandro dell’Acqua on Thursday December 6th, and Marchesa on Wednesday December 12th.

Gilt has extended 500 VIP Invitations for Temptalia readers. Just follow this link to sign up: http://www.gilt.com/promo/temptalia.

New York Fashion Week begins February 1st and runs through the 8th in Bryant Park, New York City.

Get all the details here!

What was the first makeup product you bought? What item began your collection?

I think my first makeup product were some random glitters from a shop in Santa Cruz… if not those, then Benefit cream shadows

Luckily, I haven’t experienced any real trouble with the new Metal-X shadows, but I have heard plenty of those who have been unsure about their application, ease, and lasting power. Of course, this means I must enlist the help of an expert, and who better than Victor Cembellin, Senior MAC Artist, to guide us all?

Here are a couple of quick tips on how to play with the Metal X collection!

• With a unique ‘cream powder’ formula the Metal X colors may stand on their own as a metallic lid color (with little to no creasing) simple apply with a MAC #242 or #252 brush and pat across a bare eye lid.
• For an unbeatable intensity- use the Metal X colors as a base for any MAC eyes shadow on top make shadows perform like their on steroids J.
• Add glitter liners thinly on top of any perfectly applied fluid eyeliner to create a modernized 50′s cat eye. VERY CHIC.
• Using the litter gold and silver Metal X tones, apply sparingly to the high cheek bones for a beautiful ‘plastic’ effect on the skin.
• Use glitter liners sparingly below the eye to add interest and a unique spin on any eye make up application.
• Use glitter liner on the tips of any style of MAC lashes to create a diamond-like effect to the lash.

Hope these help some of you! Let me know what tips and tricks you’ve found that would really help others, too.

If you have a question, feel free to send it to temptalia@gmail.com.

Q: What kind of makeup should I do for my graduation photograph?
A: So this is kind of my general take on graduation photographs based on what I wore for my photograph. The best thing you can do is take your time to make your skin look as flawless as possible. I would use a light to medium coverage foundation, with a large powder or buffer brush (my favorite is the 182 brush), spritz with water (or Fix+), and then pick up foundation and apply over. If you’d like, set with a powder. Lightly contour the hollows of your cheeks, add a touch of blusher – either glowy for a bronzed look or peachy-pink if you’re warm toned (NC) or cool-pink if you’re cool toned (NW) for a slightly blushed look. I would go softer rather than dramatic on the eyes. Play up lashes with a good black mascara, line eyes carefully with thin lines of black eyeliner. For shadow, try something neutral. I find golds to work lovely, with a warm or cool brown in the crease to define the eye better. Lips should be more dramatic than subtle, but I wouldn’t necessarily pick a red. I find dark peachy-pinks, plums, and raspberries to be great ideas to try, depending on your eye choice. If you go warm, I would look at a warm raspberry or peachy-pink lip. If you go cool, try a plum shade.  Oh, and skip adding additional SPF on this day — sometimes too much SPF can wash you out in photographing lights!
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Good Girl / Bad Girl Kit ($29.50)

From the glam labs of Too Faced comes this beauty kit that celebrates both extremes of your persona. Feeling a little naughty? Then transform yourself into a seductress with the ‘Bad Girl’ palette of sexy jewel-toned shades! Is your inner saint clamoring to get out? Then go naturally nude with the ‘Good Girl’ collection of toasty caramels and sugary beiges. Each palette features three shadows and three glosses. Finally, a makeup option to help your inner attitude bust out!

What makes it worth it: I was swatching this a few times at Sephora, and wow, you really do get amazing shadow pay off in this kit. I was pleasantly surprised at the smoothness of the shadows as well as how lovely the shades turned out on the skin. The glosses weren’t bad, but they didn’t wow me as much as the shadows do (I expect most glosses to be decent in a palette, even if annoying to apply). I think the packaging is adorable, and I love the good girl/bad girl aspect of the dual-sided palette. I like that they include brushes on the side for your application needs, too. I think this is an excellent kit for the price, and it would make a lovely stocking stuffer or gift for a gal pal.

Why you might pass on it: If you aren’t a palette fan, then this obviously isn’t for you. Otherwise, there’s no reason not to get it!

Find this product at Too Faced locations, www.toofaced.com, and www.nordstrom.com.