Tis that time of year when our favorite cosmetic companies start dangling “Friends & Family” promos in front of our makeup-lusting eyes!

And just in, Urban Decay announced their 30% off Friends & Family sale, good now until November 20th. From their 24/7 Eyeliners to their newest Surreal Skin Cream To Powder Foundation, 30% off is too good to pass up!  Just use the code “FNFW1″ at checkout and hit REDEEM COUPON on the Urban Decay site.

Let our latest reviews of Urban Decay be your guide:

Fall Trends a la Jen

Trends for fall, or, Welcome back COLOR!

Shop responsibly and be gorgeous!

One of my favorite blogging friends Erin (The Cheap Chick) just asked for a list of our favorite beauty must-haves for Fall.  Mo’s post about current fall trends for eyes was awesome, as usual.  Here is my split second attempt at favorite fall beauty items:

For the dark lip look:

DuWop Private Red – a fabulous, deep red lipstick!

The smoky eye:

Smoke Out Eye Pencils from Urban Decay (on sale right now for $9)

Fun way to go smoky, and love, love, love Urban Decay’s eyeliners!

Thick, beautiful brows:

Anastasia’s All About Brows Kit

At a spa last week, the esthetician went wack-o threading my thick brows, and I am so sad! Thank goodness for this amazing brow kit – the tweezers really rock too.

Please feel free to chime in your favorite fall beauty items too!

I am so happy to be moving out of the  pastels and bronzes of spring and summer. The light soft colors are fun as the buds begin to bloom for the first time, but I’m soon anxious for a splash of color and a little more pizzaz. To be fair, some of the big trends for fall have nothing to do with color. Once again we’re seeing the super smoky eye, which is really no surprise considering that there’s only so much you can do without repeating a previous trend. Since this is the “super” smoky eye we’re supposed to feel that it’s something new and different, but it’s really just another chance for all of us to walk around looking like raccoons. Stick with your regular smoky eye look and resist the urge to follow the adage that “more is better”.  And gray shadow is popular, which can be a bit dull, though there are some lovely purple and blue hued grays that are great for day wear. Or try them in the evening with black liner for a super hot cat eye. A pop of color on eyes with a nice pink cheek and lip leave me feeling all giddy, and dark vampy lips have me practically begging the leaves to start falling and the chilly breezes to blow. (more…)

Just in!  Two big time beauty retailers announced storewide savings online.

Urban Decay site is offering a 30% friends and family sale, enter the coupon code, “FNFF1″ August 10-20th!  Mo wrote up about her newest favorite lip primer at this post, “Urban Decay Hits Prime Time.”

My multi-talented friend Melissa sampled a couple of UD’s newest products.  Not only is she an amazing swimmer and athlete, her good humor and vocal talents keep us all laughing at work continually:

Oil Slick Lipstick

I love the hint of shimmer, though I was originally intimidated by the black shade. It makes my lips look like shiny, rich plum shade, rather than harsh and matte. It’s super smooth and long-lasting, so it’s definitely a new favorite of mine! (more…)

Per usual, the arrival of new Urban Decay products means everything else got pushed aside for a while. Hey, I love Urban Decay and I’m not ashamed to admit it! There are a whole slew of new goodies but I’m JUST going to give my thought on all the new primers I tried in this post.

Now, I’m a little outside the norm when it comes to UD’s Primer Potion. I just don’t love it. I know, I’m crazy, but I’m a Too Faced Shadow Insurance gal myself. Nonetheless, I tried not to let my feeling about the eye primer taint my opinion. With an open mind and a heart overflowing with adoration, I set out to test the endurance of UD’s newest babies.

At this point we’re all pretty familiar with eyelash primers. I’ve tried scads of them and most tend to be pretty similar. The problem I’ve had with a majority of them is that they tend to flake. By the end of the day I have bits of mascara scattered about my cheeks, like tiny grains of sand that have dropped to show people just how long I’ve been awake. NOT a good look for me. I’m pleased to say that this wasn’t a problem with the Urban Decay Eyeleash Primer Potion. Today it really got a workout, as I ran from one end of the airport to the other and back while filling in for missing employees. Our cave can get hot and muggy, and there’s no time for touch ups during a busy run, so products that stay in place are a must. Not only did the Eyelash Primer Potion do its job in that aspect, it also helped the bulk of my mascara stay in place when I had a quick cry later in the afternoon. These two exceptional events on top of great performance on average days make this primer something I can recommend with confidence. I didn’t get much extra volume from this primer, but I did get plenty of length without any clumping or spider eyes. At $17 it’s a slightly lower price point than many of the prestige primers out there, but a good deal more expensive than the mass market primer/mascara combos you’ll find at your favorite drugstore. Given my experience with the performance though, I’d rather layer my favorite mascara over this than use a combo I’m not really crazy about, less expensive or not.

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I’ve completely flipped over the newest cosmetic shades that were released this summer.  Urban Decay’s 24/7 Eye Pencil in Flipside (Bright Teal) $16 and Liquid Liner in Ecstasy (Bright Purple) $18 are beyond gorgeous for playing up your eyes!

The NARS Summer 2009 Makeup Collection includes the deepest, multi-dimensional teal eyeshadow, Tropic Single Eyeshadow ($22).  In combination with a stroke of a golden bronzer around your face, can you imagine a more amazing color duo than teal or electric purple to wear this summer?

To see Flipside in action follow this link to DecoDiva’s site where she shares her amazing makeup art skills:  Kiddie Pool, Uzi, Flipside, Electric & Sylvie FOTD.

Please discuss.

Wanted to entice a few more of you to enter our Get Baked! Urban Decay Giveaway.  The deadline is coming up this Thursday, May 21st.

What we’re giving away:

Urban Decay’s New Get Baked Eyeshadow Palette

Our universally flattering collection delivers three neutral favorites from our best-selling “Baked” collection (Baked, Half Baked, and Twice Baked), an electric shade of teal (Flipside), and a travel-sized 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Bourbon

It’s the first time we’ve offered our long-lasting 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils or Sin Eyeshadow Primer Potion as part of a palette! Sin is a shimmery, champagne version of our classic Primer – try it alone or under a shadow.

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I’ve been playing around with some of my newer stuff lately and tried something on a whim that I ended up really loving.
My friend Tracy is a recent convert/addict to Aromaleigh and their vast selection of colors, and she always snags a sample or two for me when she orders(I know, everyone should be so lucky). My lastest goodies were some of the glam glitters from the rocks!Sonic collection. These are super fine sparkly glitters that you must see to appreciate. I highly reccomend buying a sample or two at least. I wanted to wear some of my ultra glam glitters but I wanted to make sure they stayed all day no matter what I did. So I whipped out my Urban Decay cream shadows.

First I applied my usual primer (TooFaced Shadow Insurance, best stuff ever) and let it set a little, then I smoothed a little of my UD cream shadow in “Rehab”, a creamy taupe, over my lower lid. I let it dry for just a moment, then, while it was still a little tacky, I dipped a fluffy brush into my “rebelrebel” bronze glitter and patted it over the shadow. The glitter helps to set the cream shadow and the cream shadow really holds the glitter right where you want it all day long. I followed with a light highlighter color under my brow and in my crease to calm it down for daytime, and I love how it gives just a flash of sparkle peeking from my lids. It’s a fun way to play with glitter without looking like a club kid. Here’s a tip, the Beauty Blender sponge is amazing at grabbing and wiping away glitter or mineral shadow fallout under your eyes after application.

As an added incentive to try something fantastic and new, Aromaleigh’s rocks! mineral shadows and glam glitters are 25% off right now! This offer runs through 10 am EST on May 20th and you should definitely take advantage of this deal and the other goodies available in their coupons+deals section.

May is heating up and we are extremely pleased to announce another amazing Urban Decay giveaway!   One lucky person will win:

Urban Decay’s New Get Baked Eyeshadow Palette

Our universally flattering collection delivers three neutral favorites from our best-selling “Baked” collection (Baked, Half Baked, and Twice Baked), an electric shade of teal (Flipside), and a travel-sized 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Bourbon

It’s the first time we’ve offered our long-lasting 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils or Sin Eyeshadow Primer Potion as part of a palette! Sin is a shimmery, champagne version of our classic Primer – try it alone or under a shadow.

Big Buddha Kabuki Brush

With fibers this luxe, and a brush this large, the Big Buddha Brush is SOOOO soft… you’ll catch yourself absently running the brush up and down your arm for no reason at all!

Baked Bronzer in Gilded

An ultra-smooth, sheer-finish bronzer that can be used wet or dry and always goes on streak-free.   The Gilded shade is a bronze colored shimmer w/veins of gold.

These three UD products (Palette, Brush and Bronzer) retail for $88 at the urbandecay.com site.

To Enter: fill in your name and email address in the contest machine box!   One entry per person and the deadline is Thursday May 21st, 2009. One winner will be announced on at the Mythbuster Beauty site, PRIZEY.Fetch, and contacted via email.  MBB will not share your email address with anyone, and only uses your email address to contact you if you are a winner.  This giveaway is open to residents of the USA and Canada only.  The winner will receive one Urban Decay Baked Bronzer in Gilded,  Big Buddha Kabuki Brush, and Get Baked Eyeshadow Palette that has the total retail value of $88.

That’s right, through April 17th you can save 30%…30%!…on all your UD faves or even some pretty new must have’s.
The Book of Shadows is back, but act fast because it may sell out again. Primer potion in an all new color, Sin. New Pocket Rocket lip gloss. Of course you can’t pass up all our 24/7 favorites for 30% off.
AND, orders over $35 receive a free Sellout deluxe lipstick sample.

“How do I take advantage of this amazing deal?!” you cry. Calm down, it’s actually pretty simple. Just enter the code “FNFS9″ at checkout and bing bang boom, pretty spring things will be motoring their way to your door! Go, shop, thank me later….