Okay, we all know about cotton swabs and their many magical cosmetics uses. Wet, dry, straight, angled…there are about a million ways you can use those little babies. I love that such a simple, inexpensive item you have hanging around your house can be so useful and versatile, so I thought I would share with you my second favorite household beauty tool, a plain old 3×5 card. (more…)

I am re-publishing this post today, both because I am feeling lazy, and because I just went over this technique with a friend this morning.  Actually, the REAL reason is to “ick” out Tracy because this picture looks like I am jabbing out my eye with a liner brush!  Enjoy.

Earlier this year, I mentioned one of my favorite eyeliner techniques using a flat eyeliner brush with a gel or liquid liner to create a very thin or tight line on your lashline.   The “tightline” is a fabulous technique for individuals who want to naturally enhance their lashes.

I use Laura Mercier’s flat liner brush with Bleu Marine and it stays on great and looks fabulous. If you have thin or sparse lashes this is an awesome way to define your eyes and make your lashes look thicker!

“with my Laura Mercier’s Flat Liner Brush I dot Bleu Marine eye liner above and below the lashes, to thicken my lash line and add some Oomph!  I think it turned out pretty cool, imho!  The brush in this position probably makes you cringe, and you need to be careful with it.  This liner technique just needs a steady hand and some practice.”

An excellent video to help demonstrate how to apply the tight eyeliner or “tightliner” technique in detail is found at:  http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=487834.

Kate from Megsmakeup.com mentioned that a thin eyeliner, like Tarte’s emphasEYES (that comes in chocolate, plum, green or black) is another way to create the tightline look.

No matter which eyeliner you choose, the tightliner technique is something you must try!

Elke Von Freudenberg is considered to be a Top 5 Eyebrow Specialist, and created her own specialty line, The MODEL BROW! 

Models are born gorgeous but even they need help from beauty pros to look picture perfect. We got the scoop on the key products their makeup artists and hair stylists can’t work without. Make sure these secret weapons are in your beauty stash.

See products

One of the biggest reasons that I think people hesitate to order online is that they can’t try it first to see if they’ll like it or not.  With many mineral makeup ‘Indie companies,’ that’s not the case.

Meow Cosmetics sells all of their samples for $1.00 and they are quite generous with the product amount. This lets you try a vast array of colors and products without worrying that you’ll buy a product and you won’t like it. For the price of a $1.00 if you don’t like it, you won’t regret it. They also offer sales that range from 10% to 25% off, so if you wait for a sale you can even buy your samples for a less expensive price. Meow samples come in baggies.

Aromaleigh samples vary by collection, but usually range from $.85 to $2.20 depending on product. Aromaleigh is also very generous with their product samples. I was able to get almost a month’s worth of use out of one blush sample, which really impressed me. Aromaleigh has weekly sales, so you can wait for one of their weekly sales and get the samples or full size item 25% off. Aromaleigh samples come in baggies. (more…)

Raging Rouge recently wrote a post about many beautiful purples being featured in cosmetics as a trend this season.   The six spectacular nail shades shown at her post are worth your time alone, and I have to add my blessing to the purple trend! 

Here’s a fact, I love purple.  My birthstone, amethyst.  My favorite flower, lilac.  Favorite Tootsie Roll Pop flavor, grape.  My passion for things purple could go on and on, and Urban Decay must have sensed this because they created the most decadent purple shades this season.

Urban Decay’s Matte Eyeshadow in Heist ($16):  a dusty purple that adds a subtle gorgeous matte purple to your lids.  And if you wanted a more bold purple color, you could always opt for Purple Haze or Eggplant.

Urban Decay’s Lipstick in Vinyl ($22):  How on earth did I miss hearing about this shade?   An incredibly multi-dimensional dark purply-plum lipstick.  This is on my must get list. (more…)

Prompted by a Bionic Beauty post last week called, “What makeup are you wearing today?”  I was also inspired by DecoDiva’s great going out post and pics last week on her blogsite.  I wanted to ask MBB readers a similar question.  When you go out for the evening, how do you “kick it up a notch?”

Evening makeup deserves a more intense lip color, a richly pigmented black mascara, and some fabulous glow.   On a recent evening out with my hubby, I went with a bolder berry look, inspired by two of Urban Decay’s new lip products, their 24/7 Lip Pencil and Lipstick. 

• Hair:  Jessicurl’s Aloeba Daily Conditioner, Rockin’ Ringlets Styling Potion, and Confident Coils Styling Solution, set with hair clips, scrunched with a microfiber towel and allowed to air dry.
• Skin prep:  SK1N Probiotics Daily Moisturizing Cream
• Anastasia’s All About Brows Kit:  Defines and tames my brows
• Prescriptives Flawless Skin Foundation in Rose, applied with a foundation brush and fingers
• Laura Mercier Eyeliner in Bleu Marine, appliled with flat eyeliner brush
• Profaces mineral eyeshadow in a rosy gold glimmer
• Sugar’s Bronzer/Blush Duo, blush on apples of cheeks and bronzer around face and jawline
• Alison Raffaele’s True Concealer
• Urban Decay’s 24/7 Glide-on Lip Pencil in Wicked, creamy and lasts, truly lives up to its glide on name.
• Urban Decay’s Lipstick in Hotpants, luxuriously creamy and beautiful medium pink shade.
• Napoleon Perdis, Long Black Mascara, one coat
• Light dusting of Aromaleigh’s Illuminator Finishing Powder, a translucent, sheer loose mineral cosmetic powder, that contains reflective minerals to give your skin a radiant appearance.  Apply on brow bones, above cheeks and lightly around forehead, chin, and decollete.
• Finish by lightly tapping around face with soft clean towel to set in makeup (tip from Alyson Hoag, makeup artist at Authentic Beauty).

No matter what your skintone, you can rev up your summer with color from Urban Decay.  Here are four great color combinations that will compliment your specific complexion type.  Get creative!

Light:  Glow.  Gilded Baked Bronzer on apples of cheeks and lids, and Big Fatty Mascara in Indigo

Medium:  Contrast.  Covet (teal) eyeliner and Flash (deep purple) eyeshadow

Olive:  Metallics.  Smog Liquid Liner on entire lid and lower lash line, smudge loose eye pigment in Baked on inner corners of eyes

Dark:  Pinks/Purples.  Fetish Afterglow Blush on cheeks, Asphyxia Loose Eye Pigment on lids.  Complete this look by using Purple Haze Big Fatty Mascara.

You can use any color combination regardless of your skintone, and other brands to create these looks.   I also highly recommend using UD’s Eye Primer Potion before applyling any eye makeup because it enhances your eye shadow color and its staying power.   It also keeps my eye shadow from creasing on my lids, a big bonus!

Blue eye shadow.

Admit it, you just got chills reading that, and not the good kind either. Those words can strike fear into women’s hearts the world over. The reason is really quite easy to understand.  After all, who among us hasn’t seen blue shadow gone horribly, horribly wrong?  Oftentimes we haven’t just seen it, we’ve lived it!

So today I want to talk about color.  And no, I’m not counting your plum eye shadow as color, though it’s a good start.  In my years selling cosmetics to the average American woman I have seen one constant…brown eye shadow. There are all different shades of brown, from the lightest taupe to the darkest sable, but almost everyone is a brown offender on some level.  What’s wrong with brown you ask?  Well, on the surface of it, nothing.  However, brown is a comfort color.  It’s not threatening, it goes with almost everything, you can find it anywhere, and there is just about no way to screw it up. Plain and simple, it’s just too easy. But why don’t I count plum as a color?  Well, plum seems to be either the first step towards brown, or the first step away from it. Either way, the two are closely related.

Go take a peek in your cosmetics stash and tally how much brown eye color you have.  Be sure to include eyeliner and mascara.  You may have one or two shadows in there that border on sandy or gold, count those too. Go ahead, I’ll wait.  Now count up the rest of the colors you own.   If you have more in the color pile than you do in the brown pile, subtract any plum colored shadows. Now, of the remaining colors, pick out the ones you have actually worn in the last two weeks. Do you have 5? 3? Less? It’s time for a color intervention.

Heaven help me, I have just about seen it all. From the woman who never removed her mascara except when I took it off (about once a month), to the woman who drew her eyeliner to connect with the outer end of her brows, I cease to be amazed. When you walk around the mall looking at women like this, it’s only natural that your first thought would be, “Knock me dead if I ever end up looking like that.”  It’s the fear of becoming “that lady” which keeps many of us from testing the waters and trying new things. That being said, if you like connecting your eyeliner to your brow line then be my guest.

Whatever butters your biscuits honey, go for it.  However, if you want to add a dash of color to your repertoire and aren’t sure quite how to do it, feel free to peruse further.

Okay, there are people out there who would greatly disagree with me on this, but I believe just about anybody can wear any color. Yes, I believe that you can wear blue eye shadow and not look like you just leapt from the pages of a 1980s yearbook or a street corner.  The one thing that needs to be determined is exactly what kind of blue you should try.  With so many brands to choose from in the store and online, the choices are endless. The lightest shade of powder blue, royal blue, electric blue, indigo, teal, deep navy…you get the idea.  If you can imagine it, it’s out there somewhere. But surely you don’t feel the overwhelming urge to run out and buy every variation of blue eye shadow you can find. It would be exhausting, frustrating, and expensive.

1. So start with a pro. Schedule some time at the nearest MAC counter. Really you could go anywhere, but try to stay with lines that have a broad range of shades in the color you want to try. Sephora is also an excellent place to start, since they have so many wonderful lines all in one place. Instead of bouncing from counter to counter and store to store, you can try anything that strikes your fancy without developing blisters on your feet or a permanent impression of your rear on the car seat.  Just remember that the goal here is to get outside of that comfort zone. Whether you want to barely nudge the boundaries or are ready to take a flying leap into the unknown is totally up to you. If you find that you’ve been wearing a path to the same counter space for years, try walking around and scoping what everyone else has to offer.  Buy something refreshing to sip and leave the kids at home.  The departure from your norm will be exciting enough without added stress.  It’s a fun, cheap way to spend some “me” time.
2. Before you take the plunge, start looking around. Tear pictures from magazines with looks you’d like to try. Scan the promotional materials each line has for their newest collections, often they have the most flattering color combinations in print. Do you have a swatch of fabric with the perfect color? Bring it in and see what comes close. There are really no limits to where you could go for ideas, even if the only thing you know is what you don’t want.
3. When you’re ready to go the options are amazing.  One big, bold color.  Soft, subtle color with just a flash of crazy in your lash line or your crease.  Remember, there is more out there to spruce up your look than just eye shadow.
4. Don’t discount the value of a good eyeliner.  A bare eye that has a brilliant line of color can make just as much of an impact as a glammed out one.
5. Adding more color is easier than taking some away, so start small and ask them to add more according to your comfort level.
6. Communication is key, don’t be afraid to say you’re not comfortable with something or that you just don’t like it.  Any artist worth their salt will respond nicely and try again. After all, it’s their job to help you find what’s right for you. You may leave with a purchase that day, but if you don’t leave happy then you’re not likely to come back. Trust their instincts, but trust yours too.  Ask how to incorporate some color into your usual routine, they’ll generally have recommendations for using things in ways you might not have thought of.

What if you really, really don’t want to wear blue eye shadow? Well, these tips could work for any color.  Don’t want Kelly green? Try something softer like ‘Acid Rain’ from Urban Decay.  Not so into orange?  Try a nice peachy color like ‘X’ from Urban Decay or ‘Kitten Heel’ from Lancôme instead. There are so many purples and pinks out there, it’s enough to make your head spin. I’m not even starting on shimmer vs. matte colors yet either. 

If you don’t really want to start with a big change, consider switching to a shimmer.  Unlike the glitter you might expect, shimmery shadows have the ability to make your eyes shine without making you feel like 12 year old girl.  As an added bonus, shimmer reflects light and can hide some of your less desirable eye features.  Yes, that was a nice way of saying wrinkles.  Many companies offer a nice bronze or gold with the perfect shine to give you a little something extra compared to that plain matte chocolate you’ve been using.  My favorites in the Oomph With Ease category have to be ‘Bronze’ from MAC and ‘Lounge’ from Urban Decay.  ‘Lounge’ has the added benefit of coordinating well with green, gold and peach too.

If you don’t feel like eye shadow is your thing than rest assured that these tips transfer well to lip colors also. That Rock Icon Fuchsia from Lancôme might not seem right for everyone, but if you blend it with a darker lip liner (remember to blend well, we’re not Bratz dolls here people) and add a dash of gloss you’ll find yourself with a completely different color . Many things can be amped up or toned down just by adding a layer of lip gloss in whatever color your heart desires.  I’d bet that you could create plenty of different looks using only what you have in your collection right now.

Every day I decide who I want to be and apply my makeup accordingly. I’m known around these parts for outlandish color combinations and a foolhardy devotion to the newest thing. Is it really my expertise that makes these experiments work?  Of course, I’m a genius, didn’t anyone tell you?  Actually, it’s just the fact that I feel comfortable enough to try something new.  A lot of the wearability of a color comes directly from you and your confidence. 

If you don’t walk around thinking, “Holy crap, I can’t believe I’m wearing blue eye shadow!”  Then chances are nobody else will be thinking it either.  Unless you happen to draw it up into your eyebrows…….

Now get out there and play!!!

P.S. If you do decide to take me up on the challenge of adding more color to your life we’d love to hear about it!