Knowing that you have all been as busy as me, with your laptops permanently attached to your, well, laps, I’m sure you’ll forgive me for not writing. Even now I am supposed to be writing two papers due at the end of the week, and I am choosing to write to you lovely people instead. That, and watch America’s Next Top Model, Gossip Girl and the Season Premier of Project Runway! (you see, it’s all about your priorities) Anyway, I’ve also been waiting for a special package to arrive from Sephora and after repeatedly missing the UPS driver, I finally have the ultimate makeup kit in my possession!

It’s the 2007 Sephora Blockbuster Collector’s Palette and it is fabulous. Remember those big makeup kits built like a toolbox with the hot pink and blue colors that you would happily play with when you were about 8? Well, it’s really nothing like that, apart from the multiple colors that come altogether and the happiness it brings! It’s a relatively small box, complete with 32 lip colors, 16 cream eyeshadows, 48 regular eyeshadows, 7 blush colors and one shimmer powder! I was completely surprised at the sheer number of things packed into this box, even with the three sliding compartments.

The colors are all gorgeous, and there is definitely something for every skin color, in fact, there are multiple things! Plus, the Sephora brand makeup has the reputation of being high quality. I haven’t played around with it as much as I would like what with my homework eating me alive, but what I have played with I have loved!

The only problem that I have with the kit so far is the brushes that come with. They are very stiff and small and probably cost $.50 each. But if you use your own brushes, everything should be ok.

Get it online at Sephora for $48 but hurry because it is a limited edition and these things tend to sell out fast, especially around Xmas. If you buy it online now, you can get free shipping on orders over $50 for a limited time. The good thing about shopping online is that you get to pick up to three samples to include with your purchase. I got a mini Cargo bronzer, Ole Henriksen nourishing night cream and L’Occitane Radiance Moisturizing Cream and there were many more things to choose from.

Oh I love makeup and you all. muah! xoxoxo

Just a reminder about your makeup tonight: NOT TOO MUCH PLEASE! Whatever you are going as, make sure that your makeup enhances your costume.

I have one more example of what to do with your makeup because I love you all so much.

A sexy sports player: for football players, definitely do the cute black smudges under your eyes. For the rest of your makeup, try to do coordinating eye shadow and nail polish with the team colors. Maybe even add some of the colors to your hair with some temporary hair spray!

Have fun tonight and be safe and sexy!

Oh my devilish darlings, I have for you some more quick tips for preparing for the enchanting evening coming soon, and what better costume than a sexy witch? This is the epitome of a truly spirited Halloween costume and if you are anything like me, Hocus Pocus is one of your all time favorite movies! However, you probably don’t want to look like Bette Midler and let’s face it, you don’t want to look like Sarah Jessica Parker either because she has definitely seen better days. If you are blonde, please don’t attempt the black eyes and maroon/purple lips thing that she’s got going on in the movie.

To achieve the sexy witch look without the intense goth makeup, make sure to play up one of your features. I think that every witch needs a smoky eye more than anything. So if you have darker features, be sure to line your eyes in black and put a dark color eye shadow over it. A nice, dark purple or gray would look fantastic and sexy. Even a dark green shadow could be pretty, and would create a “wicked” sort of effect. Just be careful that the green goes with your skin tone and doesn’t make you look sickly.

If you have lighter hair, still go with the smoky eye. However, when you line your eyes, particularly if you are a blonde, make sure that you are using a dark brown or navy and aren’t using intense black. Blondes tend to look harsh in black eyeliner. I know it is Halloween and the temptation to use darker makeup can be great, but resist and know that you look hot, even with a classic, smoky eye. (I like to add glitter to the inner corner of my eye for an added pop.

If you are going to do lips, make absolutely sure you choose a dark color that is suited to your skin tone. Red/berry lipstick can be tricky and can make you look like a clown if you aren’t careful. I recommend buying several cheap lipsticks to see what color looks best on you. Quick tip: fair skin looks better in red colors with blue undertones while darker/olive skin looks better in red colors with orange undertones. Don’t forget to keep your eyes simple!

These tips can also be used with many other costumes and even in every day life, so be sure to take advantage of them!

Hello again gorgeous ghouls! Don’t you just love Halloween? I mean, I get to use cheesy lines like gorgeous ghouls and it isn’t completely weird! As promised, I have a few blogs coming your way about looking great for Halloween. First, remember that to be sexy on Halloween (as I know pretty much all you ladies are, I know I am!) we want to see your beautiful faces. Don’t overdo the makeup or you will scare people and not in a good way. To help, I’ve decided to give you a few makeup ideas that could go with your costume.

Sexy beast (an actual animal and not just your average glamorous night makeup!): Use the animals trademark traits and apply them to yourself. For example, if you are going as a cat, use black eye shadow or eyeliner and apply small whiskers and a tiny nose. This will work for a bunny, or a dog as well. Maybe apply a paw-print high on the side of your face. This is obviously not where these animals actually have paws, but it is your own creative, adorable interpretation. Right now I am at Mizzou, so I think a tiger would be an appropriate costume. Try the whiskers and nose with a few stripes (just a few) to really highlight the costume. Make sure if you do blacken your nose, it still looks cute, because it probably won’t work as well on people with bigger noses. If that’s the case, try a smokey eye with a paw print.

Stay tuned for more ideas!

You know what we need my fellow makeup mavens? We NEED a Sephora to come to town. They just sent me an email about my free makeup birthday gift, a glorious, relatively large tube of body butter. The only catch is that I basically have to pick it up in a store. If I try to redeem the offer online, I have to make a purchase. Which I mean, hey it is Sephora, so I just might because in case you haven’t noticed, I adore makeup/beauty products. I just have to find the perfect thing to buy to justify spending the $. Eh, I’ll just buy myself a birthday present. After all, a girl turns 21 only once in her life (aka Wednesday the 24th for anyone who loves me and wants to support my makeup habit!)

But I ramble. This week, I have a fantastic tip for all you beauties whose ultimate beauty goal is to combat the war on terror. I am talking about pimples, people. They are the bane of our beauty existence and they pop up at the most annoying time and they’re so ugly and I HATE THEM! Whew. So how do you fight them?

There are a lot of different ways and everyone’s skin is going to react differently. The best thing to remember is to wash your face at least two times a day, in the morning and at night.

To combat the really intense and deep pimples, or cysts, wet a washcloth with hot water. Apply the washcloth to the cyst until the cloth cools. Wet it again and repeat. Do this several times to really open up the pores surrounding the area. You should notice the cyst getting flatter and softer. Then, quickly apply the secret weapon. Hydrocortisone Cream.

It’s sounds ludicrous, but it really does reduce the size of your pimple. Try to do this at least twice a day, and the annoying cyst will disappear in roughly 2-4 days. The really horrendous ones can last longer, but apply hydrocortisone and it won’t hurt as much.

Cortisone shots are the treatment you would receive at the dermatologist’s office if you were to go in to have a cyst eliminated. Unfortunately, you can’t buy cortisone over the counter, and especially not in shot form. To achieve a similar result, buy the maximum strength hydrocortisone cream (1%). By opening your pores with the hot washcloth, you ensure that the cream will get deep into your skin.

Plus, you can use hydrocortisone cream for many things as it is an antipruritic or an anti-itch medication. I personally use it for razor burn.

Just remember, when using it to clear up acne, don’t try to pop the cysts unless you are absolutely sure they are ready. If they aren’t, you risk breaking the skin around the cyst. This can be almost impossible to cover up and can even leave scarring in the long run.

Well, I’m off to paint my toes.

MUAH!

Remember back in the day when I said that I was going to come back with more examples of why makeup is important? Well here I am. So not to sound completely catty, but there is this girl in one of my classes who is the palest person I have ever seen! It’s the type of pale skin that isn’t prettily referred to as “ivory” by the makeup gurus, it simply has no color. And to top it all off, she has a light brown do with orangey-blonde highlights and absolutely no color in her lips. Basically, she is the most washed-out person that I’ve ever seen and I want to attack her with some rosy blush and a lip gloss with even just a hint of color. (Yeah, I really should be paying attention to learn how to graph- those devious little numbers and lines fool me a lot!)

My point is that she would look soo much better if she had some hint of color in her face and I would be able to concentrate in class. Ladies, please put some sort of effort into your appearance at least every once in a while. I completely understand not dolling yourself up every day, but could you put on some makeup once in a while? PLEASE do this for the sakes for those of us who need to concentrate in class!

Muah!

See, I told you I still loved you!

Anyway, I have been contemplating for quite some time now why I love makeup so much, but also why I think it is important. Recently, a friend read a poll to me that was conducted in a random glossy magazine. It said something like 30 percent of women never leave the house with out makeup on. She laughed and said she felt really bad for those women. Then I told her that I fell within that category. She didn’t understand why, and I felt that I couldn’t really explain it to her. Why was makeup so much a part of my life that I never left the house without it on? And isn’t that saying something bad about my self-esteem. Some would argue yes. Yet, after thinking about this for a while, I came to the conclusion that I just really wanted to take some pride in my appearance.

Wearing makeup all the time isn’t such a bad thing and I think that people who think it is are thinking of women who wear a ton of makeup all the time. There is a huge difference. The makeup that I wear day to day is very basic: a little concealer, powder to set the concealer, blush, a brow darkener, and sometimes lip gloss (I do always wear chapstick/vaseline because one of the most uncomfortable and unattractive things is someone with chapped lips). I end up looking not overly done, but somewhat pulled together. Even if I have on a t-shirt and jeans, (and I normally do) I still feel pretty. If I feel pretty, then I am a lot more confident in everything that I do. Don’t believe me? One of the best days that I can have is one in which I am attractive and feel smart. If I only feel attractive and can’t seem to answer anything right in class, I don’t feel good. If I know everything in the world and feel ugly, I still don’t feel good. Since I don’t always have control over what I know (and I don’t mean knowing something as a result of studying), I figure I can at least do something about the way I look.

Not that I am some sort of a control freak. I just want to present myself in the best light in a multitude of situations. That is why makeup is important to me. It makes me feel so much better about myself. Now if I had to go without makeup I could and could still have a great day. I could do something like camping where you can barely put in your contacts, let alone put on makeup. Or if I was going swimming, it would be pointless to put it on. But why should I go without if I don’t have to?

Ponder that and I’ll come back later with more good reasons to wear makeup!

Muah!

Oh my lovely audience. I must confess that this is not a blog posting. Due to the fact that I have a horrid quiz tomorrow in Econ and have to go out right this second (!) to celebrate my boyfriend’s 21st bday, I don’t have time to give you a well-thought out, highly insightful post. But I will tomorrow. I SWEAR! And it’s gonna be good. Muah!
x0×0

Colleen

Oh my raving beauties, how I have missed you! (and I know there are soo many of you!) I deeply apologize for not posting an entry last week as I was miserably engrossed in a midterm, but don’t worry, I am back and with a slight vengeance. Actually, vengeance might not be the appropriate word, but I am definitely taking a stand against a product that does not work and has fooled too many people for far too long.

And that product is Biore Pore Strips. These things have been around for quite some time now and despite adding the phrase “ultra deep cleansing” to the box, they still do not work. Unfortunately for many unsuspecting women, they actually appear to work. But beware. The tiny pieces of hardened dirt that stick to the strip are a mere illusion. Sure, you un-clog a few pores, but only on the surface of your nose. The next day, the hideous blackheads are back and you are out a nose strip when you only had 6 to begin with in a box that costs $7.

Theoretically, this should work because the strips contain both tea tree oil and witch hazel extract which work to combat acne. Plus, there is just something fun about physically being able to rip out the dirt and grime from your pores! It’s so satisfying!

BUT THEY STILL DON’T WORK! Do NOT be fooled.

Hello my pretties! I hope you all are gearing up for a fabulous weekend of partying and sleeping and maybe even studying (for you ambitious few!) Another weekend out means more opportunities to look glamorous and more important, score free drinks! (Apparently, I am quite fond of exclamation points today!)

One of the best ways to begin your evening makeup routine is to apply moisturizer to a clean face. After about 30 seconds when it is absorbed, apply foundation. Once the foundation is applied, it is time to bust out the concealer. And that is where this next product comes in.

Maybelline New York Coverstick concealer is the perfect way to cover up unsightly blemishes. It is a thicker concealer, so it really sticks to your skin and hides any imperfection pretty well.

To apply, dab a small amount of concealer on the blemish and use a smaller brush to slowly and carefully blend out the edges. Make sure the concealer is completely blended because yellow spots on your face are no more attractive than red ones. Plus, you don’t want to draw any more attention to the area, causing people to focus on the little flaws instead of the overall, beautiful face. (One of the advantages to first applying foundation is you are going to get a base of coverage over the red spots which will make your job easier when you apply concealer)

This concealer is so great that it is perfect to wear during the day. I personally never put foundation on unless I am going out at night because I think it is too long of a process (I am very meticulous about it!). Instead, I use the concealer to quickly and efficiently cover any red spots. I also use my finger as a brush and carefully dab and blend. Lately, it has been very useful as for some reason my skin keeps breaking out. I think that has something to do with not enough sleep, too much alcohol and not enough water! Basically I’ll just dab it on in the morning, set it with powder and go. It usually lasts for a long time, which is great for us busy students.

Maybelline.com says that it is waterproof, but you’ll be hard pressed to find a concealer that truly is.  However, if it gets only a little wet it will stay on, so if you sweat, you’ll be covered. (haha, sorry I couldn’t resist!) Plus, Allure Magazine named it a “Best of Beauty Reader’s Choice 2007″ for best drugstore concealer.

This is absolutely my favorite concealer. I couldn’t even part with it long enough to have our photo people take a picture! It is available at any drugstore and comes in a variety of shades for each skin color.

Have fun this weekend and don’t forget to alternate your drinks with water or at least chug like hell when you get home from the bars! Maybe you won’t even need concealer then….