My beauty Bag

Bobbi Brown Cocoa Mauve Collection

If you really love someone, you’ll give them the Bobbi Brown Cocoa Mauve Collection.

This flattering collection of colors takes the guess work out of coordinating a stunning look. The set includes Bobbi’s Mauve Metallic Eye Shadow, Cocoa Mauve Ink Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner, Berry Mauve Creamy Lip Color and Sand Pink Blush, neatly packed in a cute mauve-lined black nylon cosmetics bag.

The shadow is a shimmering pale taupe and a staple for any makeup bag. (I usually pop a contour color in the crease, like a matte berry shade, to give the look more definition.) The cocoa mauve eyeliner is a brownish purple shade which makes eyes stand out without looking harsh, and the brush-on gel formula is easy to work with.

Applying the berry mauve lipstick feels so good because the shea-butter enriched stick almost feels like a gel-balm. The color goes on with medium, glossy coverage.

The look would not be complete without the sand pink blush, one of my all-time favorite pink blushes. It lights cheeks up with a rosy glow that looks like you just got back from a brisk walk outdoors.

From: http://www.glossypink.com

Makeup Looks From the 2008 CMA Awards.

At last night’s 42nd Annual CMA Awards in Nashville, TN, the red carpet was jam packed with all-out gorgeousness.

My favorite look of the night was Carrie Underwood:

Her hair and makeup was pretty yet easy; the perfect accessory to her plunging neckline and bright-hued gown. (I love how Carrie keeps her look clean and simple with barely any jewelry.)

Nicole Kidman (pictured with hubby Keith Urban) always looks ultra-glam. She seems to still have her post-baby glow (along with her pre-baby body—so unfair seeing as I still don’t have my pre-baby body six years later!):

Speaking of babies, it looks like Kimberly Williams-Paisley (actress and wife of country singer Brad Paisley) is working on baby number two:

Country star Taylor Swift looked anything but a teenager with her up-do, sultry makeup and slim fitting sparkly dress. I would have liked to see her how down and flowy for this look, but she’s gorgeous either way:

The other teenager worth mentioning is household-name Miley Cyrus. Not a day goes by here at Makeup Bag HQ without several mentions (and episodes) of Hannah Montana (along with Demi Lovato, this girl is Janey’s idol). Miley Cyrus is super cute but the hair is just not doing it for me. It looks as if she got it caught on the door as she stepped out of the limo, losing a few bobby pins. But look at these amazing eyes:

What do you think? What was your favorite look from last night’s VMAs?

Images: Wireimage.com

From: http://www.makeupbag.net/

Clinique Holiday 2008: Blackberry Bloom.

The CLINIQUE Holiday 2008 makeup collection, Blackberry Bloom, is a sultry collection that highlights a beautiful glowing face accentuated with a sexy, dramatic eye.

A NEW limited edition shade of Fresh Bloom Allover Colour in Blackberry Bloom is clearly the star of the show with the cult favorite long-wearing powder in a combination of berry shades to create a natural looking radiant glow.

There are three NEW shades of Colour Surge Eye Shadow Super Shimmer: Black Coffee, Black Amethyst and Black Smoke (all limited edition shades). While Black Coffee and Black Smoke are both super rich, highly pigmented shades, we can’t keep our hands off Black Amethyst.

Black Amethyst might just be our favorite eye shadow of the entire year. It’s no secret that we have a strange obsession with taupe eye shadow–and this one (while technically not taupe) is a gorgeous taupe-y purple.

Take our word–if you’re a taupe-lover, this will be your new fave.

(We tried to swatch it for you, but the camera is broken. AGAIN. This dumb Nikon D-50 has given us nothing but trouble since she turned two.)

Another product to note is the High Impact Mascara in a NEW Black Honey limited edition shade. This one you’ll have to see with your own eyes. So pretty.

CLINIQUE Holiday 2008 Blackberry Bloom makeup collection is available this month at Clinique counters nationwide and online at clinique.com.

From: http://www.makeupbag.net/

Holiday Collection: Prescriptives Aglow 2008

Urban Decay Friends & Family 30% Off Discount.

Remember to enter the code FFH30 (then click “redeem coupon”) at checkout. Enjoy!

From: http://frappelattes.com/

Estee Lauder Pink Ribbon Collection .

Estee Lauder - Pink Ribbon Collection

Black Diamonds Dior Holiday 2008.Of all the collections we’ve seen thus far, we’re certain this Dior Black Diamond Diamond-Effect Powder for Face and Décolleté will be THE item to have on your holiday list. Sweep the face and décolleté with this beigey, shimmering powder for a luxurious holiday glow.

The other star product in this collection is the Holiday Face Palette, an all-over, luminizing face powder. Throw it in your party clutch for on-the-spot luminosity and pray your ex will see you there.

Also in this collection:

5-Colour Eyeshadow in Twilight #029
Crème de Gloss in Honey Delight #291
Rouge Dior in Eternal Beige #394
Sparkle Shine Lip Gloss #002
Styleliner in Silver Light #334 (Sephora.com only)
Dior Vernis in Pure Diamonds (Specialty Only)
Dior Vernis in Black Sequins (Sephora Only)
Dior Vernis in Poison Blue (Dept. Stores only)

We are surely getting our hands on the Dior Vernis in Black Sequins and Poison Blue.

Dior Holiday 2008 Black Diamonds is available beginning November 2008 at Dior locations nationwide.

From: http://www.makeupbag.net/

Mika 2008 Holiday Shu Uemura Collection.

We already showed you the Mika Portable Brush Set that we love so much from this collection, but wait ’til you see these palettes:

Designed by Japanese photographer and director Mika Ninagawa, these palette cases are just as gorgeous as the shadows they contain.

midnight winter sakura (top)
Mika Ninagawa’s breathtaking night view of the snow-white Japanese flower decorates this case. This set’s magnificent hues, like smoky blue and pink beige, will create eyes as intense as the name implies.

adorned marguerite (middle)
The marguerite-adorned case features an inner palette that is a playful mixture of Mika Ninagawa’s dreamy colors. Vivid combination of pink and blue shade brush on to add a velvety sensation to the eyes.

secret luscious rose (bottom)
A photograph of roses by Mika Ninagawa beautifully decorates the case that opens to reveal a contrasting range of colors. Lightly frosted white and rich moss green will accent eyes in shades that make the most classical flower new again.

And while you’re here, we might as well show you the lip glosses:

delicious rose and seductive gerbena are little makeup pouches containing shimmery lip gloss trios to make you smile.

Shu Uemura Holiday 2008 Mika Ninagawa is available beginning November 2008 at Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom counters nationwide and online at shuuemura-usa.com

From: http://www.makeupbag.net

Rimmel Light Beam After Hours Lip Gloss Review. Sometime over the summer I was sent three tubes of Rimmel Light Beam lip gloss for review. I’ve been so busy using them and trying to pry them out of my daughter’s hands that I sort of … er, forgot to review them. Heh. Sorry about that! It was a weird summer, y’all.

Anyhoodle, you’ve probably seen this stuff in stores by now, and if so you know that the selling point is the packaging. The tube is squat and rectangular with a mirror along one side — big whoop, we’ve all seen that before. The unique part is the cap — there’s a little push-button operated light in it. Yes, a teeny, tiny flashlight. Open the product, depress the button in the top of the cap/handle, and a tiny spotlight shines down the length of the wand and thus onto your lips as you apply the product. Kind of like in this dramatic photo provided to me for purposes of illustration:

So with the light and the mirror, you can apply this stuff in the dark! Cool, huh? The light also works while the cap is on, so you can dazzle everyone around you with your mysteriously glowing tube o’ gloss, like in this picture I took myself in a dark (bath)room:

Yes, I AM easily amused, thanks for asking!

So let’s talk about the product INSIDE the cool tube, huh? Light Beam is a thin, very sheer gloss that’s only a little bit sticky. I received three shades — In The Mix, a sheer pale pink; Spotlight, a shimmery raspberry pink; and After Hours, a sheer brownish-plum — and they all look the same (read: clear and shiny) on my lips except that Spotlight is shimmery and the others aren’t. They all taste fabulous, though. In The Mix is sort of fruity, Spotlight tastes like bubblegum, and After Hours has some nebulous sweetness (maybe a little vanilla?) going on.

The thin texture combined with the yummy flavor means these glosses don’t really have much in the way of lasting power. If you don’t eat them off your lips, they’re going to wear off pretty quickly anyway. And let’s face it — do you really NEED a light and a mirror to apply what is essentially, on lips, a clear gloss? Maybe it’s because I’m old and have been applying lip gloss to my own lips for 30+ years, but I really don’t. Now if this gloss were actually pigmented, and I were the type to spend a lot of time in dark movie theaters and night clubs and … basements? or something? then the swell packaging would be extremely helpful.

Now, as mentioned in the first paragraph of this review, I HAVE been using and enjoying this gloss all summer. No, it doesn’t really show up at all, but it’s yummy and I certainly don’t hate it. However, my local supermarket is charging nearly $10 per tube for this stuff, and I really don’t think I’d pay that much for this product. I guess if you think of it as a combination flashlight/mirror/gloss — sort of the Swiss Army knife of the lip gloss world — then it might be worth $10 to you. Or, as mentioned above, if the gloss were heavily pigmented then I can see the packaging being worth a couple of extra bucks for the convenience factor.

But for a delicious yet very sheer gloss with an admittedly cute gimmick? Eh. I don’t think so.

From: http://lipstickismycrack.blogspot.com/

Anastasia Brow Gel.

With all the lofty marketing claims attached to new products these days, it’s so refreshing to find something that wows you even though you have rather low expectations of it.

I recently came into possession of a tube of Anastasia Brow Gel in Clear, and my first reaction was “ehhhh. Repackaged clear mascara for several times the price. Pass!”

But when getting ready for a wedding last month, I wanted to make sure my brows — sparse as they are — stayed in place all night, so I decided to take the Anastasia gel out for a spin. I really wasn’t expecting anything more than the results I used to get with a tube of Cover Girl clear mascara.

Wrong! Wrong! I love being wrong in situations like these; it makes something mundane seem like a groundbreaking discovery.

The Brow Gel felt like absolutely nothing going on, but my brows did not even budge all night. Like I said, they’re pretty sparse, but they have a tendency to get out of place pretty easily — especially the right one. Three reasons: (1) the long, sideswept bangs that fall on the right side of my face are a brow disturbance hazard, (2) I end up pushing them out of my face pretty frequently, therefore touching the brow and disturbing it further, and (3) that right brow has an old scar running through it, which tends to act like a brow cowlick (browlick?).

So when I say they didn’t move all night, this is pretty impressive. In addition, they were SHINY. As in, healthy-looking. Healthy-looking brows. Who knew such a thing could be possible!

And finally, the formula didn’t flake, dry out or get sticky over the course of the evening. Winner! I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but yes, it really is worth the $21. It’s really not that high a price to pay for peace-of-brow!

From: http://beautyaddict.blogspot.com/