Anastasia of Beverly Hills: Brows and Beauty

When most of us think of Anastasia of Beverly Hills, we think of brows! Indeed, she is the only beauty mogul around who built her entire empire almost solely upon one part of the face that, we have to admit, often gets overlooked - the humble eyebrow. Like an architect, she is best known for shaping the brows to best suit the face.

I've always been quite impressed by her personal story, and there is a piece that Anastasia wrote for the Huffington Post detaling her progression from an immigrant in the USA to a successful businesswoman. It is a truly inspiring story about how hard work, grit, and business acumen can take you far.

Here she is demonstrating the use of one of her signature products, the Beauty Express Palette:

"Beauty Express" brow-kit instructional video from Anastasia Beverly Hills on Vimeo.

I've never paid much attention to my brows, but I love how her kit has FIVE shapes of eyebrow stencils. Makes me want to experiment with my own brow shape.

But the piece of news that really interests me most is that Anastasia has branched out into makeup! And since I'm such a makeup junkie, that really gets me excited. There's a bit of everything other than just brow products - eyeshadows, lipglosses, blushes, bronzers, concealers - the whole nine yards. Has anyone checked out the line, and formed any opinions on any products yet? I'm tempted!

Liz Earle is Officially Going into Makeup!

How awesome is this - Liz Earle is going into makeup! I've always thought it was a pity that it's a pity the brand doesn't do makeup, but now they are launching a colour range!



Going by the mysterious looking Liz Earle Makeup Page, you can't tell what on earth they're going to launch. But word is that the first product will be the Sheer Skin Tint, and that will be launched in September. We won't know any further details until the actual launch - for example, whether there are multiple colour options for different skintones, or whether there are different formulas for oily and dry skins, but you can sign up on the Liz Earle website to stay tuned.

Two Awesome Liz Earle Offers!

For all of those who read my blog on a regular basis, you know I'm a pretty consistent fan of Liz Earle - I've had the fortune to meet Liz Earle and some of her excellent staff in person, and they really embody the passion the brand has for its natural, plant-based products. Although not all the products have worked for me, I retain much respect for the brand's commitment to its principles.

With that, here is some Liz Earle news - pretty exciting for my UK girls! Liz Earle is launching theri new Healthy Beautiful Skin Facial in their London flagship store on 18th July! The treatment is developed by treatments expert Jo Givens, and combines the use of massage with products to target the customer's skin concerns. The coolest thing about this is that each facial is tailored to the individual - which I think is pretty darn awesome. It's 60 minutes and costs £65, and ccan be found on the Liz Earle Treatments Page.

And the other Liz Earle deal - applicable to anyone who would order it online - is a free product! If you buy the Daily Eye Repair and Smoothing Line Serum, you'll get a free Eyebright Soothing Lotion! Details of the deal can be found here, and I've reviewed both the Daily Eye Repair and the Line Smoothing Serum before, so do check out those reviews if you're interested - I'll be reviewing the Eyebright Lotion soon as well, so do keep out a look for that if you're interested as well!

(Info provided for readers' interest. I do not benefit from any of the deals mentioned. I have previously reviewed the brand's products on my blog.)

KATE Cometics Event: Eye Shadow DB

Last week, I was introduced to some of the new products from KATE Cosmetics, the drugstore offshoot of Japanese brand Kanebo. The main highlight of the session was a new rangee of eyeshadow duos, the Eye Shadow DB.

The Eye Shadow DB (DB stands for Dual Blend) is marketed as being more than your average eyeshadow duo. As you can see, the plastic divider between the two shades runs for only half the eyeshadow duo. The idea is that in addition to using the two shades, you can create a third shade by blending the two existing shades, and thereby create a new shade. I guess it's pretty useful for girls who like to gradate their eyeshadow, which is primarily a feature the Asian markets tend to be more interested in.



The first thing that caught my eye at the event were the cupcakes. They had cupcakes! And they were meticulously branded with the KATE logo and colour scheme (black and red).



Food aside, we got to see a demonstration of the Eye Shadow DB being used on a model. Mikiya Hirai, a Japan-based makeup artist with Kanebo, was in town to do the makeup. He demonstrated a "day look", followed by a night look (acheived by applying a greater amount of the darker shade and contouring the face further).



The final look was very classy and well-defined. This is the "night look":



We also got to play with a whole range of testers on the spot. The makeup itself was very good, especially by Asian-drugstore-brand standards. This means that:

1. There wasn't glitter overload in every single product;

2. The eyeshadows were actually pigmented (well, not pigmented like MAC or Smashbox or your Western brands, but definitely more pigmented than your average Asian drugstore brand). I'd call them of medium pigmentation but buildable;

3. They didn't have frivolous but stupid packaging. Well, there was an emphasis on packaging, as is the case with almost all Asian brands I've seen, but with KATE Cosmetics it didn't make me think "Huh? How am I supposed to use/store/maintain this thing?"

4. The lip products had a good range of colours and finishes. It's so typical of Asian brands to just have a variety of light pinks and insert glitter of various sizes and colours into their lipglosses and call it a range, but KATE had a much more sophisticated colour palette than that. They had reds, berries, and some shades without shimmer, which I really liked.

5. And lastly, THEY HAVE TAUPES! Asian brands tend not to produce taupey colours for eyeshadows because taupes aren't that saleable in the Asian market, but hey, what do you know, KATE has them!

Notable products included the cream eyeshadows (stayed on well, and felt gel-like, sorta like jelly), the liquid eyeliners (these don't budge), as well as the mascaras and mascara base. The mascaras and mascara bases were quite popular among the bloggers, almost everyone there who tried them had nice things to say about them.

Here's a visual spread of the makeup. Unfortunately, we didn't get to take them home! I would have loved to, though! Makeup takeaway, anyone? :P



Here's yours truly at the event, after playing with some of the makeup. The red lipstick is my own, but the rest are all KATE products. Unfortunately, the lighting wasn't very conducive to photo-taking, so I'm not sure how illustrative this photo is.



And lastly, a shot of myself with some of the other bloggers present.



I'll be testing out their Eye Shadow DB duo soon, as well as their mascara and mascara base. I'm looking forward to seeing how those two products fare on my eyes (especially the mascara and mascara base - you know how hard it is to find a good mascara!). Reviews on those will be forthcoming, so if they interest you, do stay tuned!

Benefit Lunch Event: A Quick Update

Maggie and Annie Ford Danielson are the daughters of Jean Ford, were in Singapore yesterday, and I had the opportunity to meet them in person! Now, we all know who Jean Ford is, of course - along with Jane Ford, her sister, she was one of the founders of Benefit, and the creators of some of the world's most famous beauty products, such as Benetint, and Boi-ing.

Maggie and Annie are gorgeous. Let me repeat - really gorgeous. Tall, statuesque, slim, with chiseled features, the girls look every bit like the illustrated Benefit girls that adorn the brand's packaging. And they have perfect makeup to boot, but I'm sure you could've guessed. Myself, along with some other bloggers, had lunch with them, and it was good, although I felt quite sorry for them at one point - we were all so excitedly bombarding them with questions that they probably didn't get to eat very much!



The questions they answered were wide-ranging and varied - they answered everything from how they came up with the name of the products, to what their hectic work schedules were like. It was all very informative, and very fascinating - it was like having a sneek peek into Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, only for makeup! And we learned that there's a new tint called Cha Cha Tint that's going to be out sometime soon! I can't wait to see it in person!

One of the things that struck me about the brand was that their top 10 bestsellers were more or less consistent from country to country. This I found interesting, because having lived in the USA, Europe, and Asia, my experience with makeup has been that cosmetic preferences vary widely with regions, and brands often cater to this by releasing geographically-specific products. So in essence, a product by a brand would be released only in the USA for the American market, while another product by the same brand would be released only in Asia for the Asian market.

However, Benefit didn't play that way. What they release in the USA is also released in Europe and Asia, which I really respected. It meant that they really strove to create colours that were universal and wearable in nature, and to formulate products that people would like. I really liked that. It meant that a lot of the gimmickery that often goes into targeting the local market (e.g. hiring local celebrities, tweaking advertisements to different regions, re-naming products for different countries) is done away with. So what sells is not the gimmicky stuff, but the actual product at the end of the day, which I thought was pretty cool.



And the top 10 bestsellers? I couldn't remember all of them, but they include Porefessional, Bad Gal, That Gal, Some Kinda Gorgeous, as well as the powder blushes (here there are regional differences - Dandelion is more popular in Asia, following the light-blush trend, while in the West, with bronzing a popular trend, Dallas and Coralist are preferred). Well, I remembered 5 out of 10. Not too bad, right? Please don't kill me for not remembering the other 5! *Ducks angry Benefit fans*

Another thing I liked about the brand was that unlike your typical big-name cosmetics brand, they were actually very lean when it comes to advertising. In fact, Maggie and Annie claimed that most of their sales come through word-of-mouth! That would be ABSOLUTELY the first time I've heard any major brand say that. Count me impressed!



And yes, that's all of us together with the Benefit beauties! As you can see, they were towering above us! When I said tall and statuesque, I really wasn't kidding. These girls could be models, really. I feel honoured to have met them, and I hope those little titbits I garnered from lunch were useful to you! You can bet I'll be watching out for Cha Cha Tint to hit the stores, hopefully soon!

Liz Earle Mother's Day Gift Set: A Quick Peek!

A couple of posts back, I was alerting my readers to Liz Earle's Mother's Day Gift Set, which contains a selection of deluxe-sized travel sizes of their Superskin range for just £30. I managed to get my hands on it just yesterday, so I thought I'd give you guys a quick peek into what's in this set!



The set arrived in a very pretty green paper box, with the Liz Earle logo on it. Inside the box, everything was wrapped individually in pretty paper with Liz Earle branding, and the entire set was again wrapped and padded with the same pretty paper.



And the products themselves were very pretty - they were all individually packed in their own little boxes. I really appreciated the attention to detail that went into packaging the set.



The products themselves were really pretty too, so here's a quick shot of all of the items together. The set consists of:

Superskin Body Cream 50ml tube
Superskin Moisturiser 15ml jar
Superskin Concentrate 10ml
Sample size sachet of Superskin Eye & Lip Treatment



Looking at the individual items in the set, I actually think it's a pretty good value for money. With the exception of the Superskin Eye and Lip Treatment, which comes as a sample sachet, all the items are actually products that you can buy off the Liz Earle website, in the same sizes that they appear in the set. I particularly thought the 10ml of Superskin Concentrate were particularly generous, since for products like these, a little goes a long way.

Let's do a few cost comparisons: the 50ml size of Superskin Body Lotion sells for £12.25, the 15ml of Superskin Moisturizer costs £12.25, and the 10ml size of Superskin Concentrate retails for £18.40. So these three items already would cost more than the £30 price of the set. It's actually a pretty good deal if you're into skincare.

So that's what the set looks like! If you think your mother (or yourself) might be interested in it, it's available on the Liz Earle Website. If you've been thinking of getting travel-friendly but still sizeable sizes of skincare products, this set is also worth looking into - it's like getting a discount on a bundle of items.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Liz Earle Mother's Day Gift Set Offer!

If you're in the UK, you'd know Mother's Day is just around the corner! (Fear not the rest of the world, you don't need to panic to get a present just yet - everyone else celebrates it in May.) And since Mother's Day is coming soon for my UK readers, Liz Earle has put together a Mother's Day Gift Set.

The kit contains generous travel sizes of our Superskin Moisturiser (15ml), Superskin Concentrate (10ml), Superskin Body Cream (50ml) and a sample size of Superskin Eye & Lip Treatment. From now to 3 April 2011, this set is available for £30, which means you'll be saving £12.90! To the best of my knowledge, it does seem that Liz Earle products cater very well to mature skin, so the set would be a great present for any skincare-loving lady.

Click here to check it out, as well as other gift sets for the occasion. And for the rest of us who celebrate Mother's Day in May, this may also be a good opportunity to do some advance shopping!

Lancome New Eyeshadow Swatches: Ombre Absolue Impact 3D Palette

One of Lancome's hot new Spring 2011 items are four eyeshadow palettes that will be released in March, in addition to the Maqui Miracle Foundation. These are the Ombre Absolue Impact 3D Palette eyeshadows. Lancome is the manufacturer of some very famously beautiful eyeshadows (*ahem* the ever-desired Erika F), so when Lancome does eyeshadows, beauty fanatics like us all sit up and take note!

You know I couldn't come across a hot new release and not swatch it for you right? So here are swatches!

First up is A10, Rubis Delices, which is a pink palette. Pink, pastel, and girly - perfect for spring. I didn't manage to swatch this one, but it's very pretty if you love girly pink shadow.



C10, Reve du Jardin, is a slightly more daring mint green palette. The mint green shade in the eyeshadow palette reminds me of Chanel's Jade nail polish, only in eyeshadow form, which is pretty cool. I love the olive green shade in the middle:





We also have F10, Noisette Lumiere, a palette of warm browns. I suspect this one is going to be very popular due to its versatility:





And last, but not least, is my favourite of the bunch, G10, Etoile du Soir. This is a grey palette that to my eye leans a little green. I love this palette, the colours in it are very complex and nuanced, and very pretty. I bet this is going to be a bestseller along with F10:





All the shadows were very soft and silky when swatched, and pigmentation was pretty good. I'll be doing some EOTDs soon with Etoile du Soir, so keep your eyes peeled!

(Information and swatches taken at a beauty event. Opinions on products are my own. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Lancome Maqui Miracle Foundation Swatches and Spring Sneak Peek!

Here's a sneak peak at Lancome Spring 2011! Aren't you excited? I sure am! They do have some pretty darn awesome stuff coming up, and I have some exciting swatches and pictures! Prepare for bombardment!

First up of course is the much anticpated Maqui Miracle Natural Brightening Creator Compact Foundation, which imparts a smooth finish and a lit-from-within aura glow. It launches in Singapore on March 1st (book your calendars, ladies!) and will be retailing for S$65 (the case is another S$27).

When they say that the foundation glows from within, they weren't kidding! Although the foundation promises to impart radiance to tired complexions, there's not a trace of glitter in this foundation, so you don't have to worry about looking like a glitterbomb exploded in your face.



Maqui Miracle foundation comes in 8 shades, and like Teint Miracle before it, the shades are very nuanced and actually look like the skin colours of people I know. So many brands make the grevious mistake of thinking that warm-toned foundations have to be hidiously orange, and cool-toned foundations need to have barbie pink thrown in. Lancome, however, has managed to come out with nuanced shades that still reflect cool, neutral, and warm undertones, without ever veering to a pink or orange extreme. That is a pretty big plus in my book!

For those wondering about how the Lancome numbering system of shades works in Asian countries, this was clarified at the event. PO colours are geared towards pinker undertones (cooler undertones), while O colours are neutral. BO are yellower colours for warmer undertones. Simple!

Here are some product pictures of the pans, along with swatches taken by yours truly. I hope they help some of you ladies out there in matching yourselves!

Here are the 3 lightest shades: PO-01, O-01, and BO-01:





As you can see, the shades gradiate from being more pink to less pink as we move from PO-O1 to BO-01.

It's more apparent with the medium set of shades, PO-02, O-02, and BO-02:





Strangely enough, although I'm NC20, I matched myself to O-01, which wasn't what I thought when I took a look at the shades at a first glance. I had expected that I would be BO-01, but O-01 was a much better fit. I think most Asian girls would probably be wearing shades in the O and BO range.

In additon to the colour selection, I also really liked the texture of the Maqui Miracle Foundation. It was very finely milled, and went on very smoothly. And it didn't settle into creases and lines, which is a bonus. I'll definitely be reviewing the foundation soon, so you'll hear more about it!

Next, we have the colour makeup items, which excite me greatly. First up are the lipglosses, the L’Absolu Rouge Crème de Brillance. We're getting in three shades, 180, 285 and 320. Here's a sneak peek at the lipglosses:



The glosses have a very nice non-sticky texture, and aren't full-coverage, but they definitely aren't sheer either, and even the red shade is very wearable. So for anyone looking for a wearable red lipgloss, 180 is totally worth checking out.

Here's a swatch of both 320 and 180:



320 is a creamy mauve pink, while 180 is a semi-sheer red with tiny bits of sparkle. You can't really see it in the swatches, but the sparkle is there.

After the glosses, of course we have the L’Absolu Rouge lipsticks. I personaly love Lancome lipsticks, so you know I'm going to love these:



The lipsticks are also semi-sheer. So although the red lipstick looks scary in the tube, it is also very wearable once applied. The texture of the lipstick was also great - they glided on, and weren't drying at all. And as you can see from the swatches below, they have a very nice sheen when applied. I love how the lipsticks look on, they kind of just glow a little.



285 is a muted midtone neutral pink, and 180 is a sheerish red that is very wearable. Both of these shades are the kind of universally flattering shade every girl needs in her makeup collection. These colours would go with just about any outfit or any makeup look since they're pretty neutral.

I don't know about you, but all these releases are making me pretty excited. For my Singaporean ladies who wish to find out more about the foundation before it launches March 1st, here's how you can do so:

1. A visit down to any Lancome Beauty Counter islandwide for a 2-min Aura Bright flash foundation touch-up and shade matching of Maqui Miracle as of 17 Feb.

2. Check out the Lancome booklet in the March issue of Cleo, Singapore Women’s Weekly, Harper’s Bazaar for more details which will be available at the newsstands as of 17 Feb.

3. The Lancome website, www.lancomesg.com will feature Maqui Miracle as of 17 Feb. Participants can get their complimentary Maqui Miracle trial size compact foundation by registering on our website and participating in our “My Miracle Foundation” online poll. Limited while stocks last.

4. Shoutouts on Facebook as of 21st Feb - there are weekly contests!

Whew, wasn't that a boatload of information? But it's all good, because this is so exciting. I'll be reviewing the foundation and lip products in the near future. Yes, you haven't heard the last of this yet! :P

And to end off for fun - a photo of myself and some of the lovely ladies at the event.


(Picture taken from the lovely Rouge Deluxe)

(Information provided at PR event, Opinions on products are all my own. I am not affliated with/compensated by the company.)

St Tropez's New Year Promotion: Back to Basics!

St. Tropez is getting ‘Back to Basics’ to start the new year and offering a discount to all the fans who sign up to the VIP club before 5pm Monday 10th January. You can sign up for the VIP club here, and the Back to basics promotion is located here. St Tropez usually does have pretty good promotions, so I wouldn't miss out on this one if I were you There's just a few days left, so head over and sign up now!

Urban Decay Going for $2 on Hautelook Now!

My American friends are so in luck - Urban Decay is going for $2 on Hautelook RIGHT NOW! The sale has literally just started, so head on over to the Urban Decay sale to check it out now!

(I am not compensated for providing this information. The link is a signup link provided to all Hautelook members.)

Hello Kitty Beauty Comes to Sephora: The Kawaii Has Landed

Looks like the USA is getting kawaii-fied! Hello Kitty Beauty is coming to Sephora, and they are currently having a 2-day online preview for Sephora members only. Indeed, the kawaii has landed. For everyone else, the entire range will come in mid-January. I never got the idea of online previews - you mean I get to buy something for full price ahead of everyone else? I don't know about you, but I'd rather wait til Sephora has their annual 20% off sale. But I'm sure they must be working for at least some of us, since Sephora seems to be having such events with increasing regularity.

Anyway, the range consists of items that veer from the cute and afforadable, to the utterly ridiculously overpriced, to the WTF-was-that. Typical prices are around US$15, so it's not cheap, but not ridiculously overpriced. Since noone's sampled the items yet, the jury is still out with regards to quality. But looking at specific items, I don't think it's that worth it. Nail polishes are going for US$10 - and for those prices, I'd rather get OPI. A lip quad is going for US$35 - also a no-go for me. And a cheek tint is going for $22. But I imagine thousands of women will plonk down money for these items, so I'm not going to say no to them just yet.

Here are some items I'd definitely buy, though - Hello Kitty Nail Stickers! At US$5, they're actually affordable. And who doesn't love Hello Kitty nail stickers, huh? Huh?



And here's things I'd consider buying, depending on the quality:

Hello Kitty nail polish - at $10, it's not cheap. Freaking OPI is cheaper, as is a whole host of other brands. But cute is cute - I love the bottle design, although it kind of also looks like cheap kiddy makeup. I guess we can only tell what it really looks like if we get around to seeing the actual bottle.



Say Hello Palette - consists of a lip quad, and an eyeshadow quad, packed into one kawaii-overdosing case. Cute, but at $35, it's not cheap. But I guess if the quad is decently sized, it can be quite a deal. I mean, 4 eyeshadows and 4 lip shades for $35. If they're not the size of dimes, it's not too bad, right?



Charmmy Kohl Eyeliner Kit. A nice range of shades, very wearable with the occasional bright. At $25, it could potentially be a good buy depending on the quality. Smudgy pencil liners are a pet peeve of mine.



Hello Kitty Fragrance, $18-$55, depending on bottle size. What, Hello Kitty now has a perfume! Honestly, unless you like the bottle, or a die-hard Kitty fan, I'd pass. The description of this one (another gourmand floral, yawn), makes it sound like another one of those generic perfumes targeting the tweeny-bopper set. (Not that there's anything wrong about being a tweeny-bopper, but for some reason 99% of perfumes targeting young women all seem to smell vaguely alike.) Still, I'd love to be proven wrong, though - the bottle is too cute for words.



Apple Cheek cream blush. Hello Kitty meets NARS Multiples, with a NARS-ish price of $22. From what I can see, it seems to be one of the more popular things in the Hello Kitty line too. I hope the quality is just as good, since these aren't exactly that cheap.



Now that we're done ooh-ing and aah-ing over the whole range, here's a product I definitely WON'T buy - this WTF-moment-inducing Hello Kitty mirror. Yes, it's a mirror, and it's bling, but it's not worth $49. It's a mirror.



So what do you think of the range? Kawaii, or just puke-inducing? Anything catching your eye in particular?

UBS Dress Code: Someone up there has Control Issues

It looks like if your boss has control issues, he gets to decide when you should apply perfume as well. According to the WSJ, UBS has issued a very draconian set of regulations on what you can and cannot wear. I work in a client-facing organization, and my work involves managing company accounts and attending meetings with my client's management, so I am totally sympathetic to having some sort of a dress code at work, and I believe in projecting a professional image through your dressing. But when a company decides to tell you when the ideal time to spray perfume is (after a hot shower, apparently), that's overstepping the boundaries and going a little too far. And apparently the entire dress code is 44 pages long. Micromanaging much?

Here are some gems, as highlighted by the WSJ, the Vancouver Sun, and the Huffington Post.

Let's start with the ladies:

"The ideal time to wear perfume is directly after taking a hot shower when your pores are still open."

"You will extend the life of your stockings and your tights if your toe nails are well-trimmed and filed."

"In general, a blouse is worn with a jacket. When it very hot, and after validation of your superior, you can wear the shirt without a jacket."

Now the guys:

"At the neck, the shirt must be of sufficient magnitude to leave a space of at least one finger... The neck shirts must exceed approximately about 1 to 1.5 centimeter above the jacket collar.."

"Do not wash, nor ever iron your ties yourself."

"Schedule barber appointments every four weeks to maintain your haircut shape."

And for both:

"Hands - do not have:
• Dirty and badly maintained nails
• False nails and fancy colored nails
• rough or cracked skin"

"Not adpated to the morphology of the face" - what on earth is that supposed to mean? And now I have to seek my bosses' permission to not wear a jacket with a blouse on a hot day. And when I buy my shirts, obviously I need to bring a ruler with me so I can measure the 1 to 1.5cm spacing my collar is supposed to have. Geez, obviously someone up there in UBS has control issues.

Thank goodness I don't work for UBS, because it would make me miserable to know that my boss is scrutinizing my nails and hands to ensure that I don't have rough skin or coloured nails.

Hey UBS - if you're losing money and want to earn back some of those millions, why not think about actually improving your business strategy and reviewing loss-making operations? I'm sure that's easy for me to say because I'm not a banker, but you know, it seems to me that getting better business sense might just earn you more money than micromanaging what your employees can and can't wear (while you're at it - don't forget to bring a ruler the next time you go shopping for clothes).

St Tropez's Season for Sharing: Christmas 30% Discount!

Christmas is here, and for my girls in the US and UK, St Tropez has declared it a Season for Sharing! The St Tropez website has very festive 30% discount on all products at their online store from now until 12th December. Take advantage of the offer by simply referring 3 friends to http://www.sttropeztan.com after which you’ll receive a code to shop away!

There is also a St. Tropez Festive Calendar with daily expert hints and tips to get you ready for this party season.

This season, there is also an exclusive St. Tropez Christmas Gift Set for only £30 which includes Bronzing Lotion, Matte Powder Bronzer and essential Tan Optimisers all presented in a beautiful beauty bag.

BeautyBloggers.Org has Launched for Charity

Since we all buy makeup, why not do it for charity? BeautyBloggers.org is the collaboration of almost 50 different beauty bloggers and brands, and is the initiative of the awesome KarlaSugar (I'm sure you've at least seen her blog before). Makeup is auctioned on the BeautyBloggers.org site, and winning bids will be donated directly to Doctors Without Borders.

The auctions are live now, and will close on Monday, December 20 at 5 pm CST. You have to register before you can bid, to discourage "spam" bids. Usernames will be public (because the auction shows the username of the current highest bidder), but first name, last name, and email address will be private. They will only be used to contact the winning bidders. International bidders are welcome, too.

Here is a list of donors. Thanks to them for donating!

Afrobella, A Girl's Gotta Spa!, AlyWalansky.com, Armani Beauty, Bay Area Style File, Beauté Cosmetics, Beauty Alchemist, The Beauty Look Book, Bobbi Brown, Cafe Makeup, Cargo, China Glaze, EnKore, Estee Lauder, For the Love of Beauty, Givenchy, Gloss Menagerie, Gouldylox Reviews, Grace Gold for AOL StyleList, KarlaSugar, KraseyBeauty, Lancome, Leonor Greyl, The Makeup Girl, Miss Whoever You Are, Musings of a Muse, My Lips But Better, Nadine Jolie, The Non-Blonde, Older Girl Beauty, OPI, Out in a Pout, Pink Sith, Prime Beauty, Product Girl, Pursebuzz, Renee Rouleau, Sasquatch Swatch, Sicka Than Average, Spoiled Pretty, Talika, Three Custom Color Specialists, and Votre Vu

Color Club Partners with Amethyst Jeans for the Holidays

Color Club is partnering with Amethyst Jeans for the holidays, and you could stand to win some items, so here's the scoop for you guys!

Enter to win on of 20 holiday totes given away over the next five weeks!

You and your BFF will each receive an Amethyst Jeans tote filled with a pair of Amethyst Jeans, shimmery lip glosses and a holiday set nail polish set from Color Club and a shampoo and conditioner set from Totally Texty!

Contest runs from November 29th through December 31st, 2010. Go to http://www.facebook.com/amethystjeans to enter! Happy Holidays!

20% Discount Code for First Light Cosmetics!

You've read my raves about the brand, now you can try it for 20% off! From now to 28th November, enter the code "First1040" when you checkout at the the First Light Cosmetics website and viola! A 20% discount! And the minimum order size is a measly £5, so if you haven't been tempted to try out the brand yet, you really should. It's rare to find a small indie brand with great product great service, great packaging and generous sizes. The packaging is sensible and sturdy, and for your money you get a lot of product.

For the indecisive, here are my recommendations, which I've previously reviewed before. I've included swatch pictures from previous posts, but I've also included links for those who would like to read the entire review:

Blushes: Sundowner and Kohilo:



Sundowner is a gorgeous plum shade, in the same vein as Rock and Republic's Seduce and NARS Sin.

Kohilo is one of their best sellers, and is a neutral pink suitable for everyone. It's pretty universal.

Eyeshadows: Golden Bronze and Storm Grey



Golden Bronze is a bronzey brown that's gorgeous, and particularly suited to warmer-toned girls.

Storm Grey is one of my favourites right now. It's a taupe. Oh - did I not make myself loud enough? IT'S A TAUPE, PEOPLE! AND IT'S ON SALE! TAUPE ON SALE! (You know I love taupes.)

Here's an EOTD of Storm Grey that was previously posted, just because I love it so much:



Anyway, normally I don't bother to engage in promotion when a brand has a discount (I just post the code on my blog in a realy short post), but I'm making an exception for this since I've actually tried the products myself and really like them.

St Tropez Celebrates London Fashion Week with a Sale!

St Tropez has been hard at work London Fashion week, and now they have put their key products on sale for those who want to replicate the look! For my ladies in the UK, The London Fashion Week Kit will is on sale now and contains tanning hints and tip written by Nichola, a Wash Off Mousse, Skin Illuminator and a free St Tropez Wash Off Face and St Tropez Applicator Mitt.

The entire kit is on sale now for only £30 and will be free delivery for all in the UK. It will be on sale for 6 more days only, so hurry before the offer is up! Click here to buy the St Tropez kit now, and you can view the inspiration behind the looks here.