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The JK Jemma Kidd Fashionista Palette Will Make Sheer Your Eye Makeup Doesn’t Overpower Your Look

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Look at those duds! 🙂

The JK Jemma Kidd Fashionista Palette looks awfully cute from here. The clear plastic top, complete with pink floral line art, makes it easy to see the nine powder shadows, two blushes (one cream and one powder), eye/lip primer, and bronzer tucked away inside.

Ladies who like their neutrals with a dash of color might find a lot to like about this limited edition palette. It’s $27 (available exclusively from Urban Outfitters), which works out to about a little more than $2 per color, and it’s sturdier than it looks.

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First row of eyeshadows (the three small pans at the top in the middle)

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Second row of eyeshadows
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NARS Unsung Heroes: Heat Wave Lipstick

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A few things I learned (and in some cases relearned) in 2011:

  1. It’s easy to fall back into old habits, one of which for me was comparing myself to others, but it’s a recipe for misery cake and serves no useful purpose.
  2. Tim Gunn is my Obi-Wan! Whenever I find myself in a pickle, I close my eyes and ask, “What would Tim Gunn do?” And then (I like to imagine) he materializes — a life coach/style Jedi — to dispense golden nuggets of advice.
  3. Red lipstick could be the most powerful force in the Universe (even stronger than gravity). 🙂

So maybe that third one’s a slight exaggeration, but I will say that red lipsticks always make me feel better — especially bright, cheerful reds like NARS Heat Wave ($24).

It makes even mundane tasks, like trips to Trader Joe’s, a million times more fun. I wore it there a few days ago and made a new makeup-loving friend on the staff.

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I Can’t Imagine Falling Out of Love with Laura Mercier’s New Baked Eye Colour Palette

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Are they macarons, or are they eyeshadows? Well, that depends. The baked beauties in Laura Mercier’s new Baked Eye Colour Palette ($48) just might be a bit of both.

Like macarons, they make me smile. 🙂 All five of the shimmery shadows in brown, bronze, beige, pink and purple deposit very little fallout on my cheeks, and I love the glowing, wide-awake look their punchy pigments bestow upon my eyes.

The palette, a holiday release, also comes with a time-saving surprise — a dual-tipped brush with a flat eyeshadow brush on one end and a dense, pointed cream shadow brush on the other. I’ve tried the shades both wet and dry with the flat shadow brush and got some fast, fresh looks, and because the shadows adhere to my lids so well, I didn’t have to spend any extra time cleaning up fallout on my cheeks.


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The Laura Mercier Travel Brush Kit Successfully Tries to Sweep Sticker Shock Under the Rug

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Okay, now I want you to brace yourself, and take a deep breath.

Good? Okay, now when you’re ready, slowly read the following line…

$85.

Now that feeling there? — that split second when you felt the air forced out your lungs and could barely draw a breath? That’s called sticker shock, and the $85 Laura Mercier Travel Brush Set causes it a lot.

Thankfully, it subsides (somewhat) after a bit of number crunching and quality play time with these super soft brushes.

The kit, one of several of Laura’s holiday 2011 offerings, includes four travel size dual-ended eye brushes, a full size skunk brush and a faux snakeskin pouch with a removable insert.

Now, if this were just an $85 kit containing four travel eye brushes, a face brush and a cute, zippered pouch, I’d probably feel disappointed and a little upset, but the dual-tipped brushes serve to justify the price. With brush heads on both ends of four of the brushes, it’s like getting nine brushes for $9.44 each — practically a steal for Laura Mercier brushes, which usually sell for $30 a pop.

As for the quality of these travel brushes, color me impressed. I haven’t observed any shedding, loose ferrules or construction mistakes, and their performance seems to be on par with Laura’s more expensive full-size eye brushes.

Better yet, and why I really like this set, it covers all of the most important bases for my eye looks, with brushes for brows, concealer, liner, and for applying and blending eyeshadow.

And the full-size skunk brush? Amazing! I can’t believe I went without it for so long. It buffs powders, blushes and bronzers with a very light, natural touch. Great for getting that flawless, airbrushed look.
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Mixed Metal Manis: Like Britney, My Nails Are Going Beige, Silver and Gold

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Aha! I always knew (or hoped) that those countless hours spent watching Pop-Up Video would pay off eventually. Yup, it was while watching Britney shake her moneymaker in the Toxic video (one of my faves) the other that day that I came up with this idea for a Mixed Metal Mani.

You know that nude bodysuit she wears with the diamonds? Wouldn’t that look pretty chic and blingy on your nails? — a minimalist nude nail layered with gold and silver glitter?

Let’s find out! 🙂

I started with a base coat, and then slipped on two layers of creamy beige Essie Brooch the Subject, which would be my nude background color.

I wanted a subtle sparkle from the golden glitter — nothing too overpowering — so I chose Essie as Gold as It Gets for its tiny flecks of golden glitter in varying shapes.

(NOTE: Next time I give something like this a try, I just might add a top coat and stop right there. Coupled with a nude background color, I think it’s a very pretty, subdued way to approach glitter.)


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