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Beauty Horror Stories: A Breaking Dawn Book Giveaway

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Breaking Dawn, the fourth book in the bestselling Stephenie Meyer Twilight series, goes on sale today, and I couldn’t resist picking up a few extra copies for my friends.

True, these books aren’t exactly high literature … but I think they’re a lot of fun. I’m a sucker for vampires (ha!) and ill-fated love stories.

From the Amazon.com review of Twilight, the first book in the series…

“As Shakespeare knew, love burns high when thwarted by obstacles. In Twilight, an exquisite fantasy by Stephenie Meyer, readers discover a pair of lovers who are supremely star-crossed. Bella adores beautiful Edward, and he returns her love. But Edward is having a hard time controlling the blood lust she arouses in him, because–he’s a vampire. At any moment, the intensity of their passion could drive him to kill her, and he agonizes over the danger. But, Bella would rather be dead than part from Edward, so she risks her life to stay near him, and the novel burns with the erotic tension of their dangerous and necessarily chaste relationship.”

Last night/early this morning I attended a midnight book release party at the Border’s bookstore down the street. Borders stores all across the country were jam packed with young girls (and a smattering of 20- and 30-somethings like moi), eager to get their hands on a copy of the new book. I snagged mine and got three extras.

Share your worst beauty horror stories in the comments here. I figure we can all learn from each other’s beauty mishaps. Lawd knows I’ve had mine. 🙂 On Monday after work I’ll choose three comments at random and send the writers a copy of the book!
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$3 Shampoo Jackpot: Aussie Opposites Attract

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Holy crap! Do you ever have good hair days? I had a string of them this week, and you can too.

I owe it to the shampoo, conditioner and spray gel from the Aussie Opposites Attract Collection — a reasonable $3 each.

For the past few days, to restore some of the moisture to my hair, I’ve only been shampooing my roots, washing the rest of my hair with conditioner alone. It’s a little trick I picked up somewhere along the way, and I do it to prevent my hair from drying out. It really seems to help.

After rinsing out the shampoo, I coat the hair from roots to ends with the conditioner, wait a few minutes for it to sink in and then rinse one last time. The thick, rich conditioner works well for me because I have a lot of hair and need something to weigh it down (otherwise it ends up very big and Bride of Frankenstein).
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You Must Choose: The TGIF Edition

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I don’t know about you, but I’m so glad it’s Friday. Work wore me out!

Speaking of Friday…

  • Would you rather give up concealer or give up blush? YOU MUST CHOOSE!

  • Doomsday approaches… Aliens have landed, and they’re toying with us all. To save the world, you’re told to either make out with Ben Affleck or Matt Damon. YOU MUST CHOOSE!

  • Would you rather be missing every other tooth (jack o’ lantern style) or have hands that are totally covered in fur (palms included)? And, no, you can’t wear dentures or shave/wax your hands. YOU MUST CHOOSE!

  • You’re forced to spend 72 hours alone in a dark closet with either Heidi Montag or Spencer Pratt. YOU MUST CHOOSE!

  • The supernatural world beckons; you must answer the call. Would you rather be a werewolf or a vampire? YOU MUST CHOOSE!

  • Whom would you most want to have a cup of coffee with (living or deceased)? YOU MUST CHOOSE!

  • You *finally* land your dream job as an (insert dream job here)! Turns out, though, that a new company policy requires you to wear a uniform to work. You’re given two choices:

1. The black spandex unitard (complete with red boots, leather jacket and thick gold chain) featured in Salt n’ Pepa’s Push It video:

2. Hammer pants:

YOU MUST CHOOSE!

Your turn. Just copy the list below and paste it with your answers in the comments. 🙂

YMC 1: Concealer or blush?

YMC 2: Ben or Matt?

YMC 3: Jack o’ lantern teeth or hairy hands?

YMC 4: Heidi or Spencer?

YMC 5: Werewolf or vampire?

YMC 6: Cup of coffee with?

YMC 7: (insert dream job here); Unitard or Hammer Pants?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Easy Eye Makeup Look for Lazies

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Evening, hotties! Just when I thought I couldn’t get any lazier, I did. I had a major makeup revelation this week. A neutral shimmer shadow plus a lil’ bit of matte in the outer V led to my easiest day eye EVER. A whole new world of 10-minute looks has opened up before me, fo’ reals.

The combo I’ve worn for the past few days combines a champagne shimmer shade with a matte black. It feels breezy and work-friendly. To get the look I used makeup from Chanel, Dior, Laura Mercier and Lacome, as well as three just-released products from Clinique.

Clinique Me

All are fun and easy to use. I’ll post detailed reviews soon, but for now let’s just say *me likey*.

The Products

Eyes

Lips

Face

Doing The Eyes

I like to prime my lids before applying eye shadow, so I started by dabbing MAC Select Moisturecover Concealer onto my lids with a concealer brush. Then, I swiped the shimmery champagne shadow from the Dior Iridescent Palette onto the entire lid with a flat eye shadow brush like the MAC 252 to create a neutral canvas upon which to work.

With a fine, pencil-tipped MAC 219 brush, I applied Clinique Midnight eye shadow on the outer third of the lid. In this step, I concentrated more color on the outer eye, which after blending helps with the smokey effect.
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Coming Soon: MAC Cult of Cherry

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It’s gonna be on like Donkey Kong when MAC’s Cult of Cherry collection arrives this fall. I’m gonna be all over those rich chocolates, purples and reds.

I think everything in the collection looks sophisticated and very wearable, and I’m FREAKING OUT over the beautiful color combos possible with each of the three quads.

MAC Cult of Cherry Quads

Spiced Chocolate Quad ($36)

  • Nanogold: Sheer yellow pink with pink pearl (frost)
  • Brash: Frosty reddish copper (veluxe pearl)
  • Spiced Chocolate: Dirty deep reddish brown (matte)
  • Sweet Chestnut: Frosted cranberry (frost)

Tempting Quad ($36)

  • Next to Nothing: Sheer yellow beige with pink pearl (frost)
  • Sharp: Frosty bright yellow gold (satin)
  • Dark Edge: Dirty chocolate brown (satin)
  • Tempting: Rich coco (lustre)

Shadowy Lady Quad ($36)

  • Light Fall: Dirty light pink (satin)
  • Smudge Violet: Frosty blackened lavender with multi-dimensional pearl (frost)
  • Deep Truth: Very dark blue (frost)
  • Shadowy Lady: Darkly veiled plum (matte)

MAC Cult of Cherry Lipsticks

And it doesn’t stop there. Don’t the lipsticks look divine?

  • Crème Cerise: Sheer yellow taupe (lustre)
  • Lightly Ripe: Sheer mid-tone pink (lustre)
  • Russian Red: Intense bluish red (matte)
  • “O”: Intense purplish red with metallic gold (frost)
  • So Scarlet: Clean grape burgundy (amplified)

MAC rarely does wrong in my book. I love almost everything they release, but I’ve thought that several of their recent collections have been more geared toward a younger, teen audience. While releases like Naughty Nauticals, Fafi and Dazzleglass were colorful and cheeky … hot pinks, glittery glosses and teal blue eye shadows may be a bit too TRL for some.

Don’t get me wrong — I lurve fun makeup colors, but I’ve been eager for MAC to release another collection with a slightly more polished, sophisticated feel.
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Who Wears Short Shorts?

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Looks like the UPS guy won’t be the only dude at the office sporting shorts. The New York Times reports that more and more men are wearing shorts to work.

“FIRST came Casual Fridays, that dread episode in the history of fashion, with their invitation for men to trade in suits for Dockers and to swap a proper shirt and tie for an open neck and a daring flash of masculine décolletage.

Then the bare ankle migrated from country-club Saturdays to meeting-room Mondays and suddenly men, whether shod in wingtips or loafers, were widely seen without socks. Now it appears that, after some stops and starts in recent seasons, the men of the white collar work force are marching into the office in shorts.

It was no more than a moment ago, in the sartorial long view, that a guy who came to work wearing short pants would have been shown the door — or anyway, given the address for human resources at U.P.S. All that appears to be changing.”

I’m usually a supporter of workplace fashion freedom (wear what chu want, fool!), but I have only three words to say about this trend: OH. HELL. NO.

Some men have questionable taste when it comes to attire, and I don’t think I want to see my coworker’s hairy legs as he drones on and on about team-building and streamlined best practices. The kinds of guys who can get away with shorts at work are usually basketball stars, Abercrombie and Fitch models or guitarists for AC/DC.

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Magic Mascara Wands and Brushes

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It’s official: folks are gettin’ CRAZY with mascara brushes! Some of the biggest names in the biz, like Lancome, Cover Girl and MAC, are coming out with unusual mascara brushes, some that vibrate, and others shaped like miniature plastic combs or corkscrews.

Don’t throw out your old fashioned mascara brushes just yet, but you may want to give one of the newer breed of brushes a try.

Cover Girl’s Lash Blast and Lancome’s High Definicil mascaras sport short, stubby plastic bristles that look futuristic and efficient, while MAC Plushlash and Dior DiorShow supersize things with extra large brush heads and super long bristles.

Bristles in Motion

Beyond simple changes to brush size and bristle shape, some companies are coming out with battery-powered wands with vibrating brush heads. Look out, Harry Potter!

A few months ago, Spinlash ($15) released a powered wand with a spinning brush head (see it in action on Bellasugar’s blog), and since then several other lines have followed suit.

Estee Lauder’s vibrating Turbo Lash ($30) launched two weeks ago (currently sold out online), and Lancome’s much-hyped Oscillation Mascara ($34) arrives this November (but goes on early sale tomorrow for one day only).

An Irrational Fear

I’m careful about the products I’ll use around my eyes. If it emits heat, vibrates or drips (wax — so scary!), I keep it far, far away from my peepers. I can’t lie; I’m afraid I’ll poke an eye out. Maybe someday I’ll get over my clumsiness, but until then I’d rather avoid the inevitable 911 phone call (“Hello? I just poked my eye out with my vibrating mascara wand!”).

Despite my lack of coordination, Lancome’s Oscillation has already garnered rave reviews. The big beauty guns at Allure had very good things to say about it.

I haven’t gotten up the courage to wield it yet, but it is a highly anticipated product. Once you’ve used it, please let me know what you think. Just be careful you don’t poke your eye out.

Although its official launch isn’t until November, Lancome’s Oscillation Mascara will be available for purchase, one day only, on July 31. Find it online and at select Lancome counters nationwide.

Online

California

  • Brea: The Lancome Boutique at the Brea Mall
  • Costa Mesa: Nordstrom at South Coast Plaza
  • San Francisco: Macy’s Union Square
  • Santa Clara: The Lancome Boutique at the Valley Fair Mall

Florida

  • Miami: Macy’s at the Dadeland Mall

Georgia

  • Atlanta: Macy’s at the Lenox Square Mall

Illinois

  • Chicago: Macy’s on State Street and Bon-Ton at the Yorktown Mall

New Jersey

  • Short Hills: The Lancome Boutique at the Short Hills Mall

New York

  • New York City: Bergdorf Goodman, Bloomingdale’s 59th Street, Lord & Taylor, Macy’s Herald Square and the Lancome boutique on Columbus Avenue

Texas

  • Dallas: Dillard’s and the Lancome Boutique at NorthPark Center
  • Houston: Neiman Marcus at the Galleria

Crazy Brush Heads

I haven’t gotten on board the vibrating brush head train yet, but I am totally down for mascara brushes with unusually shaped heads.
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The #1 Best-Selling Chanel Lip Liner

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Throughout last weekend’s Chanel Master Class, the teachers kept referring to Nude lip liner ($28) like it was the mother of all lip products. I must have heard the words “universally flattering” and “best-selling Chanel liner” half a dozen times.

When it came time in the class to apply my lip color, one of the makeup artists ceremoniously presented me with a Nude lip liner dual-ended pencil, gazing intensely into my eyes with the seriousness of an initiate in a cult.

The Cult of the Nude Lip Liner!

I reached for it with trembling fingers… and girded my loins.


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