Steals & Deals from Stila!

Need to stock up on your favorite Stila products? You're in luck. The makeup brand is having a great little sale! Now through next Tuesday (September 27), get 20% off all products by using code FRIENDS2011. Also, there's free shipping, no matter how much you spend! Music to my ears! Wahoo!


Enjoy my beauty buffs! I know I will!

Switch Up Your Smoky Eyes For A Bold Pout

Wanna switch up your usual smoky eye, evening look? Try bold, red lips with inky, black liner to get a sophisticated, chic look that's actually pretty low maintenance. My deal friend Lindsey has the fortune of a gorgeous face that can pull off a dramatic smoky eye and nude lip or a bold pout with subtle liner. For our evening out, I decided to play up her full lips and outline her deep blue peepers.

Here's what I did to create her look:

Skin: To even out her already gorgeous skin, I poured out some L'Oreal Paris Visible Lift Foundation in 147 Creamy Natural onto the back of my hand and applied it evenly on her face and neck with a sponge. Next, I dotted her under eye area with NYX HD Studio Photogenic Primer. I then mixed together and applied Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in 10 Light with Shiseido White Lucent Brightening Eye Cream using a foundation brush underneath her eyes and on her lids and brow bone. I then dipped a big powder brush into NYX HD Studio Photogenic Grinding Powder in Medium and swept it across her face to set the makeup.  To give her a warm flush, I applied Kanebo SENSAI Cheek Blush in Sohi with Guerlain Terracotta Bronzing Powder in #3. I highlighted her cheek bones with Bobbi Brown's Shimmer Brick Compact in Bronze. 

Eyes: I first swept a neutral shade, Philosophy Pure of Heart, on her lids and brow bone to create a base and added a more taupe-based color, Philosophy Down to Earth, to the crease. Both shades are from the brand's Supernatural Coloring Book Palette. I then took the lightest shade from Bobbi Brown's Shimmer Brick as a highlighter and traced it lightly underneath her eyebrows with an emphasis directly below her arch. I filled in her brows using the same taupe shade I used on her crease. I then took a slanted eyeliner brush, dipped it into a Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Black Ink and traced her lid, closest to the lash line, with the liner. I swept two coats of Lancome Defincils Mascara in Black to her lashes. 

Lips: To prep her lips, I added a dot of concealer to even out the color and create a neutral palette. I then lined her lips with Stila Long Wear Lip Liner in Passionate and added YSL Lipstick in Le Rouge to her lips using a lip pencil brush. 

Her gorge look lasted all night (through a humid DC summer night) and made her look even more glamorous and gorgeous than she already is! Try it for yourself

Fall 2011 Backstage Beauty-Rebecca Minkoff

Although New York Fashion Week for Fall 2011 has come and gone there are plenty of fantastic beauty trends to get excited about and start replicating. Check out the backstage beauty trends that dominated the catwalk:

At Rebecca Minkoff a strong eye with an apricot lip was shown.

Makeup: Sarah Lucero for Stila Cosmetics
Inspiration: Urban Gypsy with a twist of edgy bohemian was seen all over the runway at Rebecca Minkoff. Stila created a strong eye and soft lip look to compliment the collection. The look is a fun mix on textures – just like the clothes on the runway.
 

Get the Look:

• Stila Sheer Color Tinted Moisturizer
• Stila Eye Shadow in Chinois
• Stila Eye Shadow in Espresso
• Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in Stingray
• Stila Kajal Eye Liner in Topaz (waterline)
• Stila Glamoureyes Mascara
• Stila Convertible Color in Gerbera
• Stila Lip Glaze in Apricot
  

Spring 2011 Fashion Week-Jenni Kayne

If fall fashion is all about military chic, big hair, inky, smokey eyes and thigh high boots then according to designer Jenni Kayne next spring is going to be quite the opposite. Kayne's collection showed off a desert-influenced bronzed California-earthy chic chick that's ready to travel in style and sophistication. The pieces were fresh and unique in gorgeous bright colors, minimalistic designs patterns, and interesting textures such as leather and lace.

The Inspiration: "A top-down, music-blaring road trip from the big city to Joshua Tree"

My Favorite Looks: A structured fitted khaki dress with accent buttons and a matching jacket and a magenta on pink skirt/top combo with a stunning Lucite necklace.

Makeup: Stila makeup artist, Sarah Lucero created a palette with earthy, neutral colors from Stila’s latest collection debuting this spring. Bronzed eyes, lips and cheeks channeled a “ride down the California coast and conveyed the effortless, wearable luxury of the collection,” says Lucero.  The makeup guru used Stila One Step Makeup to create a dewy, clean face. She applied Stila One Step PrimeColor in Bronze Babe to add a sunkissed flush. Lucero then applied Stila Eye Shadow in Puppy over the lids. Stila Coconut Crush Lip & Cheek Stain (launching spring 2011) was also applied and Lucero topped off the look with Stila Prime Pot in Caramel (launching spring 2011). After seeing how gorgeous their skin looked, I can’t wait to try Stila’s One Step Makeup and Stila One Step PrimeColor.

Hair: Redken created long flowy, boho-chic hair with a seventies vibe. The hair was all parted down the middle and blow dried out . The hair had an easy feel that's meant for a woman who can hit the beach, road trip down the coast line or socialize in style.

Check out the rest of the collection on Fabsugar

Sex and the City 2 Beauty Secrets Revealed!

Sex and the City 2 opens in theaters tomorrow people, but you probably already knew that! The ladies looked guh-orgeous at the NYC premiere and I'm not gonna lie, I'm incredibly excited to see my favorite New Yorkers on the big screen again. If you're like me, you've watched every episode of every season about 100 different times each and yet never get sick of the ladies or the show.

So if you're planning on imbibing some delicious Cosmos in their honor, wearing your sexiest heels of course (whether it be Manolos, Jimmy Choos or Payless brand) and want to take it a step further by recreating some of their fab on screen looks I couldn't blame you! In fact, I have the skinny on some of the products used to doll up SJP and Co. straight from the SATC2 makeup artists' beauty arsenal.


Carrie always has the most perfectly piercing smoky eye stare but our favorite fashionista also has the most beautiful Cupid-Bow lips around. The SATC2 makeup team used Stila Lip Enamal Luxe Gloss to emphasize Sarah Jessica Parker's perfect pout. The rich gloss is super conditioning and comes in six shades that have tons of antioxidents and essential oils. The shades include: Joy, Happiness, Giggle, Nirvana, Euphoria and Ecstasy. Price: $22, Available at Sephora.com

Samantha (aka Kim Cattrall) loves her revealing clothing and the makeup team wanted to plump up and rejuvenate the actress's skin to help her look refreshed, sexy and camera-ready at all times. The team used RéVive Moisturizing Renewal Body Lotion. The supreme cream contains a body-specific concentration of Nobel Prize-winning, patented EGF and FGF ingredients, plus a touch of glycolic acid that works together to help retexturize the skin and protect it against free radicals. Price: $185, available at www.reviveskincare.com

 To help Cynthia Nixon achieve Miranda’s rosy glow, the makeup team washed By Terry Rose de Rose Sheer Liquid Blush all over her cheeks. The highlighting color warmed the skin, made her complexion flushed and glowing and smoothed out her pores. By Terry is a great brand and I'm told the soft-wear micro-gel liquid texture is easy to blend so I'm excited to add this to my must-have beauty buy list. Price: $52, available at Barneys

To re-create Charlotte's innocent look, the makeup team applied theBalm Stainiac on the apples of her cheeks. The stain is the perfect pop of color and great for the lips and cheeks for a sheer wash. Layer the stain on the skin for a flushed look with added intensity if you're feeling dramatic. Best of all, the color won't stain right away like some other tints so it won't streak or look splotchy on. Price: $15, Available at Sephora an Sephora.com

P.S. Check out my photo of iconic Sex and the City costume designer Patricia Field at the Victor dE Souza show I attended last February for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week! I was so thrilled to meet her!

Working Wednesdays-Speedy Smoky Eyes Courtesy of Tina T!

Many of us have fun, fabulous evening plans but are on serious time crunches and can't seamlessly transition day/work makeup or no makeup into a sultry smoky eye without some seriously concentrated time and effort spent at home. Or perhaps you think you need a drawer full of cosmetics to really look like you're ready for a night out on the town. Not the case. You simply need a few beauty basics that you can toss into any purse or clutch to look like the most glamorous version of yourself.

Mariska Hargitay had amazing smoky eyes at the Oscars this year but she also had amazing celebrity makeup artist Tina Turnbow on hand to give her a flawless face and gorgeous glare.

Since Turnbow can't get us glammed up for all of our evenings out, she doled out some fantastic tips and recommendations for throwing together an easy, but unmistakably gorgeous smoky eye. Portability is key and the makeup artist recommends carrying a variety of blendable, lasting and eye intensifying pencils.

Turnbow suggests smudging 2-3 different pencils together instead of dealing with shadows that tend to fall on your skin and are messy to carry around. Pencils have a smudgier effect and a more deep, intense color. You'll want a matte pencil (usually in the darkest shade) to accentuate your eye, a super smudgey pencil that acts like a shadow, a highlighting pencil with a shimmery finish to blend the dark edges and brighten the whole look and a kohl pencil to line the inner rims of your eye if you're feeling particularly dramatic.

Smoky eyes can seem intimidating but what they do is enhance your natural eye shape using dark and light shades to play up one part and darken another. Turnbow says, "You want to emphasize darkness around the lash line and then diffuse that color out with a complimentary highlighting shade to make the eye pop. A soft metallic shade will give your eye dimension and depth."

To recreate Hargitay's sultry stare, Turnbow recommends starting with a solid matte pencil in a midnight blue hue. Try Sue Devitt Eye Intensifier Pencil in Victoria Falls or Stila Kajal Eye Liner in Sapphire. Both pencils blend easily, glide on smooth and are long lasting. Take the dark shade and follow the shape of your eye closest to your lash lines. Trace the pencil around your eye into an almond shape, which is the ideal shape for smoky eyes. Take another soft color like Stila Convertible Color in Indigo (a dual-ended color wand that has a pencil on one end and a complimenting highlighting shadow with a blending applicator on the other) and smudge the hue in the crease of your eye as a background to the darker color.

                                                      
                                                                               Then add in a shimmery metallic color like Sephora Collection Nano Eyeliner in Precious Silver or Pure Beige. Take the iridescent pencil and use it to highlight the shape of the eye to give it a luminescent look. Highlight the center of the lid (above the dark liner) and add a touch to your inner eye corners. Let the darker color graduate to the shimmery edge, so the lines are blurred and cloudy. Blend, blend, blend! Make sure there are no defined edges or lines. Turnbow says a harsh line will make your eyes look smaller.

For an even more dramatic look, focus a darker kohl pencil on the inside of your eyes to bump up the look. Try Almay Blendable Eye Pencil in Brown or Black.

Hargitay's smoky eyes looked stunning and the beauty's smooth chocolate brown pupils melted against the blue hues. You can easily achieve a similar look with Turnbow's amazing suggestions! Blue smoky eyes are perfection for the Spring and look amazing on every skin tone.

So grab a few of these pencils, store them in your bag and whip them out when you're ready to boost your look to the next level. Enjoy!!

Also check out the amazing Flower Child collection from Tarte inspired by eco-friendly makeup Goddess Tina T! Available at Sephora for a limited time!


Check out Makeover Momma for my Working Wednesdays columns!

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week BCBG Max Azria

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BCBG Max Azria is always a fan favorite and the designer's look always mirrors what I want to be wearing for the current season (or maybe it's the other way around).

This year Azria showed off a collection that had modern, clean lines with plenty of asymmetrical looks for the Fall. The clothes were flowy with distinct color blocking, beautiful draping and ultra casual crew necks and dresses in dark navy, creams and grays. Unfortunately, there was only a smattering of sequins and sparkles towards the end of the show but enough to remind you that you were at a BCBG show. Some bling is certainly necessary to please the throngs of twenty-something females (like me) that clamor to get a hold of our perennial favorite label. Nothing beats a BCBG sweater with gorgeous sparkles sown into the fabric or placed ever so carefully along the neckline or sleeve. We all have something that shines from his collection, right!?

The Look: Hair was pulled in a tight bun that fanned out in the back. The fresh-faced, low key makeup (a trend I saw everywhere on the runways) was done by makeup artist Sarah Lucero for Stila. Healthy-looking skin is majorly in this year and once again neutral lips and emphasized eyes helped bring together the BCBG collection.

Lucero used a few easy-to-find Stila staples. She applied eye shadow in Chinois (a pinkie-white shadow) all over the lid as a base. She then applied eye shadow in Puppy (a brown taupe) in the crease and underneath the lower lash line in an upperward motion to create a reverse cat eye. She then brushed on Stila Major Lash Mascara in Black to create a defined lash line and slightly darkened the brows. To create a healthy dewy face, Lucero used Stila One Step Makeup on their skin and under emphasized the lip by painting on Stila Long Wear Lip Color in In The Nude. Voila!

Thanks to WSJ for the additional info.

At These Prices, It's A Stila!

Ok I do realize that was incredibly cheezy! A little funny? No, no just cheezy, I think. But seriously, if you were already planning on buying something from Stila or want to try the brand for the first time (you'll love it), check out these amazing online deals on gift sets. Enter Promo Code: STILAELF and receive free shipping with no minimum from now till Sunday, December, 13th. That's tomorrow!

I know there's plenty of you who love Stila and this is an opportunity to get gift sets and brand faves at amazing prices! Enjoy!