The Beauty Buff Blog: blush

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Aug 16, 2010

MAC Wants To Know Which Venomous Disney Villain You Are

I couldn't be more excited about MAC's latest collection collaboration: a line that celebrates all the villainous Disney characters we love to hate. Yes, they were evil and menacing, but some of them rocked some rather enviable makeup choices. Am I the only one who thought the Evil Queen in Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs had the most gorgeous ruby (poisonous) red apple pout? Perhaps.

The appropriately named Venomous Villains line comes out September 30^th just in time for a fresh new fall makeover. The products feature Cruella De Vil from "101 Dalmatians", The Evil Queen from "Snow White", Maleficent from "Sleeping Beauty" and Doctor Facilier from "The Princess and the Frog" in the forms of nail polishes, lip sticks, blushes and eye shadows. How fantastically evil!

The shades all look totally wearable though. The blood-red lipstick "Toxic Tale" is reminiscent of Snow White's ominous apple and looks bright and fresh, while a gun-metal eggplant-green nail lacquer inspired by Maleficent called "Mean & Green" would colorfully accent a more subdued and neutral fall fashion color palette perfectly. I also love the look of "Oh so fair", a baby pink beauty powder in the Evil Queen's collection and "Innocence Beware", a taupe lipstick ode to the particularly evil species known as Cruella de Vil.

The shades look edgy and purrfect for transitioning from punchy-melon super bright summer shades to more sophisticated fall contouring on the cheek bones and lids. Tans, grays and army greens are going to be seen everywhere this fall and this is the collection to wear with that palette. Since I think we all have a little Disney villain in us, this collection will be fun for everyone. Which Disney villain do you most relate to? None of them!? Or even better-all of them! Love it! Can't wait to try these puppies out!

May 26, 2010

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!

May 19, 2010

Beauty On The Run With The Beauty Buff-Airbrush Makeup With Luminess Air!

At Fashion Week this year I attended Project Runway alum, Althea Harper's show for her début line. The show was fantastic and as a beauty blogger, I was especially blown away by how ethereal, and flawless the models' skin looked. I spoke to makeup pro, Kristen Arnett who filled me in on how they achieved their gorgeous glow and seemingly perfect skin. The look was android chic and the makeup contrasted deep, blood black lips with creamy pale skin using the airbrush system, Luminess Air. Airbrush makeup was previously reserved just for makeup artists (who had the professional service in the repertoire) to do for special occasions like weddings and wasn't very accessible for people at home. Then all of a sudden, brands caught on that people wanted to achieve an airbrushed look themselves in a way that was easy and relatively affordable. Brands like Luminess Air and Temptu came out with their own systems that people could purchase and use in the comfort of their own homes.

I'm a huge fan of airbrush makeup and was thrilled when I found out I'd be able to try out a Luminess Air system for myself. I was amazed at how compact the entire kit was and how quick it took to actually use the system and for that Luminess Air gets my Beauty on the Run With The Beauty Buff seal of approval! The entire kits fits into an adorable metallic carrying case and comes with a wide range of foundation colors to suit every skin tone. There's an instructional DVD (very needed) included and online video tutorials to help you get started and once you become familiar with how to use the tools-namely the actual airbrush pen, the set up and execution takes about five minutes. That's how long it takes for me to find my foundation in my makeup bag half the time! Once you get comfortable, the entire process (set up, use and cleaning it) takes 7-10 minutes total! Seriously this is a no brainer!

Boxed Beauty Kits

I know it seems like I'm on a Sephora binge with all the accolades they've received from me lately but I feel like it's my civic duty to a) vote and b) tell you when I find something deliciously fabulous that gets me kid in a candy store excited.

So here's another way they're making our lives easier and more fun: Boxed Kits of customer favorite products. Each kit has travel size versions of different skin and beauty products for your lips, eyes, skin and face. Some of my favorite products are featured in each set such as Duwop Private Red (in the Lip Service Kit), Guerlain Powder Pearls for the Face bronzer (in the Glitz & Glam Shimmer and Shine Kit) and Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion (in the Radiant Skin Regimen Kit).

This sounds like the perfect little holiday stocking stuffer (hint, hint). Since I'm such a beauty junkie, the brand variety is enticing and lets be honest I'm not sure I'd be able to afford the regular size version of some of these fine products! Take a look at all the miniature sets here: Sephora Favorites