Category: cosmetics

How to wear bright eyeshadow

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Who doesn’t like makeovers and before and afters? Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to wear bright eyeshadow:

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Real-Woman Tutorial: How to Wear Bright Eyeshadow

Yes, you can wear teal shadow without looking garish — just follow these steps

Real-Woman Tutorial: How to Wear Bright Eyeshadow

This tutorial is designed to show you step-by-step how to wear bright colored eyeshadow (which is doable even if you have small or Asian eyes). Brightly colored eyes can dress up a look when paired with a neutral or nude face, or accessorize an entire outfit. Just make sure you know how to wear it before rocking it in the office.

See how-to

For my part, I think that Asians and women with deeper skintones wear bright eyeshadows better than their lighter complexioned sisters.

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Get Your Best Lashes and Lips

Readers and Bloggers share their favorite tricks for playing up our flirtiest features

Get Your Best Lashes and Lips

Oh, those eyes! Those lips! Keep all eyes fixed on your gorgeous face with these alluring tips and tricks from TotalBeauty.com’s glam-savvy readers and bloggers.

See tricks

TotalBeauty bloggers provide tips on lips and eyes in conjunction with “sneak peak” reviews of MAX Factor Vivid Impact Lipcolor and MAX Factor 2000 Calorie Extreme Lash Plumper Mascara.

Too Faced LOCKDOWN Ultimate Creaseless Cream Eye Shadow

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Too Faced LOCKDOWN Ultimate Creaseless Cream Eye Shadow

Too Faced LOCKDOWN Ultimate Creaseless Cream Eye Shadow includes both eyeshadow base and pigment in a single product. The base works fine, but I don’t care for the sparkle in the eyeshadow: Bedroom Eyes (medium brown), for example, has bits of copper glitter.

Too Faced LOCKDOWN Ultimate Creaseless Cream Eye Shadow comes in six shades, each with a salacious name:

* Bedroom Eyes (medium brown)
* Bondage (light brown)
* Dramarama (dark brown)
* I’m Guilty (aqua blue)
* Jailbait (light pink)
* Prisoner of Love (pink)

You may find Too Faced LOCKDOWN Ultimate Creaseless Cream Eye Shadow in Sephora stores and at Sephora.com.

Beauty at Douglas Cosmetics

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Parfümerie Douglas is Germany’s largest chain of beauty stores. In addition, Douglas has several stores in the U.S. I recently visited the Douglas store at Union Station in Washington, DC.

Douglas used to carry the German brands ARTDECO and BeYu. Even though I found nothing from ARTDECO and BeYu that appealed to me, it was fun to look because these brands aren’t readily found in the U.S. Douglas has stopped carrying both brands: in the case of ARTDECO, it was on account of use of certain ingredients. No, the Germans don’t always make good stuff! 🙂

At Union Station, Douglas has discontinued carrying Universal Colors and blackUp Paris, two lines created for “women of color”: odd, given the demographic.

Now Douglas carries only stalwart brands such as Clinique and Estee Lauder. Boring, boring.

So, what’s worth checking out at Douglas? Its accessories and implements. It carries its own line of professional cosmetic brushes called Da Vinci, including several brush sets: Classic Look, Nude Look, and Smokey Eyes. I particularly like the flat headed eyeshadow brush in the Smokey Eyes kit: it works better than flat lay-on eyeshadow brushes or fluffy eyeshadow brushes to apply eyeshadow all over or on the lid.

One product that I hadn’t seen before is this soap to wash brushes:

It’s a gentle soap that doesn’t strip oils from natural hair brushes.

By Lauren Luke debuts today

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Today (Monday, April 27, 2009), YouTube sensation Lauren Luke begins selling her own line of color cosmetics. If you’re not familiar with Lauren, she’s from the north of England, speaks with a definite accent, and presents videos on make-up, especially eye makeup. There’s nothing flashy about her videos: Lauren captures the video herself, and you can see her adjusting the videocam when she zooms in for a close-up.

Since Lauren started posting her videos in 2007, she has gained a base of 200,000 subscribers. With that clout, no wonder she was approached to create her own line of color cosmetics, which is called By Lauren Luke.

Watch Lauren as she talks about the launch of her cosmetics line:

Lauren’s initial offering is a collection of five color palettes: My Fierce Violets, My Vintage Glams, My Sultry Blues, My Luscious Greens, and My Smokey Classics. Each palette includes two shades of eye shadow primer, three eye shadows, eye liner, blush, and two lip colors.

Here’s what I’m planning to buy:

My Vintage Glams, which features:

Shadow Primers in Nude Slip Dark and Nude Slip Light
Eye Shadows in Petticoat Pink, Red Wine, and Silver Slippers
Eye liner in Raven Black
Blush in Berry Cream
Lip Colors in Champagne Kiss and Love Bite

There have been a lot of pre-orders already: I hope that I’ll get my hands on My Vintage Glams!

Best for less from Wet n Wild

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and a few duds.

TotalBeauty.com
The Best and Worst Wet n Wild Products

Check out which nail polishes, eye shadows, lipglosses and more our readers love, and, well, love to hate
The Best and Worst Wet n Wild Products

Buying Wet n Wild is an inexpensive way for us get our beauty fix without hurting our wallets. Heck, half the stuff they sell you could buy with change found in your couch cushions. Check out this guide to what’s hot and what’s not, and then search those couch cushions or bust open that piggy bank.

See products

The Worst: No. 3: Wet n Wild MegaColors Lipstick, $1.99

TotalBeauty.com average member rating: 6.4*
The Worst: No. 3: Wet n Wild MegaColors Lipstick, $1.99

It’s “just overall really mediocre” they say and feels “icky on …”

No. 2: Wet n Wild Wild Shine Nail Color, $.99

TotalBeauty.com average member rating: 6*

No. 2: Wet n Wild Wild Shine Nail Color, $.99

“The finish is just awful– no smoothness whatsoever, very chunky, streaky and coarse …”

The Best: No. 9: Wet n Wild Silk Finish Blush Compact, $3.49

TotalBeauty.com average member rating: 8.6*

The Best: No. 9: Wet n Wild Silk Finish Blush Compact, $3.49

“The pigmentation is dense– so a little goes a long way” and “it literally stayed on all day …”

Want to see the rest of the list? Click here!

Temptalia shows you how to create the cat eye

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TotalBeauty.com
Real-Woman Tutorial: Perfect Eyeliner

Quick and easy tips for a perfect cat eye, liquid liner and more – brought to you by fellow blogger Temptalia

Real-Woman Tutorial: Perfect Eyeliner

This tutorial is designed to show you step-by-step how to line your upper lash line and wing out the liner subtly, which is typically called a cat-eye. Check out these tips and you’ll be on your way to perfectly-lined eyes in no time.

See how-to

OCC Lip Tar giveaway

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I’ve been a fan of Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics‘ lip color from its original Lip Balm in Tarred (black) and Feathered (White) to its expansion of its Lip Balm collection to include five additional shades.

OCC introduced Lip Tar, a new collection of lip color, at The Makeup Show in LA last month. It sold out its supply of Lip Tar at the event, and needed to replenish its supply of NSFW (described as “a vivid, primary scarlet”) and Pageant (described as “an intensley bright beauty queen fuchsia”). NSFW and Pageant have since been restocked.


Three shades from Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics’ new Lip Tar collection

When OCC says that the Lip Tar shades are intense, it’s not kidding! Safety Orange, for example, indeed mimics the bright orange of traffic warning signs. These colors are highly pigmented.

The best part is that we’re hosting a giveaway of the complete Lip Tar collection! One lucky winner will get all nine shades of Lip Tar. It’s exciting to present an exclusive offer for a recent cosmetics launch.

http://contestmachine.com/embed/survey_js/S26P400HJC

Femme Couture at Sally Beauty Supply

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I went to Sally Beauty Supply to shop for plastic cosmetic spatulas (the type packaged with Jolen Creme Bleach), and discovered Femme Couture, a color cosmetics line sold exclusively through Sally Beauty Supply stores and sallybeauty.com.


Femme Couture Mineral Effect Blush in Tuscan Rose

The best of Femme Couture is its Mineral Effects Blush, which comes in six different shades: three for lighter complexions and three for darker complexions. The three blushes for darker complexions – Tuscan Rose, Canyon Earth, and French Roast (a deep, deep red brown) are especially beautiful.


Femme Couture Flawless Touch Undereye Concealer

Also recommended is Femme Couture’s Flawless Touch Undereye Concealer, a creamy, easy to blend stick concealer with an inner core that’s claimed to minimize the appearance of under eye circles.

So-so is Femme Couture’s Ultra Hydrating Lip Color: I would have liked more pigment. Pass up on its oil-free Eye Makeup Remover, a gooey mess which does a poor job of removing eye makeup.

You can get discounts on Femme Couture and other products sold through Sally Beauty Supply by purchasing a membership card. The $5.00 annual fee quickly pays for itself.

Sally’s e-newsletters has news about specials. Sally also has a presence on Facebook. To subscribe, visit the home page of Sally Beauty Supply and scroll down to the bottom of the page. You’ll find the links to the left.

Caring for your makeup brushes

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Here’s advice from Shalini Vadhera of Global Goddess Beauty in her e-newsletter that got my attention.

She provides the conventional wisdom about when to discard makeup:

Concealer: Up to 12 months
Powder: 2 years
Cream & gel cleansers: 1 year

Pencil eye liner: 3 years
Eyeshadow: 3 years
Foundation: 1 year
Lip liner: 3 years
Lipstick: 2 years, but if it starts to smell, replace it
Mascara: the fastest of these cosmetics to expire, will last no more than 3 months!

We know that cosmetics last longer than what she quoted: in fact, industry insiders have admitted that cosmetics are good to use five years after purchase.

Shalini then writes,

Here’s a trick to keep your cosmetics lasting as long as possible. Use clean brushes, not fingers, for a healthy application. Brushes should be washed every 2-3 months in a mild detergent and laid flat to dry. If they begin to fray or split, replace them in order to ensure the smoothest application.

I was surprised that she recommended 2-3 months between washings. Usually, pros recommend washing brushes every month. This is especially important for eye makeup brushes for hygienic reasons.

Here’s what I’ve learned about caring for makeup brushes:

* It takes about a day for eye makeup brushes to dry after washing.
* For face makeup brushes, it can take up to 2 days to dry after washing.
* Be judicious about using spray-on, tissue-off brush cleaners. These cleaners are a great convenience, but many contain alcohol or other ingredients that strip oils from natural hair bristles.
* If you develop an eye infection, it’s essential to wash your brushes. You might want to avoid eye makeup altogether until the eye infection is gone.
* If you use loose mineral powders, clean your brushes often so that color applies true.
* Shampoo is essentially detergent, so you can use shampoo to wash your brushes.