Even though The Daily Cookie has only been around for 4 months, it has given me the opportunity to discover new products, beauty lines and some of the best beauty blogs around. Here’s a recap of my Top 10 from The Daily Cookie this year.

My ultimate favorite beauty trend for the fall season was the ruby red lips with beautifully lined eyes created by Dior as seen is Ang Lee’s movie, Lust, Caution, which debuted back in September. It’s a gorgeous look that I think many can pull off, just don’t be afraid of red lipstick!

Girls with lashes that are less than lush can be grateful for Lancôme’s Cils Booster XL, a mascara base that has given my sad, thin, and straight little lashes more volume and length than I’ve seen in a long time! You bet I’m ringin’ in the New Year with this baby.

I attended the Nordstrom Fall Cosmetics Trend Show this year and it was one of the funnest beauty events I’d ever been to. Here’s where I found one of my favorite shades of red lips and discovered gel eye liners! I still have yet to write a full review on those pretty babies so be sure to look out for it in 2008.

Sometimes we’re so consumed with taking care of the skin on our face, being so careful to cleanse and moisturize it each day, we forget about some of the other important parts of the skin! Girls, you don’t want a saggy chin or wrinkles in your cleavage, do you?? I think my favorite is Bliss’ Thinny Thin Chin but at $48 US a pop, regular lotion or moisturizer will do just fine.

This was the year I also discovered my favorite face exfoliation regimen from Philosophy. It’s amazing how it makes my skin feel and I can’t get enough!

I was never really a perfume kinda girl until I discovered Bond No. 9, a unique perfumery that brings a personality to every New York neighborhood. My favorite of the ones I’ve smelled so far is definitely Chelsea Flowers.

When I have enough disposable income to buy whatever I want, I’d use Chanel Hydramax Moisture Boost Cream on my face every single day. Every day.

For years, I’ve been faithful to Origins’ A Perfect World Skin Guardian as my tried and true primer. I don’t think I’m ready to break up with her in 2008 just yet.

I barely remember my first kiss, but I could never forget my first kisses with The Boyfriend wearing Kissable Couture lip glosses.

Finally, my favorite from The Daily Cookie in 2007 was our “12 Days of Christmas” holiday giveaway! It was so fun to do and get to know all of you a little bit better. I’m definitely looking forward to many more contests and sweepstakes in 2008 so don’t miss it!

And now for the sites that gave me my favorite beauty reads in 2007:

- BeautyBlitz
- Beauty Junkie in SF
- City Chic
- Makeup and Beauty Blog
- makeupFIX
- MandyPandy’s Beauty Blog
- Nessassary Makeup
- Yummy411… Get It Here!

This fragrance is inspired by the West Side’s long monopoly on music. Home to Carnegie Hall, the Copacabana, Lincoln Center, Studio 54, Broadway musicals as well as rock and disco music.  Fragrance, like music, is open to interpretation. Everyone who sniffs it will hear - and smell - a different melody all their own.

With Bond No. 9’s West Side, I found myself enjoying this scent more and more as the day wore on.  It’s hard to describe, but wearing West Side gave me a feeling of warmth and coziness, a sense of familiarity, like it had been my melody to call my very own.  I generally love scents that are clean and floral, and this one is definitely one that I’d wear regularly!

The Take-Off:
-    Rose
-    Ylang Ylang
-    Peony

The Heart:
-    Sandalwood
-    Amber

The Bottom:
-    Vanilla
-    Musk

West Side retails for $130 US for a 1.7 oz. bottle and is available now exclusively at Saks Fifth Avenue stores nationwide, on Saks.com and at Bond No. 9’s four New York boutiques.

Don’t miss the rest of my Bond No. 9 fragrance reviews; Subscribe to The Daily Cookie RSS feed and email today.

I’m down in Southern California right now to spend the New Year with my family and friends and haven’t had a lot of time to update so I thought I’d give you some of my favorite reads of the week from the beauty blogosphere.

BeautyBlitz uncovers the meanings to hysterical beauty slang.

Is Too Faced’s new lipgloss, Fuze Slenderize Guilt Free, real or gimmick?  Experiments in Makeup shares her view.

Nessasary Makeup shares her gorgeous Purple, Blue & Green FOTD and perfectly matches her dress.

MandyPandy’s Beauty Blog finds a nice discount for the Clarisonic face brush!

Yummy411 gives us The Art of Drag Makeup.

And don’t forget about some of The Daily Cookie’s best reads - in case you missed it!

My first encounter with mineral makeup and thoughts about hair removal from a tube.

A couple of weeks ago, I told you about my first counter with mineral makeup from Coastal Scents. I also told you that I was too chicken nervous to do a full blown look, but I took the plunge and sported a look using mineral shadows and blushes from Coastal Scents.

The eyeshadows were silky and pigmented when I swatched them on my hand. But when I tried to apply them on my lids, the color payoff for some of the colors is better than others.

Paisley took a few swipes to get a noticeable color. It was slightly darker in person than what the camera captured but it’s still a buildable shadow.

Frenzy and Moroccan gave me a good amount of color on the first try so I guess it just really depends on the shade. Good thing is that Coastal Scents has over 70 colors to choose from, so you’re bound to find a few that will work for you.

Frenzy – pearl with gold tones
Moroccan – coppery peach
Paisley – soft lilac

Coastal Scents’ blushes have nice color to them, and although its staying power isn’t as great as some other ones I use, I don’t mind reapplying because Dare is really pretty!

Dare – pinky mauve with shimmer
Sassy – matte golden brown

Overall, the shadows were long-lasting (yay!) but did crease a little bit (um, not good). I don’t normally use any eyeshadow primers, but I bet if I tried Urban Decay’s Primer Potion that everyone’s been raving about, I’m sure that these Coastal Scents shadows will be a keeper.

For the natural look below, I used

Eyes:
- MAC Shadestick in Beige-ing (base)
- Coastal Scents “Paisley” (all over lid)
- Coastal Scents “Moroccan” (crease)
- Coastal Scents “Frenzy” (browbone)
- MAC Eye Pencil in Coffee
- Lancome Cils Booster XL mascara base
- Bobbi Brown Everything Mascara

Cheeks:
- Coastal Scents “Dare”

Lips:
- Chanel Glossimer in Spark

If you want to try Coastal Scents mineral makeup, I suggest you get their “Customize Your Own Mineral Makeup Set” kit. For $29.95, you get to choose your concealer color, foundation, veil shade (setting powder), one blush color, and two eye shadow shades. This is a total steal since you’ll full sized products for everything.

Want to follow along while I test out new products? Subscribe to The Daily Cookie RSS feed and email to keep up with my latest makeup escapades.

I would hope so! But just in case my legs weren’t, in lieu of actually shaving my legs, I was given the opportunity to try Veet Hair Removal Gel Cream to make sure that they were going to be touchably soft for the New Year.

However, when I was getting ready to try this hair removal product, I looked at my legs and thought, “Who am I kidding? I barely have enough hair on my legs to shave, so why try this?” But I was curious to see if the damn thing even worked so I recruited someone in the Boyfriend’s family to try it for me. As long as I don’t tell all y’all reading who it is – *wink*.

Following the directions on the box, we went to work.

Step 1: Evenly apply gel cream directly onto the skin with the tool provided to fully cover the hair.

When I was doing this, I noticed the smell right away. I’ll tell you this, I don’t even think they even tried to mask the smell with any other ingredients – even a little citrus smell would have made this 10 times better. It immediately reminded me of the formula salons use to perm hair. It brought back memories of me when I was 12 and my mom would take me to get my hair permed. Not cute.

But we trekked on. Directions said to leave the gel cream on for 3 minutes, timed carefully. Once the 3 minutes are up, use the application tool to scrape off a test patch. If the hair comes away easily, remove the rest of the cream with the tool.

If not, wait an additional 3 minutes and then remove. Be careful not to exceed 6 minutes, though. Probably so that you don’t burn your skin off because they really emphasized not leaving the cream on for too long.

So we waited the 3 minutes and scraped some of the cream off. It looks like it works! We waited another 3 minutes, though, just to make sure we got everything and then used the tool to scrape off all the cream and washed away any excess hair and cream on the skin.

Final analysis: Veet’s Hair Removal Gel Cream indeed works and in the amount of time that it says - kudos! However, for me, I wouldn’t personally use this product since shaving is easier for my almost hairless legs. And the smell was a little off-putting too. But it really does remove hair and for 5 minutes out of your day, it might be worth it for you to try.

What’s your preferred hair removal method and what are your favorite products to use?

Want to follow along while I test out new products? Subscribe to The Daily Cookie RSS feed and email to keep up with my latest beauty escapades.

The ultimate dichotomy of innocence and seduction, NARS Shanghai Lily Spring 2008 Collection mystifies with a mélange of hues delicate yet robust, creating the modern hybrid of feminine temptation.

Returning shades in two new textures are the breakout products for this collection - Dolce Vita Lip Gloss and The Multiple in Orgasm. Having become synonymous with the NARS brand, these two colors should be staples in every beauty junkie’s repertoire.

The complete Shanghai Lily collection includes:

Eyes:
- Alhambra Duo Eyeshadow: Metallic Rose Mist / Golden Champagne ($31 US)
- Abyssinia Single Eyeshadow: Delicate Pearl Sheen ($21 US)

Cheeks:
- Orgasm The Multiple: Peachy Pink with Shimmer ($36.50 US)

Lips:
- Success Lipstick: Burnt Sienna ($23 US)
- Manhunt Lipstick: Sheer Poppy Red ($23 US)
- Dolce Vita Lip Gloss: Dusty Rose ($23 US)
- Greek Holiday Lip Gloss: Sparkling Pink Sand ($23 US)
- Belle de Jour Velvet Matte Lip Pencil: Nude Beige ($23 US)

NARS Shanghai Lily Spring 2008 Collection will be available online and at counters in January.

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Related Posts: Lancome Spring 2008 Collection

New for the Spring/Summer 2008 seasons, Bobbi Brown introduces Creamy Lip Color.

Her new lip product combines rich color with comfortable, long-lasting wear to create a soft and creamy shine. Formulated with emollient shea butter and plant-derived skin conditioners, this amazing new lip color will glide on smooth, wear all day, and leave your lips so soft and moisturized. Really, what more can you ask for in a lipstick?!

Bobbi Brown’s Creamy Lip Color ($22 US) will be available on counters beginning February in 14 gorgeous shades:

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By request from my girl, Kia, I’m posting up recipes from the holiday desserts I made for Christmas Eve dinner this year. I hope you enjoy!

Rum Cake

Cake:
1 pkg yellow cake mix (I like Betty Crocker SuperMoist Butter Recipe)
1 3.4oz pkg instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of oil
1/2 cup of Bacardi gold rum

Glaze:
1/4 lb of butter
1/4 cup of water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup of Bacardi rum

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. Use an electric mixer to beat the batter for 2-3 minutes until the batter is smooth. Set aside. Lightly grease and flour your cake pan of choice (I like bundt cake pans to create a prettier cake). Pour your batter into the pan and bake for 50-55 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely - maybe 2 hours.

When the cake is cool and you’re ready to glaze, use a toothpick to poke little holes throughout in the cake (this is fun to do with your kids). This will allow the glaze to seep in and additionally flavor the cake so you don’t want to skip this step.

On the stove top, melt butter, stir in water and sugar. Let the mixture dissolve completely and come to a boil for about 4-5 minutes. Shut off the flame and remove the pot from heat. Pour in the rum and stir to combine. You can reheat the entire mixture for 30 seconds.

Use a basting brush or spoon to pour the glaze over the cake a little bit at a time. I usually like to “baste” the cake 2 or 3 times. The more times you do it, the sweeter the cake will be. I also find the the glaze recipe is more than enough for one cake and therefore don’t use all of it. Feel free to half the glaze recipe if you choose.

White Chip Chocolate Cookie recipe can be found on AllRecipes HERE.

White Chocolate Sour Cream Cupcake recipe can be found on Couture Cupcakes HERE.

Chewy Molasses-Spice Cookie recipe from Martha Stewart can be found HERE.

One thing to note about the recipe is that the cookie dough will be very soft and gooey. It didn’t form into a firm dough for me. If this happens to you, just scoop out the dough and wrap it up in plastic wrap in a big disc and pop it in the freezer for about 20 mins while you preheat the oven. This will give you a firm, workable dough to ball up and coat in sugar.

While you bake off your cookies in batches, just wrap the dough back up and put it in the freezer until it’s time to put in the next batch in the oven so that your dough stays firm enough to work with. And that’s it! Let me know how your delicious desserts turn out!

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Congratulations, Beth!

You’re our last winner of The Daily Cookie’s “12 Days of Christmas” giveaway and will receive O.P.I.’s Juicie Hollywood News set of 6 Avojuice Skin Quenchers.

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in our giveaway! If you didn’t win, don’t worry because The Daily Cookie is planning many more contests for you very soon! Subscribe to The Daily Cookie RSS feed and email to be the first to find out about our next giveaway!

{Image: LI Biz Blog}

I mentioned before that I love to bake, and the holidays is the PERFECT time of year for me to go crazy. This year for my friend Bruce’s dinner party, I made a Rum Cake. It’s a favorite for us - maybe because I use a full cup of real Barcadi rum instead of extract. Hey, it’s the holidays!

For our family’s Christmas Eve dinner, I also made White Chip Chocolate Cookies, one of my favorites!

I also tried two new recipes this year; White Chocolate Sour Cream cupcakes since the BF loves anything white chocolate. Thanks to Couture Cupcakes for an awesome recipe! I only wish mine looked as good as hers. But at least they taste as good!

And finally, I made a batch of Molasses Spice Cookies (thanks Martha Stewart!). These were AMAZING and I think I’ll be making these regularly.

I hope your holiday was filled with good food as well. Our Christmas Eve dinner was delicious (Thanks Babe!).

Since I made the desserts, he made most of the main dishes. And with the help of the rest of the family, here’s a glimpse into what was on the menu: Horseradish-crusted Rack of Prime Rib, Honey-Glazed Ham, Roasted Potatoes, Marinated Mushrooms, Creamed Spinach, Pasta Salad and SO much more. I’m totally stuffed, even one day later, and probably gained 10 pounds already but it was all worth it!

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