If you grew up in the 80s as I did, you can certainly appreciate a trip down memory lane where a few of my fellow beauty bloggers are going to give you memorable beauty looks from the decade that gave us Madonna in lace, Jem and the Holograms, awesome hair metal bands, and the laceless adidas that Run DMC rocked to make a fashion statement.

For my 80s look, I took inspiration in the sleek and sexy look of those darling Robert Palmer girls from his “Addicted to Love” music video - a song and look that’s so synonymous of the 1980s decade, it just brings you back whenever you hear it.

The slicked back hair, the ultra glossy red lips, and the heavily contoured cheeks (scary!) - I couldn’t wait to get started! (more…)

I love birthdays! It’s always an excuse to go out, eat delicious food and be merry over drinks. Today is the Boyfriend’s best friend’s birthday (Happy Birthday, Bruce!) but we all went out and celebrated officially last Friday.

After a grueling work week, the Boyfriend and I met up with Bruce, the birthday boy, his girlfriend and a couple of other friends at Suppenküche, a German restaurant in the city. We had heard good things about the food and the atmosphere was fun, but the real reason we came was because the BDay boy wanted to try drinking one of those (in)famous 2 liter boots. Well, maybe not one boot - he wanted to finish two of those boots and we definitely wanted to see him take the challenge.

And by golly, he can now boast to drinking 4 liters of beer during the course of 2 hours at dinner - impressive? Or kinda crazy? For more pics of our fun evening, (more…)

15 Minute Beauty Fanatic reconsiders blonde hair after some great color advice from Brad Johns!

Tousled, textured hair is the top tress trend for Spring 2008! StyleBell shows you how to create Beachy Waves with your flat iron.

Mischo Beauty shares her best tips on how to prepare for a bikini wax and what to expect!

The Makeup Divas Beauty Blog is blown away by these ProSilk Hair Products!

Beauty Anonymous brings you Anna Sui Beach Collection for Summer 2008!

The Muse shows you the solution to eyeshadow fall out woes with a review of Shadow Shields!

SugarShock Beauty is channelling fashion muse of the moment Amy Winehouse – (in a subtle way, we promise!) – with Stila’s new liquid eyeliner.

Beauty and Personal Grooming shares some DIY Antiwrinkle face masks

A Touch of Blusher can’t live without this foundation.

Beauty Blogging Junkie tells you how to channel the look of your fave The Hills girl here.

Mischo Beauty shares her best tips on how to prepare for a bikini wax and what to expect!

Product Girl is having her first giveaway. Enter to win a Philosophy Breakfast in Bed Shower Gel Set from now until Monday night!

Makeup Moxie reviews Cargo Blu-Ray High Definition Mascara.

Glossypink reveals her favorite eyeshadow of all time!

Cybelesays Gets To The Shea Of Things with a feature on the best products out there containing the most Shea Butter

Just when you thought SPF 15 was safe, The Beauty Bug makes you think again, and tells you why you should up your dosage of SPF!

Spoiled Pretty hearts her T3 hair dryer. But what’s the one thing she would add to it? Find out what extra would push her head over heels…

Toya from “The Life of A Ladybug” still hasn’t decided how she feels about Bourjois and these eye products haven’t changed her mind.

Savvy Skin realizes her skin care obsession is ruining her career!

Karen from Makeup and Beauty Blog shows you how to get Mariah Carey’s look with MAC Heatherette Beauty Powder.

The Beauty of Life finally figures out how to banish undereye circles for good! Check out her two miracle products!

Mischo Beauty shares her best tips on how to prepare for a bikini wax and what to expect!

Jennifer and Christine from Beauty in Real Life are having a giveaway! Click here to take you there!

May is declared National toss your makeup month. What is your tossing habits? Check out Casual Lavish and give your thoughts.

The Beauty of Life finally figures out how to banish undereye circles for good! Check out her two miracle products!

Dealing with those pesky ingrown hairs with Daily Dose of Coffee.

Laurie from Beauty’s Spot has a coveted moment’s peace with Exhale Massage

Joy from Makeup Junkie gives us the scoop on Fall/Winter beauty trends from Toronto L’Oreal Fashion Week !

Got 10 minutes? Beauty411 reviews Clairol Perfect 10 haircolor and tells you how your haircolor can go from drab to fab!

Kathryn from Budget Beauty Love gives us the lowdown on Cosmetic Outlets.

The Muse discusses Aube’s Early Summer Collection of Limited Edition Frutina Glosses and does a mini review of last year’s releases!

Discover how pineapple and papaya reveal more radiant skin at A Mom in Red High Heels! Also, enter for your chance to win the product!

When it comes to cleansers, it takes quite a product to make me stray from my favorite La Mer The Foaming Cleanser. And while I’ve heard many, many great things about Kiehl’s products in general, I wasn’t prepared to like their new Ultra Facial Cleanser as much as I did.

The Ultra Facial Cleanser and Ultra Facial Toner are two new products from Kiehl’s, inspired by its classic Ultra Facial Moisturizer. The cleanser ($17.50 US) is mild and suitable for every skin tone. The pH-balanced formula is rich and creamy, and a little goes a long way. It’s super lathery, letting you know that it’s getting all that grimy dirt off your skin in one shot. This is especially handy to have if you’ve just gone on a date that ended badly where the guy slobbered all over you while trying to give you a kiss goodnight. Does Flavor Flav come to mind for anyone???

Follow up the cleanser with Ultra Facial Toner ($15 US) to really get rid of all the ickies on your skin. It doesn’t have the cooling sensation that my current toner has, but that’s because it’s a non-astringent. Which is better for you because it doesn’t strip the natural oils from your skin. However, I kinda missed that cool and refreshing feeling.

Get Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cleanser and Ultra Facial Toner on counters now and online.

Enjoy this post? Subscribe to The Daily Cookie RSS feed and email to get all the latest release information from your favorite beauty brands.

One spring beauty trend I read about in Allure’s February 2008 issue was soft, gray eyeshadow to create a softer alternative to the smoky eye. It’s really beautiful and a look that anyone can pull off easily. That’s right, we gals can pull off high fashion designer beauty looks right in our bathrooms too!

To keep it subtle, (more…)

I’ve been using the same 4 brushes to apply makeup for a few years now, nearly 7 years if I were to guess. I haven’t understood how important using different brushes can help me to achieve different application results. It wasn’t until I started reading Vanessa’s site (you enabler you!) that I started thinking, “Hmm, maybe I should throw in a few more brushes into my makeup bag.”

Here’s what I use everday (from top to bottom):

Prescriptives blush, MAC 266 angled (brows), Benefit small fluffy shadow, and Benefit angled shadow

After deciding that I wanted to expand on my brush collection, I asked Vanessa and Karen what their top basic brushes were and they each named MAC 187 for blush. When I looked for it on the MAC site, I gasped - $42 US for a brush?? Yikes!

Thankfully for me, I read Memoirs of a Shopping Addict and found a post that just happened to list a dupe for MAC 187. And it was only gonna cost me $15 during a sale Lumiere was having - uh, hello?! Sign me up! The sale is over now, but you can still pick up the Duo Fiber Optic brush for $22 - still a great deal!

While I don’t have the 187 to compare side-by-side, I will say that I’m enjoying my Duo Fiber Optic brush. It’s made with synthetic fibers, whereas MACs version is made from a blend of goat hairs and synthetic fibers. Lumiere’s brush is soft, and picks up color from creme blushes nicely. I’m also finding that the brush allows me to apply color more precisely on my cheeks as well.

Overall, I really like it. And although I’ve never used MACs 187, I don’t think I’m missing out.

Like this post? Subscribe to The Daily Cookie RSS feed and email to follow along while I find the best deals to share with you.

As most of you know by now, Fergie has joined the likes of Mary J. Blige, Dita von Teese, and Eve as the new face of MAC’s Viva Glam campaign to introduce a new Special Edition Viva Glam VI lipglass where all proceeds from sales goes to the M·A·C AIDS Fund to support the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Fergie has also re-mixed her hit single, Glamorous, to record VIVA GLAMorous as an added contribution to to her campaign with MAC.  A total of 15,000 FREE downloads are available right now along with Viva Glam eCards.  The eCards reinforce Fergie’s Responsibility is Glamorous message by pairing her sexy VIVA GLAM visual with alarming AIDS facts that concern youth.

Please go out and support the MAC Aids Fund and check out the new single now!

Enjoy this post? Subscribe to The Daily Cookie RSS feed and email and learn more ways on how you can participate to help worthy causes and help support our community - one lipstick at a time!

{Source: MAC}

I’m quite partial to orchids - all types and colors, I love them all. And while I love them because they’re beautiful and exotic, they hold a special place in my heart because my name, translated from Vietnamese, means “orchid”.

With that said, it’s not surprising that when Bath and Body Works released a new Signature Collection in Enchanted Orchid a few weeks ago, I just knew I had to try it.

The scent of the body lotion ($10 US) is quite lovely. It’s youthful, soft and romantic. It’s got a perfect mix of floral and fresh for the spring. Enchanted Orchid fragrance notes include:

Top: Pink Grapefruit, Wet Greens, Waterlily, and Crisp Apple
Mid: Calypso Orchid, Fresh Gardenia, Delicate Iris, and Violet Petals
Base: Vanilla Orchid, Heliotrope, Creamy Amber, and Skin Musk

As with any fragrance, if you layer shower gels with the lotion, the scent is more intense and it lasts longer. Although I have to admit, when I used Enchanted Orchid Shower Gel ($10 US) in the shower, the smell bore a strong resemblance to Mr. Bubble - you know we all had that bubble bath in the hot pink bottle as a kid. The citrus notes of grapefruit really came through, too. But when I smoothed Enchanted Orchid body lotion on my arms and hands after the shower, it smelled wonderful.

What are you favorite flowers? Do you personally wear perfumes with notes of your favorite florals in them?

The standout lippies from MAC’s Heatherette collection are the beautiful fuschias of Hollywood Nights lipstick and Style Minx lipglass, and the coral shades in Lollipop Loving and Sock Hop.

But, from the moment I applied Lollipop Loving on my pucker, I just knew it was something special. I’d never been a die-hard lover of corals, but these lippies were enough to convert me. This is officially my new favorite lip combo for the season!

(more…)