It’s New Year’s Eve.. hard to believe that the end of 2008 is upon us.

This year was full of ups and downs for me in my personal and professional life.  One of this year’s best that combined both of those things for me was this blog.

- Lots of you, including myself, were interested in the first FDA-approved at-home laser hair removal system from TRIA.  Good thing is, for all that moola, this baby really works!

- Jeannie, our East Coast Contributor, went behind the scenes at Three Custom Color and talked shop with co-founder Chad Hayduk to get the scoop on Fall/Winter 2008 trends.  She also got to see how 3CC makes custom lip glosses right on the spot!

- Summer kicked off Dior’s Confessions of a Beauty Director events where I got to meet Director Joelle Russo and found out her favorite products and tips for hot-weather beauty.

- Wearing false lashes doesn’t have to be the time-consuming task you think it is.  All it takes is a little patience and an easy step-by-step.  I think one of my New Year’s resolutions will be to wear falsies at least once a week – in public 

- 2008 brought the release of Danity Kane’s sophomore release, Welcome to the Dollhouse, as well as the band’s demise.  But no one can deny these ladies are gorgeous – with a little help from celebrity makeup artist J.J. Jacobucci and her tips on how she made up the girls during their album cover shoot.

- I love it when my friends get into the beauty thing with me.   Thanks to Nicky from the shu uemura boutique in San Francisco, his tips and tricks proved easy enough for us to transform my friend Susan into pop icon Madonna from her Hard Candy album cover look.

- There was lots of chatter about Miley Cyrus’ Vanity Fair photo shoot back in the Spring.  Are your thoughts on the topic the same, or still as strong as it was 8 months ago?

- Holiday looks are so fun to create!  I came up with a fun colorful face, a sassy red lip, and an ice princess for this season of cheer.

- My blog family and I had a great time with our 80’s Beauty Challenge to come up with fun interpretations on pop icons from the decade.

- But by far, my favorite event of 2008 was the birth of my sweet little god daughter, Katanah!

What were some of your favorite memories from the past year?   Hopefully this year has been great and best wishes from me to you and yours for a wonderful 2009.  Happy New Year!!!

I have to admit, I don’t surf the online beauty websites as often as I’d like to.  But this morning, I was perusing Allure.com and came across this photo to base my holiday look around.

There’s nothing more captivating in the middle of winter than a shimmery ice princess, a look that I think I can pull off just by adding a little bit of sparkle to my eyes and lips.  And I have the perfect lip glosses in mind to finish my look – tarte’s Purse Your Lips Limited Edition Super Fruit Lipgloss Clutch ($39 US).

This lip collection comes with 9 brand new limited edition shades formulated with tarte’s t5 super fruit complex blend of the five most active superfruits packed with vitamins and antioxidants to benefit your skin including pomegrante, acai, and goji.

All the shades are on the sheer side, but are definitely buildable to obtain a little bit of color if you really want it, especially the darker colors.  The formula is also tacky enough to stay on for a few hours, but not annoying sticky – which makes for a nice lip gloss.

From L to R: shimmering bubblegum pink, sheer pink nectar, gold-tinged plum, shimmering brown sugar, shimmering near nude, shimmering deep mauve, sheer crimson, shimmering deep cranberry, and shimmering nude-peach

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It’s the first collection to be released from MAC in 2009 and we have a special sneak peak preview for you!

MAC Brunette, Blonde, Redhead is a collection created specifically to pair perfectly with your most prominent beauty feature, your hair color – whether you’re a brunette, blonde, or (you guessed it!) a redhead, MAC’s new collection has something just for you.

Here’s a little sampling of what’s in store for you before Brunette, Blonde, Redhead hit counters on January 8, 2009.

MAC Lipstick in B-Babe (blonde), Lipglass in Soft Wave (brunette) and Blonde Mineralize Skinfinish, a cult favorite product formula.

With 9 eye shadows slated for release, here are two: Pincurl (blonde) and Flip (redhead).

Even though MAC paired these shades for women with a particular coloring, I don’t see why I can’t mix and match my shade preferences and wear any color I choose.  Just from swatching, I think I can pull these off even though I’m considered a brunette.

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I’ve really started to get into fragrances this year and am even going out of my norm to smell scents that are beyond what I normally love.

I recently had an opportunity to sample Vera Wang’s new perfume, Look.  And I must tell you, it wasn’t what I expected but I enjoy it a little more each time I wear it out.

Last year, I fell in love with Vera Wang Parfum because it was a classic (as my friends would say) “Lilan” scent – full of soft, romantic white florals.

Vera Wang Look, on the other hand, is a more subtle romantic.  At first glance, she’s no nonsense and is a strong, completely confident kind of woman.  For me, it’s great for everyday – wear it to the office or out and about all day with fresh top notes of mandarin, lychee, golden delicious apple and watery greens.

And when it’s time to unwind and let your hair down, Look is also there for me, mellowing out and bringing to the forefront notes of those florals I absolutely adore, like freesia, lily and jasmine.

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