It’s that middle season where swimwear is slowly just starting to hit the racks. And so comes images of warm, bronzed makeup and beach hair. While these looks are more typical of Summer collections, the Lorac Unzipped Collection makes it their own for Spring 2012.

A refreshing break from the cool pastels of many Spring beauty products, Lorac’s Unzipped Collection will easily carry you over to Summer. Check out some of our picks!

Lorac Unzipped Shimmer & Matte Eye Shadow Palette ($40 US): Create flattering neutral eye looks with the help of these ten rich eyeshadows and the included mini Behind the Scenes Eye Primer. This set is exclusive to Sephora and promises to be a popular item in any makeup stash.

Lorac Lips with Benefits Lip Gloss ($18 US): As good for your lips as they are pretty, these glosses are meant to hydrate and nourish lips with Acai Berry, Pomegranate Extract, and Vitamin E and C. The Crème Brule fragrance and the high shine finish in a variety of colors invite reapplication.

Lorac Tantalizer Highlighter & Matte Bronzer Duo ($32 US): This huge compact takes the guesswork out and makes touch-ups wherever easy. The convenience of a dark contouring shade and shimmery highlight hue guarantees cheekbones that pop! Apply sheerly or layer for more intensity to vary your look.

Lorac Unzipped: The Nude Collection ($34 US): This Ulta exclusive set shows you how to get the look Lorac created for Spring, complete with products for the eyes, cheeks, and lips. Color wise, the bronzy eye quad, peachy gloss, and plum blush would look especially fabulous on ladies with warm undertones.

Which Spring collections have you bought from so far? Are you more into Spring or Summer hues?

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I adore the spring time for the opportunity to wear minimal, but clean, beauty looks.  It’s a bit more defined than the effortless looks that summer demands.  Enter Bobbi Brown’s new Neons & Nudes collection for the season.

Mixing and matching neutrals on your eyes with a big, bold lip can’t get any easier than that.

From flat mattes to shimmers, I’m digging the different textures of the limited edition Ultra Nude Eye Palette ($45 US) featuring Bobbi Brown’s classic colors – from left to right:

• Chino Eye Shadow cool light beige
• Praline Shimmer Wash Eye Shadow nude with golden pearl
• Pink Chandelier Metallic Eye Shadow warm pink with golden pearl
• Stone Eye Shadow neutral gray brown
• Champagne Truffle Shimmer Wash Eye Shadow warm pink beige
• Cocoa Berry Shimmer Wash Eye Shadow rich brown plum

Wash a little neutral on your lids and then glam it up with a bright lip.  I can’t quite pull off the orange like the model but I can rock a fuschia just as well as the next gal.

Try Lip Gloss ($23 US ) in a shade like Cosmic Pink (middle) or Ultra Violet (bottom).  These shades are uber shiny and sheer.  For a color punch, wear a lip stick that complements underneath.

What ways are you updating your spring look this fall?  Are you digging Bobbi Brown’s pretty neon pouts like I am?

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There’s no doubt about it. Mrs. Iris Apfel has got style. Just look at those matching crimson nails and lips! Not to mention her kooky glasses and cover-worthy arm candy. As a fashionista who threw together couture pieces with flea market treasures years before we did, it’s clear why MAC chose to open the new year with Apfel.

With fashions always a season (or two!) ahead, we know we’ll be loving the bright colors that the MAC Iris Apfel Collection brings for Spring and Summer. Yet even now the colors are beautifully appropriate and on-trend. A touch of bold, coordinating color like Apfel demonstrates above is just right.

Lipstick ($14.50 US)
Pink Pigeon Bright cleanest pink (matte)
Scarlet Ibis Bright orange-red (matte)
Party Parrot Bright red-pink (matte)
Flamingo Light milky bright coral (lustre)
Morange Loudmouth orange (amplified)

Lip Pencil ($14 US)
Entertain Me Clearly orange
Embrace Me Vivid pinkish fuchsia
Redd Clearly red

Small Eyeshadow ($15 US)
Silver Gull Blue grey with sparkle (velvet)
Robin’s Egg Mid-tone teal (matte)
Diamond Dove Deep grey brown (matte)
Early Bird Bright coral (matte)
Howzat Deep grey with silver sparkle (satin)

Opulash Mascara ($15 US)
Bad, Bad, Black Black

Impeccable Brow Pencil ($15 US)
Taupe Mid-tone dirty taupe

Eye Pencil ($14 US)
Ebony Soft black

Beauty Powder ($23 US)
Too Chic Soft peachy cream with fine shimmer

Nail Lacquer ($15 US)
Oriele Orange Bright orange coral (crème)
Toco Toucan Bright blue fuchsia (crème)
Sandpiper Creamy pale stone beige (crème)

The MAC Iris Apfel Collection will be available at MAC locations and online at maccosmetics.com on January 5th.

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Gilded eyelids were a hit on this year’s Fall/Winter runways and we just know they’ll be carried over into 2012. The metallic sheen is simultaneously edgy and glamorous, a step up from the shimmery eye shadows we’re used to.

Keep it fresh for New Year’s Eve by lightly dabbing metallic hues as a highlight on cheekbones and brow bones, not just the eyes. You’ll shine under any lighting, be it sparkly disco balls or softly lit candles.

And here we have the collection that brings you that look. The MAC Metal-X Collection features nine special shadows that can be applied anywhere a metallic finish is desired. The buildable powdery cream formula also allows you to achieve a variety of intensities for a truly versatile product.

Metal-X Cream Shadow ($20 US)
Virgin Silver White with silver pearl
Fusion Gold Light pinky beige with gold pearl
Palladium Metallic ash
Cyber Metallic silver with silver pearl
Rusty Dirty peach gold
Red Hot Copper Warm copper
Venetian Tarnish Golden tarnished bronze
Vintage Coin Metallic olive green
Gold Carbon Metallic taupe

The MAC Metal-X Collection is available on counters and in-stores now as well as online at maccosmetics.com.

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Most of the time, online color swatches aren’t very exciting or accurate. I mean, how do you capture the depth of a physical object on a flat screen? It’s a challenge in the least yet China Glaze brings it with this swatch card of their Colours from the Capitol Collection, which is inspired by the Hunger Games!

Maybe I’m just so excited to see the Hunger Games next year that I’ll take anything I can get. Nail polish, photos, or trailers, take your pick. But really, movie-inspired nail polish collections seemed to be a big trend this year so I’m glad to see it spilling over into 2012.

If you’ve read the books or have an idea of the plot, you’ll know that there are 12 districts where the people of the Hunger Games live. China Glaze created a color for each district since each has a distinct trade. For instance, we can guess that the black with silver specks Smoke and Ashes represents Katniss’s coal mining district.

In normal circumstances I’m not one to want an entire collection, but the Colours from the Capitol may be an exception. Just by looking at the preview I’m already interested in every color. Luxe and Lush looks amazing, but I go weak for sparkly polishes so that’s a no-brainer. Moss green Agro is the surprisingly eye-catching one for me.

And we all know China Glaze very rarely disappoints in terms of saturation and application so I think I’ll end up loving these colors even more after seeing swatches.

Which colors do you think you’ll end up with? Are you seeing the midnight premiere of the Hunger Games?

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