This morning I woke up feeling a little spunky and rejuvenated after a really (really) blah Monday and Tuesday so I decided to actually put some color on my face today.

I dug around my newly organized makeup stash (it probably won’t stay this way for long) to see if I could find something to spice up my life on this Hump Day! It didn’t take me long before I gravitated towards that purple pot of eyeshadow - it drew me in immediately.

MAC’s new collection, Electro Flash, gives us mineralized eye shadow duos that definitely helped to pick up my mood when I spied Odd Couple, a pot containing a bold purple half paired with a side of light bronze with purple veining. They say the shadows are extremely pigmented but I thought they had just the right amount of color.

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Imagine, it’s finally date night and you’re getting ready to meet your babe for some good eats in the city. Because your boss is a jerk, she made you stay late to finish up a presentation at the last minute causing you to miss your mani pedi appointment and now you barely have time to run home and throw on that cute new outfit you bought last week.

On top of that, you forget to floss, your Orbit gum is in your day purse, and the Yellow Cab is about to drop you off in less than two blocks at your favorite restaurant - crap. Now what are you going to do?

I’ll tell you what I would do. Before I get into the restaurant and lean in to get my hello kiss, I’d put a coat of my new CoverGirl Wetslicks AmazeMint lip gloss on. It’s got Crest Peppermint Oil in the formula that helps to make me feel a little fresher on the surface without a breath mint or gum. And after I plop that first kiss on the Boyfriend’s lips, no one’s the wiser.

CoverGirl Wetslicks AmazeMint lip gloss ($4.99 US) comes in 13 high-shine, sheer shades, 3 of which have blue undertones to help make teeth look whiter too. (more…)

There are many products out there that claim to be lust-worthy, holy grails among millions, and are so hyped up - you must have them. One case in point: NARS Orgasm blush.

I have heard nothing but rave reviews about anything NARS puts out in this shade (check out my friend’s overzealous review here). And while I absolutely hate buying into anything that’s so pumped up (minus the Sex and the City movie, of course), I was (secretly) super stoked to get my hands on this NARS blush/bronzer duo ($37 US) in Orgasm and Laguna and couldn’t wait to try it out.

Orgasm blush is a pretty and soft peachy pink with subtle shimmer. It’s great to sweep all over your face to create a healthy glow - did you see Muse’s FOTD with just this blush and gloss? The results truly promises to live up to the hype.

Laguna, a camel brown with hints of shimmer, is the bronzer in this duo. I personally am not a huge fan of this shade - I feel like it looks a little flat on my skin as I tend to prefer just a bit more shimmer in my bronzers for more of a “glow”. But in a pinch, it’s great to have as a backup. (more…)

Good morning lovelies! I couldn’t sleep last night because I’m so excited to start my mini vacation to Nevada today!

I woke up at 4am (it’s true, your eyes aren’t deceiving you) so I thought I’d get ready early and share with you my Reno FOTD. It’s a fresh and light face with an emphasis on the lips for easy touch-ups in the casino - ha! You know I can’t have my face melting off in 90 degree weather with heavy makeup, right?

I just got NARS Dolce Vita Velvet Matte Lip Pencil ($24 US), a dusty rose shade, and couldn’t wait to wear it out. If you’ve never tried their Velvet Matte Lip Pencils, these babies are jumbo pencils that are really fun - kind of like using a huge crayon to color your lips. They are also enriched with vitamin E to help keep your lips moisturized. While this may help a little, I find that it’s still a little drying; after all it is a pencil. (more…)

I could hardly contain myself when I saw shu uemura’s Friends & Family event email come through my inbox - finally, I can get my friends to buy all the things I love from shu and they can’t complain because it’s 20% off!! I know, you can say it - I’m an enabler! (Keep reading for your discount code!)

I can’t wait to take advantage of this offer myself this weekend - I’ve been testing samples of shu’s Depsea Moisture collection for the past month or so and I love it. This collection is made with Depsea water, a proprietary ingredient made from more than 60 ocean minerals, to boost the natural function of the skin.

For this Friends & Family event, I’m looking to stock up on what I like to refer to as my shu uemura Trinity. It goes a little something like this: (more…)

Welcome to Part 2 of my coverage of Nordstrom’s Beauty Trend Show held at the San Francisco Centre Downtown this past Saturday.

Right after the show, hundreds of women made their way down to the Cosmetics department where rows and rows of beauty stations were set up at every counter, gearing up to make over women of every color, young and old. My friends and I made appointments at Lancôme to get gussied up.

I got to sit down with Lancôme’s national artist Jason where he made me over and gave me some great makeup tips. (more…)

Today I was feeling a little blah as I sifted through tubes and tubes of lip glosses in my makeup stash. I just couldn’t find the perfect shade that was gonna give me that oomph I was looking for - that is until I popped open a tube of Elizabeth Arden Color Intrigue Effects Lipstick I got a few weeks ago.

Sugarplum Shimmer is a punchy berry plum with subtle shimmer. The second I put it on, it immediately inspired me to change out of my black top (I wear black almost every day), to a pretty purple one! I gave myself another once over and decided the particular shade was a little old lady-ish (you know what I’m talkin’ about, ya?). Also, the feeling of wearing lipstick only is still a little foreign to me so I applied a layer of Clinique Color Surge Impossibly Glossy in Sure Thing over Sugarplum Shimmer and was finally satisfied. (more…)

I was pretty lazy to put on makeup today so I just slapped on my basics - powder, eyebrows (a must when they are as thin as mine are!), eye liner, mascara, a little blusher and gloss. What resulted was my perfect day to day look that I can do all the time without feeling blah and boring.

On this particular day, I tried my new MAC McQueen Lipglass that I got the other day. It’s a soft, baby pink with white pearl shimmer (gorgeous!). And as it would turn out, I love it so much because I feel like it gives me luscious lips! It’s definitely going into my purse everyday so I can touch up with it whenever I need to sass it up during the day.

Here’s what I’m wearing:

Shiseido Eyebrow Compact in BL3 (Light Brown) for $28.50 US

Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in Chocolate Shimmer Ink ($19 US)

Lorac Blush in Plum ($16 US)

MAC McQueen Collection Lipglass in WhiteMagic ($14 US)

And that’s all folks, easy as 1-2-3.. okay, maybe 4 but it’s still manageable for 10 minutes in the morning, right? =)

I was so excited to receive my goodies from the MAC McQueen Collection in the mail the other day - I ordered the lipstick in Masque and Lipglass in White Magic.

I tried out Masque first; it’s a rosy, dirty pink that’s pretty in the tube but makes me look pretty pale as a stand alone color. When I apply it on my lips, I don’t get total coverage with the first swipe. I have to apply about two layers and then blot my lips together to get an even coverage. The look is slightly too matte for me with just the lipstick on so I applied a little bit of gloss to even out the color and to make me look less like a corpse.

Here’s what’s on my lips:

MAC Lipstick in Masque, McQueen Collection ($14 US)

MAC Lip Pencil in Whirl ($12.50 US)

Bourjois Effect 3D Ultra Glossy Lipstick in Lilas Romantic 85 ($12 US)

I’m not really sure if this one is going to go in the favorites collection but it could be a lovely color if you layer with other glosses.

I’d love to hear what you thought of the rest of the McQueen Collection.

I woke up this morning to dreaded rain in San Francisco (and it’s still raining as I write this) so I decided to sass it up a bit and try my new red lips I bought from NARS over the weekend at the Nordstrom Trend Show.

Let me just tell you that I haven’t done red lips in sooo long but it’s the big thing for the fall and it’s so festive, I’m actually in a better mood with them on!

Get the look with NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella ($23 US) and line your lips with NARS Lip Liner Pencil in Salsa ($19 US).

I also paired this bold lip with light eye makeup and bold, black liquid liner to offset the entire look.

I know many out there are scared of the red lips but I firmly believe that we call all pull it off. All you need to do is shop around, test them all and find the right shade for you. If you don’t believe me, stop by their counter one day; during the trend show, NARS claimed to have 22 shades to choose from.

So go and sass it up this weekend ladies!

Enjoy!