BREAKTIME! Time For A Contest About Makeup!

Psssst! Whatcha doin' right now?

Oh, working? *Yawn.* Even that non-compliant fiscal audit report you're fussing over would like to holler, "Breaktime!"

Take five to Rock Your Pretty Vote in the most important election of the year (outside D.C., obviously): Guess which product will win the fan favorite write-in vote in the Best Of Sephora contest!

Will it be Dior? BE? Laura Mercier? Or a surprise product no one saw coming? 10 right-answer winners of this special blog contest will score the fan favorite winner. Freebies!

It's easy: Just leave your product pick and email (or best way to contact you) in the comments section here. When the Best Of Sephora contest wraps and the results get tallied in late August, we'll pick 10 winners!

More! More! More!
That only took up 2 minutes of your 15 minute break, didn't it? OK, spend the rest of your down time voting in the Best Of Sephora contest - because winning a $1,000 Sephora shopping spree is never not fun.

Blue Ribbon, Baby (And Something Else Colorful, Too!)

Did you get to page 120 in this month's Allure magazine? Very exciting, right? That Sephora was voted by Allure readers as the "overwhelming" (aww shucks!) favorite boutique beauty store.

Neat! And what was neater (neater, even, than the chocolate martinis we were drinking to celebrate), was the list of top-selling products by cities. Oooh! This is like peeking into someone else's makeup bag....something we all know some beauty bloggers just can't resist.

• New York City: Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler
• Boston: Ojon Nurturing Ritual Kit
• Philadelphia: Clarisonic Skincare Brush
• Washington D.C.: Bare Escentuals BareMinerals
• Atlanta: Dior Dioshow Mascara
• Miami: Dr. Brandt Pores No More
• Detroit: Bare Escentuals BareMinerals
• Chicago: Ojon Rub-Out Dry Cleanser
• Dallas: Caudalie VinoPerfect Radiance Serum
• Seattle: No!No! Hair Removal Device
• San Francisco: Imju Fiberwig Mascara
• L.A.: CK Calvin Klein Infinite Balance Foundation

PLUS! There was even an Allure reader-write in category, and canyouguess which two beauty goodies tied for the take-home prize? Smashbox O-Gloss & Smashbox O-Glow. It's makeup (gloss and cheek stain) that intuitively reads your skin tone and adjusts accordingly. Bye-bye guesswork!

Say! That reminds us....did YOU vote in our special blog-reader-only contest?

Win It! The Best Of Sephora Fan Favorite Contest

Have you voted in the Best Of Sephora Sweepstakes?

If you did, then you already know there’s a fan favorite write-in category. That means that for this vote, anything goes! Beauty addicts (like you) just write in their all-time favorite Sephora product ever, and the beauty product with the most votes wins the fan favorite category!

So blog readers: We're upping the ante. A.k.a Second Secret Contest Time!

This contest is strictly for our blog readers. Think you can predict what the biggest fan favorite at Sephora will be?

Then tell us! Post your highly educated guess in the comments. Tell us why you love it, and leave your email address (or the best way to get in touch with you). When the Best Of Sephora contest is over and the results get tallied in late August, we'll pick 10 right-answer winners.

The prize: You score the fan favorite winner, of course.

Cheat alert! It's going to be reallyreallyreallyreally helpful if you vote in the Best Of Sephora Sweepstakes first. These products are already our most popular...and BOS has cool prizes, too (um, $1000 Sephora Shopping Spree, anyone?). It's like doubling your luck!

The contest is now open: Post your guesses to this entry, and keep them fingers crossed!

Let's make it official: You can view the contest rules here.

Damaged, Controlled: The Finale

It's been four weeks since I first started slathering my skin with Philosophy's retinol-stuffed Help Me cream.

So now the big question is: has Help Me helped me?

In a word: BrotherDidItEver!

I'm minus a few icky brown spots I'm frankly better off without. My skin is a bit smoother and my complexion got a clear-up. Best of all, once I stopped being such an, "I don't need no moisturizer!" maverick, the peeling stopped.

Think it would work the same wonders for you?
Hey, give it a shot: BellaSugar is giving away a few tubs of what may just prove to be your own little miracle-worker, too!

The Next Beauty Guru: Enter The Contest!

Dear Beauty Addicts,

You're forever getting asked, "Who does your face?" The day after you showed up in aqua eyeliner, it sold out in your city and the three counties surrounding it. You house-mix your own lipstick because your colors aren't sold in stores. It's generally understood that the song, "You've Got The Look" is totally about you.

You are A Beauty Guru. And now Smashbox & Sephora are after you.

Smashbox & Sephora are on the hunt for the next guru of gorgeous. If you’ve got a brilliant beauty idea—and the superstar personality to match—we want to hear about it!

Show us why you're the one we want by giving us your freshest beauty idea. And of course you can be creative! Send in your blogs, video, art, or whatever best shows your cosmetic cunning.

Enter online at sephora.com/win/beautyguru - and remember, Sephora & Smashbox only crown one ultimate Beauty Guru, but there are plenty of other prizes for next-in-line knockouts.

Get all the deets at Sephora. And if you're wondering what you get if you win...well, we're gonna need bullet points for this:

• $5,000 of Smashbox Cosmetics
• An it's-all-paid for trip for two to L.A.
• A week-long apprenticeship at Smashbox Cosmetics to design the official Smashbox Fashion Week Makeup Palette (yes really!)
• Another it's-all-paid-for 3-day trip for two to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in L.A. in March 2009 for the debut of your palette
• All the fame and glory that comes with being the official designer of the 2009 Smashbox Fashion Week Makeup Palette - which'll be sold exclusively at Sephora and featured in the Sephora catalog
  

Mother's Day Giveaway on BellaSugar Week 2

Last week, we told you about the beauty giveaway we're doing with BellaSugar--you know, the one where we actually encourage you to brag about your superstar Mom and then reward the best testimonial with a boatload of beauty products.

This week, we want to hear how much of a ROCK STAR your mama is! The Sephora Rock Star Mom's got a serious case of rock 'n' roll in her soul! Pushing that stroller in vintage designer duds, with smoky eyes and deep, crimson lips no less, she's the epitome of effortless cool. A knockout with a touch of 'tude--just like the oh-so-edgy beauty she covets--this pop princess tops the style charts time after time.

Now tell us about your rock star mom! Click here to enter and see this week's prizes.

Mother's Day Giveaway on BellaSugar!

Listen up, kiddies: It's time to flaunt your mom! We've teamed up with our pretty pals at BellaSugar and are giving away boatloads of Mother's Day beauty products over the course of the month. Here's how it works: Each week BellaSugar will highlight one of our superstar Sephora Moms (Glam Mom, The Rock Star, Earth Mother, and The Sophisticate). You'll sign into or sign up for your TeamSugar profile and go to the Sephora group. There, you'll describe why your mom sooo fits that featured personality. This "description" can be via blog post, video, or photo album, so use your imagination. Then we'll pick a favorite (something no good mother does—sorry!) and gift that week's winner with 7 products that bring out the inner star you described. (You're welcome!) For more deets, click here.

This week's featured hot mama: The Glam Mom. Forget your manners and go brag!