Inside SOS: Eyes, Brows, Cheeks & Lips!

Yesterday's Science of Sephora trainings were all about makeup! (Apologies to my partner for the amateur applications I did on her all day. Seriously.) Despite my lack of expertise of doing other people's makeup, I did learn a ton. Here's a roundup of my ah-ha! moments.

-If you wear glasses and the lenses make your eyes look smaller, wear light, frosty shades. This will make them look bigger. If the lenses make your eyes looks bigger, use dark, matte shades. This will make them appear smaller.

-Mascara can double as an eyeliner! Just use a flat, synthetic brush to apply.




-When filling in eyebrows, blondes should use a powder/pencil/wax that's 1-2 shades darker than their natural color. Darker hair colors should go 1-2 shades lighter.

-Another brow-defining tip: Use a soft color on the inner part of the brow and a deeper color on the outside to create perfect balance.




-For perfect blush placement, place two fingers next to your nose, and apply the product outside of them, extending no further downward than the tip of the nostrils.








-Lips don't have oil glands, so prep them with a balm before adding color.

-The tips of your fingers are the closets color match to your lips. Test lip colors on tem to see what they shade will look like on.

Dark Lips Part Deux: So, Would You?

Ladies, I'd like to ask you an important question.

A few weeks back, we spilled the beans on the dark lip trend coming this fall. While I'm not putting my coconut-flavored lipgloss away for the summer just yet, it's time to start thinking very seriously about this trend.

Is it a oui! oui! or a non non?

Obviously, a girl can easily go Big Drama with this color, as Emily The Dark Lip Tester proved last week.

But we gave her a bigger challenge: Give us the everyday wearable version of dark lips. Using Smashbox's coming-this-July High Shine Lipgloss in Sultry, Em just swiped on the gloss, toned down the eye makeup, and went to work - in finance! Dark lips and all!

Personally, I'm in the "Yes, I'll wear that" camp because dark lips = lazy makeup. Even with only the barest minimum of makeup, dark lips pull a face together.

So now it's the million pounds of pigment question: Are dark lips a yes or a no? Would you wear this? And if so, how dramatic would you make it? And if not, why not?

Girl On The Street Goes Dark (With Her Lipstick)

Yesterday I leaked (ahem, previewed) Smashbox's new dark lip shade for fall- High Shine Lipgloss in Sultry, which is coming to Sephora exclusively in late July.

Yes, Dark Lips: It's the new trend for fall. While some of us (moi!) couldn't be happier to bench the pink gloss for a season, others take one look at this deep chocolate red and declare, "No. Way."

Au contraire, cutie pie. Dark lips are universal. And to prove it, I swiped that "previewed" sample (note to Smashbox: I'll give it right back, I swear) and had brave tester and average girl Emily K. doll herself up sans any help from a makeup artist!

Her three looks: The Natural, Retro Fresh, and Sizzling. Actually, let's call the last look, "Honey, You're Staring."
















The Natural
Worn: To the office
This look is just matte cream-colored shadow applied all over the eye, followed with a dark brown pencil liner smudged into the lash line.

Emily then got extra crafty and added a darker beige shadow over the liner for the ultimate no-makeup eye makeup trick.

She added a touch of pale gray/pink shimmer powder on her browbone for extra definition, then finished with The Lips.

Retro Fresh
Worn: Out with the girls
For this, Emily used dark brown liquid liner (no black! It's too harsh!), plus some glittery beige shadow applied from her lashes up to her browbone, then all the way around her eyes. Hint: Use a light-reflecting shadow here for a diamond-dazzle finish).

To give her eye a bit more definition, she used a pale wine color around the crease, then finished with The Lips!

Sizzling
Worn: When 4-inch heels alone won't cut it
After applying a shadow primer, Emily used a deep purple eyeshadow all around her eye, then layered a brighter burgundy color on top. This blends the shadow for a supah smoky eye effect, plus adds a sultry depth that goes fabulously with a lipstick called Sultry.

Emily finished with a bronze-colored shimmer powder on her browbone and, of course, The Lips.

Note from the wear-tester: Despite being dark and being a gloss, Emily said first coloring in lips with Smashbox's companion-colored Lip Pencil in Tempt made the color last longer.

Did these pictures turn you into a believer? Are you going to do up a dark lip this fall? We wanna know!

Sneak Peek! Smashbox's New Lip Shade!

Red! Pink! Nude! Since when did seasonal lipcolor trends turn into the R.P.N. trifecta?

Considering these colors are on repeat track, you can't blame me for assuming that fall's new! hot! now! lipcolor was going to be the usual red or pink.

Wrong!

I just got a top secret sneak peek of Smashbox's new fall color, the High Shine Lipgloss in Sultry. Let me summarize: Oh. My. Stars.

Ladies, I'd like to introduce you to the Power Pout.

As you may (or may not!) be able to see from this, "Quick before I get caught!" photo, the shade is a deep, rich chocolate brown with a hint of metallic shimmer. It's so luscious, it even smells like a fresh-baked brownie.

The color layers on as a deep rich cocoa with a smooth-as-glass finish. To make this power pout last, Smashbox created the companion-colored Lip Pencil in Tempt.

These two goodies from Smashbox are Sephora exclusives, and will hit stores and online at the end of July.

I'm celebrating by tossing all my baby pinks.

BBQ'd Beauty: Memorial Day Makeup Strategies

Memorial Day = BBQ Day.

At least, that's what it seems like. I'm not sure how this holiday was observed before the advent of outdoor grilling, but I have more invitations to barbecues than I have actual friends.

The average person will entertain themselves at these cook-outs by eating at least one burger or one hot dog, chips, coleslaw, potato salad, and any number of desserts festooned with coconut or suspended in Jell-O.

That's more than 1,500 calories for just for one meal. Yeah...how hungry are you not right now?

In my book, there are two ways to approach this:

1) Prevention
Slather on your glossiest, juiciest, slippery-est high-enamel gloss. The kind that, once applied, is so slick and looks soooo fantastically good, you'd physically slap any person or bat away any food plate that so much as threatened to muss your mirror-finished lips .

For this, it's best to go with what the models are wearings: Dior Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Reflect.

2) Acceptance
Oh, just give in. There are 364 other days to be all diet-y. Go slap on a lip stain that plans to stick it out through greasy drumsticks, salads dressed in oil spills, a third glass of wine - and still be visible on your lips when you whisper to your host, "What flavor is that delicious gelatin dessert?"

Go with the ultimate stay-put pro: Stila Long Wearing Lip Color.

Day To Date-Night Makeup: From Office OMG Glam

Dilemma! After weeks of feisty flirting in the elevator, Hot Guy From Floor 32 has FINALLY asked you out to drinks after work.

Which means your Office Makeup now needs to pull off the Date Makeup look.

We think this must happen a lot to the creators of a new lipstick from Stila. Their new SPF 20 Shine Lip Color is sunblocking protection for day, plus a gorgeous high-shine finish you can usually only get from a gloss. And yet the color is richer than a Park Avenue resident – making it ab fab for that, “Gotta go, I have a date!” look.

This magical makeup comes in eight smashing shades. We suggest making Georgina your new best friend next time you hop on that elevator.

The Bold And The Beautiful

People are getting a little lippy around here, and, quite frankly, we love it. The bold lip is back in full effect this season, and it’s not just reds anymore. We’re talkin' tangerines, electric pinks and bodacious burgundies. If you’re thinking, bold colors can be hard to wear!, good thing you’re reading this—we’re the experts! Here’s what it takes to get that vibrant shade looking its best. —Brianne Rieck, Sephora

Prep with:
Philosophy Kiss Me Exfoliating Lip Scrub
Fresh Sugar Lip Balm SPF 15
DuWop Reverse Lip Liner

Color with:
NARS Lipstick in Funny Face
LORAC Matte Lips in Receive
Make Up For Ever Flash Color in Coral 755

Bare Escentuals Lip Guards SPF 15

Yeah, yeah, so the lifeguard isn't on duty—but your lip guard still is. Bare Escentuals' Lip Guards SPF 15, a tinted sunscreen for your lips, is the perfect solution to those Sahara-dry summer smackers. Made with aloe vera, grape seed oil, shea butter and vitamins A, C, and E, it keeps lips looking full, lustrous and shiny, all the while protecting them from seriously damaging UVA and UVB rays. It's the best lifesaver yet—one committed to keeping your perfect pucker afloat.

Runner-Up: Ruby

Even with the au naturale spring makeup trend, red lips are sporadically popping up everywhere, everywhere, everywhere. Try Rouge Dior Replenishing Lipcolor in "Red Premiere 752," Vincent Longo's Velvet Riche Rejuvenating Lipstick in "Ignition," Clinque's Colour Surge Lipstick in "Red Drama," or Tarte's Lipstick in "Chianti.

Bare-lipped Beauty

As women, we spend hours upon hours perfecting that very laborious “I didn’t even try” look. (Same story in fashion: “Oh, this old thing?”) First it was the bed-head hair, then the fresh-faced makeup, then the loose curls, and now? Nude lips. Pages and pages of glossies are pushing bare, natural puckers this month—just take a look at recent covers—and the runway is no exception. So, an easy-breezy tutorial on nailing that look au naturale: 1: Exfoliate your lips with Benefit's Lipscription (a balm and buffer bead duo) to create a smooth, soft canvas. 2: Fill in lines and prime your lips with Lip Plump; let it dry. 3: Line your lips with a Silk Lip Pencil in "Posh" or "Flush." 4. Lastly, finish with a coat of Her Glossiness VIP Lip Gloss in "Didn't Hear It From Me," a glossy peaches and cream shade. And bare you have it: a look of natural, effortless beauty.

Itty-Bitty Beauty

Think big? Not anymore. A counter-intuitive beauty trend is catching on these days: tiny products inside even tinier packaging. Thanks to new technology and designs, companies are producing "single-use" beauty products—purse-sized, portion-controlled products specifically designed for beauty on the go. (Beauty: 1. Aviation Security: 0.) CARGO is a leader on this (not so) big endeavor—lip glosses and eye shadows you can use and then lose—but a million other brands are on board, too. Frederic Fekkai sells single-dose scalp tonics, Model Co makes single wrinkle-eraser wands, and (of course) GoSMILE has those tiny, daily whiteners. Laura Kenney, our beauty writer who was interviewed on this in The Journal Gazette recently, says less is definitely more with many products. "It's human nature to slather on too much product, assuming that if you use more it will work better or faster," she said. "[But] control the dosage amount, not only because you might be wasting those expensive ingredients, but because your skin doesn't need that much in order for it to be effective. You might be irritating your skin." And, sure, it might be cheaper to buy your makeup by the tub, but not as convenient or effective for your routine de beauté. So save the King Size for your laundry detergent and candy bars. Your cosmetics? Cute and carry-able.

Lipstick Liability

We need full attention on this one: According to a new study, up to 80% of all car accidents are due to driver distraction. Read: you’re yakking on your cell, deciphering that map or—our bad—carefully applying that flamingo-pink lipstick in the rear-view mirror. But at 65 mph, look away for just afew seconds and you’ve already driven the length of a football field. (We didn’t believe it either, but we whipped out the trusty calc. It’s true.) So, we don’t tell you to put down the makeup too often, but now’s the time. Safety first, beauty second. Wait to primp and powder ‘til you pull over.

Two Become One

Ah, the ol’ chapstick-or-gloss conundrum: Moisturized lips coated in candle-waxy goop, or glossy smackers with a texture to rival sandpaper? (Toughie, I know. They both sound so appealing.) But turn that chapped frown upside down, because there's a truce this winter. Behind door #3? Tarte's new Inside Out Vitamin Lip Gloss, a gloss that glosses and heals, sans comprise. The pomegranate-scented gloss is infused with vitamins that nourish and protect your lips—courtesy of BORBA, the brains behind those skin-loving beauty drinks—and adds an iridescent shine all the same. Available in three enlightening shades: "Apple-A-Day," a raspberry rose sheen; "Liquid Sunshine," a sheer pink pearl; and "OM," a sheer nude sheen. "Chapped Disaster" not available.

"Glossy Addict Best of 2006 Awards"

And the winner is? [Rustle envelope in suspense here. Smile at gorgeous, celebrity co-host.] Laura Geller Lip Shiners! These fashionable glosses – available in 10 flashy shades like “Just Pink,” “Devilish,” and “Peachy Keen” – were picked for the “Glossy Addict Best of 2006 Awards.” This award is no small feat either; the Glossy Addict site gets more than 4,478, 089 hits every month! Geller and co. certainly deserve it too: their shiners uses a patented gel technology – packed with special polymers and vitamins A and E – to create a healthy, high-shine gloss that has serious shimm-ah. (Cue the karaoke: shiny, happy peeeeople.) Available at Sephora for $15 each. Pucker up and expect beautiful, shiny results!