The Layer Cake That Is My Lips

Today, I was in such a rush but couldn't decide on a single lipstick color. I don't know if it was because I was in an impish mood or just moving at an extremely New York City pace.

Today was Cezanne's birthday, so maybe that was inspiring me to be a bit more creative than usual.

In the end, I blended so many lipsticks I can't even name them all, and tossed Clinique's classic Almost Lipstick in Black Honey into the mix for extra moisture and shine. I think that both the Clinique Almost Lipstick and the Superbalm Moisturizing Gloss in Black Honey look great over so many other colors.

Just a tip!

The final effect of my experiment was a perfect and gorgeous shade.

XO,
Charlotte

James Coviello: Backstage at New York Fashion Week

Vintage-inspired dresses ruled the runways at James Coviello backstage. Models were trussed, preened, and even crimped. This mad hatter model's eyes were thoroughly plucked (Tweezerman, $20-$30) and cheeks duly accentuated.

So be a copycat!
Runway to Real Way

Prep

1. Freshen up your skin and make it glow like a supermodel with Aromatherapy Associates Rose Hydrating Mask ($50) or a mask your skin likes.

Moisturize.

Then, blend a thin layer of foundation, and if you absolutely need to, hide any imperfections with more foundation or a liquid concealer. (Cream concealers often appear cakey, and draw too much attention to what you were trying to cover up.) Think fresh!

Cheeks

2. Look at the photo closely, and you'll see her blush begins just past the crease of her smile (over that hill your lips make when you smile wide).

Try applying Smashbox Skin Tint cheek stain in Infrared. With your steadiest hand, paint the color in a diagonal direction on the area just below your cheekbones and blending a little above the cheekbone, as well.

If you have a similar face structure, you can blend the tint so it forms a dramatic, slanted leaf-shaped wash of color.



Eyes

3. Get those eyelids ready by adding a neutral primer (Clinique's Touch Base for Eyes). This will even out any discoloration around the eyes, and prevent eyeshadow from slipping away...



Almost done! Go for it by tracing a circle around your eyelids with a smoky, perlescent mauve eyeshadow. Eyeshadow Government recommends L'Oreal Eye Quad in Subtle Berries.



Lips

Make lips look like rubies with Benefit Silky Finish lipstick in Guilt Free. (I wish!)




Now it's that special time to whine...But what about that fun but very expensive dress she's wearing?

The perennially preppy J. Crew has unveiled some "polished" hippie dresses. They're loose enough to play tennis in--just kidding!





Buy it: Tweezerman ($20); Aromatherapy Associates Rose Mask ($50), Beauty Habit; Smashbox Skin Tint in Infrared ($28), Sephora; Clinique Touch Base for Eyes ($13), ; L'Oreal Eyeshadow Quad ($5), Walgreens; J. Crew Schiadre dress (about $350), J. Crew Campo de Fiori Dress ($175), J. Crew.

Cruisin' Sephora Alley: Clinique, Korres and also Bliss

I'm newly attached to the Clinique line of lipsticks that are very glossy.
They make you feel wrapped up like a shiny package (but not at all objectified as a woman). Colour Surge Butter Shine Lipstick in "First Love," is a perfect pink, or choose "Shhh" for a pale, neutral tone.



Korres Thyme and Honey Cream. I consume a lot of thyme, the herb,
though time as well sipping honey, in tea, so this is the logical next step.
(Don't mind me.)



What else, my fellow snowcones? Yes, Snow Wonder High Intensity Hand Cream by Bliss to avoid snowflake-ish skin!



Expect Big Holiday Gift Recommendations on my next post! Same bat time, same bat channel.

Buy it: Clinique Colour Surge Butter Shine Lipstick ($14),
Korres Thyme and Honey Cream ($32.50), Snow Wonder High Intensity Hand Cream ($8), all at Sephora.

Eyeshadow Government's Test Results: Clinique's New Cleansing Foam

This should have been a no-brainer, but I've been pretty married to my hippie face wash. Either way, it turned out my face was ready for a change when I test-drove Clinique's new Clear Skin cleansing foam.

The Clinique Acne Solutions Cleansing Foam's main "spot-zapper" ingredient is salicylic acid, which I like better than benzoyl peroxide. If you have problem skin, you have to see what works best: benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, clay masks, essential oil-based face washes, or prescription medication from a dermatologist. Also, Clinique brings back memories of middle school, which was a very pleasant, un-traumatic period for me, contrary to most people's experiences.

Since I can't give up chocolate or gobs of makeup anytime soon, I will without a doubt be using Clinique's new cleansing foam lots and lots. This pastel bottle means business.

Buy it: Clinique Acne Cleansing Foam ($17.50), or the Clinique Acne Solutions Clear Skin System Starter Kit ($32.50) Macy's.

This season's necessary blushes come in all shapes and sizes.....

We're not embarassed to extoll pink blush. A great blush can stand for itself, and doesn't require much fuss. You can wear all of these blushes solo, and with a dab of sheer lipstick and undereye concealer for a look that is polished and relaxed.

One stamp, no postage required. Lorac Cheek Stamp in Hibiscus ($22) is a little pot.




The new Swedish Hakansson products are skinny, pale, and about the size of a library card. Check out Hakansson The Color 9 + 10 ($42), in delicate spring shades for cheeks and eyes:



One of Clinique's signatures for over a decade has been Black Honey Almost Lipstick. Gel Blush in Black Honey matches their Almost Lipstick without missing a beat.




Buy it: Lorac Cheek Stamp in Hibiscus, Sephora; Hakansson The Color 9 + 10, Hakansson and ABC Carpet & Home; Clinique in Black Honey, Sephora.

Beauty Tip: How to Look All Dewy, Like You Just Emerged from Behind a Waterfall

This makeup tip was pulled from our high school filing cabinet.

The short version is: you put on your foundation, blush, and eyeshadow, and then jump in the shower. No, this is not crazy talk, but keep your face out of the water. When you get out, your makeup will be awesomely jungle-y moist. And if you jump out of the shower just 30 minutes before you got out to a party, the "dew" will be yours for the evening.

Step-by-step:

Step 1: If you don foundation, apply a matte foundation evenly, beginning towards the nose and blending out with your fingers or a foundation brush. Delicately pat extra in areas that need more coverage.

Step 2: Take a thick blush brush, and apply an opaque pink blush along the cheekbones and blend downward. Pay attention to facial features, and apply a little more along the cheekbones, where the sun would naturally touch your face. Blend.

Step 3: Apply a favorite eyeshadow, or for super-shine, put on shimmer eyeshadow along the eyelid. Think coffee, lilac, and petal shades.

Step 4: Turn on the shower and get inside, with face turned away from the stream of water. (If da hair doesn't like steam, sport a showercap.) Hang out for 20 - 30 minutes in the shower.

In the end, the makeup will be saturated with moisture, colors popping all over. (Just don't apply shimmer blush too, because that would be waterfall look-overkill.)

Polish your glow by spraying on a favorite scent or Danielle by Danielle Steele, which smells like tropical fruit (see fruit salad recipe below) and flowers.

Buy it: Clinique Soft-Pressed Powder Blusher ($18.50), Nars Eyeshadow in Fathom ($21.00), Danielle by Danielle Steele ($65), Macy's.

Be Cheeky: Clinique Fresh Bloom Spring 2007

Clinique's Fresh Bloom is more than smart packaging. The two tones can be blended together, or used separately for different effects. Warm up with the background, or stick to the petals for a deeper flush.

Buy it: Clinique Fresh Bloom in Limited Peony, Almond Blossom, Posy, and Plum Poppy ($29.50), Clinique or department stores worldwide.

If You're Hoofing It...$25 and Under Gifts

See our hand-picked best last-minute holiday gifts! And don't forget to sign up for Eyeshadow Government's special New Year's contest. See details below.

1. Colour Surge Butter Shine™ Lipstick Palette ($25) by Clinique. Buy it: Macy's.

2. Best of Korres kit ($25) Set includes Basil Lemon Showergel (1.7 oz.), Guava Body Butter (1.7 oz.), Wild Rose 24-Hour Moisturiser SPF 6 (0.34 oz.) and Yogurt Cooling Gel Sachet (0.3 oz.). Buy it: Select Nordstrom, Whole Foods and Sephora retailers.

3. The James Bond-inspired Clarins Forever Diamonds Sparkling Eye Pencil ($24). A diamond-encrusted barrette for party hair, and the slim silver stick doubles as an eye pencil. Buy it: Macy's.

4. Too Faced Glamour to Go ($18). Buy it: Nordstrom.

5. Ole Henrikson Fresh Lips ($15). Lisa Kudrow & Linda Evangelista like it. Buy it: Sephora.

6. Mistral Shea Butter soap gift set ($14) in Verbena, Lavender, Melon pear. Buy it: Anthropologie.

7. Aromatherapy Ylang Rose Body Wash ($13). Buy it Bath and Bodyworks.

8. Stella McCartney Eau de Parfum Roll-On Perfume ($10), a rose and amber miniature. Buy it: Sephora.

9. Oiseau lip balm ($8) in Sweetheart Berry & Emollient Vanilla. Buy it: Anthropologie.

10. Revlon Illuminance Creme Shadow palettes ($6). Buy it: most drugstores.

Elongates eyelashes and shortens leg hair!

You know, I was wondering if spending all this time reading blogs and eating crackers was making me stupider, and I think I have definitive external evidence that it is. (See, I need the external evidence because my mind is too cracker-logged to evaluate itself. I am like, at the level of a smart-end-of-average pig, probably.) Anyway. I got a new mascara, and it's NOT FLEXTENCILS. It is this new Lancome mascara, L'Extreme, and it is supposed to have special elongating worker-bunnies and patented eyelashening fiber bits and I'm sorry, but this is crap. It is sticky and dumb and so not eyelashening. And I spent money on it because my stupid French class is near stupid Bloomingdales and what, am I supposed to NOT go in? And then I want the shiny ladies at the makeup counter to touch my face, because I love having my face touched, especially by shiny ladies, and then I feel bad not buying at least the mascara from the shiny face-touching lady although they probably get locked in the basement at night and the money I paid goes to the parent company which probably uses it to develop more efficient baby-crushing-machines and I am being HAD, but it keeps happening. Average-to-smart pig, I'm telling you. Ha, know what, I would be fucked if I were an average-to-smart pig, because word on the street is that Lancome's parent company, L'oreal, is not exactly ahead of the let's-not-test-on-animals curve.

Of course, I don't know how up to date this info is or anything, and my views on animal rights are nuanced (underdeveloped). Still, in honor of a) the fact that this new mascara is very expensively not doing anything for me and b) my love for my dog, here are some good (and tested-on-Violet) mascaras made by companies that don't test on animals.*

Almay One-Coat Lengthening Mascara: Nice and natural and drugstore-cheap, I think this is what I am going to buy when my current stock runs out. Almay is owned by Revlon, and I don't know what their practices are, but the Almay branch is a-ok.

Chanel Extracils: Chanel, of course, does not fuck around. Still, this is not as dark as I wish it were. Chanel also owns Bourjois, which makes the SPARKTOCKULAR Coup De Theatre (pardon the lack of accent marks, I'll get it figured out) and very fun top-coats, including this one. Multiple steps of mascara application are not what I want to deal with in the AM, though, so these do not make good everyday products for me.

Clinique High Impact Mascara: Actually dark enough for me, though not as lengthening as I wish it were. Nothing has been yet, so I guess that's not really points off. (Clinique, and a whole lot of other companies, including Perscriptives and MAC, I think, are all owned by Estee Lauder, and are all ok animal-wise. Of course, they may have all sorts of other issues. Or not! Who knows! But we're talking about animals today.)

There are others, but I don't really care to reveal how wantonly I purchase (even animal-friendly) mascara, so that will have to do.

*NB, my research is how you say, MINIMAL, so if buying products not tested on animals is really important to you, double check these. Also, I am sure there are plenty of animal-friendly companies that make lovely mascaras that I have never tried. Not so sure, actually. Still. These are not those.