Neutral and Natural

I think every girl needs a neutral eyeshadow in their makeup repertoire. My staple product: MAC Eyeshadow in Ricepaper. Retailing at $14.50, it is worth every penny. I use it every single day for a neutral, work-look and even on the weekends for my dramatic look for a night out. It's my default and most sought-after color.

MAC's Ricepaper is a shiny, golden color and is light so it's great to throw on as a little something extra. Ricepaper is great as a base and as a highlighter for under the browbone. I've also added Ricepaper over other shadows to give my eyes an extra glow.

Whether you want to be natural, accent your look, or want to blend your shadows, this neutral shade of MAC eyeshadow is perfect for any look!

-A

Make Eyes Bright!

Ok so I know that I have basically been on hiatus, but my life has been one big mess lately! One thing that I can say that has been pretty amazing, however, is the compliments that I have been getting every single day without fail on my eye makeup. The funny part about it is that all I ever wear is mascara, and one other magic eye product - Benefit EyeBright.

This is the most amazing eye pencil because it basically just makes your eyes pop. It's a pinkish-white liner that goes on the corner of your eyes and just makes you instantly look awake. The best part about this product is that it comes with instructions!! Basically, Benefit EyeBright is foolproof in more ways than one.

So if for whatever reason you just cannot get enough beauty sleep, Benefit EyeBright is the product for you!

-S

Makeup Police

Despite the disaster of a show that was the Emmys last night, I managed to make a few observations on the faces of some of TV's finest. Some were good and some were bad. Welcome to the Makeup Police.

Despite all the speculation of the Desperate Housewives star being pregnant, Eva Longoria Parker swears she's just fat. But this doesn't mean she needs to look like a crazy person. Personally, I love Eva. She's great in her role as Gabrielle Solis and she's cute as a button. And I loved when she got her bob (I have one myself). But what was with her makeup? Her raccoon eyes were so jarring, matched by her feathery short number. She was lost in the glamour that was her Desperate Housewives co-stars.

What Eva should have done was dialed down the eyes just a little. While stage makeup needs to be a bit heavier to be seen, she wasn't performing. In fact most of the night she was sitting down. I am the number one fan of the smoky eye, but on Eva last night it was not flattering. It almost looked like she couldn't get all her eye makeup off from the night before!

I loved Lauren Conrad's makeup. She usually gets that right. Our favorite The Hills actress was glowing and had just the right amount of makeup to go with her look. I've always been a fan of the way she lines the top of her eyes. Now if only I could perfect that on myself!

A quick mention of Christina Applegate and America Ferrera. Though they both looked stunning in their gowns, I was not really a fan of their makeup. Christina needed a different color on her lips and maybe a different bronzer. She also should carry some kind of oil blotting sheets or perhaps Smashbox's Anti-Shine compact for touch-ups. America's lipstick was far too bold for my taste. However, if we're going to go light on the eyes, we should have one part pop - and that was the lips for America. She just looked kind of young to me.

Finally, we have Tina Fey. She looked fresh-faced and ready to accept her Best Actress and Best Writing awards! And she was Sarah-Palin-glasses free! Though she may have benefited from some eyeliner and some more color, she looked great and let her dress and humor shine through for her big wins. I'll call Tiny Fey the anti-Eva Longoria.

-A

Photos: JustJared.BuzzNet.com

Blue Liners and Risk Takers

I've been seeing a lot of blue liners for the bottom lid recently. On Friday, I went to do SEV's makeup. Upon doing her eyes, I put a thin turquoise line under her bottom lashes (in addition to lining the inner, bottom lid with black). After all, her dress was this color and I really thought it would accent her eyes perfectly.

When she first saw the color there she was a bit jarred, but slowly got used to it after a while. And when she asked the opinion of others, they told her she needed to leave the color there because it looked amazing. She ended up loving it and said I had made the right decision with the color.

I love taking risks. It does depend on what risk I happen to be taking, but I generally like to do some things that are out of the ordinary. SEV also ended up wearing a pair or orange earrings with her turquoise dress. Was it a perfect match of colors? Absolutely not. Was it daring? Most definitely. Did it look amazing? It certainly did.

And these are just little risks. A change in makeup or accessory can be a slight deviance but it may make a huge difference. Switch it up, be daring, and add some color to your face, especially if black is a staple in your everyday wardrobe - the possibilities are endless.

-A

Photo: Hilary Duff on InStyle.com - Jeff Frank/Zuma Press

My Faves Modified

I'm pumped! I've been following Beauty and the Blog (that's Sephora's very own beauty blog) and saw some great things they are discovering at Sephora's San Francisco Headquarters. Check 'em out. I can't wait until they come out!

Product 1 - Laura Geller Tinted Spackle - beginning September 24th, you can now buy this excellent foundation primer in a tinted version. How great is that!! Now, I can use Mario Bedescu's regular moisturizer and save the tinting for the primer during the winter months. I'm sure I'll switch back and forth, however, on the Stila tinted moisturizer and the good old original spackle

Product 2 - Benefit BADGal Plum Mascara - Our fave blue mascara for the summer will now be available in a deep purple for the fall! Purple is the new black and is certainly the fashionable color for this next season of leaves dropping and cool breezes. Walk out into the world with fashionable eyes and use purple mascara to accent your eyes. This sounds absolutely amazing!

-A

Consulting on Makeup

I had my first makeup consultation the other night. It was so much fun!! I worked with Chanel makeup (which blends in such an amazing way!), did some smoky eyes for the mother of the groom, and booked myself a job for the day of the wedding! Hopefully this is just the beginning of a great side job!

M had had surgery on her eyes a while back, so without any makeup they are a bit red. But never fear! We used Prescriptives Flawless Skin concealer on her eyes and in no time, they were just the same color as the rest of her face, which gave me a fresh canvas to work on.

I used the new Chanel palette - Quadra Eye Shadow. It has white, silver, charcoal, and black in it. The colors blended beautifully. I used M's liner (I think it was Lancome), but I suggested she switch to the Prescriptives Softlining pencil. It goes on much better and darker, which is perfect for the smoky look. I also used her three Estee Lauder mascaras, along with shu uemura curler.

For her face, I did my typical combo with her products. Bobbi Brown tinted moisturizer, Laura Mercier primer, Prescriptives foundation, Chanel Bronzer, and Chanel blush. Her face makeup looked awesome and I really think it was due to the bronzer and blush - the must-have finishing touches.

We worked on a few things and now know exactly what we'll do for the big day. Can't wait to show you pictures!

-A

Vampy Lips for Fall

Since Fall is coming and dark is in, I'm wondering what to do with my lips. I keep seeing black lips, which I think is way too dark. So what to do?

I'm still in the I'll-only-wear-Softlips phase and I'm not sure how dark dark gloss will look on me. I have Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Reflect by Dior in color 817, which is a dark brown. I came upon it last year and loved the color on me, but only after I blotted once to lighten it up a bit. I occasionally wear this when I'm going to be a bit more formal and need color in my face. Will this be my new Fall gloss for vampy lips?

I don't think I'll ever be able to pull off a noir look on my lips. Let's face it, I'm pretty fair-skinned so I think that such a dark lip would make me look slightly goth and that's not actually a look I like to go for.

If you want to go for something trendy, go for something that will supplement your skin tone. Perhaps go a shade darker than you would normally go, rather than trying the extreme. It will still have an effect on you, without making you look like you're trying to start Halloween a bit prematurely.

Tip: Check out Smashbox's Wicked Lovely collection this Fall for a dark palette, seen above.

-A

Shiny and Long-Lasting

My mom had told me about Sephora by OPI. I was a little skeptical at first because I prefer Essie over OPI, but I thought that any Sephora product deserves a chance. While in Sephora last week, we decided to buy a bottle. It advertises a chip-resistant polished look. Now, we can't always believe what we read because how many nail polishes are there out there that actually work like that?! Well let me tell you a little story.

Last Saturday I was getting ready to go to a family BBQ. My nails were an absolute disaster, but I needed to shower, get ready, and clean my room. I had to at least take the old polish off and maybe put on a base coat to keep my nails strong and neat. Well at the last minute, as I was waiting to leave and had maybe just five to seven minutes left, I decided to start polishing my nails. I used the base coat and polish, both by Sephora by OPI and Out the Door's top coat (old faithful, let's call it).

Now, I did this ever so quickly, as I was being rushed out of the house, but I somehow got all four coats on in that short period of time (two of the Sephora by OPI in Can U Keep a Secret? - a light, natural color). I sprayed on some finishing spray and left the house.

I was very careful in the car and as I moved around, to ensure that my polish wouldn't get messed up. But what was great was that it stayed shiny even after it dried, which was fairly quickly - maybe it was fully dried in 30 minutes, I'd say.

It's been almost a week now and, still, no chipping!! It's also still extremely shiny. I'm so excited. I'm going to go back and pick up another bottle of a darker color, maybe something vampy for the Fall!! Can't wait!!

-A

Falling for Eyeliners

I've made the decision that my everyday liner doesn't need to be jet black. I made a purchase over the summer of another Prescriptives Softlining Pencil in Void that I perceived to be different than what it actually is, mainly because I ordered it online.

I thought this would be a light and bright shade of teal, which would be fun for a night out. What it actually turned out to be was somewhat of a forest green. I'd use it occasionally to switch up my look, but I recently decided that this is something I can use on an everyday basis because it's not as harsh as black and creates a more natural look.

If you like liner, but don't want your eyes to be so smoked out during the day (which is actually a good tip), then it's definitely a good idea to invest in some dark green and brown liners. Think earth tones. And these would be perfect for the Fall season!!

-A

The Power is Yours

We've seen all the ads and celebrity endorsements before: a mascara that is clump-free and voluminous. But how many of those actually work without using your shu uemura eyelash curler and a few mascaras on top of a primer? This brings me to the vibrating mascara.

I'm pretty intrigued with the new vibrating mascaras I've been hearing about. The Lancome Vibrating Infinite Powermascara is said to make 7,000 oscillations per minute to give you the best coverage and full lashes! That's pretty quick movement. If it does what it says, can you imagine how much time could be taken off a girl's daily makeup routine! The only thing is that it's not available until December now in Sephora and it will run you $34.

There's also Estee Lauder's TurboLash, which has been available since July, but exclusively at Saks Fifth Avenue. That one is $30.

I can't help but wonder if this will be an effective tool to throw on my list of makeup faves or if it is just some kind of marketing tool. Why is it that it's either a limited edition or only available at certain stores? (although TurboLash will be available throughout the US in December as well - right in time for the holidays of course!).

But perhaps it is not just another kind of mascara that you can add to the bushel that doesn't work. Maybe it will work after all. We'll only know when we try it out so stay tuned to when I get my hands on an oscillating and vibrating mascara!

-A