One of the least expensive and most fun ways to perk up your look is with a nail polish change. Although Essie’s Fall 2011 collection might take some getting used to after the bright pinks, reds and blues I’ve been wearing all spring and summer, I’m dying for the greenish gray Power Clutch and the camel Case Study shade.

(Clockwise, from top left)

• Carry On, $8 - “Deep romantic burgundy”
• Case Study, $8 - “Rich camel beige” 
• Glamour Purse, $8 - “Alluring almond taupe”
• Very Structured, $8 - “Classic burnt sienna”
• Power Clutch, $8 - “Striking deep gray green”
• Lady Like, $8 - “Elegant soft mauve”

Which shades are your favorite?

One of the most frustrating things about high heat and humidity in the summer is the tendency for your makeup to begin sliding (melting!) right off your face. Sweat and beauty products don’t usually mix. But, there are some products you can use that will not only stand up to the heat, but can maybe get you through the day with no creasing, beading, melting, smudging or sliding.

Here are a few of my recommendations…and a few of your own as well:

• Revlon Super Lustrous Lipcolor in Coral Berry, $7 - I’m not usually a lipstick person, but this coral is subtle enough that I don’t feel like a giant pair of lips walking around.
• Dove Go Fresh Body Mist, $5 (suggested by @partypants) - “Keep this in the fridge for a fragrant cool-down.”
• Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner, $20 - Liquid eyeliner can be tricky to apply, but this applicator feels more like a marker or pen. The packaging doesn’t lie either…it really does stay on all day.

• Sula Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow, $8 - Choose lighter creme-based shades in a matte or shimmery formula, then layer a bit of powder shadow on top for the longest-lasting combination.
• Bumble & bumble Defrizz, $25 - This creme is light enough even for super-fine hair.
• Burt’s Bees Lifeguard’s Choice Lip Balm, $3 - Did you know your lips are one of the most susceptible areas for sunburn? If you’re going to be in the sun for hours at a time, you can’t do better than this lip balm. I used to swear by it during my lifeguard days for keeping my lips moisturized and protected. It’s a white formula, not clear, so your lips can sometimes have a bit of a white hue, but layering a lip gloss or tinted balm over top will solve the problem.

• e.l.f. Essentials Shine Eraser Blotting Papers, $1 (suggested by @kayerey) - “They’re $1 for 50 sheets!”
• MAC Prep + Prime Face Protect SPF 50, $30 (suggested by @ellemnop) - “This primer reduces oil and shine, plus has SPF 50. I always put it on before all my other makeup.”
• Covergirl Outlast Lipstain, $8 (suggested by @kayerey) - I’m so glad Kathryn mentioned these lipstains because I love them too. If you’re a little intimidated to try a bright lipstick shade, start off with a stain instead. It’s a lighter wash of color that looks far more natural.

• NARS Illuminator in Laguna, $30 - Adding some color to your face with a creme-based product looks more natural in the summer. Avoid powder bronzers, which can crease and run. A little dab of this on your cheekbones, chin and the middle of your forehead just looks like you spent a bit of time in the sun.
• Maybelline Waterproof Lash Stiletto Mascara, $8.50 - I’m a new convert to this lengthening mascara. (I use it in conjunction with a curling mascara.) Purchase the waterproof brand to avoid the raccoon eyes look brought on by the humidity. 

Here are a few other suggestions I got:

• Cover Girl NatureLuxe Balm, $6.50 (suggested by @kekoenig) - “It’s so light and sheer but still adds needed color to my look!”
• Almay’s Wake Up Hydrating Makeup, $13 and Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse Foundation, $8 (suggested by @ashleychauntel) - “Almay’s Wake Up Hydrating Make Up is probably my favorite find ever!” 

What are your favorite beauty products when it’s 90+ degrees outside?

I’ve had a few questions about what makeup I wear on a regular basis, so I thought it might easier to do a post and show you everything at once!

I’m pretty low-maintenance when it comes to makeup. I stay away from most foundation and cover-up unless I’m doing something more formal and need my skin to look more uniform. (Instead of foundation, I usually wear a tinted moisturizer with SPF, but recently ran out of one I wasn’t too thrilled about and am on the hunt for another. If you have any recommendations, please let me know!)

I tend to keep my makeup simple: neutral eyeshadow with a bit of shimmer in beiges and dark browns (sometimes blue or green too); black, navy or gray eyeliner, mascara and lip balm. If I have time, I’ll apply some blush or bronzer. If I have even more time, I’ll use a skin brightener/highlighter on my cheekbones.

Here’s what’s in my makeup bag right now:

1. Almay Oil-Free Makeup Remover Pads, $8 - I wear a lot of eyeliner and mascara and finding a good makeup remover is like finding the holy grail. These pads are also great for getting specks of makeup off your cheeks or touching up migrating eyeliner during the day. (These are also good if you wear contact lenses.)
2. sibu Beauty Sea Buckthorn Replenishing Night Cream, $35 - I’m starting to pay more attention to what I put on my face at night, but I still want to keep things as low-key as possible. This night cream leaves my skin bright and clear in the morning, and combined with a bit of eye cream, it’s quick and easy to apply before bed.
3. C.O. Bigelow Magenta Mint, $7.50 - This magenta gloss comes out much lighter than it looks in the tube, but I love the light pink color and the peppermint smell.
4. Carmex, $4 for a 3-pack - I’ve been using Carmex for so long that I don’t remember when I first picked up a tube and got hooked. When I played the flute, I needed a good chapstick to help keep my lips moisturized through a 2-3 concert that also wouldn’t be too sticky or oily and this was perfect.
5. C.O. Bigelow Blueberry Rose Salve, $5.50 - The original rose salve is great, but I recently got this blueberry version too. The tin is so cute.
6. bareMinerals 100% Natural Lipgloss, $15 - You really can’t go wrong with any colors of this lip gloss. One thing to note: it is more or less exactly the color on your lips that you see in the tube, so don’t go grabbing a dark red thinking it will go on a sheer pinkish tone.
7. bareMinerals Blush, $18 and bareMinerals Eyeshadows, $13 - I love these eyeshadows so much. I’ve tried tons of brands over the past few years in every price point you can imagine, and these are the first that blend beautifully AND come in gorgeous, wearable colors. The bareMinerals blush is easy to blend as well, and comes in dozens of flattering colors.
8. The Body Shop Shimmer Eyeshadow Quad - The Body Shop doesn’t sell this quad anymore, but it’s one of my favorite eyeshadow sets and I’ve had it for years. (That’s probably not good, but I can’t part with it.)
9. bareMinerals Flawless Mascara, $18
10. Rimmel The Max Volume Flash Mascara, $7.50 - The combination of these two mascaras can’t be beat. I apply the bareMinerals mascara first (it’s volumizing) and the Rimmel second (it curls my lashes perfectly). 
11. Rimmel Soft Kohl Eye Pencil, $4 (in navy & black), bareMinerals Big & Bright Eyeliner (in dark brown & black), Maybelline Define-A-Lash Eyeliner in Slate Gray, $5 - I use all these liners, depending on what color eyeshadow I grab or what look I’m going for. The Rimmel kohl pencils are great for smudging, while the bareMinerals pencils are more precise. The Maybelline eyeliner is the perfect shade of charcoal gray.
12. Benefit Cosmetics Moon Beam, $24 - Apply a dab to your cheekbones and near the inner corners of your eyes (don’t get it in your eyes). It makes you look more awake and a little “glowy.” 

Do you use any of these products? What’s in your makeup bag?

As you can see below, there’s a lot of different interpretations of what the shade coral is supposed to look like, but in general, coral makeup looks like a cross between pink and orange shades. (Sometimes it leans more to orange, sometimes more to pink.)

A lot of people are afraid of coral, especially in lipsticks, because it brings to mind that very orangey lipstick we’ve all seen on ourselves or others and cringed at. (Orange lips are usually not flattering.) The trick is to find a coral that works with your skin tone. If you have a cooler skin tone, find a warmer shade of coral and vise versa for warmer skin tones.

P.S. Confused about how to tell what skin tone you have? Go to a room that has natural light and hold your arm palm-side up and find the veins that run on your wrist into your hand. If they’re green, you have a warm skin tone. If they’re blue, you have a cool skin tone. If you have both green & blue, or they look greenish-blue, you have a neutral skin tone that can take almost any makeup shade or hair color.

1. Forever 21 Coral Nail Polish, $2.80
2. TopShop Blush in Neon Rose, $12
3. OPI Nail Lacquer in Monsooner or Later, $8
4. Revlon Super Lustrous Creme Lipstick in Kiss Me Coral, $7.99
5. Stila One Step Makeup Prime Color in Capri Coral, $22
6. NARS Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in New Lover, $24
7. Korres Lip Butter in Pomegranate, $10
8. Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge for Lips & Cheeks in Cabo Coral, $24

The idea of finding the perfect nude lip color sounds pretty dumb since your bare lips are technically the ideal “shade” of nude already (or so you’d think). Yet, there are dozens of nude lip products on the market that basically exist to make your bare lip nude a better, more enhanced…nude color. I’m confusing myself.

My point is that there’s a reason these shades exist. They’re flattering! Of course they are! They mimic natural lip color! Unfortunately, they often fall into two categories: 1) Ghostly nude (too light!) or 2) Pink masquerading as “nude.” When I think of a nude color, I don’t want my lips disappearing into my face OR looking more pink. I think the ideal nude lip color should be more neutral/brown/taupe and should have just enough pigment to enhance and avoid a lip disappearing act. 

I personally prefer lighter, more natural shades on my lips because I get clown anxiety whenever I wear deeper shades of red. Most days, I wear eyeliner, mascara and Carmex lip balm. There’s a nude lip color for ya. Chapstick.

In my hunt for a good nude lip color that’s not chapstick, I have wasted money, looked ridiculous and been convinced as to a particular lipstick’s magical powers by one too many persuasive saleswomen.

But, I’m here to tell you that I may have found a great one (or at least a great one for me) and it was a gift. I didn’t even find this stuff myself! My mother-in-law has managed to make me a bareMinerals addict as a result of a Christmas gift, then birthday gift, then an Easter gift and I’m starting to wonder whether she’s trying to give me a hint. (“You need more makeup, girl. Aren’t you getting it?”) I’m kidding. :)

Anyway, my new favorite nude lip color is the result of a three-step process described very handily on the back of bareMinerals’ Perfect Nude Lip Trio kit ($30).

Here’s a few photos of each step of the process and the final result:

1. Line and fill lips with the lipliner.

2. Layer on the lipstick.

3. Apply the lipgloss on top.

Easy! And a step up from Carmex, at any rate.

bareMinerals Perfect Nude 100% Natural Lip Trio, $30

I don’t remember the first time I got my paws on mascara and eyeliner, but I was a goner after that. I loved experimenting with different eyeshadows (and, to my eternal dismay, loved matching my high school uniform polo to my eyeshadow) and with how much eyeliner I could get away with.

Over the years, I honed a basic smoky eye look that I can do in five minutes flat (even in a moving vehicle) that looks a little sexy, but not wholly inappropriate for daytime.

You only need the items below (or versions thereof) and a decent set of brushes: one blending brush, one angled eyeshadow brush and a flat or “smudge” brush.

The Goods

Two eyeshadows, one a black/brown and one in a bone-colored shade. I like loose eyeshadow (like bareMinerals, around $13) for doing a smoky eye—it’s easier to blend.

A black eyeliner—the easier to smudge the better, like this bareMinerals Big & Bright Eyeliner, $14.

A volumizing mascara in black, like bareMinerals Flawless Definition, $18 and a lifting mascara in black, like Rimmel Max Bold Curves, about $8.

Okay, we’re ready!

Start off with a bare face. I have no eye makeup or lip product on here. I’m not wearing foundation, concealer or powder, either—only a little bit of bronzer on my cheeks. I usually save facial makeup for after I’ve finished up my eyes in case I need to remove any errant eyeshadow from my cheeks.

Take the bone-colored eyeshadow. Put a bit on your flat eyeshadow brush and brush it over your entire eyelid and all the way up to your brow bone (second photo).

Grab your angled eyeshadow brush and the dark, black/brown eyeshadow.

Put a liberal amount of the eyeshadow onto the brush, but not too much—tap it against the side of the container to remove the excess.

Press (don’t brush!) the eyeshadow into the crease. It’s going to make a really ugly line across your crease, like this. I tend to go up from the crease onto the brow bone a bit too. (See how high my line extends?)

Get rid of all the excess eyeshadow on your brush. Begin blending that ugly dark line, by continually going over it, fanning it out gently toward the side and down onto your eyelid. You’ll know if you are blending correctly because the harsh edges of the line will start to blur and look “smudgy.”

Do the same on the other eye.

To blend the shadow really effectively, grab your blending brush and work slowly from the inner corner to outer corner of your eye, leaving no harsh edges or splotchy portions.

Voila!

Now for the fun part!

Grab your eyeliner. Holding the skin taut beside your eye, begin to draw the eyeliner from the outer corner in.

If you like (and I DO like), put a bit on the inner eyelid rim as well.

You can see the difference that eyeliner makes—compare my right eye (lined) to my left (unlined).

Once you’ve lined both eyes, it should look something like this.

I always use two types of mascara—one volumizing, and one lifting (or curling). The volumizing formula helps to fill out your lashes, while the lifting formula gives you lots of curl and length.

Use the volumizing mascara first. Then, do one or two coats of the lifting/curling mascara.

Add some lip balm or a nude lip gloss, and you’re done.

Here’s the finished look:

Have any questions? Feel free to comment or email me!

If you give this a try, I’d love to see your photos!

Makeup inspiration via Vogue circa 1961.

[Dramatic eyes, brick red lips!]

Some of the most common questions I get are about makeup trends, how to do certain makeup techniques, what kind of eyeshadow I use, etc.

Over the next couple days, I’ll run down through a few of my personal beauty rules and hopefully that will help answer a few things!

If you’re already a beauty and cosmetics junkie, I’m sure you have access to the products I mentioned above already in your arsenal. But, if you’re new to makeup, or you’d like to spruce up your collection, here are a few must-buys:

1. Tarte Natural Lip Stain, $24 - There are a lot of lip stains on the market now, up from only a few choices several years ago. What I think happened is that a lot of women realized that the beauty of lip stains is that you get a lot of color with a much greater staying power than lipstick. You can also wear chapstick over the stain—another plus. There are cheaper brands available at the drugstore that I like (try Revlon’s Just Bitten lip stain), but Tarte has a great collection of different shades.

2. Carmex, around $1 to $1.50 - I’ve been wearing Carmex for over a decade. It’s my favorite brand of chapstick. Smells good, looks a little glossy, doesn’t feel heavy, has SPF and lasts forever. (Also good on cuticles!)

3. Olay Regenerist Anti-Aging Eye Roller, $20 - I haven’t used this product, but I love the idea of rolling on eye cream. Anything to make my life faster and easier!

4. The Body Shop Eye Definer in Black, $11 - I used to use my mom’s Body Shop eyeliner all the time and recently picked up a pencil for myself since I had just used the last nub of my black eyeliner. (Emergency!) I really like the texture of this eyeliner: it’s soft enough to smudge, but stays put without creasing, like softer, kohl-based eyeliners tend to do.

5. Cover Girl Cheekers Blush in Natural Rose, $4.49 - Cheekers has been the best-selling blush for a long time. It’s really affordable (less than coffee these days) and comes in lots of shades. If you buy from CVS, you have the option of returning the shades you don’t like, so you can get several to try without risking anything. The trick to this blush is to never, ever use the included brush (I actually use the included brush for really light, shimmery eyeshadow, so it covers the whole eye up to the browbone in one or two swipes). Use a higher quality blush brush and you’d never notice the difference between this formula and one three times the price.

6. Cover Girl LashBlast Mascara, $6 - I think I’ve written about this mascara before, but it actually may do something that hasn’t happened for a long time: unseat Maybelline Great Lash as top drugstore mascara. I have a bias here, though. I think Great Lash is over-hyped. There! I said it. I’ve never been impressed with it, and for those who think that it looks so “natural” and “never clumps,” I say—of course it looks natural! It doesn’t look like you’ve done anything to your lashes! But, back to LashBlast. It’s really a trick formula that does everything in one go. It curls, volumizes, doesn’t clump and is comfortable to hold in your hand. For $6, it’s worth a try against your favorite mascara!

So, what are your beauty rules and your favorite products? Is there a specific product you recommend to everyone?

For Halloween, I wanted to do a really smoky, black eye because it was the next best thing to the black eyes that the demons sport on Supernatural.

Here’s how I did it:

1. I used Maybelline’s Cool Effects Shadow/Liner in Black Frost all over my eyelid, up to my brow bone. I blended the edges with a small eyeshadow brush so it wasn’t a harsh line. I winged out the edges a bit and made sure to put a lot in the crease, as it is a soft pencil—and the first place it would start to rub off would be in the crease and on the outside corner of my eye.

2. I then took my Rimmel eyeshadow quad in Smokey Noir and used a larger eyeshadow brush to apply the blackest color all over my eye, blending outward to make the winged part more defined.

3. For eyeliner, I used L’Oreal’s Extra Intense Eyeliner on my upper and lower lashline, as well as on the inside of my lower eyelid, which, by the way, you shouldn’t do if you’ve been sharing your makeup. Make sure to disinfect the tip of your eyeliner before doing this, and keep the point a bit dull.

4. To finish, I put on some mascara (I like Rimmel’s Lash Maxx).

5. I used a bit of bronzer on my cheeks, but not too much—I was supposed to be a demon, after all, and then used a little bit of concealer and pressed powder under my eyes to make the black makeup stand out even more.

Like I said to Sam last night, I wish I could get away with wearing this everyday!

Sara’s post yesterday for Bon Marche got me thinking…I used to love The Body Shop! Why don’t I shop there anymore? I guess it faded after I started buying more drugstore makeup from Target and finding specialty items at stores like Sephora and ULTA.

So, I checked their website and (amazingly) they still sell one of my all-time favorite eyeshadow quads I own. I’ve had this quad since 2005 (full disclosure, I have a hard time throwing away makeup) and still use it occasionally because although I used it nearly every day for several years, it still looks barely touched. This stuff is built to last.

The colors are really universally flattering, and the bit of shimmer looks really beautiful on, without being too shiny or sparkly. The colors blend together easily, and you can make them look as natural or as dramatic as you want.

I’ve labeled each color above with a number to show you how I use it.

1 : I apply #1 all over my eyelid, from my lashes up to my brow bone. Don’t forget to put a little bit on the inside and outside corners of your eyes!

2: I blend two all over my eyelid itself, focusing on the outside corner of each eye.

3: #3 is the darkest color in the palette, and I put this liberally in the crease of each eye, along the lash line and sweep it out to the outside corners.

4: You can stop there, but if you want more drama, I add a bit of the ultra-shimmery #4 right along my lash line and blend it into #1 up to the brow bone.

Finish the look with a bit of blush or bronzer, mascara, eyeliner (if you want!) and a soft pink gloss.

P.S. You can also use the eyeshadow wet, so if you have a small, slanted eyeliner brush, dampen it and use the #3 color to apply the shadow as liner along your lash line.

The Body Shop Shimmer Cube “Warm”, $22 (in stores only)