So many great beauty reads, so little time!

Jelly Pong: Pong Nude And Improved - Raging Rouge explains how “this handy little pencil isn’t just a primer, but can act as a concealer too!”

Purely Cosmetics - Pure Bionic Goodness! - Bionic Beauty discovers a wonderful mineral makeup line. “The biggest difference when I applied the Pure Silk Mineral Foundation was the feel.”

Sally b’s Skin Yummies - Lemon Sage Sugar Scrub - DecoDiva cannot get over how wonderful her skin smells and feels after using Sally B’s Lemon Sage Sugar Scrub.

CARGO HOLIDAY NIGHTS! SATURDAY AT SEPHORA! - Kate might still be building her wardrobe, but one thing she has down pat, Kate knows a great makeup palette when she sees one!

90s Ladies Week: Clueless About Foundation? As If! - I laughed all the way through this post about the 90’s. Spoiled Pretty’s new favorite, Make Up For Ever’s HD Invisible Cover Foundation!

Sneek Peek: MAC Hello Kitty Part Deux… The Makeup Girl posts about newly announced release dates for MAC’s Hello Kitty Colour Collection and Hello Kitty Kouture! Meow!

New Posts from Mythbuster Beauty:

• Urban Decay’s Urban Essentials Giveaway (hurry, the deadline is 11.26!)
  
• DecoDiva: The Right Tools for Liquid, Gel, or Powder Eyeliners
• FGW: Timelapse Wands, skin smoothing in a stick?
• Sally B’s Skin Yummies: Such a Treat!
• Beauty Bubble: Using your skincare products in the right order.

It’s taken me many years to figure out that the right tools really do make applying makeup a snap. For the longest time I thought that any sort of brush will do to apply liquid or gel eyeliner. So I’d use the brush that came with the product, and it would be very difficult to apply eyeliner so that it looked flattering. In fact, I’d often give up on the product and write it off, when it wasn’t really the product that was bad, it was my application method and tools.

Well, one day, I found the Sonia Kashuk bent eyeliner brush. This thing is my HOLY GRAIL of eyeliner brushes. It makes applying an eyeliner easy! It doesn’t matter if it’s gel eyeliner, wet or dry eye shadows or minerals, liquid eyeliner, etc. it will help you apply a nice thin line that you can keep thin and subtle or thicken for a more dramatic look.

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Here is something beyond fabulous from Urban Decay, and this week Mythbuster Beauty is giving away two of them!  Urban Essentials contains three Urban Decay must-haves. . . . an exclusive, oversized bottle of the coveted Eyeshadow Primer Potion (60% more!) and TWO full sized Eyeshadows—Midnight Cowboy and Goddess.

Urban Decay’s Eyeshadow Primer Potion is a cult-favorite product that gives you vibrant eye shadow color that lasts all day – without creasing!   It’s brilliant and I couldn’t wear my eyeshadow any other way.  UD’s Primer Potion was a top ten favorite at MBB for 2007:  Top Ten of 2007: Urban Decay’s Eye Primer Potion.

The two full-size eyeshadows are in Goddess (midnight blue w/ lots of electric blue microglitter), and Midnight Cowboy (subtle golden-beige w/ gold glitter).  They look beautiful paired up together and even better when using UD’s Eyeshadow Primer Potion.  The Urban Essentials Set retails for $39.00. 

Official Rules:  To enter this giveaway enter your name and email address in the contest machine box below, and subscribe to Mythbuster Beauty at the sidebar Feedburner link.  One entry per person and the deadline is at 1 am (EST) Thursday, November 27th, 2008.  TWO winners will be chosen at random and will be announced on Mythbuster Beauty, PRIZEY.Fetch, and contacted via email.  MBB will not share your email address with anyone, and only uses your email address to contact you if you are a winner.  This giveaway is open to residents of the USA and Canada only.

Q: I Have Dark Circles and Puffiness! Help?

Learn how to solve this issue with products from Neutrogena, Olay and more, then ask us your big beauty questions

Several members, ages 25 to 50, on our message boards have asked what they can do to treat and hide dark circles and under-eye puffiness. We asked a plastic surgeon, dermatologist, skincare experts and makeup artists what to do to make these issues bearable. Here’s what they said …

View answer

No matter what the price, a good eye treatment formula should have no strong fragrance or color, absorb quickly into your skin without leaving a greasy feeling and contain beneficial ingredients that will soothe, protect and repair your skin.

This year two of my favorite eye products have been: Caudalie’s VINEXPERT Anti-Ageing Serum Eyes and Lips, and DERMAdoctor’s Wrinkle Revenge Rescue & Protect Eye Balm (which is the eye formula I am currently using). These two formulas are not cheap and priced in the $60-$80 range, and I liked them because of how they felt, absorbed into my skin, and that their ingredients accomplished what they claimed.

Active Ingredients in Caudalie’s Vinexpert Anti-Ageing Serum Eyes and Lips ($70):

grape-seed polyphenols (OPC) - antioxidants that protect skin
ceramides 3 - are lipids that act as a barrier to hold in moisture and protect the skin
tetrapeptides-
horse chestnut - known to increase strength of veins and capillaries (may lighten dark circles)
liquorice/licorice- an antioxidant known to reduce inflammation and soothe irritation.
plant glycerine - moisturizer
calendula - known to soothe and protect the skin (more…)

I’m sure you have all heard that getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night is optimal for your health.   Sleep is our bodies’ way of renewing itself and recuperating from the stress and the daily wear and tear of life.  I honestly try to get my full 7 to 8 hours, heck, and I’d love 9 if I could manage it, but realistically women have many responsibilities that don’t always stop when the lights go off.  Between pets, kids and toys that spontaneously start *bleeping* in the wee hours, we often don’t get what our bodies need. 

I recently received a letter from a busy mother of four even busier children.  Becky writes,

Dear Jen,

I have a question for my friend the beauty blogger….what can I do about these puffy, dark eyes that I have? (Thanks in large part, I am sure to my beautiful new daughter! :)) Do you have any ideas? I am currently using a Bobbi Brown eye moisturizing cream, but it does not seem to be doing the trick. I’d love any ideas.

I completely understand Becky, the one place that really shows the lack of sleep (and our age) are our eyes. 

About the eyes.  I have tried several eye creams in the past year and what I am discovering is that a lighter cream is actually better for puffiness; this is because a heavier cream holds in too much moisture and can increase puffiness.  As a quick home remedy that I would recommend is splashing cold water around your eyes in the morning or using a cold compress or sliced cold cucumber slices for a few minutes as a way to reduce any swelling or puffiness around your eyes.

Dark circles are another issue and many creams claim to reduce them, but be very skeptical of their promises.  According to Paula Begoun (The Cosmetic Cop),

“Dark circles can be caused by several factors, and each one needs to be dealt with in a different way. Dark circles can be caused by sun damage, veins and capillaries that show through skin, irritation, and the natural dark pigment that can occur in this area. They can also be a result of natural shadows that fall within the eye area, making that area appear darker. Plus, dark circles can be a result of dry skin making the area look dull and tired.

If you have allergies, you may want to consider an antihistamine. Although uncommon, food allergies may also be to blame, but this would need to be confirmed by an allergist. City pollution can get to your eyes by the day’s end, too, so you may want to use an air filter in your home or office.” (more…)

I recently had a spur of the moment trip to join my Daddy-O for a few days. With 5 days of travel and 3 different hotels, I wanted my makeup kit to be portable but diverse. I needed something for transit, for the moment when I jumped into his arms, for a touristy walk through the art district, and for fabulous evenings out to dinner. How could I possibly fit everything all those looks required into one little train case? If only there was something compact that contained a plethora of flattering shades…. (more…)

That’s Too Faced Cosmetics’ mantra, and I can totally get behind that. They don’t want women to just look gorgeous, they want women to feel gorgeous, and that’s a message that sells. Since their inception 10 years ago they have skyrocketed to the top of the cosmetics wish list, taking their place with other faves like MAC and Chanel.

One of the things I love Too Faced for is their ability to be fun and kicky but remain classy. As I get older and finally grow into my adult responsibility (sort of), I try to evolve and keep my style on course with my age. Too Faced offers products that help me look smartly put together while still having a little crazy fun.

One of their products that helps me do that is Starry Eyed Liquid Liner ($17.50). Liquid liners packed with micro glitter, these are perfect for a little extra pop during the day, or a lot at night. A quick pass of Gold Digger right at your lash line gives a brightening look to your typical bronze shadow. It gave my eyes an open happy look, without being over the top. One swipe gives a twinkling shine without screaming “HELLO, I’M WEARING GLITTER!”, or add a few more layers for a bold, eye catching disco ball effect. Unlike a lot of micro-glitter eye products, Starry Eyed doesn’t irritate my eyes, and I appreciate that I can wear something I love without my eyes ending up goopy and itchy for once. Is it the addition of calming cucumber or soothing carrot that does it? Heck if I know, but I can tell you it’s a fantastic formula all around! It’s not quite as fast drying as you hope, but a quick shot of cool air from my hair dryer takes care of that. Be sure to let it dry all the way before opening your peepers wide, or you’ll end up with glitter on your upper eyelid all day long because the staying power is awesome. (more…)

Celebrity makeup artist Chuck Hezekiah shares his top 10 beauty tips on working your mascara to its full potential.

We had the chance to sit down with Chuck Hezekiah, national makeup artist for Maybelline New York, who told us how to get perfect, clump-free lashes with almost any mascara. Read on to find out exactly how your mascara can work in more ways than one to save you time, guesswork and money.

View tips

In honor of BCA month Makeup Moxie is donating $1.00 (up to $100) to the American Cancer Society for each comment on her post and asks us the burning question:

“Have you found your “Holy Grail” mascara and, if so, what is it? If you haven’t found your Holy Grail Mascara, what is it that you’re still looking for in your quest for the perfect mascara?”

Personally, I am still searching for the ultimate mascara on the market. I don’t ask for much. My requirements would be a mascara that leaves your lashes feeling soft not stiff, adds beautiful natural-looking length, doesn’t flake or smudge, and doesn’t cause my eyes to itch or tear up.

I’m still searching for my holy grail of mascaras. As for drug store brands, I’d say Maybelline’s Full n Soft Mascara, and for a department store brand mascara, I would go with either Lola’s or Becca’s, but I reserve the right to change my mind!

I should have mentioned my fabulous experience while using Marini Lash. My lashes are looking so healthy and lovely right now, I could almost skip my mascara and when I do use mascara I get ultra-great results.

Be sure to visit Makeup Moxie’s site today and comment on your favorite mascara formula. A simple and wonderful way to donate to the BCA cause. You might even find some new mascara brands to covet! Thanks Makeup Moxie, we adore you!!!