Check them out:

Face

Neutrogena Rapid Clear Acne Defense Lotion

Although 30 is right around the corner for me (countdown to August 2011!), I still deal with acne from time to time. Nothing has helped to clear up my acne faster without drying out my skin than Neutrogena Rapid Clear Acne Defense Lotion. One time while visiting family in Georgia, I forgot to pack my skin care products so I grabbed this stuff out of my teenaged nephew’s stash to hopefully cure a few pimples that sprouted on my face. I wasn’t expecting much, but when I woke up the next morning, the pimples were gone.

Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sunblock SPF 45

You know that really greasy feeling you get after applying sunblock? Or if you’re a dark skin beauty like myself, sometimes sunblock can make you look ashy. Well the good folks at Neutrogena heard our cries. For the past few years, I’ve been using Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sunblock and have been pleased with both its SPF coverage (ranges from 30-70) and the fact that it dries to a matte finish while still thoroughly moisturizing the skin makes me and my skin very happy.

Becca Fine Loose Finishing Powder

I would put this powder on my best of beauty lists every year for years to come–it’s that good. What makes Becca Fine Loose Finishing Powder so great is (as the brand itself so eloquently puts it) that it is “lightly pigmented and micro-milled, creating a perfectly uniform, ultra thin layer that allows the skin’s natural oils to lightly shine through. The result ensures your foundation looks like real skin, with the added benefit of your makeup staying on all day. Preservative and paraben-free.” I’ve had people tell me how beautiful my skin looks and when I tell them I’m wearing Becca, they simply cannot believe I’m wearing powder.

NARS Blush

Blush is one of the most important makeup products that too many women aren’t using. We covered this in Blush 101. While I love what so many other brands have to offer when it comes to blush, my all-time favorite is NARS Blush. With colors so vibrant and pigmented, any woman from Nicole Kidman to Alek Wek can find her perfect shade (or two or three). For my MAC NW47 skin, the brighter the blush, the better. I love NARS Blush in many shades, but my top three are Exhibit A (a brilliant red that looks a lot prettier on the skin than it does in its container), Mata Hari (a rose petal pink), and Dolce Vita (a dusty rose).

Grab my fave face products here:

Eyes

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat

Another side effect of a busy lifestyle is not getting enough sleep. While I try my best to get my daily eight hours, sometimes I have to fake the funk, which is why I’m glad I have Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat in my beauty arsenal. This luminizing pen brings light and radiance to the skin, immediately erases any signs of fatigue, and brightens the complexion. I use shade #4 Luminous Toffee on my chocolate skin and not only does it perk up my undereye area, but it also makes my eye makeup look better. I love this stuff so much I buy two at a time.

MAC Eyeshadow

A favorite of mine (and many) for YEARS, MAC Eyeshadow has made my best of beauty list once again. Just a quick glance at the eyeshadow display at any MAC counter will leave even the biggest makeup critic drooling with delight. The range in colors and textures as well as being packed with pigment makes MAC Eyeshadows so great. You can take your 15 year old sister and your 75 year old grandmother into MAC and they’ll both find tons of suitable shades for themselves.

Make Up For Ever Eyeshadow

Yes, I know I just gushed over MAC Eyeshadows, but Make Up For Ever deserves some shine as well. Big, beautiful pots of brilliant colors with high staying power are what you’ll find in this French brand. They also have some gorgeous colors like #92 (a brilliant matte purple) that you won’t find in MAC’s permanent line.

MAC Paint

In order for your eyeshadows to last you all day, you need a good base. My favorite for years has been MAC Paint. They come in colors to closely match your skin tone and in bright colors to match your eyeshadow color. Swipe this on before your eye makeup to ensure better color payoff and lasting power. Try it in a color that matches your eyeshadow color to make the colors really POP. MAC has since decreased their Paint collection so there aren’t as many colors as they once had. You may also love Urban Decay Primer Potion, a colorless eye shadow primer that also maximizes your eyeshadow’s staying power.

Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes

A waterproof eye pencil that comes in a rainbow of colors and won’t budge even in the waterline? Yes, please! That’s exactly what you’ll get from Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes. I’ve even cried while having this liner on and didn’t suffer the Tammy Faye Baker Effect.

mark On the Edge Hook Up Liquid Eyeliner

I test many products staying power by sleeping in them. If anything can last hours of me rolling around under the covers then it must be good. mark On the Edge Hook Up Liquid Eyeliner did just that. Not only will it save you from having liquid liner running down your face, it’s also easy to apply Rihanna-esque cat eye looks. And best of all, it’s less than $6!

Grab my favorite eye products here:

Lips

MAC Lipstick

Whether I want a neutral lip or a bright pink, red, or orange lip, I know I’ll find what I want at MAC. With a range of colors as long as the day and formulas from matte to creme, MAC will always be my first lipstick choice.

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Brilliance

With the same pen applicator as their Touche Éclat concealer, Touche Brilliance will give you a gorgeous, brilliant pout minus the stickiness you can get with other glosses. My favorite shade is #15 Truly Red.

Grab my favorite lip products here:

Those were mine. Now tell me, what were your favorite beauty products of 2009?

‘Tis the season to get dolled up! If your holiday plans involve party after party, check out some of these HOT Holiday Makeup Looks:

Red Lip, Smoky Eye

Most of the time when putting together a makeup look, you go for bold lips and neutral eye or vice versa, right? Well since fashion has taken a real “bad-ass” approach this season, why not do the same with your makeup? And it’s the holiday time, so get festive!

Get the Look:

The Smoky Eye
The most simple way to create a smoky eye is to line your eyes with a black eyeliner pencil and then smudge the line upwards with either a eyeshadow brush like MAC#214, a Q-tip, or the tip of a makeup sponge. Follow with two to three coats of mascara.

To get a bit fancy with it, you’ll need to layer your products for the boldest, longest-lasting smoky eye. Start out by applying an eyeshadow base like Urban Decay Primer Potion all over the eyes. Next apply a matte eyeshadow closest to your skin tone all over the eye. After that layer a shimmery eyeshadow color similar to the matte one just on the lid and on the brow bone. Then take your main smoky color and with a thick eyeshadow brush like MAC#217 and apply it in a V shape to the outer corners of the eye and in the crease. Be sure to blend the shadow carefully so that there are no harsh lines where the different colors meet. Then line eyes with black eyeliner. Last, curl lashes and apply a lash primer (if needed) then apply two to three coats of mascara. As with any eye look, if your eyes are small or close-set, do not line all the way into the inner corners with a dark liner or shadow. Doing so will make your eyes appear even smaller and more close-set. Instead line the inner corners with a pale gold or silver liner or shadow.

There’s tons of methods of achieving a smoky eye, so you can use my tips above or experiment to find a look you love.

The Red Lip
First, you’ll need to choose the right red. As overwhelming as that may sound, it’s actually quite easy when you know your undertones. If your undertones are warm (there’s a yellow or golden undertone to your skin, you tan to a golden brown color, your veins are green, you look best in gold, etc.), then a red with a yellow or golden base works best. Reds to try: MAC Lipstick in Brave Red, Lady Danger, Cockney, and Lady Bug. If your undertones are cool (there’s a red or blue undertone to your skin, your veins are blue, you look best in silver, etc.) then a red with a blue base works best. Reds to try: MAC Lipstick in Russian Red, Dubonnet, Ruby Woo, MAC Red, and Viva Glam I. If you’re olive toned (neither yellow nor blue undertones) try a red with neutral undertones. Some reds to try: MAC Lipstick in Fresh Moroccan and Spice It Up!

As with foundation, finding a red you love takes time and patience, but you will find it!

My dark skin beauties, there’s a terrible myth out there that red lips are not for us. Don’t listen to it! I’m NW47 and my favorite red is MAC Dubonnet. If your confidence in wearing red is wanning, be sure to check out How to Rock Reds & Pinks with Confidence.

Glitter

If you’re a Wendy Williams Show fanatic like me (how you doin?) then you would have seen the FABULOUS Iman on Wendy’s show a couple of weeks ago. Naturally her face was beat from here to tomorrow, but what really caught my eye was her use of glitter on her eyes. It wasn’t Studio 54 disco ball glitter, but very sophisticated and a very pretty trace of glitter on the inner corners of her eyes. Lucky for us, Iman has the very glitter available in her Iman Cosmetics collection. I am so hyped about trying it–but I’ll have to wait a bit since for now it’s only available online via Target.com (but I will be stalking my delivery people everyday until I get it thankyouverymuch). If you saw this last week Monday’s Wendy Williams Show, you’ll see that makeup artist extraordinaire Sam Fine also used a glitter liner on a subject for a hot holiday makeover. And the good news is whether you’re 15 or 50, you can rock this look!

HOW TO WEAR IT:
*Much like its cousin glue, a little glitter goes a long way! Don’t overdo it.

*Keep it off your face–a bit on the eyes is fine, but all over the face? I think not!

*Stay as close to matte finishes (matte=no shine, no shimmer) with the rest of your makeup to avoid looking like a disco ball (or a pre-Gulliani 42nd Street street walker)

*A dab of glitter on the center of your lips is a really hot way to ring in the New Year

Check out these glitter-approved products:

IMAN Luxury Liquid Eyeliner- Onyx; IMAN Luxury Liquid Eyeliner – Copper; IMAN Luxury Liquid Eyeliner – Sapphire; IMAN Luxury Liquid Eyeliner – Platinum

M·A·C ‘Pigments & Glitter’ Palette

Grey Smoky Eye

Grey smoky eyes were seen on the models at Michael Kors’ A/W 09/10 show. And it’s no wonder—grey is one of those eyeshadow colors that looks great on everyone. And it’s totally a festive look for the holidays!

Dior 5-Colour Designer All-In-One Artistry Palette – Smoky Design; Dior 1-Colour Ultra-Smoothing High Impact Eyeshadow (Crystal White 006, Chrome 026, Argentic 056, Trendy Taupe 066, Flash Back 086); Dior 5-Colour Iridescent Eyeshadow – Smoky Crystal 089; Yves Saint Laurent Eyeshadow Duo (#5 Blue Legend/Grey Illusion, #19 Oatmeal/Petrolium Blue); bareMinerals Tutorials – Rocker Eye; NARS Eyeshadow Duo in Paris and Underworld; MAC Sorceress eyeshadows; M·A·C ‘Trend F/W’ Eyeshadow 4; Yves Saint Laurent Long-Lasting Eye Pencil in Mercury; Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes in Dark Grey 21L and Grey 22L and Kohl Pencil in Night Blue 5K; Yves Saint Laurent Luxurious Mascara in #8 Sublime Grey

More great greys not pictured:
MAC Eyeshadows in Silver Ring, Knight, Print, Knight Divine, Scene, and Idol Eyes

How to do it:
The key to a smoky grey eye is to use variations of grey. For instance, use a light, shimmery grey in the corners of the eyes, a medium grey on the lid, and a dark grey on the outer corner (aka the outer V). A grey smoky eye also looks great when you use a pencil brush (like MAC #219) to line the eyes with a shimmery light grey or grey-blue shadow or an eyeliner pencil. As with any eye look, don’t forget to use a base like Urban Decay Primer Potion or MAC Paints.

Fair Skin:
Go for light, silvery greys

Olive Skin:
Go for medium toned greys

Dark Skin:
Go for darker, slate greys

Berry Lips

The great thing about this color is that it can be flattering on an array of skin tones. Lighter skin tones should reach for lighter, more ‘pinky’ berry colors while darker tones should go for deeper, ‘vampy’ berry tones. As always, the darker your skin tone, the brighter you can go in color.

Some berry colors to check out:

1. Bobbi Brown Lip Sheer in Black Raspberry 2. MAC Lipstick in Cyber 3. MAC Lip Pencil in Nightmoth 4. MAC Lipstick in Rebel 5. Yves Saint Laurent Golden Gloss in #6 Golden Plum 6. NARS Lipstick in Scarlet Empress 7. NARS Lipstick in Viridiana 8. Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Reflect #777 9. Nars Lipgloss in Chantaco 10. MAC Lipstick in Dark Side 11. NARS Lip Lacquer in Hot Wired

There you have it. A quick rundown of gorgeous looks to rock at your holiday shindig.

Now tell me—what are your holiday plans this season?

NARS is definitely one of my favorite makeup brands (I can tell because their products are taking up about 75% of my bathroom…lol). Their makeup colors are so pigmented and rich—if you haven’t at least tried one of their blushes, YOU ARE MISSING OUT!

For the fall NARS introduces two new foundation formulas to their arsenal: Sheer Matte and Sheer Glow. I loved their Balanced Foundation because it’s lightweight and made my skin look GORGE. I love skin to be the focus of my makeup looks so I always look forward to new foundations.

Sheer Matte is a soft matte-finish foundation with sheer, buildable coverage that controls oil and shine throughout the day. Replete with skincare benefits and the NARS Complexion Brightening Formula, skin is more luminous, softer and smoother. Best for normal to oily skins, Sheer Matte also helps to:
* Minimizes visible discoloration
* Brightens and clarifies overall skin tone
* Absorbs oil and controls shine
* Dermatologist tested. Non-comedogenic. Fragrance Free.

Test results:
• 100% – helps control oil and shine during the day
• 90% – evens out skin tone
• 90% – skin feels soft and smooth
• 84% – skin looks brighter and more radiant

Sheer Glow is a glowing, satin-finish foundation with sheer and buildable coverage. Replete with skincare benefits and the NARS Complexion Brightening Formula, skin is hydrated, more luminous, softer and smoother. Used daily, Sheer Glow Foundation improves skin brightness, radiance and texture. Best for normal to dry skins, Sheer Glow helps to:
* Minimizes visible discoloration
* Brightens and clarifies overall skin tone
* Improves skin luminosity and radiance
* Hydrates for softer and smoother skin
* Dermatologist tested. Non-comedogenic. Fragrance free.

Test results:
• 100% – skin is feeling soft and smooth
• 96% – evens out skin tone
• 96% – would purchase
• 96% – would recommend to a friend
• 92% – skin looks brighter and more radiant

I can’t wait to try these out! They come in 20 shades (shown above), so more than likely they will have a match for you (you can always buy the shade closest to your skin tone and ask for a sample of another color to blend your custom shade). Since colder weather is around the corner for me, I’ll be picking up Sheer Glow in the Trinidad shade.

Most of the time when putting together a makeup look, you go for bold lips and neutral eye or vice versa, right? Well since fashion has taken a real “bad-ass” approach this season, why not do the same with your makeup? Try pairing a smoky eye with a bold red lip! It makes the perfect compliment when worn with fall’s leather jackets, distressed denim, and platform heels.

Get the Look:

The Smoky Eye
The most simple way to create a smoky eye is to line your eyes with a black eyeliner pencil and then smudge the line upwards with either a eyeshadow brush like MAC#214, a Q-tip, or the tip of a makeup sponge. Follow with two to three coats of mascara.

To get a bit fancy with it, you’ll need to layer your products for the boldest, longest-lasting smoky eye. Start out by applying an eyeshadow base like Urban Decay Primer Potion all over the eyes. Next apply a matte eyeshadow closest to your skin tone all over the eye. After that layer a shimmery eyeshadow color similar to the matte one just on the lid and on the brow bone. Then take your main smoky color and with a thick eyeshadow brush like MAC#217 and apply it in a V shape to the outer corners of the eye and in the crease. Be sure to blend the shadow carefully so that there are no harsh lines where the different colors meet. Then line eyes with black eyeliner. Last, curl lashes and apply a lash primer (if needed) then apply two to three coats of mascara. As with any eye look, if your eyes are small or close-set, do not line all the way into the inner corners with a dark liner or shadow. Doing so will make your eyes appear even smaller and more close-set. Instead line the inner corners with a pale gold or silver liner or shadow.

There’s tons of methods of achieving a smoky eye, so you can use my tips above or experiment to find a look you love.

The Red Lip
First, you’ll need to choose the right red. As overwhelming as that may sound, it’s actually quite easy when you know your undertones. If your undertones are warm (there’s a yellow or golden undertone to your skin, you tan to a golden brown color, your veins are green, you look best in gold, etc.), then a red with a yellow or golden base works best. Reds to try: MAC Lipstick in Brave Red, Lady Danger, Cockney, and Lady Bug. If your undertones are cool (there’s a red or blue undertone to your skin, your veins are blue, you look best in silver, etc.) then a red with a blue base works best. Reds to try: MAC Lipstick in Russian Red, Dubonnet, Ruby Woo, MAC Red, and Viva Glam I. If you’re olive toned (neither yellow nor blue undertones) try a red with neutral undertones. Some reds to try: MAC Lipstick in Fresh Moroccan and Spice It Up!

As with foundation, finding a red you love takes time and patience, but you will find it!

My dark skin beauties, there’s a terrible myth out there that red lips are not for us. Don’t listen to it! I’m NW47 and my favorite red is MAC Dubonnet. If your confidence in wearing red is wanning, be sure to check out How to Rock Reds & Pinks with Confidence.

P.S. If you have a red lip look that you want to show off, I’d love to feature it on this site. Or if you want my advice on a makeup look you’ve created, send me your pics!

Allure magazine has the 411 on the top 10 Fall 2009 beauty trends. Check them out:

1. Red lips

Find your perfect shade here.

2. Crazy Shadow

3. Hot Buns

4. Dark Eyes

Need help picking out shades? Check out this MAC Eyeshadow Guide.

5. Rough Waves

6. Messy Ponytails

7. Defined Brows

Find out how to tame your brows here.

8. Hair Decor

9. Rosy Cheeks

Find your best blush shades–Blush 101.

10. Pale lips

Nude lips works on every skin tone, find out your shade here.