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This Trio of Tiny Tubs Is Catching: The $40 Josie Maran Argan Lip Treatment Trio

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josie maran argan lip treatment trio
Wearing Josie Maran Argan Lip Treatment in Kiss Me

I rue the day I watched Contagion, because if it weren’t for that movie, I’d probably feel a lot better about these three jars of Josie Maran Argan Lip Treatment ($40 for the trio).

Josie packed each pot with argan oil, shea butter and beeswax to repair and moisturize dry lips while imparting a light glossy tint.

I’ve been alternating among the three shades this week — Rosey (a deep rosey pink with a pomegranate scent), Kiss Me (a lime-scented light pink) and Heaven (a glittery, sheer peach with a tangerine scent) — and not only have they kept the flakes away, they’ve also made my lips feel smooth and great.


From left to right: Kiss Me, Heaven and Rosey

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Take Out Your Dancing Shoes for the Tarte The Starlet Limited-Edition Makeup Vanity

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tarte the starlet

My neighbors probably don’t need another reason to think I’ve completely lost my mind, but that didn’t stop me from giving them another one today.

Since they already know that I take my cat out for walks on a leash, snap pictures of myself in the front yard, drive to the grocery store wearing false eyelashes, and periodically leap like this in the street, I figured heck — I have nothing else to lose. Might as well take pics of myself dancing in front of the windows while I blast Footloose and try on Tarte’s new The Starlet Limited-Edition Makeup Vanity ($52). 🙂

If I only had an old VW Bug and an empty barn, LOL! But more on the movie in a few…

As for The Starlet, a holiday kit containing makeup for eyes, lashes and cheeks, she really should be handled with care. Within my first minute with it, I’d already scratched the mirrored top.

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tarte the Starlet Limited-Edition Makeup Vanity

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The Tarte Lip Service Limited-Edition LipSurgence Collection and a Snickers-Fueled Sugar High

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Tarte LipSurgence in Swank on mah lips!

Believe it or not, this swatch session for the new Tarte Lip Service Limited-Edition LipSurgence Collection ($29) actually began as something somewhat normal…

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LipSurgence in Perky

But then I had two of these tiny Snickers bars (because it’s physically impossible to have just one)…


They don’t call ’em “Fun Size” for nothin’
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You’re Destined for Fame (and Fallout) with the Smashbox Be Discovered Holiday Palette

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smashbox be discovered for holiday 2011

I doubt Hollywood’s even looking for a short, sassy Filipino chick without any acting experience to star opposite Ryan Gosling in an upcoming romantic comedy, but if, perchance, I’m ever stopped by a famous director at Petco and asked to play the wind beneath Ryan’s wings, you can bet I’m putting down those 20 cans of gravy, girl, because we’re going to Hollywood! 🙂

Logic places the chances of this happening somewhere below 0.000001%, but ya never know… Maybe the new limited edition Smashbox Be Discovered palette (about $60, from the new Snappy Holidays 2011 collection) will improve my odds.

smashbox be discovered box

Maybe…?

Okay, well, a girl’s gotta have dreams, and if yours happen to involve holiday kits brimming with color, Smashbox would like you to consider this: the 66-piece Be Discovered palette, with its four mini-makeup brushes and shades for eyes, cheeks and lips. At $60, it works out to less than $1 per piece.

Not too shabby, tabby.

For more on the Smashbox Snappy Holidays collection, check out…

The bulk of the pieces in the palette consist of products for eyes — 45 powder shadows and nine cream liners, to be exact. That’s more color than a girl could shake a blending brush at!

But (there’s always a but), like the eyeshadows in the company’s Click You’re It palette, also out for holidays, these like being babied. Some of them require lots of layering to show up on my tan skin, and more often than not, I also end up sweeping away a considerable amount of fallout.

A few thoughts on the rest of the kit…

  • Cheek Products — My favorite pieces in the palette! The Bronzer, Blushes and Soft Lights Highlighters apply smoothly with commendable color, yet despite being packed with pigment, they remain easy to blend.
  • Cream Eyeliners — I like the soft, dreamy lines I’m able to draw with these, as well as the variety of colors, but some of them migrate when I forget to pat a powder shadow on top.
  • Lipglosses — Preternatural pigment and a three-hour wear time for the win!
  • Mini Brushes — They get job done, but I wouldn’t depend on them for everyday use (unless I had a crush on scratchy bristles).

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The Smashbox Be Discovered kit: click here to see more product pics, and here to see oodles of swatches
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With Their Latest Lip Kit, Benefit Asks, “Won’t You Take Me To … Glossytown?”

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Wearing Benefit Ticket To Glossytown Lipgloss in Foxy Lady

Wait — it’s November already? How the heck did that happen…? Just a few weeks till Turkey Day, and then it’s “Welcome to December!”

This month, I’m gonna do everything in my power to avoid last year’s long lines and last-minute gift crunch at Christmas, so I’m trying to wrap up (haha) my holiday shopping by December 1 (we’ll see…).

No more waiting in uncombed hair and tabby fur-covered pajamas for Target to open before dawn on Christmas Eve; no more wrapping presents on my lap in the car and nearly stabbing my thigh with a scissors.

Not this year!

This year I’m starting with the girls on my list, and I think some of them are getting a Ticket to Glossytown.

I know it’s still too early to declare the greatest holiday hits of 2011, but I’m pretty sure Benefit’s $24 set of six adorable mini glosses will land somewhere in the top 10. It features the company’s line of Ultra Shines, and I love, LOVE these glosses!

Rumor has it that the pharaohs of ancient Egypt liked to be buried with these smooth, shiny, non-sticky lippies — so they could use them in the afterlife, of course. 🙂 They’re loaded with long-lasting pigment (last about four hours on me) and crazy moisturizing, too.

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Glam Has Always Been Cool, but Benefit Takes It a Step Further with Their Latest Makeup Kit for Eyes, Lips and Cheeks

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benefit i'm glam therefore i am

The power of packaging compels you! The power of packaging compels you!

And for me with Benefit’s new “I’m Glam… Therefore I am” palette ($36), it almost does. I desperately wanted to bond with B’s new kit of mostly cool-toned colors for eyes, lips and cheeks. That way I’d feel good about giving it a permanent place on my dresser, a place where I could gaze lovingly at the adorable illustrated box.

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The glam gal featured on the front reminds me of the girls my friends and I would doodle on our notebooks in school, complete with gown, tiara and opera-length gloves, and her step-by-step makeup lessons imprinted on the packaging describe how to use the palette to achieve two distinct looks, one called Daytime Dahling and the other, Evening Goddess.

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My Last-Minute MAC Halloween Costume, and Beware the Shark Cat!

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Shoot, I wasn’t even planning to dress up at all this year, but Tabs insisted that I throw something on, because he didn’t want to be the only kitty on the block without a dressed up assistant/trick-or-treating companion.

I couldn’t bear the thought of hitting up the costume store, since I knew it was gonna be crazy busy, so I busted a Tim Gunn and tried to “make it work” with what I had around the house.

As far as last-minute Halloween getups go, this MAC artist costume was super easy. I slipped on a black dress, fashioned a homemade tag out of a MAC logo I found online and stuck some brushes behind my ear. I also really, REALLY wanted to sling a black brush belt around my waist (like the ones that MAC artists wear at the counter), but I kinda ran out of time. I wore a gold brush belt from the MAC Wonder Woman collection instead.

SIDE NOTE: If you plan to recreate this costume and have a brush belt sitting around the house, use it! It’ll totally take it to the next level.


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Swatches of the Be Discovered and Click You’re It Kits from the Smashbox Holiday 2011 Collection

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Is your pet waiting to be discovered? If your feline friend or canine companion longs for a life of international celebrity, the Tabs the Cat School of Modeling can help. Call 1-800-555-5555 today.

And speaking of being discovered, here are those swatches of the Be Discovered and Click It You’re It kits from the new Smashbox Holiday 2011 collection.

Now I’m sitting here on the couch covered in cat hair and glitter. Yup, it’s business as usual here for a Saturday night… 🙂

Click You’re It: Swatches

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Click You’re It

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Eyeshadows 1 through 5 in the palette above

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Eyeshadows 6 through 10
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