BSB: Beauty news, makeup swatches and pictures, nail polish articles, makeup tutorials, product reviews, and how-to's from a MAC-trained makeup artist.

Doesn't Katy Perry inspire you!?

I'm going to coin a phrase, here, to describe Katy Perry: retro-nouveau. I find her look incredibly inspiring (and her music is great, too).

Nude eyes with contoured crease, dark liner, and lotsa lash;
flawless satin skin with no cheek color or contour;
sexy satin deep red lip;
strong brow...

Katy rocks it.




Like it? Love it? Hate it? Feel lukewarm?

PS: These images are from papermag.com!

Bobbi Brown wants to help you streamline your life...

“The Customize.Simplify.Organize system is designed for women to customize their makeup and be their own makeup artists. It’s an easy way to take less, but have more.” – Bobbi Brown

Beginning in April, Bobbi introduces her new Customize.Simplify.Organize Collection which is designed to work with her customizable palette system. For the first time ever, take your personalized foundation, blush, eye shadow and lip products with you wherever you go in a convenient compact!

 

Add:

• Foundation Stick; available for a limited-time in compact form for $22.00. Available in Bobbi’s full range of tones and the three new shades (Cool Beige, Natural Tan and Warm Honey. These foundation pans can be popped out of their compacts and inserted into customizable palettes or taken as is for on-the-go touchups.
• New limited-edition Lip Quad. Perfect for the woman who wants to take her entire lip wardrobe with her, each compact features four complementary shade combinations handpicked by Bobbi herself. These quads can also be popped out of their compacts and inserted into Bobbi’s customizable palettes and will retail for $20 each.
• Shimmer Blush Collection - this gets an additional two shades (Pink Coral and Plum Wine). Shimmer Blush is a perfect way to give cheeks a soft, shimmering glow. These blushes can also be stored individually or popped into customizable compacts.

Foundation shades:

Lip palettes:



 

Also coming:

• A Lip Crayon Trio, featuring three of her popular Lip Crayons in Naked Pink, Pink Raspberry, A new shade of Sugar Blush and a custom size sharpener. The perfect gift for the woman on the go, Bobbi’s Lip Crayons offer the luxurious feel of a lipstick and the ease and convenience of a pencil. Each set will retail for $50.00 for a limited time.

All of these products will be available from Bobbi Brown counters nationwide and www.bobbibrown.com beginning April 2009. 

 

Interested in this? Feeling "meh..."? A fan of Bobbi? Share with the class!

I haven't tried too much Bobbi that I don't like, but I don't live at the counter, for some reason. That's odd! I really think the palette system is great - the video has me interested. And what is it about a lip palette I find so intriguing? I never use them, but they look so damned tempting!

Save the planet. Recycle with Origins!

I'm on your bookshelves lookin' for teh empteez.




Did you know?

·        Everyday packaging accounts for approximately 1/3 of all landfill waste.

·        Most community recyclers only take items made from materials that are easily recognized – such as soda and water bottles.

·        Cosmetic and toiletry bottles, tubes, caps and jars are among those items not easily recognized and therefore not often recycled.

On April 2nd, bring your empty cosmetic bottles, tubes and jars – regardless of brand – to the nearest Origins retail store or department store and we’ll recycle them or use them for energy recovery. To thank you for joining them in their commitment to the environment, they’ll treat you to a FREE deluxe sample of your choice of one of Origins high-performance skincare products.

Special events:
Be among the first 250 people to drop off your empties at the GM Plaza in New York City, and among the first 100 people to drop off your empties at the Origins Century City store, and receive a FREE deluxe size A Perfect World™ Intensely hydrating body cream with White Tea. Origins will also be providing FREE A Perfect World™ hand and arm massages to all attendees.

Additional consumer events will occur on April 2nd at the following locations. The first 50 people to drop off their cosmetic empties will receive a free deluxe sample of A Perfect World™ Intensely hydrating body cream with White Tea.

 

Denver, CO - Origins Cherry Creek North | 2800 E 2nd Ave | 8am to 6pm

Boston, MA - Origins Faneuil Hall | 1 Faneuil Hall Market Place | 10am-9pm

Cambridge, MA - Origins Harvard Square | 8 Brattle Street | 10am-9pm

Austin, TX - Origins at Central Park | 4001 N. Lamar Blvd. Suite 570 | 10am-8pm

San Francisco, CA - San Francisco Centre | 865 Market Street | 9:30am-8pm

source for image used at top of page

Some Beauty Bargains I've come across...

(source)

• Pamper your hair with Kérastase (if you're like me, normally these price tags are a bit out-of-reach!).  They're getting rid of items by marking them down 30% for a "private sale". Use this promo code at checkout: VIP30.

• Spend $75 at Drugstore.com and receive a FREE sample filled Mommy Bag by designer Jenni Kayne. Not expecting? Hold onto it for a baby shower gift... you know you'll get invited to one soon!

• Maybe not a steal, but certainly a deal: if you're missing some old and gone faves from Chanel, check out their Deja Vu sale.

• Bath & Body Works gives you a great way to fill your own Easter Basket. And it's all calorie-free! Don't celebrate Easter? Then there's more Peeps for me, and you can still shop the B&BW sale... Order by April 5th if you want it for the Easter Bunny.


-Use FREESHIP60 at checkout and get free shipping if you order more than $60
-Get 5 for $15 when shopping the anti-bacterial collection
-Get 2 for $20 when shopping select body and home products
-Like the Signature Collection? Get body products for cheap: online - buy 2, get 1 free; in store- buy 3, get 2 free.
-Try the new White Citrus body lotion (a travel size) for only $1!

• Kings & Queens Royal Favorites ($8) or Kings & Queens Bar Soaps ($6) lets you indulge like a prince and spend like a pauper. Available at Beauty.com.
  

Showergels -Nefertiti Honey, Chinese Princess Jasmine, Queen Isabella Cinnamon Orange, Emperor Akbar Mango, Sultan of Granada Lemon Flower
Bar soaps -Kings of Sumatra Pepper Bergamot, Nefertiti Honey, Queen Isabella Cinnamon Orange  

• We know I heart 3 Custom Color Specialists with a passion, right? Well, I've wanted to try their Crème Concealer/Foundation, and now I can. And so can you! This lovely product can multitask, too - full coverage straight-away, or sheer out with a damp sponge or moisturizer for varying effects. Simply request FREE samples of up to three different shades with any online order. Just indicate which shades you would like to try in Customer Notes during checkout and get flawless!
  

  
  

I'm back...

One of the best pics of MAC's Club Eyeshadow I've ever seen
 - it really catches the nuances.
Do you see why it's one of my favorite colors!?
Courtesy of annia316 on flickr
This color is currently available in MAC's SugarSweet Collection.





Hi! I'm back! And I've missed you all!

I've been missing for a few days. This pregnancy is dragging me down, guys. I haven't even put makeup on in days! *GASP* I also took what will probably be my last car trip for awhile- I went to visit my folks for a few days in Maryland. Had a good time, got some rest and ate some good food! Meanwhile, Baby Lulu is doing great - she's growing nice and strong and thankfully has assumed the position  (she's not breech anymore)! We've got about 8 weeks left, and I wish I could sleep through them all!

Anyway, here's what's up on my to-do's for the next few days:

• New in Nails - there are some sexy shades going on out there!
• I've got some nail polish pics coming...
• A few steals and deals to tell you about.
• Got wind of some rumors I'd like to share!
• And hopefully an EOTD if not a full-face.

Down the road, hopefully this upcoming week, we'll do another Beauty School Lesson!

HOW ARE YOU DOING!? Share with the class!

RAWR!!! Have a good day!!!

(image source)

8 tips for Springing out of Winter!

Spring is here, originally uploaded by Lord Ivan.

Yesterday was the first day of Spring! YAY! I love Winter, don't get me wrong. It's my favorite season, in fact. But here in Richmond, VA, it's lost some of its luster. It was a mild Winter, and only snowed once. So I'm ready for Spring!

Here are some great ways to get prepared:

1. Soften up
2. Get your (safe) flow on with moisture
3. Color it up!
4. Brighten your locks
5. Pamper the tootsies
6. Follow (or start!) a trend
7. Get flowery
8. Change textures

Read on for the details...

NARS Smokey Eyes - winner selected

My new profile pic is at the right ----->

I'm an airhead, and forgot to post our winner!

Here was the contest.

Here's the prize:

In case you weren't sure, it's an eyeshadow duo, an eye makeup remover, a mascara, and a black pencil liner. It's NICE.

 

And the winner is....

KELLY!!!!

Congrats!!!! Email me, Kelly, at [email protected], and give me your info so I can send this out ASAP!

xoxo
*jenjen

Did you see this? Underwater volcano in the South Pacific...

Read more here.
This is just amazing and beautiful to me...

I smell good.

Philosophy's Pure Grace lotion
hit the spot today.
It's swoonworthy...

(you can get it here)


PS: What does it say about us that when you plug "philosophy" into Google, the first thing that comes up is the skincare/cosmetics company rather than the study of knowledge and existence?

More St. Patty's

May your feet never sweat,
your neighbor give you ne're a treat.
When flowers bloom, I hope you'll not sneeze,
and may you always have someone to squeeze!

Strong eyes, red lips - are we liking this trend?

In recent days, both Taylor Momsen (above)
and Mary-Kate Olsen (below)
showed up to events rocking this heavy eye makeup,
strong red lipstick look.

Do you like it?



I dunno, girls. First of all, I thought Mary-Kate was Courtney Love for a second.
That's not a compliment.

And I really don't like MK's eye makeup choice (rusty bronzes) with the red lips.
Taylor looks more rocker chic, but I'm still not sold.

Am I just old fashioned, or does a red lip look better with a more neutral eye?
What do YOU think!?

Love Lancôme the way I do? Then you'll want to follow their new blog!

I just love Lancôme, and that love is blossoming into addiction. (In fact, hang tight - a product review from the line is on the way!)

Now I have another way to feed the beast: Lancôme's new blog!

The blog will be written by Kerry Diamond, the Lancôme VP for Public Relations. This is right up her alley, because she's a former beauty editor and has even penned a well-received book, "Kevyn Aucoin: A Beautiful Life".

So join me in reading and enjoying this new connection to a great brand - and look for info on their spokespeople, the line, the products, and the artistry. It seems like there may be a slew of giveaways on the site, too, starting with:

Génifique. Billed as Lancôme's "newest and possibly most amazing skincare product ever", it's meant to improve tone, improve texture, and give skin a lovely luminousity. So get your glow on and get over there to enter to win! Here's the direct link.

See ya over at Lancôme's new blog!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!

May the sun shine, all day long,
everything go right, and nothing wrong.
May those you love bring love back to you,
and may all the wishes you wish come true!

new URL...

Beauty School has a new URL!

While www.fifty-centhead.com will work for awhile,
 it eventually will go away.

Please update your bookmarks, links, feed readers, etc... to reflect our new URL:
BeautySchoolBlog.NET


PS: It's 12:50 EST on 3.13.09 and it's not working quite yet- but it's going to kick in any minute. :)
3.17.09: After quite a bit of troubleshooting - it's working now.

I did it! Beachy waves with my new Hana Professional Flat Iron - a review and ramble

I was approached by a person who wanted me to test a flat iron for his company. I gave him my usual spiel about how I will not grant a good review just because someone sends me something to test, a condition he agreed to. I wanted to agree to test this product, but had to confess something, first.

"Sure, I'll test it", I said, "but I'm completely inept at using a flat iron. Is that going to be a problem?"

He assured me it would not.

I was nervous, still. Let me tell you why. First, I have fine hair, which is always slipping through tools, and that's a huge PITA. And my hair is straight, so what in the hell am I going to iron!? I mean, I guess I could get it really flat and stick-straight, but I can do that with my brushes and hairdryer - that's how straight my hair is to start. And I don't have frizz, so ... what's the point in the flat iron?

But I know a lot of people CURL their hair with a flat iron... and I am completely intrigued by that.

There's another reason to hesitate about accepting this challenge: I also have LOTS of hair, which makes curling it with a curling iron really tedious - I find it boring and time consuming to sit there with the hair clamped for a few moments resectioning, and repeating for what seems like hours!

Yes, I'm lazy. Plus, I'm pregnant and have a toddler. Let's be real: I don't have time to fuss over my hair for hours a day...

But what the hell, right? So I decided to test the flat iron.

Here's what I'm going for. Loose, "beachy" waves. Volume. Sexy! 

And here's what I'm avoiding:

(please don't get offended -
I like curly hair on those who have
curly hair. The hair on the top left is GORGEOUS,
 and I love the style on the top right. But not on me!
The crimping and frizzies I can do without...)

Wanna hear how it ended up? Keep on reading...

I love Panda Cat Baby's makeup!

sparkle and shine, originally uploaded by Panda Cat Baby ★.

Need your help - advice on using a flat iron!

So, I'm testing a new product - a flat iron!

I'm not bad with my hair - I can braid, twist, curl, and dye. But I admit to being completely inept with a flat iron. 

I can get my hair straight (of course, it's straight to start) so I thought I'd tackle beachy-waves.

Anyone got any advice on how to create luscious waves with one of these buggers?

Review and pics on the way...
if I can figure this sucker out!



SPECIAL BONUS: IF YOU HELP ME BY COMMENTING,
YOU'RE AUTOMATICALLY ENTERED IN OUR CONTEST!


*good pic of the hair, plus she's actually smiling!

It IS easy being green...

 
I'm feeling green lately...
Not the jealous kind of green,
but more like
"Bring on Spring" green.

Here are a few of my favorite things...











What color are YOU loving
 right now?!

 


By the way, I'm not the only one loving green at the moment.
Here's Ara painting her new flower-themed room!
(she picked the color)







see also my green EOTD!

Stash Staple: Sally Beauty Supply bobby pins

Sounds odd to say it, but these are a definite MUST-HAVE.

They don't slide.
They don't pinch or pull.
They don't slip out of fine hair
but they're strong and flexible enough for thicker hair.
And they're cheap and come in two lengths
 (and several colors).

An absolute must.

Trust me.

You'll thank me.

Click here to see more Beauty School Stash Staples!

Agree? Agree to disagree? Got any other non-makeup stash staples you want to share!

It's not smoke in your eyes - it's tears from forgetting our contest!

Win this.

Make a sexy smoky eye, courtesy of NARS.

Enter a comment here or anywhere on the blog
anytime this week (before Sunday night), and get entered to win.

Winner will be randomly selected using
a highly scientific method:
My daughter will pick a name out of a hat.