Are you headed out of town for the holiday weekend? Are you loathe to pack all your full-size beauty products? Well, unless you are a professional traveler (been there, done that), you probably don’t have a second bag of duplicate products ready to go at any given moment.

Remember that good things do indeed come in small packages.  I have road tested a plethora of products that help me maneuver through TSA without giving up the goods.  Here are some small-size travel-worthy beauty products that are must haves for any cross-continent jetsetter or weekend road trip traveler.

1.  Makeup

I can’t imagine any self-respecting woman leaving home without a secret stash of makeup.

Even if I were a contestant on Survivor, I would have some mascara hidden in my bikini top.

Try: Benefit Sunday Funday

$38  Sephora.com

Sunday Funday contains eyeshadow and complexion essentials that create a gorgeous, fresh-faced look.

Benefit Sunday Funday Palette

This set contains:
- 0.1 oz Hoola, bronzing powder with mini natural-bristle brush
- 0.09 oz Benetint, rose-tinted lip & cheek stain
- 0.18 oz Shimmering Rose, lip shine
- 0.01 oz Toasty Liner, eyeliner
- 4 x 0.1 oz eyeshadows in Smimmering Bronze, Pink Satin, Light Champagne, and Pretty In Plum
- 2 Fluff Shadow/Hard Angle Brushes
- Step-By-Step Makeup Lesson

2.  Skin Care

I love philsophy purity cleanser.  I mean love.  I loved it before Oprah loved it.  (as if that means something) And I love Help me.  Because I need all the help I can get.

Plus this gentle retinol does not irritate me.  Like my kids do.

At any rate, this kit from philosophy has everything you need for a weekend or a couple weeks of skin-saving skin care.

Try: Philosophy Mini Advanced Makeup Optional® Skin

$40 Sephora.com

This set contains:
- 3.0 oz Purity Made Simple Facial Cleanser
- 0.5 oz Hope In A Jar SPF 20
- 2.0 oz The Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash
- 0.375 oz When Hope Is not Enough Facial Firming Serum

- 0.25 oz Help Me Retinol Night Treatment

Have a great trip!

Ashanti’s old Hollywood glamorous style was stunning at the NAACP Theater Awards yesterday. Thank you Ashanti for showing taste, class and for wearing red lipstick!  I’m a little done with the nude lip for every single red carpet occasion.  Her Veronica Lake inspired hair and fresh matte makeup was too beautiful.  If there is ever an occasion to vamp it up, it’s the red carpet, and Ashanti ROCKED it!

Ashanti NAACP Theater Awards, August 30, 2010 Los Angeles, Getty Images

Get Ashanti’s fresh matte face and red lips:

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Photo courtesy of Sade.com

I have a girl crush. I admit it.  It started in the ’80’s when I laid eyes on Sade. I emulated her look as closely as possible.  My lipstick of choice became MAC Russian Red. I wore my hair in a slicked back pony tail so much that my husband begged me to do something with my hair.  (which I promptly cut off.  Yes, 15 inches of lovely post-pregnancy, non-chemically-touched-for two-years hair).  I darkened my already black eyebrows.  I matted my skin out with powder and skipped blush.  I think I was even tempted to dot on some freckles.  I wore a little black eyeliner and mascara.  And all that took me about 3 minutes.  Great beauty routine!

Sade 1984 Photo courtesy Sade.com

Sade is an iconic beauty. Her look is timeless and classic.  Who else can look as gorgeous as the day she took our breath away over 20 years ago?

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Not so long ago one of my BFF’s told me I should write a piece about makeup for “cougars.” I thought she was being funny, but she was dead serious.  She (like me) prefers her “fellas” a tad younger than her 50 years.  I’m not talking robbing the cradle, but considering statistics that women out live men, having a man a few years younger just makes sense.

Back to makeup.  So Cougar Makeup.  I first had to define a cougar and I just came up with a women who seeks out men substantially younger than herself.  A few famous cougars came to mind…

Cougar Halle Berry

She’s hot, what more can I say.

Halle Berry Getty Images

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One trend that’s here to stay is the smokey eye. And there are several variations of the traditional smokey eye — call it smoldering, sizzling.  Today’s smokey eye can go from day to night — but you have to have a the right tools and the correct application methods to have the perfect smokey eye.  I love Leona Lewis’ look at the 2009 AMA’s.  Her look was more on the smoldering side.  Not the punched-in-the-eye look of Avril Levigne but a luminous smokey eye.  I love it.  Leona wears it well, and so can you.

Leona Lewis 2009 AMA's Getty Images

5 Steps to a Smoldering Smokey Eye

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“What’s in a name?  That which we call a rose; By any other name would smell as sweet.”

William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 2 Scene 2

No other flower throughout history has garnered as much attention as the rose. The rose has been a symbol of love, beauty, war, and politics.  According to fossil evidence, the rose is 35 million years old.  Today, there are over 30,000 varieties of roses and it has the most complicated family tree of any known flower species.

Cultures in each age of world history have adored and highly esteemed the rose.  Greek mythology tells us that Aphrodite gave the rose its name, but it was the goddess of flowers, Chloris, who created it.  According to Hindu legend, Vishnu believed the rose was more beautiful, while Brahma exalted the beauty of the lotus.  Once Brahma beheld a rose, he changed his viewpoint.

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I live in the San Francisco Bay Area — Oakland to be exact.  I guess we are just spoiled when it comes to weather.  Recently our temperatures have reached nearly 100° and the complaint level is has too.  For us, anything over 75° is unbearable.  So like any respectable woman, I found myself at the air-conditioned mall.  But in the meantime — getting from house to car, waiting for car to cool off, car to store– my face felt like it was going to melt off.  And I didn’t have a stitch of makeup on.  That got me to thinking; if I go out tonight, I need melt-proof makeup.  So with that in mind, here are my top 5 picks for long-wearing, water-resistant makeup that should glam you up and keep your looking hot throughout the night.  Pool side, at the club or accepting your Oscar, there is always an occasion for wearing water-resistant makeup.

Halle Berry March 24, 2002 Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

1.  FACE

Cover FX Skin Tint FS

It’s summer, let your skin show.  I am always preaching double duty products, in particular tinted moisturizer.  I am happy to add another tinted moisturizer to my must-have list.  Cover FX Skin Tint FX Moisturizing Treatment & Tint SPF 30 — A light, silky tinted moisturizer with SPF 30. $42

What it is formulated to do:
Achieve a healthy and natural looking sunkissed glow with SkinTint FX - Treatment & Tinted Moisturizer. Enhance your natural skintone with warm shades that are highlighted with pearlized minerals.
The oil-free, paraben-free, and water resistant formula was designed to be long wearing and moisturizing to the skin. SkinTint FX - Treatment & Tinted Moisturizer SPF 30 contains skin repairing ingredients and anti-aging skin firming and anti-wrinkle technology.

Benetint

2. CHEEKS

 Try a cheek tint to give for a natural looking blush that has holding power.  Benetint is hands down the best cheek stain on the market.  It’s been around for years and continues to rack up acclaim.  Be sure to use after appplying your moisturizer,  as the product is a but hard to manipulate until you are accustomed to the consistency.  The good news is that you acheive a very sexy natural flush.  For added glow, top with a bit of bronzer.  I love Cargo water-proof bronzer.  Both products retail for $28.

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I no longer have the typical Monday through Friday work week, but when I did, I couldn’t bear to think of putting on a full face of makeup on Saturday.  I learned to choose double, even triple duty items that made it simple to look fresh and vibrant, yet sexy on a laid back Saturday.  Here is a quick how-to for simple weekend makeup.

1.  Tinted moisturizer

Smashbox Sheer Focus Tinted Moisturizer

I preach the virtues of tinted moisturizer relentlessly.  I love this triple duty product.  There are so many tinted moisturizers on the market, that you can easily find one to fit your budget and needs.  Some tinted moisturizers are oil-free, some have illuminators, others provide extra moisture and all provde sheer coverage and SPF.  My favorite tinted moisturizers are Laura Mercier and Smashbox.  The beauty of applying a tinted moisturizer is that the product is very forgiving.  You don’t have to worry about matching or lines of demarcation as you would with a classic liquid foundation.

2.  Cheek & Lip Stain

Benefit posie tint $28

Add color to lips and cheeks with a product that once again works overtime  with the bonus of being a double-duty product.  I  have been a fan of Benefit Benetint for years — it’s a staple in my makeup kit.  It’s a stain that gives a rosy glow to cheeks and lips.  Top lips with a little lip balm or clear gloss. Now there is Posietint with for a poppy pink flush of color on lips and cheeks.  Both are $28 and it will take some time before you need to re-purchase — the product has a very long life. 

Hint –Layer Benetint or Posietint under powder blush.  As a stain, it gives an added boost of color that will last for hours.   I have used Benetint on my bridal clients for years so that they have long-wear color for their special day.

3.  Finish with mascara and touch up brows if necessary.  Slick hair back in a ponytail or adorn your tresses with a cute little head band You will be quite simply sexy on a laid back Saturday or lazy Sunday.

Why pink?  There probably isn’t another color that just makes women look so alive.  Well, maybe red, but that’s a whole different blog post.  Pink is fresh, its sweet, its lively,its hot,  its iconic and on occasion it can be naughty. 

So here I go again with my top 5 list.  These are my top 5 pink picks for your best pink beauty bling.

1.  Benefit Dandelion

I just rediscoverd Benefit Dandelion.  It is a gorgeous pink powder for which I used to have a complete obsession.  Even though I have yellow undertones in my skin, it works!  Dandelion is an ideal powder for waking up the skin and giving it that perky glow. And how cute is that little square box? Dandelion is the perfect pink powder for sallow skin pick-me-up.  A must pink beauty buy.

One tip, the brush in the box is cute, but I prefer application with a big fluffy blush or powder brush.

Product Description:
Start your day the “perk-me-up” way, and keep them guessing how you look so pretty this early in the morning. Dust on our soft, pink, perk-me-up powder for instant radiance and a youthful appearance. It’s the perfect shade of pink that brightens everyone’s complexion without looking powdery or chalky.

Benefit Dandelion $28

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