I received my Too Faced Eye Kit in the mail a few days ago and I’m absolutely smitten. It’s rare that you have a kit that truly has colors that work for creating a gorgeous natural eye.  I have only “played” with it, I haven’t created the three looks yet, BUT it’s coming! I have three models of various skin tones who will be sporting the look.  I can’t wait.

In the meantime, check out the Too Faced Natural Eye Kit:

Too Faced Natural Eye Kit

Here’s the goods on the contents:

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Don’t lose your hotness to the hot weather. Makeup can run and look downright pathetic if not “weather-proofed”.  Check out my favorites for preserving your makeup during the hot days of summer!  These multi-tasking beauty products will take you from the pool, the beach to the club! No sweat!

Face:

Even skin tone to perfection and use a bronzer for sun-kissed beauty. Add a pop of color with a cheek stain that lasts for hours.

Perfekt Beauty Skin Perfection Gel $57.50 Sephora.com

A multitasking all-in-one vitamin enriched, sweat-resistant and water-resistant skin perfector.

Perfekt Skin Perfection Gel $57.50 Sephora.com

Tarte Matte Waterproof Bronzer $29 Sephora.com

Josie Maran Magic Marker Lip & Cheek Stain Sephora.com
A long-wearing natural lip and cheek stain packaged in a portable pen for effortless touch ups on the go.

Josie Maran Magic Marker Lip & Cheek Stain $15 Sephora.com

Eyes:

Keep liner, mascara and shadow in place all day.  Try lightweight shadows, waterproof liners and sealants that keep it all in place.

Smashbox Waterproof Shadow Liner Duo Sephora.com
A waterproof and crease-resistant cream shadow and liner duo

Smashbox Waterproof Shadow Liner Duo $25 Sephora.com

Wet n Wild MegaPlump Waterproof Mascara$3.99 Walgreens.com

Instant volume formula; thickens lashes for dramatic look.

Up to 3x the volume of your natural lash

Wet n Wild Megaplump Mascara $2.99 Walgreens.com

Illamasqua Sealing Gel Sephora.com
A sealing gel that keeps powder products in place so they last throughout the day.

Mix with your favorite shadows and loose pigments, transform powders into liners or set liner and brows.

Illamasqua Sealing Gel $15 Sephora.com

Lips:

Keep lips light and luscious with long-wearing lipsticks in soft summer hues or top lip stains with a dab of gloss for sheer lip genius.

Wet n Wild Megalast Lipsticks Drugstore.com

Lasts for 4 hours, semi-matte finish that doesn’t cake, feather or bleed.

Wet n Wild Megalast Lipsticks $2.99 Drugstore.com

Clinique Long Last Glosswear SPF 15 Clinique.com

Lip gloss juiced up with 8 hours of lasting shine in 18 shades.

Clinique Long Last Glosswear SPF 15 $14 Clinique.com

Peter Lamas Soy Hydrating Shampoo & Conditioner

Do you have dry, damaged or color treated hair? Are you die hard for organic products? Or are you looking for an alternative to harsh shampoos with sulfates? Well, then you need to jump on the Peter Lamas bandwagon with me. I recently began using Peter Lamas Soy Hydrating Shampoo and Conditioner, and I am a believer! I have been mostly skeptical of organic products that make big promises for my hair, because typically they fall way short. However, my hair (in it’s various forms, keep reading…) responded quite well to Peter Lamas Soy Hydrating Shampoo and Conditioner.

My first encounter with the shampoo and conditioner with with my big hair, more specifically my weave hair. Yes folks, I rock a weave on occasion. Now, because it isn’t really my hair, I tend to abuse my hair weave.  So this head of hair most definitely needed some tender loving care.  And care it received with the Peter Lamas Soy Hydrating Shampoo and Conditioner.  Rather than being a tangled mess, or feeling hard and difficult to comb out, my hair was visibly smoother and easy to manage.

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Who said that bronzer was only for those of the fairer persuasion? Not me!  Bronzer can cure a world of evils for brown skinned babes.  Not only is bronzer your go-to for your “bronzed goddess look”, but a matte bronzer is a suitable stand-in for foundation.  It’s the ideal subtle contour product.  Bronzer wakes up skin, and with a dose of shimmer, makes even the laziest complexion come to life.

I have road tested my share of bronzers, and I have my picks for the best in budget bronzers.

Tips:

• Apply bronzer where the sun would naturally hit — forehead, cheeks, nose.
• For contour use, apply bronzer around jawline and in on cheeks.
• Apply a pop of blush on top of bronzed cheeks for perfect color.
• Use your bronzer to even out swimsuit lines after a day in the sun

My bronzer picks:

1.  Bronzer as blush — Black Opal Mosaic Fusion Bronzer   Amazon.com

2. Bronzer that glows – Mabelline Dream Mousse Bronzer, Sun glow   Walgreens.com

3.  Bronzer to brighten skin — Rimmel Natual Bronzer Sheer Bronze, Sun Bronze   Walgreens.com

4.  Bronzer for contour – Wet n Wild Coloricon in Goddess   at drugstores nationwide

5.  Bronzer layered with blush — Iman Sheer Finish Bronzer     Walgreens.com

I’m the poster child for frizzy hair. BUT, I have been using the no frizz line from Living Proof for awhile now, and my hair is under control.  When I’m wearing my hair in it’s natural state, I love the No Frizz wave, curl styling cream.

Living Proof No Frizz wave, curl styling cream

Formulated for medium to thick frizzy hair, No Frizz Wave, Curl Styling Cream is a lightweight lotion that eliminates frizz and contains conditioning to replenish hair’s moisture. It also contains a lightweight, touchable holding polymer to define wavy, curly hair. No Frizz features PolyfluoroEster - the first new anti-frizz technology in 30 years to effectively block humidity for beautifully soft, smooth, frizz-free hair. Works great on colored hair, too.

If you would love to try this Living Proof with a 20% discount, click here.

Kathleen from Ormand Beach, FL is the winner of the Smashbox Swag Bag giveaway. Kathleen tweeted and referred so many of her friends to me.  Thanks Kathleen, here’s what you get:

Halo Perfecting Bronzer

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Do you ever dread putting on your “face” on the weekends? Facing makeup is not always what we care to do on an “off day”. Rather than going bare-faced, try simple sexy!  Choose double, even triple duty items that made it simple to look fresh and vibrant, yet sexy, on a laid back Saturday.

Doesn’t Joy Bryant epitomize “simple sexy” beauty?

Joy Bryant — Getty Images

Your how-to for simple sexy weekend makeup in 3 steps:

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I’m a complete and total NARS freak. I have been for years.  When I crack open my pro kit, there is  sea of black cases and tubes neatly stacked and well-used.  As a matter of fact, the name of my blog even came from a comment one of my clients made about the NARS Orgasm blush — she called it “cheek bling.”

Yesterday I felt honored to be be part of the NARS Summer Launch Event at Hotel Adagio.  Janice Daoud, Nation Artist for NARS, presented all of the hot new items for summer and I love every single one.  After the presentation we received an extremely generous swag bag chalk full of NARS goodies.

Amber Valetta -- NARS Summer Collection

So here’s the rundown of the contents of my bag:

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So you love to rock the smokey eye, do you? Well, it’s summer, so you need to rock it with a lighter touch.   Instead of deep grays or blacks, try a shimmery light metallic silvery gray.

Check out gorgeous Ciara’s sexy summer eye makeup at Marina Abramovic’s “The Artist is Present” hosted by Givenchy at The Museum of Modern Art on June 1, 2010 in New York City.

Ciara attends the closing of Marina Abramovic's "The Artist is Present" hosted by Givenchy at The Museum of Modern Art on June 1, 2010 in New York City. Getty Images

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Iman CFDA 2010 Getty Images

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