Perricone MD Cold Plasma

Susan Peters, you are the  winner of the Perricone MD Cold Plasma contest ! Thanks for everyone who left comments, tweeted, retweeted and referred followers to my blog.  Look for a new contest next week!

I can’t wait to hear your personal review of this amazing miracle product!

Have a great weekend!

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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I read lots of blogs, beauty and others. I appreciate that everyone has their point of view and some spot-on reviews and advice when it comes to beauty.  And I particularly enjoy when I feel a smile appear on my face.  Or better yet,  I let out my signature laugh.  (It’s pretty obnoxious)  Here are the top 5  blogs I enjoyed this week:

Diva Debbi’s review of  Maybelline’s new mascara  The Falsies Volum’ Express. Let me just say, I’ll take her word for it…

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Do you ever have one of those days when you just don’t want to wear a stitch of makeup? One of those days when you just want to to incognito? You know, when the big dark shades and big floppy hat are necessities?  Well, that’s what I’m feeling today.  But, since my business is beauty, I can’t afford to leave the house schlepping.

Think about it.  When someone tells you they are a hairstylist and they hair looks like crap, are you going to trust that person with your hair?  Or a dentist with a front tooth missing.  Don’t think so.  So, I think that even on a Saturday or whatever your “off” day is, it’s important to look pulled together.  You know that saying about opportunity…

So here are my steps for Simple Saturday Beauty:

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Since my creative juices seemed  to have dried up today, I think it’s perfectly appropriate that I do a mash up of my personal Fierce Friday Favorites. And here they are in no particular order…

1.  Get Banged

Naomi Campbell

Get your mind out of the gutter. I’m talking hair. I’m talking about rocking ferocious bangs.  It’s Friday so change it up.  Get fierce.  Rock some bangs. While I’m not one to follow trends (I pride myself on doing my own chic thing) I happen to love bangs.  As a matter of fact, I have worn various versions of bangs over the years, with my favorite being blunt cut bangs that graze the eyebrows.  Now that’s hot.  (Say it with a little Paris Hilton in your voice)  But, being in that phase of my life when personal summers may attack at any given moment, my bangs most often give way to a fringe of frizz.  Not cute.

Read more…

2.  Go Nude

Eva Marcille

Want all eyes on you?  Go nude. Eva does it.  Beyonce’ does it.  Rihanna does it. Monica Lewinsky made it hot!  I’m talking nude lips. Shiny, glossy nude lips will have all eyes on your tonight.

I kicked and screamed when the nude lip came into fashion.  I hated it.  Particularly for women who had small lips, the nude lip just made them look like they had all face — no lips.  Not at all pretty.  Plus most of the original nude lip colors were matte, and they were way too beige and just plain ugly.

When makeup artist Denise Markey gave Monica Lewinsky those shimmery nude lips, Club Monaco lip gloss sales skyrocketed.  Women from 8 to 80 were trying to get those hot lips.  Or maybe they were fantasizing about Bill…

Read more…

3.  Be a Top Heavy Girl

Jennifer Hudson

I think every woman yearns for that perfect chest, but I’m not talking DDD’s here, I’m talking about makeup. Specifically, eye makeup that puts all the emphasis on the top of the eye.  I haven’t heard this term in years, so I thought I’d bring it back. With eyes in focus, your face is lifted immensely and you look just sexy cool.

To achieve this look, you have to say goodbye to lining under your eyes, and opt for lots of liner and lots of lash on top only.  Brows are also important for looking “top heavy”.  Proper under eye concealing is also a necessity — consider it your lift, your underwire!

Read more…

It’s Friday! Get Fierce!

I love fall.  Fashion is spanking new and so is makeup. With that being said, there are a gazillion beauty goodies out now that I really, really want.  As a matter of fact, I need them.  It’s hard to nail down, so no doubt there will be an updated lust list next week, but in the meantime, my must-haves for makeup, skin care and hair care are below.

1. Makeup

Everyone knows I’m a NARS freak, and with good reason.  His colors are always on point.  I don’t wear much eyeshadow, but I think I will be rocking this plum, after all it’s the color of the season.

NARS Eyeshadow Daphne $23 Narscosmetics.com

Named after Daphne Guinness, this hypnotizing, deep-violet eyeshadow exudes excitement. Use across lids up to the brow, blending outward.

NARS Single Eyeshadow Daphne

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Are large pores driving you nuts?  Worse, do you have enlarged pores? I can say yes to both.

First and foremost, pore size is determined by your DNA.  Large pores typically are oily skin types.  So not only do you have to deal with those big ole holes in your skin, but you have to control  the oil that’s oozing out of them.  So what do you do?  Well, I have learned a few tricks over the years to keep my oil under control and do keep my pores clean so that they APPEAR to be smaller.  Then of course, there is the cosmetic side of things.  Makeup that camouflages, even seemingly erases the appearance of large pores.  Proper skin care is also important in insuring that pores are at their minimal best.

So, check out my suggestions for “poreless” skin.

1.  Cleanse

Use the appropriate cleanser for oily skin or ones that formulated for large pores.

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One of my blog readers recently asked a question on the Ask Tracey section of Blinging Beauty. Here is her question:

From Tanya Q.

How does one determine what shape eyebrow is better suited for their face. For instance I have a round face. Should they be thick, thin, squared, arched. I don’t know.

Well, Tanya, that is a great question. I am an eyebrow fanatic.  I only trust my eyebrow shaping to Alresa at Cloud Nine.  And I really hate bad eyebrows.  Recently I told a woman she had “sperm eyebrows”.  That was pretty rude.  But the fact was that she had a fat piece in the front and then a line drawn on.  They looked really bad.  But, I showed her how to shape them and she was quite pleased.

First of all, for face shapes, this is the guiding information for eyebrow shape:

The younger you are, the fuller the eyebrow you can get away with.  As we age we need less brow with more height.  Madonna is a classic example of change her brows with her age.  In 1987 she sported a thick bush brow, but it worked for her.  Today, at 50+, we wouldn’t catch Madonna with such a brow.  Not only are her brows thinner, but they are also lighter, which is another factor for brow color as we age.

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Are you looking for the ultimate skin care product? Well, Dr.  Perricone  may just have developed that product.  Recently released Perricone MD has been getting rave reviews.  Blinging Beauty readers have a chance to win a full size jar of Cold Plasma, a $150 value!  Not only that, you can receive a deluxe sample of Cold Plasma as well, you just have to pay the shipping ($4.95)

Here’s the story behind Cold Plasma:

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