What goes well with barbeques, beaches and hot summer nights?

One word: Stila.

Here’s a look I tried with some of the products from the new Stila Indian Summer Collection.

I was just fooling around at the time, half watching an old ’80s movie called Vision Quest on TV (who knew high school wrestling could be so interesting?).

It’s a bronze, purple and teal eye with tan cheeks and a golden orange lip that I can see myself wearing with a flirty summer dress.

This thing has pool party written all over it.

Eyes

I know the eye map above makes it seem complicated, but I swear it’s not.

1. For the look, I started by applying Stila 24K Golden Noir Smudge Pot onto my lids with a MAC 239 Eye Brush and then used a finger to blend out the edges and draw the color into the lid.
2. Next, I grabbed a MAC 217 Blending Brush and swept the shimmery rose shade from the Stila Charmed Palette into the crease.
3. With the same brush, I patted the shimmery bronze shade from the Stila Charmed Palette onto the inner half of my eye.
4. Then for depth, I used the MAC 239 to apply the shimmery purple shade to the outer half of the lid.
5. Since I had a lot of shimmer action on my lids and in the crease, I used a finger to highlight my brow bone with the golden side of Stila’s Marigold Convertible Color. It’s a step that I think adds a subtle glow and nicely contrasts with the shimmery shadows.
6. Because I wanted to color and define the lower lash line, I patted the teal shade from the Stila Charmed Palette along my lower lashes with a Sonia Kashuk Angled Eye Shadow Brush…
7. …and then layered a thin line of Stila Golden Noir directly on top of it using a MAC 209 Eye Liner Brush.

To wrap up the eye portion of the look, I covered up my dark circles, filled in my brows, curled my lashes and added two coats of Stila Lash Visor Mascara.

Cheeks and Lips

Since the eyes were so shimmery, I toned down the skin beneath them, applying and blending the brown side of the Stila Marigold Convertible Color onto the apples of each cheek.

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After seeing swatches of MAC’s upcoming A Rose Romance collection, a few of you gals asked to see a face of the day using Just A Pinch Gel Blush.

Of the A Rose Romance products I’ve tested so far, this one’s my favorite. Just A Pinch applies with full pigmentation, blends easily and doesn’t streak at all.

The sheer, reddish rose shade looks similar to Benefit’s Benetint liquid blush, and the thin, moist gel formula feels similar in consistency to Tarte’s Cheek Stains, making it the hybrid love child of two of my favorite blush products.

MAC, if you’re listening, I love this stuff! Please release it in more shades.

Today, I complemented the blush look with a few other A Rose Romance items. On my eyelids I added Circa Plum Pigment, and I applied Of Summer Eyeshadow on the brow bone. Then, to warm up the purple colors, I added two eyeshadow shades from MAC’s permanent collection into the crease — Soft Brown and Sable.

I think the eyes look soft, so I tried a slightly bolder lip, layering Tender Tryst See Thru Lip Color beneath a mix of Steal My Heart and Virgin Kiss Lipglasses (all from A Rose Romance).

What do you think?

I ain’t afraid of no ghost!

With my coffee this morning I looked through the pics I took last night on the SF Ghost Hunt tour… The tour started at the historic Queen Anne Hotel, the site of a former girl’s school around the turn of the last century. Legend has it that the friendly ghost of a woman named Mary Lake, the head mistress of the old school, still haunts the joint.

While ghost busting on the second and fourth floors, I snapped a ton of pictures with my trusty Canon Powershot. In some of the pics, odd glowing spots can be seen…

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After seeing Laura Mercier’s Mediterranean Sea Eye Mosaic eyeshadow palette ($35) in the Daily Beauty picture today, some of you gals suggested I try her in my face of the day.

That was all the prodding I needed… Here she is in all her shimmery turquoise, royal blue and golden bronze glory!

For the eyes in this look, I added MAC Rollickin’ Paint Pot ($16.50; limited edition, but a good dupe would be Estee Lauder’s Sea Mist for $17.50), Chanel Fluid Iridescent Eyeshadow in Delta ($32), Cargo Plant Love Eyeliner in Midnight Blue ($16) and MAC Mascara X in Black X ($12.50).

The Mediterranean Sea Eye Mosaic quad is probably my favorite eyeshadow palette so far this summer. The shadows virtually melt into the skin, pack intense color and blend with ease.

Don’t these shades look bangin’?

If the makeup gods forced me to choose between this quad or coffee for a week, I’d give up the java — OUCH! I’d be totally cranky, but at least my eyes would look smokin’ hot.

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Can I get an AMEN from all the makeup procrastinators out there? Oh, you *know* who you are, LOL! When you should be finishing that assignment or organizing those files you bust out the makeup and brushes and do a two-hour eye look instead. I’m right there with ya, girlfriend.

I’ve got a paper due tomorrow, but instead of getting down to business, I spent half the morning playing with the new Dior Electric Lights Palette, AHHH!

Eyes

So far, I’m really liking Dior Electric Lights. The light blues don’t apply as frosty as I thought they might. That’s what I expected when I first swatched the colors on the back of my hand.

Another surprise: the light baby blue shade in the lower left hand corner applies surprisingly sheer, and it has a duo-chrome quality to it that totally reminds me of a blue MAC Stars N’ Rockets.

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What’s up, ladies? TGIF! I hope it was a good week for you. Mine felt like it flew by quicker than Ralph Tresvant’s solo career. Exciting new spring makeup from DuWop, MAC and Dior helped to pass the time.

Yesterday I played with some of the new products and put my camera to the test. Stay tuned for full reviews of Fountain of Youth Foundation, Circle Block Concealer, Prep+Prime Transparent Finishing Powder and Coral Riviera Blush over the coming days.

Face and cheeks

• DuWop Fountain of Youth Foundation: I’m really liking the dewy finish of this light-medium coverage foundation. It looks natural, without looking oily, in both pictures and real life, but I’m still on the fence as far as the brush applicator, which seems to handle distribution better than it handles blending.
• DuWop Circle Block Concealer: I feel just so-so about this concealer/ corrector combo. The peachy color corrector does a decent job covering up dark circles, but finding the ideal ratio of corrector to concealer has been a little tricky. The first time I tried it I guessed wrong and applied way too much of the corrector, which left my under eye area looking orange and kinda gross. This one’s gonna take some practice to figure out.
• MAC Prep+Prime Transparent Finishing Powder: WOW! Color me blown away. This powder has game. It adds a natural glow to my skin and appears to soften the look of fine lines and pores. I also dig that it doesn’t look chalky or heavy in pictures. I’m in love…
• Dior Coral Riviera Blush: Um, hello hotness? This blush delivers a warm bronze, with a coral hue and shimmery golden glow all in one fell swoop. From the swatches, I expected more of a straight coral blush with golden shimmer, but a surprising amount of bronze showed up on my cheeks. And it’s the bronze tint that makes me think Coral Riviera’s gonna look smokin’ hot with a summertime tan.

The eyes and lips

Since I was in the mood for some color in the look, I went with a green and blue eye using Cargo Tahiti Palette and Benefit Bad Gal Waterproof Liner, finishing with a shimmery coral lip using Dior Addict Gloss in Coral Lame. Side note: Coral Lame was a limited edition gloss, but if you’re looking for something similar, try Laura Mercier Lip Glace Lipgloss in Bellini.

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