· Reds, deep corals, and deep browns enhance the size of lips so use those if you want bigger lips. If you want smaller lips, the less color the better so use a lip color very close to your natural skin tone. Then you can adjust the color to your liking by adding a hint of pink or brown.

· For the ultimate sexy lips, choose your favorite lip color and then take a lip gloss and only gloss the center of the lower lip. This does two things. It gives you a sexy soft pout but also avoids the fried chicken greasy lip when too much gloss is applied.

· Color combinations to use: Red lips- try a soft pink lip gloss like FACE atelier’s Flamingo Lip Glaze. Brown/Orange lips- try a taupe or cognac gloss color. Also try a gold shimmer lip gloss for an evening or sun-kissed look.

· For creating fuller lips, apply a lip color slightly darker than your natural skin tone. Then take a lip gloss and apply it “thinly” on the top and bottom of your lips staying with your natural lip line. It will make your lips pop! If you are over the age of 25, the shiny lip gloss that can be seen for miles is not for you!

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However, after just a few gleeful days, I will have to (mournfully) return to the winter chill of New York.

As the temperature drops, my favorite cosmetics company, M.A.C., has released a new beauty barometer sharing the season’s hot new cool. It shows the light snowflake lips of Naked Frost. Eyes sculpted in Arctic Grey, warmed with deep black velvety strokes of new Penultimate Eye Liner.

It’s pretty awesome. This season’s hottest runway looks show us graduated smoky eye (a gradient of silver/gray to black) with cool-toned frosty pink lips. You’ll find all these shades in this collection, along with several others that will inspire heating up your look among the arctic chill.

And guess what…this shades look pretty hot out here in sunny California, as well!

Image: M.A.C. Cosmetics

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· If you don’t want your lips to be the first thing people see, limit your use of gloss! Go for a neutral lip shade such as FACE atelier’s Wheat or Latte lipstick.

· For fuller lips, stretch your lips (aka super fake smile )when applying your lip color as this will fill color into every nook and give a plumper look. Top your lip with a reflective lip glaze such as FACE atelier’s Ice.

· To exaggerate lips, mix a dash of cayenne pepper into your gloss. This natural warming effect will temporarily rush the blood to the surface therefore plumping.

Anyone have any hot lip tips??? Please share them here!

Image: FACE atelier

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I do tons of work-related travel – and this baby will take all the guesswork out of beauty product packing! (Well, as far as my eye lids are concerned, at least.)

Image: Bobbi Brown Cosmetics

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Follow my beauty regime possums, and you’ll never be cosmetically challenged.

- Dame Edna

Well, that’s high promise: I am a beauty editor, and I’m cosmetically challenged just about every time I ready myself for a hot night out!

That said, I am a little fearful of embodying the beauty advice of a drag queen.

It’s a pretty comprehensive line though, all in mystical fairy-dust-like shades in a very retro lavender casing that is topped off with a signature red logo based on a pair of Dame Edna’s glases.

The line includes two shades of nail polish, a highlight powder, two eye shadow trios, three lipsticks and three lip glosses. Longtime MAC fans may see a lot of similarity between these shades and the Heatherette collection – but I’m loving it! The frosty pastels will really complement anything you acquire from their Chill looks. (More on that coming very soon!)

Here’s the Dame Edna Collection lineup:

Lipstick - $14
Gladiola Matte mid-tone blue pink
Coral Polyp Creamy mid-tone coral
Kanga Rouge Creamy dark blue red

Lipglass – $14
Hot Frost Sheer mid-tone blue pink with multi-dimensional pearl
Splendid Frosty pale pinky coral
Possum Nose Pink Sheer bright coral with multi-dimensional pearl

Royal Tour Eye Trio – $32.50
Royal Tour Mid-tone cool lilac
Dame’s Desire Frosty mid-tone reddish purple
Climate Blue Dark blue violet with pink pearl

Wisteria Eye Trio – $32.50
Fineshine Frosty true silver
Wisteria Frosty robin’s egg blue
Divine Night Frosty charcoal with silver pearl

Hi-Light Powder – $26.00
What a Dame! Pale clean orangey peach
Spectacle! Pale soft pink

Nail Lacquer – $11.00
Asiatique Creamy classic red
Varicose Violet Frosty Mid-tone pinkish purple

Images: MAC Cosmetics

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v     Keep your hair out of your face. Cameras are flashing constantly and people want to see your pretty face!

v     If you have long hair, simple up-do’s are a no-brainer. Add a touch of bouffant glam by backcombing the crown of the head before pulling hair into a pretty, flirty pony, or into a “Sarah Palin” like French twist. It sounds funny, but it’s a great look that will always be around.

v     If your hair is short, keep it slick and away from the face. If you don’t normally use a styling product, try one. You can transform your short work-day-do into a glamorous look with just a little bit of mousse.

v     Don’t wait until the last minute! Make sure to plan ahead, especially if you are hosting an event. Most women are frazzled by the day of the actual event and don’t know what to wear, or how to wear their hair! Look up ideas online or in magazines a few days before.

v     If your outfit is full of sparkles, sequin and is fire engine red – opt for a softer makeup look. Fresh skin, a soft pink lip and luxurious thick black lashes are a great compliment. If your outfit is more subdued or chic (think LBD!) then wow everyone with a smokey eye, or a deep red lip, but never both at the same time!

v     This season hair accessories are the perfect way to add that extra pizzazz. Use a sparkly headband or jeweled hair pin to secure wispy flyaways. You can even create your own band with a pretty ribbon and bejeweled brooch!

v     Always keep bobby pins, a red lipstick or pretty clips in your purse. When you get invited to a last minute party, you will have everything you need to get party ready, but quick! Adding something unexpected doesn’t take a lot of talent or time but always looks special.

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Though much can be said for our current era of plums and metallic grays (more on that soon), one can’t help but miss and love the 80s era of pink and black punk couture. (Check out my dress, at left!)

With that in mind, I think you must pick up Disco Lights, a limited Holiday 2008 edition high-shine lip gloss with built-in, multi-colored flashing disco lights on the lid and a mirror on the case.

This is so adorable, and already a season-long implant in my purse. It’s a multi-purpose gloss also helps locate perfume, wallet or keys when in a dimly lit area, such as night clubs, cabs, etc. AND it’s available in just one shade - Wow Pink! (Yes, that’s totally what it’s called.) And while this color may sound intimidating for some of you wall flowers, it’s actually a pretty neutral pink, totally wearable to any occasion.

Disco Lights, from ModelCo, will be available December 1st while stocks last at Henri Bendel, New York, plus www.modelco.com.au. But I am giving away five right here! To have your chance to win, please share your favorite 80’s fashion memory…one that you wouldn’t mind coming back! Deadline is December 19.

Photo credit: ModelCo 

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I remember all through my younger years (and possibly to be repeated this year), I’d hook up with my mom at around 4 am, get coffee to go, and hit whatever random sale was tickling our fancy – and often leave disappointed.

Whether or not it is a worthwhile excursion is not my right to say – but I can help you be prepared when you get there!

I have eight $5 gift cards to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf - perfect to help you through any of your early morning shopping excursions this holiday shopping season. During a recent press trip to LA, I had my first experience at this chain and it is….out of this world! Better than even a certain Seattle chain. (Try their Swiss Mocha…trust me.)

Is this about beauty? Absolutely. We all look a lot better when we are well-caffeinated! But coffee doesn’t just wake you up. It has tons of great uses for beauty mavens:

1 – Rubbing coffee grounds on our hands helps deodorize them from various cooking scents. (Um, onions, garlic, etc? Gone!)

2 – Adds luster to hair! If you make a strong brew of your favorite bean (espresso is even better) and allow to cool before rubbing it onto dry hair, it will look more lustrous than you’ve ever seen it!

3 – It also is great as an exfoliant, body scrub, and cellulite buster!

Now, I’m not saying that those of you who win coffee should necessarily wear it (that would be somewhat of a waste when it tastes so delicious!), but it’s a great option for the multi-taskers within us all.

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf exists at hundreds of locations worldwide and the gift cards will be good at all locations – but also for purchases online. To have your chance to win one of the eight gift cards, help me out with one of MY missions of the week:

1 -  – In your comment, tell us your favorite crazy Black Friday shopping memory!

Deadline to enter is December 19 (my birthday!). You are allowed to enter up to once per day. Good luck!

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In fact, many products that cost a few dollars at a clip are as good as the high-end brands, and are ideal if you want to experiment with new shades and looks. Some great such lines to get acquainted with are Tropez Beauty and Black Radiance.

Three readers will win a fabulous gift basket of these two brands that includes: Tropez Creme To Powder Foundation, Tropez Flirty Eyelashes, Tropez Irresistable Illuminator, Black Radiance Perfect Tone Lip Color, Black Radiance Fine Line Liquid Eyeliner, and Eyeshadow Quartet (Learn more details about these items at either of the links ab0ve.) This is a great one-stop collection for looking your most beautiful at all your holiday parties!
EDIT: To enter, please share your best-ever discount beauty find. Three winners will be chosen at random from entries. Deadline to enter is November 26. Good luck!

Photo credit: Tropez Beauty and Black Radiance

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To me, Cosmo was sort of my beauty bible — and now they’ve published a comprehensive bible of their own. COSMO’S SEXIEST BEAUTY SECRETS: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO LOOKING GORGEOUS (Hearst Books; November 4, 2008).

The book offers hundreds of insider tips and tricks on everything from scoring a flawless complexion to creating a ton of hairstyles to working the latest make up trends. There’s plenty of pointers drawing in our “prey”, including: the secrets to getting silky, touchable hair, captivating eyes, and soft, full lips.

Also in here: Decadent at-home spa ideas that advise women how to pamper themselves like a pro. And since every beauty junkie is bound to make a misstep now and then, Cosmo included crucial tips for overcoming common beauty blunders.

Here’s a sneak peek at what you’ll find inside:

- Shrink a zit instantly by dabbing it with toner then placing an ice-cube (wrapped in tissue) on the bump for one minute. Last, use a spot-treatment product before dotting on concealer.

- Get the shiniest hair imaginable by using an at-home clear gloss treatment, which will infuse your strands with potent polishers like silicone, jojoba oil, and vitamin E.

- Make your eyes look larger by rimming the inside of your lids with white liner. Then define your upper and lower lashes with a charcoal liner and finish with three coats of black mascara.

- Fake the look of fuller lips by blending a thin line of liquid highlighter along your cupid’s bow so light will bounce off it and play up this curvy area.

I love this book so much that I want to share it with my friends (though I hope that I still become the most beautiful from it, of course). Two readers will each win a copy. To win, please share your own sexy beauty secret! (We won’t tell anyone…except the millions who read the comment.) Deadline November 28.

Photo credit: Hearst Books

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