Shannon did great things with Makeup Minute over the past few years and I know all her readers will miss her. And I’m also sure Liberty Kontranowski, the new blogger, realizes that she has big shoes to fill and is up to the challenge. Liberty isn’t a stranger to the b5media Beauty & Style Channel, she has blogged at Teen Style Lounge and Snarkstress.

Liberty will be starting a Makeup Minute within a week or so. In the mean time, I’m going to fill in for the next few days until she gets started. I’m Kori Ellis, the Channel Editor for the Beauty & Style Channel and Splendicity.com.

Are you looking for a sweet Valentine’s Day gift in the form of makeup?

Whether for yourself or someone else, The Love Set from NARS is a hot choice. Inside the black box, you will find their top-selling Orgasm Blush, Pillow Talk Lip Gloss in azalea-pink, and a Sex Machine Velvet Lip Pencil.

A $73 value, Sephora has the set right now for just $49. I’m a big fan of NARS blush and this pretty pink gift set is definitely worth it!

Photo credit: Sephora

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The silky sheer pale pink give fair and medium skin tones a hint of color with a slight shimmer (very subtle). I found Thrrob to be a great day blush, especially when I am not in the mood to get all done up to go run errands, yet still want to have the basics on my face.

It actually looks to be a brighter pink in the picture above than it actually is in person. The pink is very pale like cotton candy in hue. I thought it was pretty and long lasting.

Have you used it?

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For only $5.50 it seems like it may be worth a try. It can be found at Duane Reade, Rite Aid, Longs and Fred Meyer’s as well as www.Pantina.com (although I don’t see it listed online yet).

*Photo Credit: The lovely BellaSugar

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This cream to powder stick of pure goodness can not only be used on your cheeks, but your eyes, lips and body as well. I was happy just to use it on my cheeks and with the shimmer contained in the cream, it gave you that sparkle that says “This girl is glamorous!”

The cream doesn’t convert to powder too quickly giving you plenty of time to blend with your makeup brush. You also don’t use a lot of cream to create the perfect look; just one swipe across your cheek is all you need, helping you get the most out of your $36.50.

If you are a fan of Orgasm Blush and have The Multiple in Orgasm, what do you think about it? Better as just the powder blush or in the cream to powder blush?

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“Which do you think has longer staying power: powder blushes, cream blushes or stains? And which do you think is the better of the 3 (more natural looking)?”

As always, readers submit their questions to hear your 2 cents, so feel free to share your opinion in the comments.

Please direct all all makeup questions to shannon at b5media dot com.

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This all over face brick of color blushes your cheeks, highlights and contours. The picture does not do it justice. Seriously. Those shimmery stripes of color look rather blah in the picture, but if I could find a way to describe their true tone to you, I would say it’s a buttery golden shimmer that looks good no matter if you are 20 and wearing it or 50.

You can do one quick sweep to blend all of the colors, or what I like to do is use the pink on the apples of my cheeks, then lightly layer the golden shimmer on top of it and contour my face with the remaining colors.

Prescriptives The Illuminator is Limited-Edition, so I would pick it up before they’re gone. Trust me–you want this.

Have you used it? Tell me your take on it in the comments.

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Smoke Signals comes with plenty of colors to play with to create just the right look to suit you.

Gentle Fume Eyes Eyeshadow X 4: A monochromatic quad of four modern cool-toned Eye Shadows in the sultry spirit of Smoke Signals. Features three limited edition shades: Waft, Gentle Fume and Rondelle.

Smoking Eyes: Eyeshadow X 4: A smoking quad of four warmed-over neutrals that at its deepest starts with a rich, dark black. Features three limited edition shades: Next to Nothing, Smoking, and Showstopper, complemented by Satin Taupe. (favorite!)

The lipsticks in this collection are very “peachy-nude” with the exception of Burnin’, which is a deep mauve color. My favorite is Barely Lit.

The tinted lipglass have a nice sheen to them. You can wear them alone or over the lipsticks for more depth.

I can’t even tell you how much I love the kohl powder eye pencils. I’m even using them with other MAC collections. Orpheus is my fav fav fav. It is brown with specs of gold. It is gor-ge-ous!

The powder blush is very matte without any hint of irridesence. Which is the way you want it with this collection, so that the focus is on the eyes.

Silver Fog in the pigments is just like those found in Rush Metal’s. Smoke Signal and Dark Soul are matte. I did find that they creased, unlike their Rush Metal’s counterpart which did not.

MAC has a page set up where you can recreate looks with the colors found in this collection.

Do you have any products from this collection? Which are your favorites?

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Boots No7’s Blush Tint is a compact little tube blush and the tint of Blossom is a beautiful fleshtone pink. This color is perfectly wearable whether its to go to work or making your weekly shopping trip to the mall. Simply swipe it at the apples of your cheeks and use your finger tips to blend. It’s really that simple.

Have you used Boots No7’s Blush Tint?

Find more products from Boots No7.

Boots No7 can be found at CVS and Target stores.

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The matte color looks great on your cheeks, while adding the gele gives it a bit of depth. The gele on your lips has a pretty shine and is sheer with a hint of sparkling color. While there is a hint of mango to the product in its case, once its on your face you can’t smell it.

My favorite of the three is Brazillian. Since it has sunkissed colors, I have been using it in conjunction with Jelly Pong Pong’s Venus Pearls, OmniBronze and some mascara for that beach beauty look.

Have you used Chic Shine? What did you think?

Find more products by Jelly Pong Pong.

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As a mom, most times I don’t have time to sift through my huge collection of colors to decide which ones to mix and match and which lipgloss or lipstick would make the perfect combination. I just need to slap it on and run before someone is tugging at my leg (most times while applying mascara or eyeliner) and demanding my attention. Therefore, I am lazy because I want someone to choose my colors for me.

Thank goodness that the cosmetic industry understands people like me and have created palettes. There are many people out there who don’t like palettes, but let me tell you why I do.

For one, someone does the work of choosing creative color combinations for me. Oh this eyeshadow looks good with this gloss? Great! These shadows look great with this base? Fantastic! This really makes for more quality time in applying makeup, rather than it being a race to finish before being interrupted.

I also love that I can take my palette with me when heading out for the day (or night if I am lucky). No need to pack separate powders, lipsticks, etc. It’s all in one easy to carry case. Makes life easy, no?

One palette that caught my eye is by Pop Beauty. They make eye shadow palettes based on your eye color. I have hazel eyes, so Pop Beauty Eye Class for Green Eyes is perfect. I also love their Naturally Popette palette, which includes colors for eyes, lips and cheeks.

Hard Candy has an ultra cute makeup palette that opens to resemble a makeup train. It’s a tri-level makeup palette with eyeliners, blushes, shawdows, glosses, mini mascara and makeup applicators. (They can fit ALL of that into a palette?!)

And I’ve been looking at the palette by Benefit called The Weather Girl. My forecast? A positively radiant face.

What’s your take on palettes? Do you have a favorite one?

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