Midas Touch Manicures at Alexandre Herchovitch F/W 2012 NYFW

I love this modern new gold nail polish as seen here in Alexandre Herchcovitch's recent 2012 F/W NYFW show, which celebrated a collection of excess and opulence.

CND's Wanda Ruiz designed what she calls a "Midas Touch Manicure" with CND Colour in Gold Chrome topped with Air Dry Top Coat. It's a soft, opaque gold with a touch of creaminess which makes it almost a pastel color option.

This nail coupled was complemented very well with the gold eye shadow seen on the models and metallic pieces on the runway amidst earthy neutrals, dusty rose and flesh tones. - RLB

Beauty Find - Lancome Hypnose Mascara

I'm a little late coming around to beauty industry staple, Lancome Hypnose Mascara, but I'm so glad I've found it! This mascara is perfect to give your lashes a "natural but a little more showstopper" effect.

I loved how easily the brush glided though my lashes, with no clumping. It gave me great separation and a beautiful deep black color on my lashes. Usually two coats was all that was needed to pump my lashes up and give me a somewhat wide-eyed look with increased volume and some additional length as well.

For those of you also looking for curl, this is your product as well. It does a great job of holding a curl if you curl your lashes before hand, or just on bare lashes it gives a nice curved shape to them. The brush is a great size and it was easy to get upper/lower lashes as well as bottoms when I wanted to accentuate those as well.

During the day the mascara wore very well, with no flaking or smudging. It held up all day into the night and was very easy to remove with cleanser/eye makeup remover. Pick up this legendary mascara from Lancome - you won't be sorry! - RLB

Go-->Lancome Hypnose Mascara 01 Black Noir

Two-Toned Lips Courtesy of Cover Girl Flipsticks

This guest post is courtesy of Thefind




As much as I love a bargain (especially a beauty-related bargain), I'd be lying if I said I frequently find particularly exciting or innovative makeup finds at a drugstore. In fact, nowadays drugstore makeup is rarely even that much cheaper than your average Sephora buys, much less more innovative. But I gotta hand it to Cover Girl's new Flipsticks - a lip color duo (one matte shade, one shimmery shade) designed to be worn together for the perfect multi-faceted, enviable pout. I've read plenty of makeup tips that advise gals to layer multiple lip colors, using a shimmery color in the center of your mouth to emphasize shape and fullness.

However, I'm more likely to slap on one coat of lip gloss and never reapply for the rest of the night than actually spend time customizing my lip color for maximum effectiveness with multiple products. But now that Cover Girl was smart enough to do the work for me and pair two coordinating shades in one handy product, I'm definitely tempted to try out this ombre-inspired lipstick look, especially if it's going to give me a Sofia Vergara-esque pucker (at least, that's what the ad has me thinking)!

What do you think - are you digging Cover Girl's new double-sided Flipsticks?

- Alex Gambardella

The Right Pink Lipstick for Your Skin Tone

This guest post is by Elena Donovan Mauer for Completely You

Go to a cosmetics aisle or counter and you’ll encounter a huge range of shades that are all considered pink -- but are really named things like “catfight” and “rapture.” So how the heck do you choose?

Know your skin tone. It’s the No. 1 thing every makeup artist and makeup-obsessed girlfriend will tell you. I have olive skin, for example, so I can’t wear anything with even the tiniest tinge of coral in it, or it will look a bright, clownish orange. If you’re like me, beware of anything with any orange in it, which -- believe it or not -- is a lot of pinks! Instead, go for a darker pink or a berry or purplish hue.

The darker your skin tone, the more likely you’ll be able to get away with deep shades like burgundy and brown. Anything will probably look good on dark skin, but you might want to steer clear of colors that are lighter than your skin tone.

Fair-skinned? Go pale over bright; you’ll look great with peachy pink lipstick or a red wine color.

Not sure what type of skin tone you have or what shade will look good on it? Go to any good makeup counter and have a salesperson help you out. Then, ask for samples or invest in a few tubes of your favorite hues.

I always tell people to play with makeup to discover which look works for them. You need to see the shade on your skin in different lighting (always look in natural light first) and see how it looks after several hours of wear. Also, for me, comfort is important. Who wants a lipstick that’s cakey or dries your lips?Have you found the right lipstick for your skin tone? Share it below or tweet me @Completely_You

Elena Donovan Mauer is Completely You’s beauty and lifestyle blogger. She has written for Self, The Knot and iVillage, and is the co-author of two books on relationships, The Good Girl's Guide to Living in Sin and Have Sex Like You Just Met ... No Matter How Long You've Been Together.

Punchy Lips Courtesy of Iris Apfel's MAC Collection!

This guest post is courtesy of Thefind



MAC is no stranger to partnering up with celebrities, designers, and style mavens alike for limited-edition collections, but you'll likely find that the latest collaboration stands out from the crowd! Fashion icon Iris Apfel has always had a unique, fashion-forward eye for design - whether it's fashion, decor, beauty, what have you - and now she's joined forces with the color queens at MAC (a match made in heaven!) to create a bold, bird-inspired collection for the beauty brand. While the entire collection is worth raving about, with its gorgeous pairings of grays and teals, neutrals and candy-like hues, the highlight of the collection is definitely the series of brightly-colored lipsticks.

I love the variety of matte shades that are all uniquely bold and gorgeous, yet are undeniably part of the same cohesive, quirky collection. Pink Pigeon (a matte bright pink), Scarlet Ibis (a matte bright orange-red), Party Parrot (a matte bright red-pink), Flamingo (bright coral), and Morange (in-your-face orange) all boast an intense color pay-off, so they're definitely not for the demure, unadventurous gal at heart. But if you've been dying to jump on the bold lip trend, now's your perfect chance!

- Alex Gambardella