You guys, I keep forgetting that I wanted to show you the pretty colors I wore for the family Christmas meal. For the Holiday season, Estée Lauder introduced the Limited Edition 'Extravagant Pure Color' Eyeshadow Palette in "Extravagant Gold", along with its companion lippie, the 'Pure Color' lipstick in "Extravagant Berry".

Now, the great thing about this palette is that while it may look very neutral, it is enhanced with golden flecks that makes these colors something special. I know I always want to dress up for special occasions, but rocking a dark smokey eye just wasn't fitting for the family dinner. So, with the golden shimmers to warm up the colors, this bold neutral (oxymoron?) fit the bill. And with just a touch of the v pigmented lippie, I was set to throw down the dressing. (*What? It's my favorite dish.).

Now, I know these were part of the Holiday 2010 collection, but I checked both esteelauder.com and nordstroms.com and they both still have the palette ($42) and lipstick ($22) in stock if you want to grab them - or check your local counter as they may still have some, too.

*Disclaimer: I received these products from their PR for editorial consideration.

MAC's lastest collection is a collaboration with Bollywood makeup artist, and MAC's Director of Makeup Artistry for India, Mickey Contractor. This collection is really geared towards the darker & more olive complextions than, say, the "Cham Pale" collection.

My favorite things from this collection have definitely got to be the Fluidlines - "Ivy" - a Bright Green and "Siahi" - a Deep Turquoise Blue. These colors are good for any skintone & for anyone comfortable enough to wear such bright colored eyeliners. Of course, with most of the emphasis on the bright, colorful eyes this collection has several nudeish lippies - my fav being "Mehr" - a dirty blue pink, which went on quite matte, but didn't feel drying.

Have you got the more olive-hued skin that this collection is great for? Or are you one to favor bright colors on your eyes no matter what? Let me know what, if anything, you are going to pick up from this collection, as I'm certain I'm not the only one who likes bright colors for eyeliner.

*Disclaimer: I received these products from their PR for editorial consideration.

MAC recently released a bold color collection called, "Stylishly Yours". When I say "bold" I mean bright, vivid, pigmented colors. There is a product called "Cream Colour Base" that is a multi-use cream that can be used as a lip color or a blush, but tread oh so lightly in that case because the pigmentation can cause a blush "incident" that is really hard to come back from. It's true - start super light and build up, not what you think you want to begin with, because you can't take it back. (*The pigment is so true, there can be a bit of staining which makes it really last on lips, but can be an issue in a blush screw up).

But, my favorite of this collection is the Fluidline "Dark Diversion" that they describe it as a "blackened plum". I'm telling you, I am constantly on the hunt for the HG plum eyeliner and this one is definitely in the running. (*I'm of a mind that plums really make my blue eyes stand out.). There is also a new Zoom Lash in "Blackened Burgundy" that should be pretty complementary to the Fluidline, so, we'll see how that works together.

Have you checked out this collection? Have you gotten any of the Cream Colour Bases & rocked'em? I'd love to hear how you make them work, so def let me know!

*Disclaimer: I received these products from their PR for editorial consideration.

MAC has just released a new collection inspired by the extreme beauty of the lovely peacock, called "Peacocky" (*yes, not so creative with the name, right?). While it may be considered 'small' by only having two products - a new lipstick/lipgloss combo called "Kissable Lipcolour"and new shadows called "Mega Metal Shadow" - the number of colors in each of them is big and varied - there are 12 lippies and 15 shadows.

I gotta say I like the feel of the lipcolours, but I was more drawn to the shadows. I like the kind of irridescent quality they have, and they feel very silky, imo.

What do you think about the colors? Anything pop out to you? Lemme know what, if anything you pick up - I wanna know if any of you are adventureous enough to get the blue lippie & make it work!

*Disclaimer: I received these products from their PR for editorial consideration.

Everyone loves a chance to reinvent/rebrand themselves. Like the shy girl at school who moves to a new school district and gets to suddenly become the outgoing hottie she really was under the braids and glasses at her old school. Or even the serum that realized it could become a multi-tasking powerhouse. Such is the case with Chella's "Skin Firming Serum Daily Primer".

Chella Skin Care has been busy rebranding themselves this year, which includes a new website, logo and packaging. Not only that, they realized that one of their popular serums would do double duty as a great makeup primer. (*You guys know how much I love a good primer.) They say it will:

• Reduces Appearance of Wrinkles: Amino Acids work to both improve skin’s elasticity and reduce the appearance of wrinkles.
• Creates a Long Wearing Make-up Foundation: Formulated to create the perfect smooth and taut prepped face perfectly primed for enduring make up application without a tacky feel or residue.
• Helps Soothe and Repair: Grape Seed and Green Tea extract nurture skin.

All of this means that with continued use, it will help to keep the elasticity in your skin and help to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. I can tell you that I had a chance to try this and I felt a not unpleasant tightening of the skin - like it was straightening everything out, kinda like a sheet on a bed. Now, I don't have a lot of deepset wrinkles that this would affect (*knock wood), but I did feel like my skin was smooth and ready for my makeup - which after application, I could tell that it helped my tinted moisturizer last longer than with out it, so, it does work for that. One downside is that there is not any SPF in this, so be sure to apply some via sunscreen or moisturizer when you use this.

This runs for $90 on Chella's site, which can be tough for a lot of you. But, if you are looking to cut down on the number of products you are using daily, combining those products costs & the fact that you only use a few drops, making this 1oz pump last a long time, this might just be the product for you.

So, what say you? Do you like multi-tasking products or do you like individual products with a specific purpose?

Have you guys ever had something that worked so good, but you were all, "I don't know how it does it, it just does"? That's how I feel about "Mally Beauty Poreless Face Defender with Sponge" that I bought from QVC (*on easy-pay - YAY!).

This clear solid is your finishing touch to your makeup, instead of using a (translucent) face powder. You are supposed to use the sponge to pat it out of the package and tap it over your face to set your makeup, just as you would your face powder, only this will not show any visible settling in any of your fine lines and pores. In fact, it is supposed to give your face a matte/soft finish effect - which I think it does, to the point that it almost looks like cameramen think you are Cybil Shepard and are using a soft focus to shoot you (*man, was that not SO distracting on Moonlighting when they did that to her? And wasn't Bruce Willis a handsome devil back then, too - save for that BAD wig they had on him? I digress).

I gotta say, I was facinated by this product, but held off getting it because I just couldn't figure out how it worked. I still don't know exactly, but I do know that this is silcone based, so, if you are sensitive to silcone in your products, this isn't going to work for you. Here's my downside - because it's clear, I don't know exactly how much product I am getting on the sponge, or on my face. You do NOT want to smear the sponge in the pan because you will pull out too much product and waste it, that's for sure. Now, my girl, Gouldylox, uses a flat topped brush to apply this, which I have done a couple of times and works quite well, too. I think this is more of a trial and error, where less is more, even tho it really isn't that noticeable once it's applied any way - even in pictures. (*yes! no more powder flashes where your face is an entirely different color than your neck/chest!).

It looks like right now this is a QVC exclusive, and they have it for $36.48 (plus s/h). Keep an eye out, as Mally is on there quite frequently and you may be able to pick this up on easy-pay like I did.

Have you guys tried any of Mally's products? Or are you as big of a fangirl as I am? I swear, I was stupid giddy when I had a chance to spend time with her behind the scenes of the Marc Bouwer video shoot last year. Besides that, I really like a lot of her products. Win/Win!

Have you ever been perfectly content, everything's good, then, someone comes up behind you and scratches your back in greeting, or just to be affectionate, and suddenly you are like a dog getting their belly scratched and you are all "I'll give you 30 minutes to stop that"? I hate and love that at the same time.

I have found out that "dry brush exfoliation" can give me almost the same effect. I had a chance to try the Eight hydrating treatment which is:

1. Dry Brush body
2. Have a warm shower and cleanse with Eight Crème Body Wash
3. Exfoliate and soften with Eight Sugar Scrub
4. Lightly towel dry and apply Eight Body Moisture

I tried the Ginger Lime line, but they also have a Lavender line. The Ginger Lime line smelled fresh, but not too fruity - I'm sure the Lavender line smells nice, too, but I can't speak to how floral it smells.

Lemme tell you what they say is in this and why - "Eight Body Moisture is created around eight core ingredients:"

• Aloe Vera: moisture
• Vitamin E: slows aging
• Jojoba Oil: promotes new cell growth
• Evening Primrose Oil: anti-inflammatory
• Monoi Oil: rehydrates
• Sweet Almond Oil: natural beauty
• Emu Oil: anti-aging
• Apricot Kernel Oil: tones/firms

"Other essential ingredients include:"

• Lanolin: moisture
• Rice Bran Oil: smooth skin
• Lavender Oil: calms
• Sunflower Oil: vitamins a b d e
• Wheat Germ: cell formation
• Avocado Oil: moisture

I don't know that I can say that I've seen any firming yet, but I can say that all the brushing (once a week - it's a bit too rough for me more often than that, because I get all aggressive w/ the scratch - yes, I know that's bad for me. Thx!) and all of the oils in the products that my skin *does* feel super silky. While they all work in conjunction together, if you don't need as much moisture as all of them at once, each product does a fine job on its own for it's own job. The range runs from $20 up to $85 for the full treatment kit.

I can't forget to mention that this product line is from a homegrown Oklahoma girl like me. Vicki Weaver-Payne's mom worked at Tinker Air Force Base (*over in Midwest City, OK, a suburb of Oklahoma City, OK) in one of the aircraft hangers, causing her skin to be uncomfortably dry. She met a woman with a secret formula for dry skin that she then tweaked to alleviate her skin problems - her own body lotion, just for herself. In fact, Vicki didn't even know about the formula until she was an adult and had her own skin problems. Vicki then tweaked it herself for 12years before sharing it with the public & Eight Body Moisture was born. So, you know I gotta give some love to a local gal, besides just liking the product on its own. :)

Have you guys ever done any dry brushing? Did you like it, if you did?

Do you guys remember when I first mentioned CoverGirl & Olay Simply Ageless Serum Primer back in March when we were talking about how makeup artist Molly Stern used it on Maggie Gyllenhaal at the Oscars? I was excited to hear this product was coming out and couldn't wait to try it. I am happy to say that I had a chance to try this out and I really like it.

I didn't know what to expect, with the word "serum" in the name. I think I thought it would be more of a clear liquid, like a typical serum, but it's not. It is a white cream primer, with serum in it. (*Even tho the site claims the color is "Clear", it's not.) It applies like other primers, before your makeup, but due to its creaminess, it doesn't take much product to cover my whole face. In fact, one full pump (*yay - pump) was almost too much for mine, which means this bottle will last quite a while.

They say:

• Hydrates and smooths skin for an ageless canvas.
• Helps boost skins elasticity.
• Creates a finish that looks instantly firm.

I say, my skin felt soft & hydrated using this. It dried to a soft finish, so I could go without any foundation or tinted moisturizer, if I wanted to. It didn't melt off quickly, which is saying a lot in this miserable Oklahoma summer heat. Now, I can't say that I felt that it "firmed" anything, but I don't really look for that in a primer. I like something that evens out my face (not skintone), doesn't melt away and not do anything to help my makeup stay in place & has good for me ingredients. This does all of these things for me, and with a drugstore pricetag. Nice.

We know that I have a thing for primers and I can say that I really like this one. I think that even tho its a part of the "Simply Ageless" line of products, this would be a good primer for just about any one looking for hydration, or even just a fair price point to get started into using a primer, if you haven't already. It runs $10-$13ish depending on where you look, (*CVS/Walgreen's/Target/Walmart/Ulta), but there are usually coupons/sales around. However, there is one negative that I need to point out - there is no SPF in this. Now, that's not a deal breaker for me, as I will make sure to use other products that have SPF in them, but I don't want you counting on this one to help you out there. Hopefully, in future versions, they will add that to this.

I'm hearing that it may not be out every where yet. Have you guys seen it/picked it up yet? Lemme know if you have, I wanna know what you think about it, too.

I hate wearing shoes. Seriously. If I could be barefoot all the time, I would be a happy girl. Heck, I could be the "Barefoot Bandit"'s girlfriend if it wasn't for the whole "stealing" thing he had going on. Of course, running around barefoot doesn't make for the prettiest of tootsies. In fact, it makes my heels pretty dang callusy and hard.

Since it's summer, and I have to leave my house sometimes, I tend to throw on some flip-flops, which doesn't hide the heel horror that I sport. So, I need some heavy duty help to make them presentable. After trying many things, I have narrowed it down to two things that help a lot.

First, I use:

• Sally Hansen "Just Feet" Deep Callus Remover - This gel is powerful at cutting thru dried calluses with its second ingredient: Potassium hydroxide (*first being water), but it has the added benefits of Shea Butter, Aloe Vera, Chamomile and Lavender to help sooth the skin after its exfoliation. The instructions say, "Squeeze a small amount onto callused skin for 60 seconds and rub gently. Wash hands immediately and thoroughly. Wash away excess immediately and thoroughly with warm, soapy water. Do not leave on longer than 1 minute." (*I told you it was powerful.) It really does slough off the skin - I usually use a pumice stone to help it along, but that is because I have heels like an armadillo's back - you shouldn't need to do that. (*I picked my bottle up at Target for around $7, but you can get it at any drugstore or mass market store for around the same amount.)

After I get my feet smoother, I like to moisturize and make it softer, so then I use:

On twitter the other day, my good friend, Meredith from Retrodiva's Beauty Bar, (@retrodiva) was complaining about her thin nails, after removing her acrylics. When I suggested she give Duri's "Rejuvacote" a shot, I remembered that I hadn't ever told you guys about this stuff.

I'll tell you, sometimes I am kinda dumb and don't always follow the directions. Like, I have been known to not continue using something because it's "good enough" or I just get lazy, results be damned. Such is the case with Rejuvacote Nail Growth System. I swear, I don't know what it is (*truly, I don't) but my thumb nails split. As in, I can press another fingernail in between the layers (*of which I surely DON'T do - nuh uh). I can't understand why those particular fingernails split, but none of my other ones do. I was luckily able to have a chance to try some Rejuvacote to help with that. It's recommended to use as your base coat/top coat and every night for a week then start all over again.

Yeah, I haven't usually had the attention span to keep up with that sched, BUT, I can tell you that when I do use it - it stops the splitting. Done. Which is where my dumbness comes in, because that is where I usually go "Okay, cool, problem solved" and then stop. That then allows the nails to split again and there we are back on the merry-go-round.

Don't be me. If you have splitting or thin nails, you should really try Rejuvacote (*which contains keratin and calcium, btw) and stick with their rec's for application. I really think it will make a difference to your nails. I'm not the only one that thinks that, as it has been mentioned in many magazines and even won an Allure "Best of Beauty" award, too. It runs $14 and can be picked up on Duri's website.

Have you guys tried this? And did you keep to their rec'd schedule in using it? I'm curious how your nails fared using it the "proper" way.