Pick of the Day - Laura Geller Lip Strip Cooling Sugar Scrub.

One of my stops during Fashion Week next month in New York City will definitely be to the studio of Laura Geller. I am becoming acquainted with many of her products and am quickly adding many of them to my favorites list. This one has definitely caught my eye.

As my lips are dry and peeling all of the time, I have been on the hunt for a scrub. But not any old scrub. I want one that hydrates as it scrubs. And I guess the title of this beauty from Laura Geller says it all: Lip Strip Cooling Sugar Scrub.

The innovative formula will give you the beautiful, smooth lips that make lipstick and gloss go on smoother, last longer and look fabulous. Lip Strip gently buffs dry lips to renewed smoothness.

Historically, sugar is one of the safest natural exfoliants and humectants, and because the skin of the lips is so delicate, pure organic sugar from Brazil was chosen to use as the base of this scrub. In addition, peppermint and spearmint oils were added for a beautiful, refreshing sensation.

Has anyone tried this yet? I think it might just be the answer to my lip scrub search. I will let you know as soon as hit up Sephora and bring one home with me.

$16 Laura Geller Lip Strip Cooling Sugar Scrub

Laura Geller Fresh Baked Beauty.

When a friend of mine told me how much she was in love with Laura Geller products, and after watching a few of her beauty shows on QVC, I knew I needed to give some of her goodies a try. I figured there is no better way to try out a selection of Laura Geller than with one of her great kits. And as Laura is best known for her "baked" products, I think this was a great one to try. Meet Laura Geller's Fresh Baked Beauty.

This boxed set (think Holiday giving here, ladies!) contains five versatile products. In the kit:

Balance-n-Brighten - This powder, that does feel creamy as it is brushed on, gives an overall balanced finish to the face. For a quick face, it can be used along on lighter complexions. Or, if you need to wear foundation, use this as a finishing powder for a more luminescent glow.
Blush-n-Brighten in Pink Grapefruit - This is a beautiful blush color with a hint of pink shimmer and swirls of mauve and beige. It is so natural and a neutral color palette, but can be built up for a more intense pop of color for a night out.
Baked Marble Eyeshadow Duo - in Blue Icing/ Coffee Cake, this mix of colors can go on all swirled together for a quick and simple look. Or you can select just the blue gray color for a nice wash of shimmer, or select the bronze color for a more intense eye.
Baked Cake Eyeliner Duo - in Blueberry/ Dutch Chocolate, use either side to compliment the look you selected with the shadows. The Dutch Chocolate is a very deep, rich brown that glides on with an eye liner brush and looks perfect with either of the shadows. the Blueberry is bright, but just a bit of this on the upper lash line with the Blue Icing shadow is beyond beautiful, and makes the shimmer wash of a shadow much more worthy of evening.
Lip Gloss in Better Than Bare  - This is the perfect end to any of the looks you can create with this kit. The color is universal and the gloss contains a good amount of pigment and gloss, where it can be worn alone.

The only thing missing in the kit are brushes to use to apply them. I have a huge amount of brushes, but for a lady who is really just getting into a full face of makeup, I think that a powder brush, blush brush, shadow brush, eye liner brush, and lip brush could be essential. Obviously the price would go up, but I think it would be a welcome addition.

It is interesting to note how these "baked" beauties are created: "Made in Italy, Geller's baked beauty imparts a sunkissed glow and dimension to all complexions and skintones. Starting out as a liquid swirl of colors, they are mixed by hand and poured onto individual terracotta tablets before they are baked for 24 hours, blending together in a marbleized, dome-shaped tablet."

The powders do have a very creamy feel and almost creamy look to them, not at all like powders of the past. The process of the baking as a liquid must infuse this creamy goodness into the products. They are unlike most powders and I think you need to give them a try to appreciate what a difference this more creamy powder formula is. When gliding my finger over one of the compacts, they even feel creamy.

Fresh Baked Beauty ($60) is a limited edition kit and is available only at Sephora and Sephora.com, so check it out there.

Another one of Laura Geller's best sellers is her primer called Spackle which I plan to put to the test this week. Check back for my findings on that.

Back to School Beauty - Makeup Palettes.

Three weeks from today my kiddos go back to school. It is both an exciting and un-nerving time for all of us. New schools, new teachers, new routines. Saying good-bye to Summer, our favorite time of year. Getting back into homework habits. Getting the kids out of the house for six hours a day. They all have their pros and cons.

The hardest thing I discover about getting back to the going back to school routine is the mornings. No matter how early we get up or how prepared I think I am, we are always rushing and pressed for time.

One of the easiest ways to shave off some time in the morning routine is by lightening up your makeup routine. One of the smartest things to invest in is a makeup palette with products for eyes, cheeks, and lips in one place.  Using a palette or kit will not only simplify your makeup application, it will cut down on the time you spend fishing through your makeup bag to find the perfect products to go with your daily look. 

There are a lot of great palettes out there, but my heart belongs to just a few. While I am just recommending those here, you would be smart to look for your own favorite to help get your look and day off to a great start.

Too Faced The Bronzed & The Beautiful Bronzing Powder palette contains the perfect selection of bronzers to take your look from Summer to Fall with ease. These bronzers and highlighters are not only for your face, they can pull double duty on your eyelids. sephora.com

Pop Beauty Backstage Buzz - No. 1 Natural Soot is available in two color combos: Midnight Soot and Natural Soot. Natural Soot contains a Duo Bronzer and Duo Cheek & Highlighter in Dusty Rose, Nude Glow, Cream Glow & Bronze Glow, three Eye Shades in Jet Black, Platinum Silver, and Nude Cream, and two Lip Glosses in Peachy Nude and Pinky Nude. sephora.com

Stilas Backstage Beauty Eye Shadow Palette - The Front Row Look has the most beautiful case, doesn't it? I am so loving that flower on the outside, which is detachable to become it's own accessory. Inside is not so bad either with three beautiful shades to create a soft smoky eye look, complete with Stilas famed Kajal eyeliner, this one in  Smokey Quartz. stilacosmetics.com

NARS Artist Palette 9941 has the perfect mix of shades for not only a quick and simple look, but a beautiful one at that. This beauty contains four shades of eye shadows, two shades of The Multiple, and four different lipsticks. The eye shadows include India Song, Night Star, Night Clubbing and Ondine. The Multiple shades are Copacabana, the perfect highlighter, and Malibu, the perfect nude pink brown, which anyone can wear. Finally, the lipstick shades in the palette are Honolulu Honey, the popular Dolce Vita, Gipsy and Trans Siberian, one of my new faves. narscosmetics.com

Laura Geller Face Folio contains not one, but two palettes with everything you need for a multitude of looks. The eye palette is filled with pressed powder, duo cream concealer, and six eyeshadows.  The Lip and Cheek palette is filled with a bronzer, blush duo, and six creamy lip colors. The folio also contains lush black mascara and a dual lip and eye pencil. You see? This kit is complete. sephora.com

Sephora Classic Blockbuster Palette is the ultimate triple tiered palette containing your beauty needs for lips, cheeks and eyes. This must-have palette is loaded with 64 eyeshadows, 32 lip colors, seven cheek colors, one translucent shimmer powder, four double-ended shadow applicators, two blush brushes, and two lip brushes. sephora.com