Beauty Squared Round-Up - January 27, 2013

Happy Sunday! Are you staying in to do some lazy Sunday-ness? Grab a cup of tea and get comfortable because here is our weekly round-up of beauty links for you. Enjoy!

First off, Jill and I have an announcement. Beauty Squared blog posts are going to be included on Off the Grid, a blog roll through one of the Toronto's free weekly newspapers, The Grid. Now you can find our posts on Off the Grid, as well as a number of other great blogs. Check it out!

LouLou offers some ideas for revamping your beauty looks - I love these kinds of lists. There's always at least one idea in here that I hadn't thought of or have never considered trying. 

We'll have the preview for MAC's highly anticipated Archie's Girls collection (Betty! Veronica!) up on Beauty Squared shortly, but check out this crazy-awesome post on MakeupandBeautyblog.com featuring photos, swatches and all the info you need to decide whether you want to try for any of the products. Judging by all the buzz about this collection, it's going to sell out quickly. So don't wait for the collection to hit the stores, buy it online if you want anything.

Winter air is cold and dry and your skin and hair are likely suffering. Dry, itchy tight skin? Frizzy, dry hair? Dry, chapped lips? Would you prefer to look glamourous and "Winter? Meh, whatever, I still look gorgeous!" like Marlene Dietrich, above? Here are some products that can help, compiled by Front Row Magazine.

But spring is on its way, as all the fashion magazines and clothing stores are trying to convince us. Here's Joe Fresh's spring make-up collection. Check out the super-pretty lip glosses designed to look like roses (as shown above). 

Spring fashion is taking cues from the styles of the 1920s, thanks to Downton Abbey and others. Here's how to channel the feminine looks of the ladies Grantham (above).

Toronto Standard takes a look at Canada's best beauty box subscriptions. 

Ever notice how celebs will often try something new with their dresses but tend to stick with same hair and make-up looks on the red carpets, year after year? Here's why and how to achieve those beauty staples. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Is Jeremy Renner (actor and former make-up artist) wearing make-up here, has he had some cosmetic work done, is he just overly tanned or do we/should we not care?

Pantone's Colour of 2013: Emerald

The Wizard of Oz's Emerald City

Let's go to Emerald City! Every year, Pantone chooses a featured colour and 2013's colour is emerald. I am VERY excited about this news. As a fair-skinned redhead, green is one of my best and favourite colours. There's going to be a lot of green in the stores this year!

I've seen a few posts about this already and wanted to do one of my own since there seems to be a bit of confusion about what colour emerald is. There are many shades of green but emerald is the colour of the gemstone, emerald, the birthstone for May babies.

Here's what it's not:

Khaki green.

Chartreuse.

Kelly green.

Mint.

Forest green.

Bottle green.

Teal.

Apple green.

Lime green.

Emerald is described as a bright and light green with a faint bluish cast. Take these photos as your inspiration:

Angelina Jolie's jawdroppingly gorgeous emerald earrings and cocktail ring.

Keira Knightley's stunning emerald green gown in the 2007 film, Atonement.

Sexy, ladylike blouse. 

Rihanna's bright emerald cat eye.

Gorgeous t-strap pump from ModCloth.

I own this gorgeous snakeskin-print silk shirtdress. 

And some makeup options:

Make Up For Ever Pure Pigment in Emerald Green.

Dolce & Gabbana Nail in Wild Green.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Covet.

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Veridian. 

butter LONDON Nail Lacquer in Henley Regatta.

And some make-up tutorials featuring emerald green:

I hope this helps! I'm a sucker for jewel tones.

Is anyone else super-excited about all the emerald green that will be flooding 2013???

C.

Studio Girl Make-Up Kit

I attended a lecture on 1950s fashion at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto last weekend. The woman who spoke is the owner of a vintage store called Gadabout Vintage and she had brought some 1950s clothes and accessories with her to show us. One of the items was this make-up kit from Studio Girl. I fell in love with all the little bottles inside - many of which still had product inside.

The tall glass bottles with the white lids in the back of the top shelf were cologne and the white jar containers contained what I suspect were creams and lotions. The tiny vials along the front of the top shelf were cosmetics. I think they were foundations, concealers and cream colours to that effect. See the reddish colours? These were probably used as blush. The vials to the right were likely for concealing and highlighting. There's a small gold tube of lipstick, still mostly intact, on the bottom of the case. It was a deep, bright red, called True Red. Very Marilyn Monroe. 

How delightful to see what women in the 1950s would have bought and used. 

C.

Beauty Squared Round Up - July 22, 2012

Fantastic news! Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (OCC) will be sold in Sephora stores starting this September!

Fashionista's ten best make-up tutorials and ten best hair styling tutorials.

Striking portraits of supermodels of the past from Vanity Fair. How many can you recognize?

A gummy bear gown inspired by Alexander McQueen.

Would you try this two-tone lipstick look?

A company that uses a 3D printer to make clothing and shoes to order.

Perfectly arched, seductive and feminine pin-up eyebrows are a short video tutorial away.

The actresses who play the lovely Downton Abbey sisters, Ladies Edith, Mary and Sybil, are featured in LOVE Magazine looking quite different than we're used to seeing them.

D.I.Y. highlighter from eyeshadow!

Make-up artist and YouTube star Wayne Goss shares his thoughts about celebs who seem to be going a bit too far with cosmetic procedures.

Beauty Squared Quotes

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye." - Miss Piggy

MAC A Tartan Tale Chapter One Preview

Along with the A Tartan Tale colour collection, M.A.C. had come out with its annual collection of holiday gifts. And this year they're all about the tartan (squee!)! This is no preppy plaid, this is vibrant tartan packaging inspired by Scotland and rock & roll.

This post will preview the eye, lip and face sets as well as the bagged brush sets of A Tartan Tale. Call this Chapter One! Chapter Two can be found here and the A Tartan Tale colour collection can be found here. A Tartan Tale holiday exclusives can be found here. 

Peekaboo! Poking a little fun at the kinky part of the kilt, these incorrigible kits for Lips, Eyes and Face have some flasher fun with mirrored compacts, but remain dignified with proper M∙A∙C family crests. New giftables that prove to be seductive, cheeky, good fun, including 6 Dashing Lassie Eye Shadows,

6 Beauties Play It Cool Eye Shadows, 6 Twists of Tartan Eye Shadows, 6 Reelers & Rockers Eye Shadows, Happily Ever After and A Fabulous Fantasy Lip Kits, plus A Triumphant Blush and Hark The Heraldry Face Kits.

Dashing Lassie eyeshadow set ($43.50 CDN/$36 US)
Once Upon a Time - Metallic vanilla (veluxe pearl)
Bronze - Copper penny (frost)
Buckwheat - Frosty medium brown (frost)
A Dashing Lassie - Metallic milk (frost)
Magical Mist - Metallic taupe (lustre)
Showstopper - Dark brown (matte)

Beauties Play It Cool eyeshadow set ($43.50 CDN/$36 US)
Heather Belles - Dark charcoal/carbon (satin)
To the Ball - Dusty lavender (satin)
Hold My Gaze - Medium grey (frost)
Magic Moor - Purple grape (veluxe pearl)
Altered State - Blackened plum (veluxe pearl)
Silverwear - Metallic lavender (frost)

Reelers & Rockers eyeshadow kit ($43.50 CDN/$36 US)
Carbon - Dark carbon (matte)
White Rabbit - Shimmer white (frost)
Melt My Heart - Metallic silver (veluxe pearl)
Gaelic Gold - Metallic gold (veluxe pearl)
Crown & Sceptre - Metallic copper (veluxe pearl)
Family Treasures - Metallic bronze (veluxe pearl)

Twists of Tartan eyeshadow kit ($43.50 CDN/$36 US)
Vainglorious - Metallic maroon (frost)
Rolled Gold - Gold (lustre)
Lady's Prance - Clay (matte)
High Spirits - Shimmer avocado (frost)
Bows & Curtseys - Metallic hunter green (satin)
Set To Dance - Dark royal blue (matte)

A Fabulous Fantasy lip kit ($27 CDN/$22.50 US)
Storybook Ending - Raisin (lustre)
Imagine This - Pinky beige (amplified)
Heroic Tale - Sparkle flesh tone (gloss)

Happily Ever After lip kit ($27 CDN/$22.50 US)
Cheers All Around - Bright candy pink (frost)
To Joy - Medium pink (frost)
Endless Fun - Sheer frosty pink (gloss)

A Triumphant Blush face kit ($45.50 CDN/$38 US)
Melba - Soft coral peach (powder blush)
Peachtwist - Golden peach (sheertone shimmer)
Smooth Harmony - Neutral mid tan (beauty powder)

Hark the Heraldry face kit ($45.50 CDN/$38 US)
Dame - Sophisticated blue/pink (powder blush)
Plum Foolery - Faint dusty plum (sheertone shimmer)
Oh So Fair - Pale pink (beauty powder)

Once upon a time a bonny lass was in a Scottish ska band. She couldn’t just pick one look – punk or princess? So she chose them all...fancy that! Her loot: Dazzle the Lads Lip Bag, with Baron’s Rose Lipstick, Draw Me Close Lip Pencil and Moth to Flame Dazzleglass; Vain & Glorious Lip Bag, with Mellow Mood Lipstick, In Synch Lip Pencil and Baby Sparks Dazzleglass; Noble Knights Lash & Line Eye Bag with Teal Pigment, Blitz & Glitz Fluidline and Zoomblack Zoom Lash mascara; and finally, Violet My Love Lash & Line Kit, replete with Violet Pigment, Macroviolet Fluidline and Zoomblack Zoom Lash mascara.

Dazzle the Lads lip bag ($43.50 CDN/$36 US)
Creemesheen Lipstick in Timeless - Medium rose
Dazzleglass in Moth to Flame - Sheer neutral beige
Lip Pencil in In Synch - Light pink

Vain and Glorious lip bag ($43.50 CDN/$36 US)
Lustre Lipstick in Mellow Mood - Sheer pink
Dazzleglass in Baby Sparks - Sparkle baby pink
Lip Pencil in In Synch - Light pink

Noble Knights lash & line kit ($43.50 CDN/$36 US)
Fluidline in Blitz & Glitz - Black
Pigment in Teal - Bright metallic teal
Zoomblack
209 Brush

Violet My Love lash & line kit ($43.50 CDN/$36 US)
Fluidline in Macroviolet - Dark grape
Pigment in Violet - Bright metallic purple
Zoomblack
209 Brush

A drawbridge lowers, an electric-guitar wails... and a Princess makes an entrance – with her bag of tricks! New M∙A∙C Brush Bags are here for every girl who wants to arrive at the ball in flawless fashion, with everything she needs in these nifty, handsome, heathery tartan modern mash-ups, trimmed in shiny patent: A Lady & Her Tricks Buff & Line Brush Collection with 168SE, 187SE, 209SE, 219SE and 252SE; Sweep Me Off My Feet Sweep & Define Brush Collection,

with 129SE, 190SE, 212SE, 227SE and 275SE; She’s Got It All Apply, Define & Line Brush Collection, with 194SE, 204SE, 224SE, 266SE and 275SE. Throw on your favourite Vivienne Westwood tartan frock (knickers optional) and off you go, perfectly ready to raise a ruckus!

A Lady & Her Tricks Buff & Line brush collection ($58 CDN/$49.50 US)

168SE, 187SE, 209SE, 219SE, 252SE

She's Got It All - Apply, Define and Line brush collection ($58 CDN/$49.50 US)
194SE, 204SE, 224SE, 266SE, 275SE

Sweep Me Off My Feet - Sweep & Define brush collection ($58 CDN/$49.50 US)

129SE, 190SE, 212SE, 227SE, 275SE

I'm in love with the little tartan bags!


C.