I like lipstick. A lot. I think about lipstick a lot. Weird? Maybe, but whatever. Like I tell my mom when she says I’m spending too much money on makeup, “It’s my cigarettes, OK?” And it is. If you’ve noticed, I’ve let my old Red take a rest for awhile and have been relying on some bright, springy colors for a few weeks now … maybe soon it will actually BE spring. Meet the newest stallions in my corral. I apologize for the ridiculous and awkward self-portraits. 

NARS Pure Matte Lipstick in Carthage - Matte is my preferred lipstick texture because it lasts the longest, and while I don’t love NARS Pure Mattes as much as MAC’s version, I have acquired several tubes. I like the color range, especially the nude Tashkent, but I don’t always love the texture, which can feel a little flaky. Carthage is a bright fuchsia pink which will look 1000 times better on me when I have a tan. It really doesn’t photograph nearly as bright as it is, though I definitely wouldn’t call it a neon. Just … punchy.

MAC Amplified Lipstick in Neon Orange with Sephora Gloss in Orange Juice - Bright orange lips are absolutely it for spring … I’ve been flirting with orange since last spring, so I had a few tubes to fiddle around with, but nothing satisfies like a real, authentic neon orange. This one always gets a comment or two from customers at the store. To really amp up the bright factor, I added Sephora’s Orange Juice gloss; pretty to look at, not so pretty to get your hair caught in. (This is a major reason why I rarely wear gloss! I’m not kidding.) MAC is my favorite lipstick brand, hands down, and the Amplified lipsticks are creamy, highly pigmented and long-lasting. What more could a girl want?

MAC Amplified Lipstick in Show Orchid - Did you know Show Orchid is only available online? Well, I didn’t. Neither did the girls at the MOA MAC store; only my girl Masha at Nordstrom pointed me in the right direction. Show Orchid is another hot pink creme finish, but it’s got a teeny bit of microshimmer for extra kick. I usually HATE frost in my lipstick, but this is so subtle I barely even notice it. Pretty, right? And it matches my feather!

(Please excuse the delay in posting; I’ve had the flu.)

As you know, Elizabeth Dehn is the lovely lady behind Beauty Bets and one of my favorite new fairy godmothers of sorts, as well as my favorite person to get happy hour with, and not just because she gives me goodie bags sometimes. And now she can add SKINCARE GURU to her list of accomplishments, because she released By Elizabeth Dehn just a few weeks ago. I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek … here’s what I found inside its gorgeous packaging.

Shea Cream - Elizabeth was nice enough to give me a tester of her brand new Shea Cream when I had my hardcore chemical peel and my skin was flaking off at an alarming rate. (OK, I’m exaggerating. It was more like a really bad sunburn.) I’d been coating my face with a mix of face lotion and Norwegian Hand Cream, which was kind of gross. The Shea Cream, which comes in a gorgeous, luxuriously heavy little glass jar, is whipped like frosting. Frosting for your face? OK, I’m in. All you need is a tiny bit; emulsify it in your hands and once it’s applied to your face, it sinks in beautifully. I was a little worried that the heavy cream would break me out, but it didn’t, thank God. Plus, it’s all-natural. I’ve been using it on my knees and cuticles too.

Face Spray - As I told Elizabeth, I think the reason I like her Face Spray so much is because I’m secretly five years old at heart and like spritzing pretty-smelling stuff on my face. (Brittani can agree; she’s got a thing for face sprays too.) I’m going to toss this in my bag when it starts heating up to refresh my makeup on my walks to and from work.

You can purchase the Shea Cream and Face Spray here.

Brittani picked this up at the Rocco Altobelli spa in the Galleria and of course we were bound and determined to get it on our faces as soon as we got home. Both of us are suffering from little breakouts and we were assured the pumpkin peel would help them out. $25 and two minutes later …

The pumpkin peel smells (and looks) like pumpkin pie mix. It does not taste this way. (I tested just to make sure.) At first, you leave it on for just two minutes and work your way up to 5-10, depending on your skin concerns. After two minutes, our skin feels tingly and smooth (“like a baby butt!” Britt says) and has a happy glow. And did I mention it smells like pumpkin pie? 

Welcome to Baby Reviews, wherein I review (succintly) beauty products I’ve tried in the last month or so. Helpful, right? As always, helpful’s what I aim for.

Pravana Pure Light Brightening Shampoo (above) - Since I have a keratin blowout, I was instructed to stay far, far away from sulfates. This makes finding a purple shampoo to tone my blonde difficult, but I found Pravana thanks to Google and ordered it via Amazon. It’s runny. Really runny. And it stains your hair purple in the shower, but it washes out. And it tones like a dream. My hair is champagne platinum, not buttercup yellow.

Essie Bahama Mama polish - Pretty plum that isn’t too dark. Needs about three coats to apply evenly. 

China Glaze In the Limelight polish - Neon green, so it dries matte. I needed about four coats for it to look opaque; better as an accent color, I think.

Bumble & Bumble White Hair Powder - Comes in a cutie-pie little travel spray size, but isn’t worth the money. (It’s $19 for the teeny size, $34 for the big one.) Gives nice texture and so-so coverage, but it sheds like snowfall … or dandruff. “Psssst!” or baby powder work just as well.

MAC Pro Longwear Lipcreme in Perpetual Flame - Cool texture, easy application, long-lasting raspberry red color.

Dior Addict Lipstick in 578 Diorkiss - This is the color Kate Moss is wearing in the commercials. I probably like it so much because I like the tube, which is high tech and holographic. The pink lipstick inside is pretty too, but yeah, not $30 pretty.

Lolita Lempicka Fleur de Corail - Beachy with a side of laundry detergent. (Appealing to you? I’ll sell.)