pretty in hot pink

Hmm, I wonder what color Lucky thinks is so hot right now?  Cover aside, the beauty section is packed with lip and cheek product recommendations in sheer hot pinks.  After glancing through the magazine a couple times, I kind of want to Tarte's Natural Swirl Cheek Stain in Full Blossom, it looks so pretty!  My current favorite hot pink product is Bobbi Brown's pale pink blush (very similar to the blush shown in this photo of the Pink Raspberry face palette) on the apples of my cheeks with the lighter two shades from Cargo Miami Beach Blush swept over the top to warm up the color.

Get the Look: "Gray's Anatomy"

Although I'm by no means an avid watcher of "Gray's Anatomy," I've been a huge fan of the makeup used on the three lead female characters- they have the epitome of that perfect "no-makeup" natural glow that I strive to recreate. Until recently I wasn't quite sure how to replicate the look, but after stumbling upon a drugstore treasure and watching the season finale (um, cliffhangers much?) I think I've got the key basics down.

LIPS- The girls lips are slightly glossed with just a hint of peachy pink color that looks fresh but utterly natural. Neutrogena MoistureShine tinted lip balm in Glow is the best thing I've found to mimic the color- it's a shiny peach with a touch of pink, beige, and golden shimmer that lets your natural lip color show through enough so that the color doesn't look fake. The formula is similar to Vincent Longo's Baby Balm line in slickness and the SPF 20 is a huge bonus for summer (the shade range is limited, but this is a really great product and worth checking out). If your lips are naturally very rosy, you can neutralize them a bit further with either a pale nude lip liner like Stila Glaze Liner in Nude or a thin layer of an opaque pale nude gloss or lipstick like NARS Lip Lacquer in Chelsea Girls. The idea here isn't really to change your lip color, but rather to mimic the nude peachy pink glow while working with your natural lip tone, so don't coat your lips too much or it will spoil the effect.

SKIN- Keep things fresh and clean- cover any spots or under eye circles with concealer and go light on foundation but cover any redness. Pat over any concealer or foundation that you put on very lightly with a damp cosmetic sponge to blend it all into your skin. The girls don't wear noticeable blush or bronzer, but dusting a little glowy highlighter on your cheeks will again help to mimic their natural glow. There are tons of great highlighters out there, but choose on that's very finely milled (read: not glittery) in the peach to pink range- whatever is most flattering on your skin. I like Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks in Rose and Apricot, they reflect light in an almost dewy way and don't show up as noticeable sparkle even on those of us with large pores while providing a hint of color. Sweep it on the tops of cheekbones from the apple of the cheek towards the temple. If you want a little more dewiness in the look, use a pearly liquid highlighter like Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer.

EYES- If lids are oily prep them with a dab of Urban Decay Primer Potion, then smooth on a light coat of foundation regardless. The idea is to even out the skin of the eyelid and cover up darkness and tiny veins. If you like, sweep on a subtly pearly eyeshadow similar to your skin color (probably in the champagne to cocoa range), but don't use anything too shimmery or frosty- it's texture overkill considering lips and cheeks. Bobbi Brown, Stila, and Tarte are great brands to look at (I like Tarte's Champagne Brunch). If you feel naked without eyeliner, use a damp liner brush to push a blackened brown eyeshadow like Stila Espresso (shown center) into the lash line, which defines the eyes without making an obvious line. Follow with a brown black or soft black waterproof mascara on curled lashes.

Best Blush Ever

A short time ago I posted on how to work with powder blush to make it more natural. The truth of the matter is that while I love working with powder blush, it's not my favorite. I reach for my Cargo Miami Beach when I'm in the biggest hurry and when I look exhausted, and I love to play with blending shades of powder when I'm getting dressed up for fun, but when it comes down to it I think that creams and gels give a glowier more natural look.

As Rosie Jane Johnston, founder of Rosie Jane Cosmetics, commented in Lucky a long while back, there really is something about powder blush that just kills a dewy look. Fresh dewy cheeks are another one of those things that I get complemented on all the time, and truthfully- the only things you need to execute it perfectly are some concealer if you have blemishes, a dewy cream or gel blush, and some setting powder. I recommend a drier concealer like Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage because it won't smear off as easily. The application of the blush itself depends on the exact product you're working with. I don't care much for liquids, they're harder to control and messier- overall not worth dealing with when there are so many hassle-free alternatives on the market. If you're working with a highly pigmented cream or something in pot form, dabbing two or three fingers or a sponge into the product and using a smudging motion on the cheeks works well. Very dry and highly pigmented products yield lovely results when you work them into skin dampened with moisturizer, which also adds some dewiness as these tend to be a little more on the matte side of things. If it's a sheerer/wetter product or something in stick form, it usually works just fine to apply straight to the skin and then blend the edges with fingers or a sponge. The key to not looking like a big shiny mess is to mattify the rest of the skin- especially around the nose and under the eyes- so that only the cheeks are giving off sheen. You can also experiment with dusting powder over the top of the blush to control how dewy it looks, some of the wetter formulas will still look shiny after the powder sets for a few minutes. Ultimately it's worth it to play with these products until you master the application, and don't hesitate to aks someone at the makeup counter for help if you don't know where to start with a specific product.

I first fell in love with Stila Convertible Colors because Rose, a gorgeous soft red, looks lovely on both cheeks and lips. These tend to fall into the dry category, although the colors tend to have different consistencies. Generally I sweep a dab of moisturizer onto my cheeks, pat two fingers onto the surface and smudge to blend, then swipe the excess color on my fingers onto my lips and top with clear gloss. This is definitely a harder product to master, especially the darker colors, because it takes so little product, and I don't recommend investing in this if you're constantly crunched for time although it's a great multipurpose product to take traveling. Stila Convertible Colors retail for $22.

Tarte Cheekstains are my overall favorite cream/gel blush because they're so easy to use, they have great lasting power, and they come in a very wearable range of shades. The big push pop packaging creates a large round surface to pick up product with your fingers, a sponge, a cream blush brush, or allows you to apply it directly to the skin with very little efort. Minimal blending is necessary as these are pretty sheer, but the color builds nicely with some layering. Some of the shades are in a true translucent gel formula and others are creamier and opaque in the package, but all of them give a sheer pop of color to the skin. After a couple tries, I've found that these take only a little more time to apply than a sweep of powder, and their moistness definitely perks skin up on those painfully tired days. Some people experience that these don't dry completely on their skin, but I've found that a light dusting of powder on top doesn't completely kill the dewiness and sets the blush so that it lasts all day. Generally these act like a stain, so once you apply them the color is good for most of the day. While the package is definitely bulky, you do get a ton of product for your money; one stick will last you for years to come. If that's too much commitment or too much blush to cart around in your purse, Tarte offers a mini size which also lasts forever even though much smaller. Blushing Bride is definitely a shade to check out, it's an earthy warm berry that I've found to be much more flattering on pale skin than pinky reds like Benefit's Benetint. Tipsy is one of those fabulous peachy pinky shades that magazines tout for good reason as gorgeous on most skin, and especially perky when you're tired or sick. Tarte Cheekstains retail for $28 for the full size, $15 for the mini.