Clarins has a treat in store for every makeup lover, this this holiday season with their Palazzo d'Oro collection. The limited edition products embody the light and radiance of Venice, drawing inspiration for it's beautiful, golden palaces, subtle colors, and architecture. Naturally, the collection is gold-themed. Open the red, Clarins outer cartons, and find shiny/matte metal compacts, square, mirrored and protected by metallic pouches. The Gold Attraction Face Palette $57.00 is one of the most glam products I've ever seen for the holidays. Open the gorgeous, weighty, gold compact, and be dazzled by a beige powder embossed with a delicate, lace work pattern, glitzed all over with gold glitter. A light dusting of this sheer, golden powder adds just the right amount of golden shimmer to face and decollete. There's also a Gold Attraction Eye Quartet and Liner Palette $66.00. Two eye shadows, one highlight, an accent color, and a liner, in warm, earthy shades, arrive in the same gorgeous gold compact as the Gold Attraction Face Palette. *there's a lot more information about these products in the Advice Sisters Blog review.

For the holiday season, Dolce&Gabbana is serving up the glitz, with a party-perfect makeup collection called "Golden Beams." The color palette mixes shimmer with matte neutrals and golds. The outer compacts, naturally, are also elegant, shiny, gold. They have a modern glamour that reminds me of a time when women carried lipstick in tiny, sparkling, deco minaudieres, and bold applied it in public! The products are gorgeous, luxurious, and effective.  The results can't help but make you feel glamorous and beautiful. If you can only afford one little splurge for the holidays, make it from Dolce & Gabbana's Golden Beams Collection. You'll be "golden" in glamour, all season long. *read the rest of the review on the Advice Sisters Blog

Kristen Corcoran founded Larémin because she couldn't find makeup that she felt was healthy as well as beautiful.  and she wanted to make great mineral makeup available to women, everywhere. The Advice Sisters tried some of the new, Colors of Love collection featuring four loose powder eye shadows/liners, and two loose powder blushes, and one loose powder luminzer. The products arrive in traditional, shaker jars. I didn't try the entire collection, I recommend "Cherish" Blush $20.99,  a medium rose in a matte finish that  adds color that looks natural, but not so natural you can't see it. It looks amazingly pretty on just about everyone. I also tried the loose powder Eye Colour $9.49.  "Moonbeam" is a party-perfect ivory highlighter/shadow.  "Captivale" is a gorgeous, pearly brown, and "Fixation" is a low-sheen taupe-ish green that's modern and even just a tiny bit edgy. There's also a deep coffee-colored liner called "Midnight Espresso."  Loose powder shadows take a bit of care to apply, but these are blendable and long lasting.  TIP:  hold a tissue under your eye when applying the loose powder--most of the residue will fall on the tissue instead of all over your face. You can also apply a thick coating of loose powder, then whisk it away along with any loose powder shadow that has fallen below your eye.  I think I could really become a huge fan of high-quality Larémin products. If you want to try something new, and really nice, try something from this line!

When you're getting ready for a night out, you want to apply makeup that makes you feel glamorous.  Pixi's Flawless Finishing Powder $21.00 is just such a product. The square, lime-green compact with mirrored interior and a little pull-out drawer for the applicator sponge, is retro and chic. The powder sets your makeup so that it lasts, and while it's doing that, minerals like MalaKite, Rhodolite, Zincite, and hyaluronic acid, Vitamin A and E, provide good-for-your-skin ingredients for anti-aging, skin-firming, healing, and moisturizing. You'll feel ladylike using this compact, and your makeup will last a whole lot longer when you're out on the town, or even if you're just working in the office. One sheer, translucent color works for everyone. TIP:  Fix flaws fast, with  Pixi's Flawless Vitamin Concealer $18.00. It's a little swivel-up stick of silky, mineral, peach-toned concealer that is hypoallergenic, paraben, dye and talc-free, and has Vitamins A, C and E to diffuse light away from those "partied too much" dark circles and little lines. Small enough to pop into a tiny handbag, it is your secret weapon when you have to look fresh and lively (and even when you don't).

Mineral makeup is all the rage right now, but not all mineral makeup is created equal. One that I really like for it's multi-tasking friendliness, is Pur Minerals,  4-in-1 Pressed Mineral Makeup Foundation $24.50.  This natural mineral makeup is in a pressed powder form, in a mirrored compact, so you can take it anywhere, and you won't get loose powder all over you.  It's a full coverage foundation, concealer, powder and SPF 15 protection all in one. It comes in a variety of colors from light, to very deep. The silky texture is thanks to organic shea butter and vitamin E, and you won't find any harsh chemical dyes, talc, alcohol, fragrance or preservatives in it.  Even better, this product has titanium and zinc, offers an all-natural SPF protection. The product is gentle enough to use on any skin type, and it's even recommended by plastic surgeons and dermatologists. A lot of mineral makeup products are so sheer you can't use it for a truly polished makeup look. But this product really covers well, without looking mask-like. TIP: powder foundations are wonderfully easy to use, but using a good moisturizer first, especially if your skin is a bit dry, will help the product look even smoother. The compact includes a sponge applicator, but I prefer to apply it with a brush, such as Pur Minerals' Retractable Chisel Brush $24.00. It's super-soft, flat head of cropped bristles picks up the powder and distributes it perfectly. 

At New York Fashion Week, Maybelline was an official sponsor. And, the hit of the tents was Maybelline's Color Sensational Lipcolor.  With 48 intense colors to choose from, and a super-creamy feel (thanks to honey nectar), you will finally find intense shades that make you feel sensational, not silly. The cases are elegant,  jewel-toned, see-through plastic with a silver accent. The colors are intense and long lasting, but the formula is surprising: silky on the lips, with a moist but not too shiny look that's new, now.  Your lips will look and feel smooth (even if they're not perfect).  Try a luxe cream like "pink Petal," a deep, rose pink, or for absolute drama, "red Revival" is a deep, clear, lipstick red so classic, intense and genuine, you might just want to look at it’s beauty. If your skin is pale, you still can wear this!  It's great for everyone but especially for pale skin on whom reds can be problematic. For those who love pearle, "Sugared Honey" is a lovely and soft, warm nude. "Plum Tastic" is a berried plum, with a pearle, soft touch. The Maybelline web site has a color finder to help you find your perfect shades. TIP: Apply lipstick by starting in the center of your upper lip. Work from the center to the outer edges, following the contours of your mouth. Repeat the technique on your lower lip.

Bad Gal Mascara by BenFit Cosmetics has always been my favorite, go-to product when I want seriously dark, luscious lashes. But sometimes I want to soften the drama.  Luckily, BenFit  now has given me the option, with Bad Gal Brown Mascara $19.00,. It is soft but still deep brown -- a mascara perfect for those who want day time lashes that look gorgeous, but not too, too "made up."  The tube is long and slim, with a sleek, spiral brush that separates and colors, without clumps. Dark brown mascara colors even blonde lashes like black does, without the harshness. Bad Gal Brown Mascara is the perfect compliment to meta

Make-up Designatory (MUD)  is a line of makeup created for a genuine make up school, but you can DIY a pro-style look with some of their fine products. For a layerable Blush $16.50 that is available in 15 varied shades, that will last, and can go from sheer to intense with just a few more swipes with a blush brush, I like MUD! To warm up pale cheeks, try "Pumpkin," an earthy apricot that flatters almost all complexions. The Eye Shadow $13.50 can be used wet or dry, and can be layered to make a new color. For example, try the shimmered copper called "Cajun Spice" mixed with "Daisy," a bright yellow gold, to brighten up the color and take it to a whole, new level. These shadows are all richly pigmented, and feel soft and blendable. There are more than 41 shades to help you express your creativity. You can't help but look good, when you're using great products.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Kiss & Stay Gloss $7.99 is a two-–for one product that's perfect for lip product fanatics, and a great thing to carry in your purse. One side of the tube has a sponge-tipped applicator that dispenses an intense, long lasting lip stain with moist color, the other has a brush tip that slicks on a color enhancing, shimmery shine. You can use these separately, but they work best together . The glossy color base forms a lightweight, flexible film that gently bonds color to lips, as the topcoat seals in and enhances the color. We didn’t try it for the 10 full hours that this product supposedly can last but we did wear it through dinner and drinks Hours later, when the gloss wore off, the lip color remained as a soft stain. And our lips still felt moist! There are a dozen color combos to choose from. We liked Enduring Love, a deep warm rose with a soft pink shimmer gloss. More dramatic is First kiss, a mauve-ish shimmer gloss with a deep, American beauty rose lip color.

These days everyone is trying to make a bigger, better mascara brush. But L’Oreal went the other way with a tiny, round brush for its' newest product, L’Oreal Paris Telescopic Explosion Mascara The brush looks like a Medieval instrument of torture, but it helps to reach every eyelash--even the tiny ones in the corners that big brushes can’t reach.  The result is lashes that are colored down to the teeny weenie ones. At first, I wasn’t sure how I was going to like using a small, round brush, but the ball of bristles really goes in an spot treats any places you have missed. The mascara comes in basic black and brown, and in a striking red and black case that looks a bit like a spyglass. It’s got Pro-Vitamin B 5 to condition lashes and jojoba and palm oils for a soft texture that goes on easily. This novel and effective mascara is not expensive -- just $9.49,  so it’s definitely worth a try!  It will be available this month and makes a nice stocking stuffer.

Bobbi Brown brings all things bright and beautiful to her limited edition, holiday products. They arrive in the familiar, shiny, black, logo compacts, but jazzed up for the holidays with chrome tops so shiny, you can use them as mirrors (there are actual mirrors inside the compacts as well). Her main themes for the holiday season are a modern take on glitz: shimmery metallics and pearls, with a few matte options. But, as with all of Bobbi Brown's makeup items, the colors enhance your own, natural beauty without looking overly made-up. The formulas and colors are flexible, so you can make them work for daytime as well as for evening. Here are just a few of my favorites for pampering yourself, or to delight a lucky fashionista at holiday time. The photo shows the Earth Metal Lip & Eye Palette $60.00 but there is so much more to love in this collection, so check out the entire review on the Advice Sisters Blog

Josie Maran was a teen model, and the face of Maybelline for nearly a decade.  She also had a  successful acting career. But when Josie became a mom, she re-evaluated her priorities, and decided to use all that she'd learned about makeup, to create her own line. It's easy to like the luxe products that are kind to skin, and in eco-friendly, biodegradable packaging. I really like her Lip Plumping Gloss $20.00 that comes in a wanded tube with sponge tip, in six shades named for positive attributes, like Freedom, Optimism, Strength, and Bravery. I tried "Daring," a deep, shimmery pink that is universally flattering.  The plumping action comes from gentle but effective Marine Collagen that, when extracted from sea plants, has been proven to help lips retain their moisture. Use for 30 days and see plumper, nicer looking lips, but you'll also love it just for the pretty, hint of tint this luxe gloss, gives.

Mineral Fusion, new to our reviews, combines antioxidants and pharmaceutical grade minerals to create makeup you will want to wear, and that is good for your skin. The products are paraben and talc-free, provide some natural UV protection, and use natural colorants. The products are formulated with micronized minerals in a triple-milled process to keep them smooth and easily blended, plus they contain mica to diffuse light, so skin looks much better than bare.  in addition, the products have a "WRAP" benefit: • White tea –boosts the immune function of skin cells and protects against the damaging effects of the sun; • Red tea – contains antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that work to tighten and smooth the skin. • Antileukine 6® – controls photo-aging, balances hydration and protects the integrity of DNA; • Pomegranate – highly efficient in fighting free radicals; and  ellagic acid for healing the skin. The Advice Sisters tried a few products from the line. While many mineral-based lines only sell loose powder products, Mineral Fusion also has several "solid" products, including a Pressed Powder Foundation $39.00 that comes in a copper-y mirrored compact, offer three shades each of: cool, deep, neutral, olive, and warm. Use a brush and you'll get beautiful results. The product is moistly matte, and you can use your fingertip (or a brush) to apply a little bit more as concealer. There's also pressed Powder Concealer $30.00 in cool, neutral and warm, but I think the foundation does a great job on small flaws, too. For those who love bronzers, there's a pressed powder Bronzer Duo $39.00 offering a light shade and a contour shade in two types: "Sparkle" for an all over warm glow, and "Luster" with a sheen glow as well as a matte finish. The Luster seemed deeper than I'd normally use because I'm a paleface, but mineral makeup is more natural and forgiving, so it will work well for most everyone. I also liked the Mineral Fusion Lip Gloss $15.00. It is packaged in a wanded tube, and comes in seven shimmery colors. It has a tingle, and is silky and completely non-sticky. It feels luxe, but it's still affordable. I tried "Sea Star," a glowing, light pink that gives luminous,  not patent-leather-gooey, shine. All in all, these are impressive mineral makeup products that come in trendy colors, and are easy to use!

Victorias Secret makeup collections have always amazed me because they're beautiful, trendy, high performance, and yet, really affordable. For now and for the holidays, you can't go wrong treating yourself, or your BFFs, with anything from the limited edition Exotic Jewels Makeup Collection by supermodel and TV star, Heidi Klum. The mostly plum-centric palette has flattering options for every skin tone. And you can't help but admire the compacts, featuring intricate, Indian designs tinged with gold. Everything in the collection is gorgeous, but my favorite is the "Hidden Palace" Eye Shadow Palette $24.00 featuring shimmery shades of champagne, mauved-nude, bright berry, deep violet, and black. Add a deep, plum-colored, lash lengthening Mascara $13.00 in "Amethyst" and a party-perfect, plum-tinted Glitter Liner $12.00 in "Majesty." There are also plum-themed lip and face products to complete the collection.*check out the Advice Sisters Holiday Blog post about Victorias Secret Beauty, including a video with makeup artist Linda Hay, explaining how to use the Heidi Klum, holiday collection.

You’re getting ready for that special night out, and you’ve done your face. A final touch should be Maybelline New York’s Mineral Power All Over Sheer Shimmer Loose Powder Illuminator $13.99! Just a touch of this loose power, adds "Pow!" to your face and body. 100% micro-minerals brighten up your complexion for a year-round, sheer shimmer. The powder is enriched with mineral mica and mineral quartz for a soft, lightweight glow and illuminating finish Contains 0% oils, 0% talc and 0% fragrance and lasts for up to 8 hours. Sweep it all over your face and shoulders, or wherever else you please. It comes in Pink, Peach and Nude.  You wont’ get a lot of color, but you will get enough shimmer to add a festive touch without spending a fortune. "Sunrise Bronze"  gives you the same, shimmery, sheer look, with warm bronze as a bonus!  The powder comes with it’s own, mini-sized Kabuki brush for best application. It’s a little pick me up splurge that’s a must-have multi-tasker, or a nice stocking stuffer for a friend.