Sometimes I use the holidays to give a beauty gift of luxury; something I just don’t see that person buying for themselves necessarily. Here are 5 that will dazzle and delight!

1. TOO FACED Mr. Right Perfect Powder Brush ($36 @ sephora.com) – never underestimate the power of a quality makeup brush! It just feels so nice to sweep one across the skin, right?

2. BARE MINERALS ‘Precious Gems’ Lip Oil Balm Trio ($26 @ macys.com) – these are some of my favorite tinted balms and I always keep one tucked in my purse. Each has a hint of color you can actually see (hate when one promises tint and there is none!).

3. SEPHORA COLLECTION Ombré Obsession Eyeshadow Palette ($25 @ sephora.com) – OMG, how great is this palette?? I’d say it falls into the Product As Art category for sure. And what a great value at $25 (they claim it’s worth $175!). I can’t put enough exclamation points in this blurb about it!

4. HOURGLASS Nº 28 Lip Treatment Oil in Icon ($42 @ nordstrom.com) - lips are always center stage so you’ve got to keep them looking great in these cold temps. And this one has a dash of color in it.

5. ANASTASIA BEVERLY HILLS Contour Cream Kit $40 @ ulta.com, sephora.com) – I know I’ve tried using bronzers, eye shadows and other dark shades to contour with. Pick her up the right products to use for it, ok?

Disclosure: Some of these items were provided for review purposes. Some I bought.

You can also follow Cybele on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram

Unlike the trend of highlighting and contouring, or HACing, the trend of liquid lipsticks is pretty doable for anybody. With HACing, you really have to have some kind of idea of what you’re doing, what you want to bring forth or set back, blah, blah, blah. And yes, I don’t have it totally down either, just parts of my face.

With the liquid lipstick trend, it’s basically lip color on steroids so if you can apply lipstick or lip gloss, you can apply liquid lipsticks!

It seems to have started out as just a handful of brands a few years ago with MAC (I even have theirs in my Hall of Fame), Korres, Addiction NV (who I don’t think is around anymore), Make Up For Ever and L’Oreal and it wasn’t even called liquid lipstick; not even sure when the name liquid lipstick started surfacing with these.

I’m a fan of all the aforementioned brands but just in case you were wondering, I think the OG liquid lipstick brand has to be LipSense by SeneGence. Thoughts?

But now, this seems to be a full-on trend with whole brands being built just on it like Jeffree Star’s new collection, Pretty Zombie Cosmetics and I’m sure others I just haven’t caught up with just yet.

So just what is liquid lipstick anyways? Click after the jump to find out!

Click here to read more

Another week, another few obsessions!

Click here to read more

The secret to getting your makeup look done and out the door in 5 minutes is to use multi-taskers like ones that are tinted. Since you don’t have to be as precise with tinted versions, time is on your side. Here are some in each category you should cover in order to at least look polished.  

First up is a Tinted Moisturizer or tinted BB Cream. They can be applied with your fingers or a sponge and not only are they usually available in quite a few shades but they give just a hint of tint so you don’t have to worry about overdoing it. And some even come with a built-in SPF, so you’re saving a few extra seconds on your routine right there! Here are some I recommend:  

1. PIXI BEAUTY H2O Skintint $24/1.18oz @ target.com

2. BEAUTY ADDICTS Mineral SheerTINT $32/1.25oz @ beautyaddicts.com

3. MAYBELLINE Dream Pure BB 8-IN-1 Beauty Balm Skin Clearing Perfector $8.99/1oz @ maybelline.com and walgreens.com <--- this is a good one too if you are prone to acne.

4. TOO FACED Tinted Beauty Balm SPF 20 $34/1.5oz @ toofaced.com

Just remember that if you do choose one that doesn’t contain sunscreen, make sure you apply some before one of these. 

Click here to read more

1. MOTIVES Mavens Sculpt Series - $35 @ motivescosmetics.com

2. IT COSMETICS My Sculpted Face Contouring Palette - $38 @ ulta.com

3. MAKE UP FOR EVER Sculpting Kit - $48 @ sephora.com

4. REVLON PhotoReady Sculpting Blush Palette - $12.99 @ amazon.com

5. ANASTASTIA BEVERLY HILLS Contour Kit - $40 @ macys.com

Give a token of your appreciation to anyone in your life with ANASTASIA BEVERLY HILLS Mini Brow Kit ($25 @ nordstrom.com). It’s a few items to help get and keep those brows in presentable shape. Each set includes minis of a highlighter, tweezers and a clear brow gel.

Here are three to snap your brows into shape. We don’t care which ANASTASIA BEVERLY HILLS one you use to do it, just make sure you get at least one of these down. As you’ve heard a million times by now, brows are soooo important when it comes to your overall look. All @ net-a-porter.com

1. Brow Filler ($20) – duo-sided and sponge-tipped for filling in. The powder is slightly damp so it adheres to the skin/hair.
2. Go Brow – Universal Brow Pencil ($21) – this medium neutral brown color really seems universal! I always go to dark with my pencil or powder.
3. ‘Brow Wiz’ Mechanical Brow Pencil ($18) – has to be the slimmest, skinniest, on a diet brow pencil and it makes really thin lines so your work looks more natural.