HOW TO | Make your lipstick last

YOU'VE STYLED an up-do. You've slipped into your little black dress. And you successfully applied a killer bright lipstick for the amazing black tie gala you're attending tonight, but before you even valet the car, it's already disappeared! How does a girl get bright lipstick to stay put for an entire night without it straying onto her teeth or disappearing onto the rim of her glass? With these simple tricks...

Continue reading

Originally written by Jessica Teas for www.managemylife.com. Image credit: flickr.com/photos/auntiep/1429236910/sizes/m/in/photostream/

The silver bullet - Ellis Faas wants your blood

Alright, alright... that might be a bit of a lie. What she wants is for you to wear her signature Ellis Red lipstick, which is the colour of (you guessed it) blood. Her reasoning is that everyone bleeds and everyone's blood looks the same so it must be a universally flattering colour. The verdict? She's bang on. And her anatomical understanding of the human body (and the colours that lie therein) has prompted the eponymous collection of Human Colours for the Dutch makeup artist. How has it taken so long for someone to realize that within each of us already exists a full-spectrum, flattering colour palette? 

The succinct collection of lipstick, blush, eyeshadow, liner, mascara, foundation and concealer is inspired by us, and because of that, the colours seem to be capable of simply melting into the complexion. By this I mean, the makeup never looks like it's wearing you. You're the master of your look with Ellis Faas. For example, you can do a subtle smoky eye with the taupe E105 in the morning and wear it all day without looking like a dirty stop-out. In fact, you look downright sophisticated. People will wonder what you've done... why you look so good. Right after work, you can swipe on the Ellis Red (not too blue, not too orange) and head to the pub without looking like a painted lady. The colours in the collection simply enhance you, sometimes a touch theatrically but never garishly.

Click to read more ...

MAC Viva Glam compacts

This little product is fantastic for the holiday season, not least of all because red lips are the accessory to be seen in this season. The nicely baroque compact is pretty in and of itself and MAC was wise enough to create two palettes -- a warm and a cool one (with reds it's especially important to get that right or you might end up looking garish). And, every single penny of the sale price goes to the MAC Aids foundation. Not just a sliver of it... ALL. OF. IT.

Another compact of reds we like, and think merits a mention here, is the 3 Custom Color Specialists A Century in Red lip palette which has 10 different reds to represent each of the decades. We bring it everywhere.