Trends come and trends go… but neutral shades are always "in".  This seasons browns range from sparkling champagnes to deep, ashen chocolates.  Here are some great choices for the perfect neutral eye this season. 

	Looking for a feather-light eyeshadow that glides on like silk?  Benefit Silky Powder Eyeshadow is the solution.  Part of the Love Your Look collection, these shadows are amazingly refined.  No need to worry about creasing!  They wear well, and the shade "soft shoulder" is a warm medium brown that creates a gorgeous neutral eye.  Retail price is $18.  Click HERE to buy these shadows from Benefit Cosmetics.
	Who says matte equals flat?  Urban Decay's matte shadow collection proves that shadow can be dramatic without the shimmer.  This Fall, Urban Decay launched "Shakedown" pictured at left. This matte shade is a gorgeous mushroom brown color.  This shade is equally perfect to add drama to your office look, or to wear to an evening event!  Urban Decay Matte Eyeshadow retails for $16, and can be found at Urban Decay and Sephora.com and Beauty.com.
	I've written about BECCA's Ultimate Mascara in the past.  I was so excited to hear that this Fall Becca has added a new shade of mascara to the "ultimate" family!  This bronze mascara is a deep chocolate brown with just a hint of metallic shimmer.  Best of all is that it's tubing technology makes it impervious to smudging.  Retail price is $24.  Check it out at the BECCA website.
	TINte recently introduced the Match Book.  Three palette shades take the guess work out of creating a smoky eye, a blushing complexion, or a beautiful neutral eye.  Each palette retails for a mere $28, and includes two eye shadows, a dreamy cream eyeliner, blush and two lip shades.  The "Natural Beauty" palette comes with 2 applicator brushes, and step-by-step instructions on how to achieve that perfect, neutral look!  Click HERE to check it out at TINte cosmetics.
	This Fall, tarte has expanded their emphasEYES eye pencil from one color (the original emphasEYES is black) to four!  Options like green and plum are super-fun, but the classic brown shade named "chocolate" is the one you'll turn to over and over again.  Use this pencil on the inner rims of the eyes for a dramatic smoky brown eye, or on the outside for a natural, minimalistic look.  Retails for $18 at tarte online, Sephora.com and Beauty.com.
	CARGO recently expanded their PlantLove brand (previously only lipsticks) to an entire line of cosmetics… eyeshadow, bronzer, illuminator, eye pencils, lip pencils and so much more! PlantLove is made with the finest natural and organic ingredients and free of parabens, phthalates, petrochemicals, and synthetic dyes and fragrances. The shadows are high- pigment and long-wearing.  The shade "Pelican" is a gorgeous, pale champagne that works as a fantastic base shade for a shimmery neutral eye.  CARGO's PlantLove shadow retails for $20, and can be found at Sephora.com

How can it be that the Fall launch of Urban Decay's 24/7 Concealer Pencil is the first time in my life I'm ever using a concealer in this form? The pointed tip on these creamy pencils is amazing for pinpointing tiny blemishes, and also conceals undereye circles just as well.

Part of the Fall 2008 collection, Urban Decay's genius product is available in 4 shades (CIA- light, DEA- ivory beige, FBI- neutral beige and NSA- deep beige) to ensure a match for a variety of complexions.  Personally, I'm fond of keeping two shades on hand… something I don't ordinarily do with concealer!  I use a lighter shade for the undereye area, and a slightly darker shade to conceal blemishes or redness.  These compact, chunky pencils are easy to tote around, and since sharpening them also sanitizes them, you can use them for much longer than the standard concealer!

Planning to buy one (or more) of these concealer pencils?  Do invest in the new Urban Decay adorable Grind House pencil sharpener to keep them sharp and tidy.  The left side sharpens thin pencils, and the right sharpens chunky pencils.  Not only is Grind House only adorably cute, it sharpens pencils smoothly and perfectly with no jagged edges and no broken product.

24/7 Concealer retails for $16, Grind House pencil sharpener retails for $8.

Click HERE to buy 24/7 Concealer from Urban Decay

Click HERE to buy 24/7 Concealer from Sephora

Click HERE to buy 24/7 Concealer from Beauty.com

Like what you just read? Be sure to head to the Raging Rouge Beauty Blog homepage for more makeup reviews, product swatches and beauty news.

Shop the makeup counters at your local department store and you'll notice one color dominates this fall:  PURPLE!  Whether it be a vibrant plum or an almost-black aubergine, there are countless options for working the color purple into your look this Fall.  I've had the opportunity to give many of them a test-drive.  Here are some must-try purple options for Fall!

	Urban Decay launched three new matte shadows for Fall, including "Heist" pictured at left. This matte shade is a smoky grayish purple. Just a tiny hint of the color purple, perfect for those of you fearful of vibrant eye color! Urban Decay Matte Eyeshadow retails for $16, and can be found at Urban Decay and Sephora.com and Beauty.com.
	Thought you couldn't wear a purple lipstick?  The deliciously sheer plum lipstick shade by Urban Decay named "Vinyl" will make you think again.  This baby is universally flattering, and the formula is creamy and nourishing!  Retail is $22.  Check it out at Urban Decay, beauty.com or Sephora.com.
	Satin, lustre and matte finishes are all combined in this extremely rich shadow quad by MAC. "Shadowy Lady", part of the Cult of Cherry collection, contains limited edition shadows in shades of lilac, purple and a deep electric blue. Retail is $36.  Check it out at MAC online.
	tarte cosmetics offers this incredible dual-ended product for creating the perfect purple eye.  Indelible Wink in plum is a combination liquid liner and matte shadow that is perfectly portable and so simple to use. Indelible Wink can be found for $22 at tarte online, Sephora.com and beauty.com.
	Creating a purple smoky eye for yourself this fall?  tarte's legendary emphasEYES is now available in plum!  Intended for use on the inner rims of the eye, this precise pencil retails for $18 at tarte online, Sephora.com and Beauty.com.
	Benefit Cosmetics certainly knows how to play with color to make the eyes "pop"! The recently launched BADgal plum makes any eye-color look more intense and vibrant… while making lashes appear longer and more voluminous!  BADgal products by benefit can be found at benefit cosmetics online and Sephora.com.  BADgal Plum retails for $19.
	This ever-so-versatile creaseless cream eyeshadow/liner by benefit is available in a gorgeous lavender shade named "gossip".  Ideal for subtly working some purple into your routine, this amazing product blends like a dream. I'm a fan of using this as a shadow on my lids, or as a liner at times I'd normally opt for gray.  Snag this shadow for $19 at benefit cosmetics online or Sephora.com
	Not one… not two… but three Milano Trio eyeshadow palettes will help you achieve a perfect purple eye, courtesy of Borghese Cosmetics!  These silky shadows wear forever, and are even formulated to help soften the delicate skin around the eye.  Puccini Plum (top), Tuscan Plum (center) and Violetta Venezia (bottom) provide color options from warm brownish-plums to cool royal-purples.  Retail price is $33 at Borghese.
	Don't be surprised.  In OPI's new Couture Collection, La Collection de France, four of the twelve shades are gorgeous shades of purple.  Yes, 1/3 of the entire collection!  The image to the left is Parlez-vous Opi?, a smoky violet that is white hot this season.  (Please try to ignore my raggedy cuticles!)
	Looking for purple with a bit of an edge?  OPI's Eiffel For This Color is an extremely dark black grape shade with a hint of shimmer.  Fantastic for those looking for something to wear to a special party.
	OPI Louvre Me, Louvre Me Not is a grape/fuchsia combination that transcends season.  This vibrant purple would look equally great slopeside or seaside.
	OPI's Yes… I Can-Can! is a deep, dark eggplant shade that is urban-chic in a bottle.  OPI polish retails for $7.50 and is free of Formaldehyde, Toluene and DBP.  Click HERE to head over to the OPI website to check out the whole collection.  For locations that sell OPI, click HERE to find a retailer near you, or head to drugstore.comto buy a bottle online!
	butter LONDON's Prince's Plums is a deep purple with an iridescent bluish hue.  How can I describe this unusual shade to do it justice?  Ok:  If a human could see the color "ultraviolet", this is what I imagine it would look like.  It's almost super-natural!
	This extremely dark royal purple has a touch of a champagne shimmer to it, making it classic and regal.  Branwen's Feather by butter LONDON is the shade of purple you should choose if you'd ordinarily select a shimmery burgundy.  Click HERE to head over to butter LONDON to check out their fantastic selection!  A bottle of butter LONDON polish retails for $12, and is free of Formaldehyde, Toluene and DBP.
	I first wrote about sukicolor pure cream stain back in April… and certainly haven't forgotten about this gem!  This pigment-rich cream can be used on both cheeks and lips, and it's deep purplish-burgundy hue is on-trend for Fall!  Head over to sukicolor online to read more, or you can shop the complete line of sukicolor makeup at Upurea.com.  Retail is $40.
	Dior jumped on the purple bandwagon by introducing the shade "Plum" in the Diorshow Mascara family! This almost-black shade of eggplant is a fantastic way to add length and volume to your lashes. Naturally, this 2008 best of Sephora winner does not disappoint where mascara is concerned!  This limited edition mascara retails for $24 at Sephora.com.
	The Princess Palette by Bella Il Fiore is an excellent choice for those in search of a fantastic purple smoky eye.  Six different shades of purple are complemented by a military green shade, and a bronze shade.  Pigment-rich and super shimmery, this palette strives to get you noticed!  The Bella Il Fiore palette retails for $14, and can be found at Bella Beauty online.

Like what you just read? Be sure to head to the Raging Rouge Beauty Blog homepage for more makeup reviews, product swatches and beauty news.

Speaking of the return of lipstick, Urban Decay has released a collection of 22–count them–22 different shades of rich, creamy color for the Fall.  Ranging in shades from deep, dark red to pale, shimmery taupe, every color you could possibly need in your makeup arsenal is represented.

I love the Gen X-inspired packaging.  It's glamorous with a hint of wickedness, a heavy purple tube adorned with a dagger.  Enjoy the little details on this lipstick… Urban Decay thought of everything!  Twist the lipstick out of its tube and you'll spy a dagger and the words "Urban Decay" actually etched into the side of the product like a secret message to each owner.  Love it!

Sure, I'm a sucker for cool packaging, but the product is superior as well (or I wouldn't be mentioning it here)!  My lips feel moisturized when I apply these lippies (thanks to Vitamins A, C and E in the formula).  Lips look smoother, and the color lasts eternally.  Oh, I almost forgot to mention the yummy scent of caramel! 

Older consumers may be put-off by the youthful packaging of these products.  That's truly a shame, because Urban Decay has proved with their Fall 2008 collection that their makeup is decidedly sophisticated. 

Urban Decay Lipstick retails for $22.

Click HERE to buy Urban Decay Lipstick from Beauty.com

Click HERE to buy Urban Decay Lipstick from Sephora.com

Click HERE to head over to Urban Decay online to grab a few!

Like what you just read? Be sure to head to the Raging Rouge Beauty Blog homepage for more makeup reviews, product swatches and beauty news.

Last Fall, chatter about the "return of lipstick" abounded, but when the holiday season rolled around, it was gloss set after endless gloss set… with nary a lipstick to be seen.

This year, the lipstick truly has returned to the spotlight… and tarte has introduced a set of four lipsticks and a lipliner infused with the famous t5 super fruit complex for Fall called lip couture that retail for a mere $32 (that’s only $8 per lipstick!).  Haven’t tried them yet myself, but you can be sure they’ve made my short list of must-haves for the Fall!

These lipsticks are free of parabens, phthalate, mineral oil, sulfate, propylene glycol and fragrance.  The set even comes with a mini lip pencil, to achieve pout perfection!

Lipstick Shades include:
• aura: deep brick red
• eden: nude beige
• paradise: sheer peachy-nude
• utopia: warm mauve berry

Click HERE to buy Tarte Lip Couture from Sephora.com

Click HERE to snag tarte Lip Couture t5 Super Fruit Infused Lipstick Set at Beauty.com

Click HERE to check it out at the tarte Cosmetics website!

I recently confessed to a friend that while my favorite season for weather is Summer, my favorite season for makeup is Fall.

Rich, elegant colors and warm, inviting hues always catch my eye.  Lovers of Fall makeup are most certainly snapping up products from MAC Cosmetics Cult of Cherry collection, a limited-edition to be sold only through October.

Looking for the perfect lip-color to pair with MAC's "Illegal Purple" nail lacquer?  Look no further– this sleek matte lip color named "Bing" is a deep eggplant shade that both Marilyn Monroe and Marilyn Manson would find appealing.

Bonus:  The incredibly dark shade of this lipstick made my teeth appear shockingly white!

Retails for $14.50 at MAC Cosmetics online, macys.com and Nordstrom.com.  Also available in Kirsch, Chock-ful and Rapturous.

Like what you just read? Be sure to head to the Raging Rouge Beauty Blog homepage for more makeup reviews, product swatches and beauty news.

Over a year ago, I raved about Pout Plump Lash mascara. I immediately loved the enormous fluffy applicator brush as much as the pitch black mascara it applied. Only months after my review, Pout announced they would cease operations by January 2008. Since then, I’ve been hunting for a mascara that offered the incredible applicator brush I raved about in 2007.

Finally, this Fall, tarte has launched Lash Hugger Mascara. Voila! The void has been filled. Not only is the wand incredibly fluffy, but this naturally-formulated mascara strives to be environmentally friendly!  The mascara tube itself is an ultra-sleek post-consumer recycled aluminum.

Lash Hugger mascara is paraben, phthalate, sulfate mineral-oil, propylene glycol, fragrance and synthetic dye free.  It also contains skinvigorating ingredients to keep your lashes healthy and conditioned while imparting the most incredible volume and pitch-black color.

Click the link below to be taken to this product at Sephora, where a close-up of the incredible applicator wand is featured for your viewing pleasure!

Retail price is $18.

Click HERE to buy Tarte Lash Hugger Natural Mascara at Sephora

When I was 10, the pinnacle of style was my best friend’s teen-aged sister.  One of her favorite pastimes was improving the appearance of models in fashion magazine by drawing a perfect, blue line in pen on the inner rim of their eyes.  My friend and I marveled at how her sister "improved" their makeup with this little touch.

Fast-forward to my middle-school years.  My female classmates and I all agreed… the only way to apply liner was on the inner rim of the eye.  Our Orwellian group-think mentality probably kept Maybelline profits at an all-time high.  We all wore a blue shade of Maybelline eyeliner that had the added bonus of coming with two pencils per pack.

Fast-forward one more time to the modern-day "smoky eye".  Wondering why your home version isn’t as piercing as the look models are sporting?  Perhaps you’re missing this critical step: tarte emphasEYES.

To dismiss tarte’s "emphasEYES" as yet another eyeliner in a sea of choices would be a mistake.  Originally launched in only black, this eye pencil was designed specifically for lining the inner rims of the eyes.  With this Fall’s introduction of smoky eyes in a broader spectrum of color, tarte has added chocolate (a rich brown), plum (a deep purple) and green (an emerald shade) to the collection.

Don’t limit the use of this pencil to only the inner rims of your eye!  This pinpoint precision retractable eye pencil is as small as the business end of a protractor, making it a snap for drawing a barely-there line in the lashes.

I can’t possibly recommend one color.  I’ve tried–and LOVE–them all!

Retails for $18.  Can be found on the tarte website, Beauty.com and at Sephora.com.

This was originally published in early 2008… but with Fall coming fast and furious, it’s time for a refresher from Fashion Week!

For those of you die-hard fashion and beauty fans, below here are some Fall 2008 looks from Fashion Week created by makeup artist Tina Turnbow for Beauty.com at Wayne, Charlotte Ronson and Lela Rose.  Don’t miss the fabulous locks designed by Oscar Blandi at Jenny Kayne!  Click HERE to visit Beauty.com to re-create these looks at home, or click a link below to check out one of the many products used during Fashion Week.

New designer Wayne wanted a clean, monochromatic face that played up the neutral tones in her collection. Tina Turnbow used: Face:  Stila Perfecting Concealer, Stila Pressed Powder; Eyes:  Stila Dune Eye Shadow, Stila Major Lash Mascara; Cheeks: Left bare with pressed powder. Lips: Stila Darling Long Wear Lip Color. Brows: Brushed up with Stila Medium Brown Powder.

To bring to life Charlotte Ronson’s European 1960’s inspired collection Ted and Tina worked together to create a sweet and sexy, effortless look. Tina Turnbow again dips into Stila!  Ted Gibson designs the hair, using Ted Gibson products. Eyes: Stila Kajal Eye Liner, Stila Smudge Pots in Black to draw the lower lashes, Stila Major Lash Mascara. Cheeks: Stila Smudge Pots in Bronze to create freckles. Lips: Stila Kajal Eye Liner in Topaz, Flushed Lipstick. Hair: Ted Gibson Build It, Hair Sheets, Beautiful Hold Hair Spray.

Lela Rose wanted the beauty look for her collection to be “Jerry Hall meets Park Ave.” So Tina chose a teal liner and smudged it around the eyes for a classic look. Ted styled the hair in a voluminous half up style. Face: Concealer, Foundation, Dolce Vita Blush. Eyes: Kaliste (Teal) Liner, Lili Marlene Single Cream Eyeshadow, Mascara. Lips: Risky Business Lip Gloss, Greek Holiday Lip Gloss. Hair: Build It, Tame It, Hair Sheets.

At Jenni Kanye, Jenni’s moody collection mixed the 90’s grunge scene with classic looks from the 30s and 40s. Oscar Blandi gave the hair texture and created perfectly undone coifs to give the look balance. Product Used: Pronto Dry Shampoo, Proteine di Jasmine – Protein Mist for Restyling Hair.

Many thanks to representatives from Beauty.com for allowing Raging Rouge to republish this!

Readers– pay close attention.  I guarantee you that the deep eggplant purple shade pictured at left–named Illegal Purple–will be THE "it" nail polish for the Fall season. This gorgeously edgy nail color is just one of many reasons that MAC worshipers will be lined up at their local MAC counters on August 21st (today!) to celebrate the introduction of Cult of Cherry, a MAC Cosmetics Fall 2008 Color Collection.

This almost-black shade of Nail Lacquer by MAC has a vampy vibe to it, but the undertone is purple rather than red.  Urban chic to the extreme, this color is striking, but not too over the top.  The ultimate combination of punk and royalty, Illegal Purple is equally suitable for rockstars or executives.  LOVE this sinful nail color!

The frugal among you will also love to hear that the retail price of this polish is an affordable $10 per bottle.  Even better news:  MAC nail Lacquer is DBP, Toluene and Formaldehyde free! 

Find it at MAC Cosmetics Online, NORDSTROM.com, macys.com and other fine beauty retailers.

This collection is only available until October 2008, so grab your favorites while you can!