DuWop

Is it just me, or did eyebrows suddenly become the big beauty thing? It used to be that you'd use your favorite brown or taupe shadow to fill in thin or light hairs and add structure to your face. Now, kits are available in all sizes and prices. Some include tweezers, brushes, stay-proof waxes and multi-color shadows, while others have fewer bells and whistles but still get the job done. Below are my personal favorite eyebrow kits; what are yours?

• Anastasia Brow Ex-press in Brunette ($38) is one of my favorites. Her tweezers are amazingly precise and I really like being able to blend all of these colors without having to spend a fortune.
• Le Sourcil de Chanel ($46.60) has a thick, waxy texture that blends surprisingly well, and leave it Chanel to choose just the right combo of colors to suit just about any brow color.
• Too Faced Brow Envy Brow Shaping & Defining Kit ($35) has an unbelievable price for all it includes. Inside of the pink polka-dot box comes two powder shades, molding wax, stencil, mini-tweezers, mirror, brown pencil with a blending tip and an angled brush.
• Ramy Beauty Therapy Miracle Brow ($28) is near and dear to my heart because it's the first brow kit I ever used. The creamy gel texture blends like silk and leaves your brows not only darker but also well groomed — this is a winner!
• DuWop Browwow in Darker ($34) is small, but it does the trick every time. Inside of the pink compact lies a colored powder, a shimmery highlighter and a tinted gloss to use when you're finished and a double sided brush for precise application and flawless blending.

Usually eye shadows come in palettes that have either a powder or cream consistency, so it's rare when you find a few dynamite duos that contain one of each. Here are three amazing cream and powder eye shadow pairs that I think you'll love as much as I do.

A few days ago I promised you more info on the Laura Mercier Eye Colour Pot ($32) from the Gold Digger collection (which totally looks like the Senna Cosmetics Mineral Mix Blush & Tint). The top of the container houses a cream eye shadow and the bottom holds the loose powder shadow. The colors can be blended together (cream color is typically applied first) for an intensified eye, or worn separately. It comes in bronzed gold, solid gold, and white gold.

DuWop Smoke ($28) is a dual cream and powder eye shadow palette that makes creating smoky eyes a cinch. I have olive branch and plum wine and I use them all the time, day or night. All you have to do is swipe the cream shadow over your lid in the area between your top lashes and your crease and then add the powder shadow on top to set it. The compact comes with two mini-brushes and is available in four shades.

For one other cream and powder eye shadow pair, read more

When I heard about this new Cheek Venom ($24) from DuWop, I had mixed feelings of fear and excitement. While I know that tons of you are fans of the famous Lip Venom, I feel it's far too spicy and tingly for my sensitive lips. The good news is that Cheek Venom still tingles when applied, but my cheeks are much less sensitive.

Believe it or not, Lip Venom has been out for 10 years already. This new product was inspired by the cult classic in the hopes of creating a new one (I guess you guys will be the judge of that). Like the gloss, this also has that same super-spicy cinnamon-gum scent and it works to stimulate your circulation to create a natural-looking flushed effect.

Cheek Venom provides long-lasting color and the texture is thin, smooth, and easily spreadable. It contains silicone, hyaluronic acid, and essential oils that even make it good for you. You can apply it with your fingertips or with a firm brush. Cheek Venom is available in two shades. For color descriptions, read more

I'm excited that DuWop has finally released its Spring 2008 products. I think it's admirable when brands don't release an entire collection and capitalize on the hype; rather, they create a few great unique products that make their overall line better. That's the case for Beauty Innovation, the three new additions to DuWop.

The new items are Doubleglow 7 ($25), a luminous face balm, and Prime Venom ($20), a plumping lip balm primer. But I am most stoked about Liplingo ($32), two lip palettes in nude or pink that allow you to custom create your own perfect lip shade. Both contain a base color lipstick, a lip balm, and three glosses. These "secret weapons" should ensure that you have glowing skin and a perfect pout for Spring.

For additional information on each of the new products, read more

DuWop just can't stop re-inventing ways to push its famous Lip Venom on us. Last year they created a silver version, and this year we can plump our lips to out-of-this-world proportions with Moon Venom ($17). So far in 2008, I'm sensing things are going to be galaxy-themed—has anybody else noticed that?

Even though Moon Venom is technically the same formula as the original, what makes it different is that opalescent shimmer has been added to the mix of cinnamon, wintergreen and ginger essential oils.

While I won't be purchasing this gloss —this stuff is way too tingly for my taste — I'm sure lots of you are excited that your favorite lip plumper has a new special twist.

DuWop fans will be pleased to hear that this brand is a big supporter of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This new and adorable Purse Your Lips ($24) mini purse houses its Pink Shimmer Lip Venom (you know, the mega lip plumper that put them on the map). Ten percent of proceeds will be given to Cancer and Careers.

Cancer and Careers is an organization I have mentioned before that helps provide inspiration, guidance, help and insight to working women living with cancer.

If you don't already own a tube of Lip Venom, now's your chance to stock up on a must-have makeup staple — and help a good cause at the same time. To use it, simply brush on the gloss with the applicator and watch as your lips turn a plump and shimmering rosy shade!

About a month ago, I did a giveaway of the day and the product was Duwop Payoff Eyeshadow Intensifier ($17). After reading about it, I was so impressed with what makeup artist Victorio Esparza had to say, that I knew I just had to try it for myself!

All I can say is wow! What makes this product so unique is that it amazingly turns any powder shadow into a creamy, blendable texture as opposed as to just watering it down into a liquid. Funny enough, since it's water based, it won't mess up your eye shadows and leave them hardened so that you have to scrape off the top layer to use it properly again. Does anybody else hate that?

So, I'm addicted. The only downfall is that you need to allow a few seconds for drying time—something you wouldn't normally have to do with a naturally creamy shadow—but really, it's not the end of the world. Have any of you tried it? If so, what do you think?

See reader reviews of this product and add your own here!

Part II of my series on bright blue makeup focuses on turquoise eyeshadow. Elizabeth Taylor first made the azure eye famous when she played Cleopatra. This season, history repeats itself and we see all kinds of color-blocking fashions, with cosmetics following suit.

You don't need to be quite as dramatic as Taylor, who paired her bold blue shadow with a dramatized wing-tip liner. But then again, who's to say that you can't walk like an Egyptian if you want to?

Nars Eye Shadow Duo in South Pacific ($31) is a shimmering turquoise and a dark aquamarine powder eye shadow duo that can be layered for a dramatic, edgy evening look or dusted lightly over the eye for a soft romantic twist on the traditional smoky eye.

For two more turquoise blue eye shadows, read more