Warning: Prepare to become fiercely obsessed with the following product.

Forget the gift guides and the wish lists, and don’t even wait for the Holidays – get this exclusive Make Up For Ever Wild & Chic Aqua Cram Premium Set now.  Aptly named – the set is wildly chic and over-the-top premium, and once you get it you’ll undoubtedly want to show it off and take it with your wherever you go.  It truly may be the perfect collection – it’s luxurious, stacked with 10 of the most wearable, versatile colors that are easy to apply, waterproof, crease-proof, buildable and full of rich pigments, accompanied by a blending brush, and housed in a patterned tin that looks like it could be something out of the Rachel Zoe collection. Checkmate.

The Beauty Bug’s favorite shadows include #13, a warm beige that looks good on every skin tone (think Stila’s Kitten), #2, a steel/pewter color, and #15, a taupe perfect for everyday. The smooth formulas glide across lids, and easily blend together when you want to get creative and mix colors. The Beauty Bug likes to use her fingers for blending, and then uses the brush to take the shadow in Her inner corner and under the lash line for some added drama and intrigue.

Don’t let the price of these dream creams scare you off  - they are sold individually for $22 so the value of the set is $242. Plus, how can you put a price on perfection?

The MAKE UP FOR EVER Wild & Chic Aqua Cream Premium Set is available at Sephora for $175. 

Disclosure: A press sample was provided to The Beauty Bug. 

Prescriptives Fall Collection, Daring, is both bold and neutral. It possesses an alluring mystique and sophistication. The core new collection consists of four limited edition Fall Dimensions Eye Color Quads, one for each color family, a limited edition Fall Dimensions for Cheeks and Eyes, and a limited edition Sparkle Eye Pencil.

Only a few days into fall and just starting to get used to wearing long sleeves again, The Beauty Bug was looking for a shadow that matched the brisk mood. Relic, from the red/orange color quad, was the color that attracted Her; it’s a burnt amber with just the right amount of sparkle. It complimented her new MM Couture by Miss Me jersey perfectly. She applied Malt Sparkle to Her lid, and blended Relic into the crease first with a smaller more concentrated brush, then continued to blend with a bigger, fluffier brush.  Warm and rich, the color made Her brown eyes pop.

The Beauty Bug’s other collection pick is the Dimensions for Cheeks and Eyes. She uses this as a highlighter and applies it from the outer edge of Her eyebrow to the top of Her cheekbone to create a glow.

Prescriptives Daring fall collection is available at Prescriptives.com and at Prescriptives counters nationwide. Fall Dimenions Eye Color Quad retails for $42. Fall Dimensions for Cheeks and Eyes retails for $35.

When The Beauty Bug visited Her local MAC store and spoke to the makeup artist about the quad, the artist was most excited about Nanogold, a discontinued iridescent sheer yellow pink frost that applies with a gorgeous sheen. It can be used both as an all-over lid color and a highlighter on the brow bone. Other colors in the quad include Brash, a frosty reddish copper; Spiced Chocolate, a dirty deep reddish brown matte; and Sweet Chestnut, a rich cranberry frost.  Part of the Cult of Cherry Collection, the quad is very glamodrama, yet still very everyday. See The Beauty Bug’s photos below for an easy fall eye. Apply Beige-ing shadestick all over the lid, followed by Nanogold. Work Sweet Chestnut and Brash into the lid and blend. Apply while burning an Autumn Leaves Yankee Candle.

MAC’s Spiced Chocolate Quad is available for $36 at MAC stores and counters, and online at maccosmetics.com.

According to the Sephora.com, the shadow on the model is Nars Cream Eyeshadow in Corfu.Well wouldn’t you know, The Beauty Bug already had that shadow (but on the cover it looked nothing like it did in the store)! After determining that She had all She needed to create that look, She continued to converse with the sales woman in Sephora and discuss cream eye-shadows. The Sephora rep informed The Beauty Bug that all cream eye-shadows crease, so She should be sure to use a primer. No problem The Beauty Bug thought to Herself, She would use her Laura Geller lid primer.The following day The Beauty Bug woke up extra early for work. She wanted to make sure she had ample time to experiment with her eye makeup. She even thought She might add some MAC Lipglass on to finish off the look and give it an extra sheen. She applied the primer, and then the cream shadow. The result couldn’t have been farther from the look on the Sephora catalog. The color was a lame light brown, not bronze and almost instantly the primer had mixed in with the cream shadow, making the color lighter and less bold. The Beauty Bug was absolutely positive that this wasn’t the shadow on the Sephora catalog cover. Fast forward to 2PM, and the Beauty Bug is noticing major creasing!

Unhappy with her NARS cream shadow experience, The Beauty Bug wandered over to the Bobbi Brown counter this past weekend and decided to put another cream shadow to the test. The Bobbi Shadow is a lot thicker in consistency and texture. After finally getting the attention of the snooty salesman who barely even spoke to her, She purchased new Long-wear cream shadows in Beach Bronze.

While She’d normally side with the welcoming, chatty Sephora rep, The Beauty Bug must admit that the stuck-up Bobbi salesman was right – no primer needed and no creasing at all. Somewhere in Boston the Sephora makeup artists nose is growing for lying to The Beauty Bug!

May the Beauty Bug suggest POP Beauty’s Sugar Shine as well as their Eye Cake. The Beauty Bug was sent the Sugar Shine in Maxed. The two colors compliment each other perfectly, moisturize Her lips well, and smell great (they smell of sweet wild berries). She prefers the sheer red because it gives her just enough color and lets her achieve that “bitten” look. If you’re looking for something with high shine, try using the Sugar Shine as a base, and then apply Lip Jam over it.

The Beauty Bug also received Eye Cake in Bright Eyes, which is a bright palette of coordinating pink eye shadows which enhance and draw attention to the eyes. She must admit, at first she wasn’t quite sure how to use these pinks as eye shadows – She’d never been so daring as to stray from her brown shadows. So, for those who are like the Beauty Bug and are a bit hesitant – take baby steps. The Beauty Bug started small and began blending the pinks with a neutral brown, and her eyes definitely did POP. This way you can work yourself up to using the pinks, and when you do, you’ll be glad you did. She also brushed some of the paler pinks on her cheeks as blush, and it gave her a rosy glow.
Happy Valentine’s Day Ladies!

Sugar Shine ($14) and Eye Cake ($19) are available at Sephora.com.

Since the smokey is so in right now, and ocasionally can be hard to master, I was very excited when DuWop came out with Smoke, “the easiest way to get sultry bedroom eyes – a user-friendly palette…” I recently purchased the black/gold palette with high hopes.

Now, let me start by saying that I wanted to like this palette, I really did. And some of you reading this may think that I’m a harsh critic, but I’m not – I just have standards, espcially when I’m spending good money for these products. So, I used it several times with the hopes that my opinon would change, and I’d somehow have the hottest smokey eyes going, but I didn’t. The eye shadow is nice, but the eye liner is bascially non-existent. It’s sort of waxy, doesn’t apply well, and isn’t bold enough.

I felt a lot better about my conclusion about this product when I was just talking to a fellow beauty junkie on IM. Without even knowing what I thought about the product, here’s what she said: “I hate the eyelinner too! It is too sheer and the color is just wrong on me -I thought it would be fun/different and it just makes me look tired.”

Like I said, the eyeshadow is nice, but not worth $28. So, to my disapointment, I haven’t found the secret to creating the perfect eye yet. Have you?

Urban Decay Eye Shadow in Maui Wowie – This is a georgous shade even on its’ own. It has silver, gold and brown hues depending on what it’s paired with and also has little specs of glitter in it. I like it because it’s a bold, substancial color for your lid.

MAC Eye Shadow in Satin Taupe – This is the very first eyeshadow that I ever bought when I was 13 or 14. It’s sort of the old standby – taupe brown with a silvery bronze shimmer. I haven’t used it in a while, but just recently brought it out of retirement to use with Maui Wowie and they are a great pair. Wear this in the crease.Don’t be afraid to use a lot of it and then just blend blend and blend some more!

Pair this with a sheer shimmery lip – nothing too bold so they aren’t competing. What best about this look is that it’s good for day or night and can be adjusted according for work, or play. For night, you might accent the Satin Taupe with a darker brown in the very corner of your eye – like MAC Eye SHadow in Twinks. Don’t forget to apply a primer first so the shadow sticks, I like Laura Geller’s eye Spackle.

Do your Holiday and New Year’s Eve up big this year with the new Crystal Eve Holiday Collection by Lancome. Included in the collection are the Diamond Soiree and the Embellished Eye Palettes as well as well as a new shade of Juicy Gelee in Crown Jewel and false eyelashes. I wish I knew how to put these on!

In the past 10 years the only item that I’ve purchased from Clinique is their Turnaround 15 Minute Facial. I bought it after reading about it in Allure. They just aren’t and never really were on my makeup and skin care radar. For some reason, I associate them and their products with older women – just not having the “in” colors and not updating their makeup product lines often. While this older crowd may be their core customer, I think they should focus some of their marketing efforts to the 20-something crowd. I think it’d prove to be beneficial.

Anyways, why all this Clinique talk? I went to their counter at the local mall on my lunch hour today to try a sample of their 3-step skin care system. I had heard about it on the radio and was curious. Unfortunately, they were all out, and the sales girl said that most Macy’s in the area were out too. Why didn’t they pull all the radio advertising? That irked me. Anyways, I was over at the counter so I took the opportunity to look around. The Pink Chocolate collection was extremely nice (in store in November) – Erika from the Makeup Bag breaks it down for us here. I want the Shimmering Tones powder. The Spicy Eye Shadow quad also caught my eye (the picture really doesn’t do it justice) – the sales girl was wearing is and I asked her show it to me. It reminded me a lot of the LORAC Snake Charmer palette (minus the blush), but was $25 instead of $35 – I was expecting it to be more. I also got a sample of the Superdefense Moisturizer, which I like. It’s heavy, but it’s the kind of thing where I know I’ll wake up in morning with soft moisturizes skin.