Maybe the title of this post should read, “Why in the world would I want to wear green eyeshadow?”  The hesitation is understandable–green is trendy, it feels young, and it doesn’t exactly go hand-in-hand with quiet sophistication.  Would Audrey Hepburn wear green?  Methinks not!

However!  Take it from ol’ Jolie: a few swipes of green in the right places will liven, brighten and freshen up your face, without making you look garish or silly.  It’s an easy way to have a little fun with your makeup, especially when your clothes, for whatever reason, are on the more conservative side.  I created this look for a friend who needed to wear a basic black dress, but still wanted her makeup to pop.

Let’s do this thing!

Step 1: Create a smokey base
Green goes best with a slightly more dramatic eye.  Keeping your makeup dead simple and then adding, say, a random ka-boom! of green all over your lids will only accentuate the fact that you are dipping into the Crayola.  By sliding green into an already sexy eye, you’ll actually get away with the unexpected color more easily.  I’m a fan of the smokey eye combo of bronze plus rusty brown.  (There really is no wrong with it comes to smokey–experiment and see what works for you.)

Step 2: Line your eyes in black, brown or grey
Create an anchor with your eyeliner.  We’ll be adding the green later. Stay as close to the lash line as possible, using a well-sharpened pencil, or a brush dipped into either powder or gel liner.  Avoid liquid liner; it will steal the show.

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Jolie considers herself an expert on various and sundry topics: mineral makeup, Kate Middleton’s hair, the hottest polo players, and lychee martinis, to name but a few.  But eye cream?  Total beauty neophyte.

Every beauty gal has one or two areas that she’s a bit weak in, and eye creams are truly my Achilles heel.  When a friend emailed me requesting a recommendation for a great eye cream, I didn’t even try to pretend I knew what I was talking about!

I took it to Twitter, asking my Tweeps for their suggestions, and I received excellent answers in spades.  Here, some favorites from other beauty writers:

@EmilyLFoley: Ole Henriksen’s Visual Truth Eye Cream in the African Red Tea collection is super rich and great for crow’s feet!
@retrodiva: Have you tried Freeze 24-7? I personally think it works miracles.
@TheIMakeupMaven: Garnier’s daily eye cream SPF 15 is great.
@Carleenp: I use regular Creme de la Mer as an eye cream. A sample size from ebay will last for months.
@beauty411: One of my HG eye creams = Zelens Intensive Triple Action Eye Cream; expensive, but worth every cent.

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Bring on the airbrushing!  Louis Vuitton has just unveiled new ads featuring Madonna in which she looks like a wax figurine.  Shot by Steven Meisel for Fall 2009, the Material Madge looks gorgeous, but I’d rather see her in all her womanly glory (and yes, that means with crow’s feet!).  Let’s celebrate aging and the way women’s faces are really supposed to look, rather than erasing every last trace of humanity, wisdom and…well…age!

Fashionologie reports that, somewhere out there, there’s a video that will soon be released, too.  I am loving the high-concept videos that glamour-machines like Lancome, Chanel and Dior have been putting out recently.   My all-time favorite remains the Chanel No. 5 ad with Estella Warren as Little Red Riding Hood.  I remember seeing it when I was younger and thinking it was so chic.  Check out my favorite below!

Stuck at an event without blotting papers, and looking like the Exxon Valdez took a spill on your face?  Slip off to the bathroom and use a toilet-seat cover to sop up oil without removing makeup.  It’ll work as well as an oil-blotting sheet and is obviously free…it’s just much less glamorous!

Photo credit: Carlos Alvarez/Getty

If you’re plugged into pop culture, it’s everywhere you turn: Kristen Stewart…Robert Pattinson…Twilight frenzy…New Moon trailers…when will the madness stop?!   My knee-jerk reaction is to throw a quilt over my shoulders, boil a cup of tea and grumble on my front porch about kids these days as mewing cats circle my ankles–but surely I’m not so out of touch with those Twilight-loving youngsters (and oldsters…you know who you are!) that I can’t see the appeal.

So.  Kristen Stewart.

She’s pouty, she’s moody, she’s oddly pinched in the face, and she doesn’t appear to care how her hair and makeup look.  She’s totally different from the Hollywood Zombies currently being stuffed down our throats by paparazzi.

Wait a minute!  On second thought, she’s awesome!

Any girl who wears sneakers to an awards show is a hero in my book
Photo credit: Getty Images

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Summer’s here, and warmer weather means more exposed limbs…and an end to the winter grizzly bear-syndrome.  (C’mon, admit it–you let the waxing and shaving slide in the winter…and spring…sometimes, too!)  Next time you’re off to the spa or salon for a waxing or lasering session, keep these tips in mind to minimize the pain:

1) Never go during your period; this is when your pain threshold is lowest.  Wait until the week after your period, when your pain threshold is highest

2) An hour beforehand, pop an Advil or ibuprofen

3) Half an hour beforehand, spread a topical numbing cream like LMX all over the targeted area; it will literally cut the pain in half

4) Bring your iPod–it might sound silly, but the distraction really helps!

5) Take a deep breath before each yank.  (And just remember–it’s a means to an end.  Think of England!)