Breast Cancer Awareness Beauty Buys

Feeling pink? With October already here, you should be! October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and almost everyone knows a woman who has been affected by the disease. To support these courageous women, some beauty companies have released limited-edition pink products that you need to get your hands on! Here they are.

1.Stila Positive and Pretty Palette

Stila has created a limited-edition palette with four eye shadows, a cheek color, and a highlighter. It's valued at $62, but is on sale in October for only $14! A total of ten percent of proceeds will go to a variety of Breast Cancer Awareness Charities.

2. Clinique Mini Long Wear Lip Glosses

Who wouldn’t want three mini lip glosses and a handy, heart-shaped mirror? Four dollars from each sale will go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and you'll have perfectly pouty lips.

3. Versace Bright Crystal Parfum

Versace will donate a dollar from every purchase of this perfume to Breast Health International, and when you buy a bottle, you’ll receive a free umbrella!

4. Aveda Hand Relief

Everyone needs a good hand cream, and this contains vitamins A and E, plus exfoliating fruit acids. Four dollars from each sale will go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

5. Violet Lips Pink Ribbon Stick-On Lip Tattoos

These FDA-approved temporary vegan lip tattoos come in three exclusive patterns. Two dollars from each package sold will go to the National Breast Cancer Coalition.

6. Estée Lauder Jeweled Pink Ribbon Compact

Every woman should have an old-fashioned compact to powder her nose with. This refillable case contains Lucidity Translucent Pressed Powder. Twenty percent of each sale will go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

7. Arcona’s Magic Pink Ice

Magic Pink Ice is a limited-edition version of the best-selling Magic White Ice, a lightweight gel that acts as a moisturizer (the gel doesn’t clog pores, allowing ingredients such as cranberry extract and vitamins to penetrate deeper into the skin). Twenty-five percent of each Pink Ice sold will go to Cancer and Careers.

8. Diptyque Mini Pink Rose Candle

How adorable are these miniature pink candles? The tiny versions of the beautifully scented rose candles come in a soft, baby pink cup. Twenty percent of each sale will go to the Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation.

9. Bobbi Brown High Shimmer Lip Gloss and Lip Color

Bobbi Brown created two gorgeous lip colors, exclusively for the month of October. Ten dollars from the sale of each set will go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

10. B-Cup Cupcakes

Mama Mio partnered with Butter Lane to create a limited-edition B-Cup(cake), sold at all Butter Lane locations and on butterlane.com. One dollar from each cupcake sold will go to Look Good...Feel Better.

Eva Longoria

Rocking a lacy, high-necked Alberta Ferretti dress at the launch party of the final season of Desperate Housewives, Eva Longoria was wearing her finest accessories except her newest jewel—her engagement ring! The petite star only just said yes to Eduardo Cruz (brother to Penélope) and we can't wait to see what her wedding dress will look like. Before the big day, though, Eva is keeping herself busy! She has been named as the highest-paid TV actress by Forbes, is a L’Oréal Paris spokesperson, and wrote a cookbook! I adore Eva's dark smoky eyes and her love for loads of lashes. She kept the rest of her face neutral with a hint of blush and nude, glossy lips.

Zoya Holiday 2011 Gems & Jewels Collection

Nails stay extra glitzy this season with Zoya's 2011 collection. Unique bar-shaped glitter creates a dazzling finish on the nails that reminds us of confetti and christmas tinsel. I can't wait to try Noel and Holly. Which shades are you looking forward to?

ZOYA GEMS AND JEWELS COLLECTION

Zoya Bar Glitter Nail Polish,

• Rina (ZP576): Gorgeous green glitzy, glitter glaze (with unique bar glitter)
• Holly (ZP577): Full coverage, rich green metallic shimmer
• Kissy (ZP578): Vivid pink glitzy, glitter glaze (with unique bar glitter)
• Izzy (ZP579): Full coverage, party pink metallic shimmer
• Twila (ZP580): Bold blue glitzy, glitter glaze! (with unique bar glitter)
• Noel (ZP581): Full coverage, icy blue metallic shimmer

Nail Polish Inspiration from Fashion Week

If clutches were the It bags during Fashion Week in New York, London, and Milan (so easy to slip in everything you need but not too heavy), then nail polish was the beauty product. Here's a showcase some shades and outfit combinations so far.

It's all about red this season, but don't feel like the color is too classic. Red can work with bright accessories too!

We love metallic nails, and they’re certainly having a moment. Pair them with a bright color, like this fiery red.

Red isn't just for fingers. Pick a bright coral polish for your toes instead of the common wine-colored shade. You'll feel like summer's still around every time you look down.

Purple polish is so fun to use, especially when you're wearing a whole lot of prints and colors. Go for a grape shade, rather than lilac or dark purple.

What's in Your Eye Cream?

Isn't it nice to know what's going on your face? Or even more, around your eyes? Beauties, have you ever wondered what's inside your eye cream, or what makes one so different from another? We like to go behind the scenes and find out what really goes on inside the labs, or inside a jar, and why you’ll find the same ingredients in different eye creams and why they’re there.

Five main ingredients go into eye creams, and each is essential in reducing fine lines, wrinkles, and signs of aging. All of them are found in eye creams, but what makes each formula different is the extra ingredients that cosmetics companies add to make their creams extra special, such as green tea, gold extract, and so on. It depends on your skin type, age, lifestyle, and individual needs as to which eye cream you should choose.
Hyaluronic Acid: This ingredient holds 1,000 times its weight in water, so it's essential for hydrating and moisturizing the skin. It also temporarily reduces the appearance of fine lines.
Ceramides: This ingredient acts like lipids (which your skin is made of) and helps to protect your skin from sun damage, pollution, and other damaging environmental factors.
Retinol: This ingredient is one of the most popular and well known in eye creams, and is a form of vitamin A. It increases cell turnover, which in turn creates more collagen and elastin in your skin, which makes it look younger.
Matrixyl: This ingredient is a type of peptide that temporarily decreases muscle movement and reduces the appearance of fine lines. Each eye cream can have a different type of peptide, but not all contain the ingredient. Matrixyl works like a topical Botox (meaning you get the effect of Botox without any injections).
Vitamins: Most basic eye creams contain vitamins C and E (also known as tocopherol, vitamin E is most commonly found), which are vital in helping the skin protect and repair itself.

You need to remember two rules about eye cream. During the day you have to protect and hydrate your skin, so a cream with hyaluronic acid and ceramides is best. At night you need to help your skin repair itself, so use a cream with a lot of retinol, which is going to increase cell turnover while you sleep.

How to Embrace Your Freckles

You take care of your skin, stay out of the sun, and avoid UV beds like the plague, yet you’re still covered in freckles. Not to be confused with potentially harmful moles, freckles (also called Ephelides) are primarily genetic, most visible on lighter-skinned Beauties. In the past, we’ve seen some unsuccessful attempts to cover up these hereditary spots, but it’s a new era in makeup, so let’s embrace the skin we’re in! See three ways to make the most out of your beautiful freckles.

1. Play Them Up

Beauties blessed with freckles should rejoice—they’re totally hot in haute couture. Designers Jeremy Scott and DSquared2 drew faux freckles on models for the effect of natural, sun-kissed skin on the spring 2012 runway. Use a milk-chocolate-toned lip pencil to lightly fill in freckles across your cheeks and nose. For a beauty mark à la Marilyn Monroe, draw in a denser, sharper line near the lip. Blend the fake freckles into your skin with a warm peach blush on the apples of the cheeks.

2. Avoid the Spackle

Nothing’s worse than thick, visible face makeup—it’s right up there with Sharpie eyebrows and contrasting lip liner. Freckled Beauties can wear a fuller coverage foundation, but choose a velvet-textured formula that lets you layer without caking up. Less is more!

3. Protect Your Skin

Since freckled complexions are more vulnerable to UV exposure (especially UVB), it’s important to protect your skin daily. Choose a cosmetically elegant formula you’re comfortable with on your face, and don’t forget to apply SPF on your arms, shoulders, and chest.

The Nail Gallery: Art on Your Fingertips

You don’t have to go to your nearest art museum for a little culture. Take a seat, Beauties—we’re travelling back in time for an art history lesson in nail design!

JAN BRUEGHEL THE ELDER

Sixteenth-century Flemish painter Jan Brueghel the Elder mastered the art of the still life. Gorgeous floral bouquets contrast brightly against a dark background and high-contrast lighting. To recreate the look, layer a black or dark-colored base on your nails, then paint on clusters of bright pink, blue, and green. Alternatively, you can also press gorgeous nail decals onto the nail like the image below.

CLAUDE MONET

Perhaps the most popular Impressionist painter, Claude Monet is known for his paintings with hazy atmospheres and romantic color palettes. His abstract and hurried brushstrokes give the viewer an impression of the scene rather than a realistic portrayal. Here, hand painted a Claude Monet manicure, inspired by one his most beloved works, Woman With a Parasol.

PIET MONDRIAN

Dutch painter Piet Mondrian was an important figure in the De Stijl and Neoplastic movements of art, which sought to reduce artistic form to its essential vertical and horizontal planes. You can instantly recognize his work from the strict geometric grid and use of saturated primary colors. Create your own grid with black polish and a thin art-store paintbrush.

MARK ROTHKO

Mark Rothko was a 20th-century Expressionist painter who was most famous for his massive color fields, which overlap and fade into one another without rigid borders. Nail visionaries CND played with a similar aesthetic with their navy airbrushed designs at designer Jen Kao’s latest spring runway collection.

JACKSON POLLOCK

Another 20th-century Expressionist, Jackson Pollock pioneered the “drip” technique of painting that his work is so well known for. He was the complete opposite of the archetypal artist, preferring the floor as his easel and house paints as his medium. To create a similar splatter effect on your nails, first apply a pale, opaque base coat. Choose brightly colored nail polishes with a runny consistency (the newer the polish, the runnier the texture) and drip the paint on your nails with the brush. The result may look messy, but you can clean up the edges after the drips dry and you’ve sealed your design with a topcoat.

ROY LICHTENSTEIN

Roy Lichtenstein, a mid-century Pop Artist, took inspiration from the industrial imagery of the ‘50s. Like Andy Warhol, Lichtenstein used familiar commercial items (most notably comic strips), and turned them into an art form. His use of saturated primary colors and onomatopoeic phrases (Boom! Pow! Thap!) cultivated a signature retro-American style. Paint your nails in shades of neon, add striped or dotted patterns, and draw or write your favorite comic-strip characters and phrases.