While this is not strictly ballroom... I have got to tell you about GHD's Sea Spray for Matte Waves. I have short, fine, curly hair and I live in humid, humid Texas — which means my hair is often frizzy but flat at the roots. And it takes an extraordinary combination of weather events to get those sought-after ringlets.

Yves Saint Laurent's two concealers, the famous Touche Eclat (.1 oz, click pen, $40) and Anti-Cernes (stick, $31). Touche Eclat offers more brightening than real concealing.

Touche Eclat: Luminous Radiance, Luminous Ivory, Light Peach, Luminous Toffee
Anti-Cernes: Anticernes, Ivory Beige, Nude Beige, Pink Beige, Gold Beige

From MAC's shade guide:

If your skin looks more Golden Beige, you match with Neutral Cool or NC shades.

If your skin looks more Pink Beige, you match with Neutral Warm or NW shades.

If your skin looks more Yellow-Golden Olive, you will find those undertones in the Cool or C shades.

If your skin looks more Beige, you will

MAC was really my gateway to learning about makeup, and, (as always happens) I felt that what I learned first must be the "right" way of doing things.

MAC has a lot of foundation colors, so if you know your "MAC number," you can go pretty far. However, there's also a lot of confusion about what the MAC letters and

Yves Saint Laurent Golden Gloss is one of the greatest lip products ever created. The colors are outstanding, long-lasting, and moisturizing. At $28 a gloss (for 0.2 fl. oz.), I'm sorry to say they're also outrageously expensive.

They are mango-scented, have a brush applicator, and look like magic on the lips. Really. I regret that some colors were missing

Givenchy Rouge Interdit Shine lipsticks are $26.50, and really beautiful. When you first put them on, there is a strong and unpleasant smell of flowers — this dissipates within 30 seconds. I also found the color to be fantastically long-wearing. It felt good and didn't dry my lips. The Sephora website is completely inaccurate in its swatches; the

Though it's not an absolute rule, Givenchy Pop Gloss Crystal are generally the sheer Pop Glosses (to see the more pigmented shades, click here). All Pop Glosses are $23.50, and all Givenchy glosses have a brush applicator.

Pop Orange seems like it might be a non-sticky alternative to Lancome's very sticky (but pretty) Bolole Juicy

Givenchy gloss is a totally new thing for me, and I'm pretty excited about it. Lady Pulp gloss is $24; Pop Gloss is $23.50. All Givenchy glosses have a brush applicator.

Lady Pulp Glosses are full-coverage, semi-matte, creamy — almost like lipstick in lipgloss form. For similar full-coverage glosses, check out Laura

Glossimers: Seashell, Twinkle, Pagoda, Pinup, Pin-up, Galactic,

From MAC's website:

Recommended for Eye Area only
Black Black, Chartreuse, Clear Sky Blue, Cornflower*, Deep Brown, Emerald Green, French Violet, Golden Olive*, Landscape Green, Marine Ultra, Naval Blue, Polished Ivory, Primary Yellow, Pure White, Rich Purple, Steel Blue, Teal, True Chartreuse, Violet*

Recommended for Lip Area only
Acid Orange, Bright Fuchsia, Electric Coral,

MAC eyeshadows are $14.50.

MAC Eyeshadow: Mulch, Sable, Coquette, Omega, Charcoal Brown, Mystery, Grain, Copperplate

In addition to the Face Fabric swatches, these may help. I think the reason for the shade overlaps is that the Face Fabric is fairly flexible.

1 - Armani LSF 2 / Armani Modeling Compact 4;
Bobbi Brown 2.5 Warm Sand stick foundation;
MAC NW/C15, sometimes NW/C20

2 - Armani LSF 4 / Armani

Giorgio Armani cosmetics released Face Fabric, the lightweight, sheer foundation that thinks its a tinted moisturizer, in the spring/summer of 2008. It contains spf 12, and runs $45 for a 40 ml (1.35 fl. oz.) tube. There seemed to be a real lack of accurate color information on the internet (even sizing and pricing was hard to find), so I

People talk about brushes a lot: how important they are for application, how you should "invest" in them because the good ones will last a lifetime. I don't disagree with that (I can't apply concealer without a brush, for instance). MAC is an easy place to start because they have a solid, comprehensive line. My only problem is that the