My very good friend, Aradiapdx, is phenomenally talented in a wide variety of intellectual pursuits. She's also one of those people whose makeup invariably looks like magic. I can't even imagine where someone acquires those kinds of skills for color combination, application, and blending.

Anyway, Aradiapdx very sportingly agreed to demonstrate one of my favorite looks on her. I'd

I could not be more excited about today's post. Tremendous thanks to a very special reader, who volunteered to swatch her complete, personal collection of the fabulous Beaute Luminous Volume Glosses — though she prefers to remain anonymous.

I definitely recommend clicking to view the image at full size — but if you can't read the names

I'm a big fan of the at-home spa — for reasons of cost, sanitation, product selection, you name it. Sidebar: I think different cultures have created their own rituals so people can sit still and relax. Painting your nails, for instance, forces you to sit still and not do anything. Ditto for Indian brides with henna on their

So there was one more thing I wanted to say about lipliners, and I held back this morning because I was afraid it might sound crazy (the comments posted thus far have made me bold).

I have found another — rather unexpected — use for lipliners. I went to a costume party recently, and needed a matte coral

I didn't understand lipliners for a long time. I'm not one to layer my lip products anyway (it's lipstick or gloss for me!) — so when it came to lipliners, I had one, the same shade as my brightest red lipstick, and I only used it one way:

When I wore that red lipstick, I applied

Satinee Creme Eye Colour is Laura Mercier's newest cream eyeshadow — a complement to her Metallic Creme Eye Colour. Quick-drying, long-wearing, crease-proof, and water-resistant, these shadows can be worn alone, or as a base for powder eyeshadow. One of my makeup artist friends recommended pairing them with Laura's Mineral Eye Powder (loose powder eyeshadow) — specifically Sapphire

Shiseido recently unveiled a new formula of lipstick, called Rouge Parfait — or Perfect Rouge. The lipstick is supposed to be moisturizing and long-lasting, and all 20 shades were created by Shiseido's Artistic Director, Dick Page.

These lipsticks come in an abstracted-clover-shaped case (which might be a little bulky) and have no scent. My favorite shade was BE208, Baby,

There are a plethora of new foundations out this spring; Bobbi Brown's is called Skin. Skin Foundation is water-based, meant to minimize pores and look completely natural. It comes in a pump-top bottle, and offers surprisingly full coverage for a liquid foundation (I'd say it's medium-to-full coverage). I dispensed the foundation onto a tissue, dipped a fingertip in, and

When I first swatched Armani's Smooth Silk pencil liners (single swipe, back of my hand), I had a very Alice-in-Wonderland moment: "They're nothing but a bunch of eyeliners."

Not that I'm not susceptible to the allure of an exclusive brand (especially Armani), but the pencils were of medium softness — definitely not the exceptional softness of MAC's Pearlglides,

You know that pedestal I have? For YSL Golden Gloss? Well, I'm going to need another one, because I just discovered Luminous Volume Gloss from boutique brand Beaute.

Beaute is a small-but-growing makeup line created by extraordinarily talented, NYC-based makeup artist Beau Nelson. (He's also gorgeous — luckily for him I'm married.) I have to imagine after years of

I mentioned yesterday that Clinique and Laura Mercier have both chosen a "fresh and innocent" direction for spring. Of Clinique's spring offering, I was most interested in the limited edition Fresh Bloom Eyeshadows.

These shadows have two different colored powders in a flower pattern (not overspray; the difference appears to go right to the bottom of

I mentioned previously that several brands had chosen "pink" for spring; Laura Mercier and Clinique came to the party wearing the same thing (how embarrassing!) — both brands named their spring collections "First Blush."

Laura's First Blush collection includes two nail polishes for $15 each (Sheer Peach and Sheer Kiss, a sheer pink), a mini brush set

Smashbox's spring collection is called Muse, with products and packaging to remind you that makeup is art (and to get creative with your use of color, I think). The full collection includes:

• Muse Artist Eye Palette, $48 – Ten eyeshadow shades as luxuriously soft and smooth as Smashbox's eyeshadow singles
• Muse Cream Eyeliner Pencils, $36 – A set

TNBTTGSY is taking one more baby step into the 21st century: you can now (finally?) receive new posts by email! Scroll down the right-hand navigation and you'll see a box for "Home Delivery." (It looks like this:)

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I'd received a lot of requests for this function, and until now I've had

Special thanks to my friend and favorite vegan Sixxmum, who is so passionate about Fyrinnae's liquid eyeliners, she agreed to swatch and review them for me. These eyeliners are only available online (click to buy), and range between $9 and $11. Fyrinnae offers free shipping — worldwide! — at $25, and (one of my favorite things