Lipstick Queen is a relative newcomer, a boutique "lips-only" brand with Art Nouveau sensibilities. Founder/owner Poppy King found modern lipsticks "too thin and slimy" and longed for the high-pigment glamour of the 1940s. Lipstick Queen is actually her second lipstick brand venture (the first was called Poppy).

Her lipsticks come in two formulas: the Saints (10% pigment) and

MAC Cosmetics established its MAC AIDS Fund in 1994 to help men, women, and children living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. The most visible component of their philanthropy is the sale of their Viva Glam products — MAC donates every cent of the purchase price, not just 100% of the profits. So far that total is $135 million.

Singer Fergie is

There are three ways of applying eyeliner (that I know of):

1. Applying liner just above your [top] eyelashes — to the roots of your lashes, from the top. This is the most common method; I use it almost every day.
2. Tightlining, which is applying liner to the roots of your top lashes from the underside. (You'll have to pull

You're not imagining things: the Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners were swatched once before, by the gracious and talented orangewasabi. But Urban Decay just released four new shades (Flipside, Underground, Graffiti, and Ransom) for spring, and I wanted to show the whole family together.

On first blush, Ransom and Lust do look similar, but Ransom is a purple

In the canon of waterproof, smudgeproof eyeliner pencils, you can't ignore Aqua Eyes from Make Up For Ever, the company that loves the spacebar.

The names aren't completely consistent between Sephora's website and MUFE's, so it's probably best to refer to them by number. I'm pretty sure the L stands for longwear (as opposed

For those who can't get enough of spring, Laura Mercier has released a second spring collection, Gilded Garden. (Was "First Blush" a pun that I totally missed out on?) The web-version of the collection's promo shot is deceivingly cool — I have to imagine this was an error.

The florally named collection contains four new eyeshadows ($22), two

If you don't like sparkle, step away from this collection. MAC continues to play in the mineralized arena with Grand Duos, a collection of seven limited edition blush duos (though at times I found myself asking "is it a highlighter? Is it a bronzer?").

Like The Force, each of these has a marbled side (generally a highlighting shade) and

Well, my personal search for a lipstain is over: Beaute Liqui-Gel Stains (for cheek and lips) are utterly fantastic.

These stains come in four shades: red (Fever), berry (Harlot), bright cool pink (Fluoron), and orange (Neon). They are $29 CAD — which is about $23 USD at the moment. The stains smell like roses when you first apply them

Very special thanks to guest swatcher aishatherese, who volunteered to swatch nine shades of Sally Hansen's Your Skin Makeup foundation (from the Natural Beauty, Inspired by Carmindy, line). Aishatherese is a makeup artist and says she loves the foundation for its blendability and practical color range.

Your Skin Makeup is available at drugstores like CVS, Walgreens, and Ulta, for

In addition to their spring collection (Pink Light), Armani has released ten new shades (and two repromotes from the permanent line) of Sheer and Shine lipstick. I guess this means those formulas aren't going away? This collection is called the New Sheers Collection, Second Skin Nude Colors.

The permanent additions are Sheer 30 (a

Armani's spring collection is called Pink Light, and it aims to convey "radiant pink, luminous nude, and subtle shimmer."

The collection is a bit of a hodgepodge, offering a little of everything — as well as some new, some repromotes, some permanent items, some limited edition.

Probably the signature item of the collection is a limited edition Pink

Readers, I have fallen for MAC Sugarsweet and I have fallen hard. I definitely didn't see this one coming (pastels? Moi?). Sugarsweet officially releases on March 19th, but my Nordstrom counter had testers out because they were pre-selling for their Trend Show.

It was the lip products that reeled me in — Lollipop Loving, you must

If you happen to live in Dallas (or you'll be in the area on Saturday, March 21st), Nordstrom in Northpark Mall is having its Spring Trend Show.

You do need a ticket ($15), but you'll be able to apply that $15 toward any beauty purchase while you're there.

The whole thing kicks off at 7:30 a.m.

Sephora's house brand's spring collection is called Moroccan Sunrise, and it could not be more appropriately named. This collection caught my attention as soon as it appeared online — the packaging is right up my aesthetic alley.

Packaging is definitely a big part of the collection, which includes a plethora of makeup bags, travel-ready brush sets, and accessories

Chantecaille continues in its philanthropic vein*, with the release of its spring collection, La Baleine (the whale). Sidebar: thank goodness I have a blog, not a youtube channel, because I can't pronounce French at all.

The two La Baleine items are a face palette (meant to be swirled together to yield one shade of highlighter) and an