Laura Mercier has a new collection out, called Fresco. Like several makeup artists, Laura was a painter before she got into makeup, and this collection is inspired by the soft colors of that (most notably Italian) painting style, in which wet pigment is painted onto wet plaster, and the two dry together.

The collection includes a repromote of Laura's

Yesterday, we took on the first half of Chantecaille's Brilliant Glosses, luxurious, unscented, non-sticky, cushiony, comfortable lipgloss with a brush wand.

These are $28, found at Chantecaille counters or online at Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Bergdorf Goodman. They're also online at the newly launched Chantecaille website, which is offering free shipping until

Fellow blogger Kristina of SasquatchSwatch (who has much nicer lips than I do) has most generously allowed me to repost her lip swatches of Chantecaille's Brilliant Glosses; click here to check out her review of them.

And click here to see my arm swatches (part 1 and part 2).

In addition to their potted glosses, Chantecaille makes a series of tube glosses (called Brilliant Gloss). These are $28 each, have a brush wand, and are generally more sheer than their potted counterparts. As a side-note, everything at Chantecaille costs $28: the eyeshadows, the blushes, the lipsticks (not lip chics), the potted glosses, and the tube glosses.

Brilliant

Chantecaille makes lipgloss in two forms. The tube-gloss with the brush wand is called Brilliant Gloss, and the one in the mirrored pot is called "lipgloss." Since that's potentially confusing, and I still have tube-gloss swatches to show you, I'll call these the potted lipglosses.

The potted glosses are $28 each, come in mirrored compacts, and contain SPF

On my last trip to Sephora, I saw something new on the Benefit counter. "Velvet" eyeshadows are powder eyeshadows, in packaging that's very similar to Shu Uemura's. They're $18 each, with an incredibly soft, lovely texture. The shades are soft and softly shimmery, and I expect cool brown / warm grey / taupe Where There's Smoke... to be an

Laura Mercier seems to be exploring creative ways to liquidate backstock of discontinued items — and that means you win. Right now you can buy a "grab bag" full of fabulous favorites for $65. (Click here to browse my Laura Mercier swatches.) Choose from:

Light & Fresh (recommended for fair skintones)

• Margaux

Exciting news, readers. You may recall about a year ago I felt compelled to share with you my discovery of the excellent GHD Sea Spray for Matte Waves.

In case you missed the review and find yourself in the same situation, I have fine, curly hair, which, as the seasons change, alternates between a tendency to fall

Yesterday we started looking at Laura Mercier's Second Skin Cheek Colour. In March of this year, Laura reformulated — and repackaged — her blushes. The Second Skin blushes are longwearing, with light, natural, buildable color. They include "skin-silkening" vitamins and botanicals, as well as light-diffusing ingredients. These blush pans also fit into Laura's $10 3-pan and 6-pan compacts (so

This past spring, Laura Mercier discontinued her blushes (Cheek Colour), and replaced them with a new formula, Second Skin Cheek Colour.

As you'd expect from the name, the new blushes were intended to be natural, buildable, and fool-proof — for a fresh, flawless, glow-from-within look. The powders are also oil-free, infused with vitamins and botanicals.

Second Skin

Yesterday we took a look at the mineralize blushes and mineralize skinfinishes of Colour Craft (set to release July 9). Today we'll look at the eyeshadows, lipsticks, lipglass, (and brushes).

MAC Colour Craft is scheduled to release July 9 in the U.S., and the collection is hotly anticipated for a variety of reasons — perhaps most of all because it includes the limited-edition return of Porcelain Pink mineralize skinfinish and tapered crease brush 226.

I have a lot of pictures to show you for this collection,

Temperatures are reaching into the hundreds... it must be time for fall makeup.

I'll be honest; I don't like fall makeup. Lipsticks and eyeshadows grow darker, like a warning that sometime in October or November, I'll be cold. Fortunately, Chanel's fall offering (Collection Venise) seems to straddle summer and fall, meaning there's something to wear right now and something to