Hello, Avon Calling!

My vanity and bathroom counters are littered with TONS of tubes and bottles and jars of beauty items from Chanel to Gucci and Revlon to Wet and Wild. Basically, it's like Sephora exploded all over my apartment.

But out of all the hundreds of brands I've tried, Avon somehow never made it into the mix. I remember the "Avon calling" commercials how-ever-many-eons-ago, but for whatever reason, it never really popped up on my radar. And my perception of their products was that they were kind of fuddy-duddy, like your grandma's upholstered sofa encased in protective plastic and frosted blue eyeshadow.

Robin, a friend of mine, recently started selling Avon though so naturally it's the perfect excuse for me to play with all kinds of new beauty goop! Eye shadow, perfume AND they have fashion accessories--heaven. Plus, since I'm going to buy new beauty stuff anyway, why not spend my cash to 1): help out and friend and 2) help support a company that's helped empower women all around the world for 122 years. In a small way, it kinda makes me like Angelina Jolie when you think about it.

Checking out her website, I was really surprised that the range is really comparable to what you'd find at a really good drugstore that has higher-end offerings. And from word-of-mouth and perusing beauty editor picks, Avon doesn't scrimp on quality.

Oh, and did I mention the prices? Pretty much everything is in the $8 - $10 range (excluding fragrance and skincare) and the clearance deals are in-cred-ible. Total guilt-free splurging.

On my shopping list so far:





















Mark Flip For It Urban Neutrals palette ($20)














Supershock Mascara ($4.99)





















Shine-on multi-task weekender ($35)


















Precision glimmer powder eyeshadow ($8)





















Dip dye scarves - 2 pack ($14.99)

All that and I haven't even cracked $100 bucks yet. Major score! I think this is the start of a beautiful (pun somewhat intended) relationship.

Do you use Avon products? What are your faves? If not, what's stopped you?

Get Naked! With Bobbi Brown's Nude Collection (Sheesh, Ya Pervs)

Natural-looking makeup is the beauty equivalent of blue jeans--a look that can totally be dressed up or dressed down. Even better, it's pretty and polished and absolutely goof proof at o'dark-thirty in the morning.

Spackling and blending and excessive primping is just beyond my cosmetic capabilities when my brain is foggy from lack of sleep. I'm lucky if I don't poke my eye out with the eyeliner!

I probably already have more complexion-enhancing shades than most beauty editors, but I can't help being on the lookout for new ones to try. It's in my beauty DNA or something.

So naturally (ha!), I was immediately drawn to the gorgeously understated range in Bobbi Brown's new Nude Collection.

Love! Want! Must-have!

The Nude Eye Palette ($60) includes three eye shadow duos in day-to-night shades in three different textures: soft matte, lightly pearlized, and metallic high-shimmer. What’s great is that you can simply dust a mocha shade on your lids and blend it into your browbone for an effortlessly pretty daytime look. From there, you can put a hint of a darker hue in your creases for some extra depth, but if you’re in a hurry, just brush on the champagne shimmer to make your eyes really pop—add a little black liner on the top and some mascara and you’re good to go. And it has the perfect pairing to give you a sultry smoky eye for cocktails to celebrate not telling your boss where to stick it or your cube-mate that not everyone is interested in the intimate details of her latest trip to Loserville.

I've never in my life even considered spending that kind of cash for eye shadow but when you think about how much you've spent in the past on eye shadow disasters, and the fact that these are colors you'll wear practically every day, it's a totally economically feasible splurge. See, I am the bestie you want to go beauty shopping with because I can justify just about anything. It's a gift.

But it's the Nude Shimmer Brick ($38) that got the gimme! gasp. It's sooooo pretty. It features five pigments-pink, gold, bronze, beige, and caramel that can be used on the eyes, cheeks, anywhere really, for that extra bit of polish and "maybe she's born with it" glow. And who doesn't want that!?


The creamy lip color ($22) gives me pause even though there are lots of pout tempting shades. As a diehard lipgloss fan, it’s been years since I’ve used a lipstick. I can’t help it—gloss just wins my heart. I love the first time you twirl the lipstick up to reveal that perfectly shaped tip but the thrill is gone once it molds itself to your lips. Plus, I'm a slap-it-on and go kind of girl and applying lipstick on your lips and not your teeth requires a bit more time and effort. But the come-hither temptation of the raisin berry shade might be enough for me to go over to the lipstick side, at least for a visit.

Dropping $120 (not including S/H if you order online) on Bobbi's Nude Collection to achieve a natural look might be a bit much, but luckily there are plenty of products at your local drugstore to mimic the barely-there look for less.



Color-matching foundation, lipgloss, mascara AND eyeshadow from Revlon's Beyond Natural collection will run you less than $40.

Here's a sampling of other products that will help get that "you, but better" look:




Do you go barely-there with your makeup or is it just too blah?

How In The World Does A Girl Get Her Hands On CG's "Queen Collection!?"

Riddle me this, lambs: The reason companies advertise something is presumably because they want consumers (i.e. you and me) to buy it, right? This is pretty much the kind of thing they cover in the first 10-minutes in Marketing 101.

But evidently the good folks at Cover Girl have some ulterior stealthy purpose in mind by teasing Queen Latifah's Cover Girl’s Queen Collection and then NOT MAKING IT AVAILABLE WHERE ANYONE CAN ACTUALLY BUY IT!!

Now, if you are one of the millions upon millions of "toasted almond" or "cappuccino" cuties, the frustration of shopping for makeup that doesn't make you look ashy or like one of the Twilight undead in a sea of "beige" and "ivory" is nothing new.

Many of us were mixing shades in Tupperware containers in our bathrooms (come on now, I know I wasn't the only one) long before companies like Prescriptives caught a clue that not everyone is the same one-shade-fits-all.

Fast-forward and today there are definitely more beauty products for woman of color at their local CVS, Walgreens, Duane Reade, whatev, but sometimes it requires the skills of a trained CIA agent to hunt down which stores have them in stock. Yes, yes, department stores offer a Benetton rainbow of shades but damn, sometimes a girl just wants a little beauty lift that doesn't require taking out a loan for a tube of lipstick.

Which brings me to the impetus for my rant. In a metropolitan area with a significant minority population -- not to mention one where the nation's first black president and his ultra stylish wife reside literally just down the road -- why did trips to FOUR separate stores turn up hide nor hair of the Queen collection? In fact, NONE of the deeper shades in the CG range were available. Zippo. Nada.

Honestly, in this day and age of 24/7 Sephora-ification, this kind of beauty scavenger hunt is just ridiculous. For an exclusive product launch, sure, but a mass market (supposedly, but not really as it turns out) line. . . . fuggedaboutit.

Apparently the collection is fit for a queen because Miss Dana Owens is the only one who can get her hands on it! Now, who do I see about getting reimbursed for gas after traipsing all over town in my fruitless search?