Urban Decay Naked Skin is a home run!

I ran to Ulta today to pick up some Urban Decay Revolution lipstick after getting a deluxe free sample from Sephora (which we don't have in Fort Smith besides the mini boutique in JCPenney). The shade they sent me was Catfight, a gorgeous fuchsia which does nothing for my skin color. But the texture of the lipstick was so amazing I wanted some in my shade! I went with Lovelight, a shimmery neutral peachy nude, as I always wear neutrals. Then, on a whim, I decided to try their Naked Skin foundation.

I really didn't need any more foundation. While in Paris I picked up a compact of DiorSkin Nude which is an amazing powder. But once I tried the Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition foundation I couldn't leave without it. This stuff is amazing! It blends beautifully with their Good Karma optical blurring brush, another of their products I use for liquid foundation which may be the best brush I've ever purchased. The Naked Skin foundation is so lightweight and yet provides amazing coverage which leaves me looking dewy and flawless. It's not thick or oily feeling at all, and my skin looks younger just by applying a little of it!

If you haven't looked into Urban Decay cosmetics I highly suggest you give them a go. I swear by their Naked eyeshadow palettes-- I own all three-- which are some of the highest quality, most vibrant and blendable eye shadows I've ever used. I also love their 24/7 eye pencils; another very blendable, lush eye product with gorgeous, vibrant hues.

My Urban Decay Must-Haves for a natural, fresh face:
Naked Skin Foundation in shade 5.5, $39.50, Ulta.com
Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush, $25, Ulta.com
24/7 Eyeliner in Bourbon, $19, Ulta.com
Revolution Lipstick in Lovelight, $22, Ulta.com
Naked Eye Palette, $50, Ulta.com
Eyeshadow Primer Potion, $29, Ulta.com

Tips to make your makeup last longer

Hey, kids... that's right; she's back! After an extended absence-- life gets ahold of all of us sometimes-- I took a look at the blog and thought that perhaps it could do with an update. Hope you all missed me. And if you didn't? Well, screw you, too. ;)

Alright, so in this post I'm going to talk about how to get the extra mile out of makeup. We all know makeup is expensive-- the Chanel foundation I use is $60 a compact!-- but I have a few penny-stretching tips for you to make your money go a little further in the makeup department.

1) You can start out by buying better makeup. I know department store brands like Clinique and Estee Lauder can be expensive. But I'llt ell you this-- one compact of Chanel makeup lasts me over six months (closer to nine months) because it's made better and you can use less of it than even Clinique or Chanel. And the brands you get at Wal-Mart? They don't compare in terms of longevity. A lot of generic makeup (such as Cover Girl and Maybelline) goes bad before you can use it all, or doesn't get you very far. If you pay $15 for foundation every couple of months, at the end of the year you've spent $90 or more when you could buy one compact of Chanel at the same price and get better quality makeup that won't break you out and won't go bad, dry out, crack or oil out.

2) No matter what brand of makeup you use, you should always cleanse and tone your skin first, because oily, dirty skin causes makeup to fade or smear.

3) Apply your foundation ten minutes after you put on moisturizer. If you don't allow the moisturizer to soak in, you'll have to use twice as much foundation and it won't last nearly as long or give you a pretty finish.

4) Use a makeup primer! It'll add hours to your finish-- TRUST me. I recommend Benefit.

5) Liquid eyeliner has 4 times the staying power of regular crayon liners, and you use less of it.

6) Slightly wet your sponge before applying foundation to the sponge and less product will be lost in being absorbed by the sponge.

7) To get the last little dollop of mascara out of the tube, run the covered tube under warm water or warm it up with a hair dryer. This will loosen up any mascara that may be on the innner sides of the tube. And if you love a mascara, try to keep the wand. In washing the wand thoroughly and reusing it, often you'll find it's the wand that really does the trick and not the particular mascara formula. So before you throw away that mascara you just bought because you don't like it, try swapping the wand out!

8) Using a lip brush means you use less of the lip product, making it last longer.

9) You can use your eyeshadow as eyeliner; simply get an eyeliner brush at the grocery store, moisten it and dip it into your eyeshadow, then line your eyes.

10) To make perfume last longer, use lotion before you apply perfume. It works just like a makeup primer does for foundation.

And that's all I've got this week. Stay tuned for some Spring Runway previews, hot winter trends and ways to look fabulous for the holidays-- and give great gifts-- for less. This is the Redneck Fashionista, coming to you from a place where your cool factor is defined by how many old cars are scattered around your lawn.

Free Makeup!

That's right, FREE Full-size cosmetics. Thanks to a class-action lawsuit, department stores like Bergdorf's, Neiman's, Nordstrom, Saks, Dillards and many more are giving away 1.75 million dollars worth of free cosmetics from high-end brands like Chanel, Lancome, Dior, Guerlain, Givenchy, Ralph Lauren and even Clinique!

It's only for a week and only while supplies last. Hit up one of the stores-- google 'cosmetics class action lawsuit free' for more information-- and sign a form saying you purchased something from one of the brands between 1994 and 2003 (one in seven women in the US did), and you'll receive a complimentary full-size cosmetic. Mascara, moisturier, perfume, shower gel, lotion-- it's all up for grabs, and I went to two different Dillard's, so I picked up a bottle of J'adore Dior Perfume and some Coco Mademoiselle Body Lotion by Chanel.

This has been the Redneck Fashionista, from a place where free is the most awesome word in the dictionary.

Benefit Makeup

I'm hooked! My mother and I embarked on a little shopping trip last week and we couldn't resist stopping by Sephora. We were planning on just doing a little browsing, but if you know Sephora like I do, you know it's almost impossible to not walk out of there with a little black and white bag stuffed with red tissue and products!

I'm a hardcore Chanel makeup fan, and I just wanted some Dior gloss and maybe a new eyeshadow. Well, the girls from Benefit plunked me down in a chair and gave me an incredible makeover, and I have to say, I'm completely hooked! I looked so light and natural when they were done-- and they made over my mom, too-- that we spent $500 that afternoon on a mad Sephora/Benefit spree. While $500 sounds like a lot, my mom and I got at least ten products apiece, everything we needed to achieve the look the girls had given us, and we had a blast! What's better than a makeover day with mom, anyway? Among my favorites:

ThatGal Brightening Face Primer. The only primer I've ever used is Chanel Le Blanc, and I like ThatGal so much better. I just click up the stick and dab the pink liquid under my eyes, over my cheekbones and jawline, and over my forehead. Then I rub it in. It gives me great, healthy-looking, smooth skin, and its' light, clean fragrance is really refreshing. It's the first time I've ever used makeup and felt refreshed!

Some Kinda Gorgeous, the Foundation Faker. This product is incredible! It blended evenly and flawlessly with my skin, and while it's not full coverage, it hid my splotches and small blemishes very well. Some Kinda Gorgeous gave me a fresh, natural-looking glow; it didn't even look like I was wearing makeup! All you see is flawless skin. And even my significant other, who referred to my Chanel foundation as "paint" and wouldn't touch my face if I was wearing it, can't help but touch my face when I wear Some Kinda Gorgeous. My skin is silky smooth and airbrushed flawless.

I also love their Creaseless Eyeshadow, Brow Zings mini eyebrow grooming kit (mini brushes and tweezers and brow color in a tiny compact-- perfect!) and their HighBrow brow defining pencil, which makes me look awake and energetic even if I've been up late the night before. I also love their BadGal mascara-- unlike DiorShow, it doesn't end up on my cheeks halfway through the day!

Benefit is just fun! The packaging is cool and creative, the products aren't expensive at all for what you get, and the results are incredible. I highly recommend it! This has been the Redneck Fashionista, coming to you from the muddy streets of the hick town.

The Holy Grail of all Handbags - Hermès Birkin

Hello all-- the Redneck Fashionista is back! After a nasty bout of bronchitis that nearly took a turn into pneumonia, I'm back in action, sucking on an albuterol inhaler and praying for warmer weather.

This post is dedicated to THE BAG. You know the bag of which I speak. It arrives lovingly wrapped in an orange box from Hermès, inside a buttery soft dustbag that smells of the world's finest leather. Yes, I'm talking about the Birkin. The holy grail of all handbags. Seen on celebrities from Jennifer Aniston to Eva Longoria to Victoria Beckham and everyone in between, this is the accessory to end all accessories-- the bag of bags. According to many fashion and gossip columnists, "you're nobody in Hollywood if you don't have a Birkin," and we can see why.

Each Birkin is handmade by specially trained craftsmen at Hermès with years of experience. That's right, hand-made. Over 2,800 hand stitches go into each bags, and one Paris atelier only turns out an average of 6 bags per week. That may answer some of your questions as to why there is a need for the notorious "waiting list" which is rumored to be between 2 and 5 years. In actuality, in most US and UK stores, there is a call list an an order list, and the names that are on it are people who have made special relationships with sales associates and have either ordered a bag or requested a call when a Birkin that fits their criteria comes into the shop.

Dozens of different animal skins are available for Birkins-- including basic leather, ostrich, crocodile and alligator. The base price of a Birkin is around $7500, but the price can go up to six digits-- that's right, over $100k USD, depending on the leather, hardware and size. Hardware is available in palladium and gold and the highly sought after, almost unavailable ruthenium. You can even get diamonds! For example, a 35cm Porosus Crocodile Birkin with diamond-encrusted hardware will be well over a hundred thousand US dollars. Hardware is available in palladium and gold and the highly sought after, almost unavailable ruthenium.

I'll be getting mine soon-- within the month, hopefully, if things play out as I've planned-- and you can guarantee I'll be posting pictures. Until then, I'm off to dream of sumptuous leather and hand-made luxury.

This has been the Redneck Fashionista, coming to you from the middle of Nowhere, where cow print is, like, sooooo in right now. *Blech!*

Chanel Blue Satin and Chanel Azur Nail Polish / Lacquer - "It" Colors for Spring?

The Redneck Fashionista generally doesn't do dark nail polish. I wasn't big on the Chanel Black Satin craze of last year-- if you'll remember, it flew off the shelves, and was seen on every runway model and every young starlet last year. Well, Chanel has done it again-- this year's new "It" polish? Blue Satin, a deep Navy blue with a subtle shimmer in different lights.

Luckily, I live in a small town, and was able to stop by the Chanel counter at Dillard's and pick up a bottle of the Blue Satin; they had two bottles left. Apparently, the color is sold out everywhere except EBay, where resellers are getting a premium. It's already $19 a bottle, but on Ebay, some people are paying upwards of $65. For nailpolish. Ridiculous, even to the Redneck Fashionista.

Since I've never worn dark blue nail polish, this is a completely new experience for me. I applied one coat and got the shimmery deep blue, but with two coats, it looks more flat, still glossy but almost black. I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to get the "gothic" comments tomorrow at work. We'll see!

I also picked up a bottle of Chanel Azur-- which is a very translucent, light shimmery blue. It's absolutely beautiful, and layered over the Blue Satin, it gives the color added depth and shimmer. It's also lovely on bare nails. Check these colors out-- if you can find them-- at chanel.com, and also at most major department stores.

More money for gasoline=less for fashion?

So I just found out something amazing, and it has nothing to do with fashion, but we're going to try to make it relate. Send this to your friends, link them here, whatever. But everyone should know this!

Many discount retailers such as Costco, Sam's Club, Wal-Mart and even grocery stores, offer discounted gasoline. You think you're getting this great deal, saving 10 cents (5p) a gallon, filling up at Sam's.

My boss let me in on a little secret, and I did a test to see if he was full of it or not. Apparently, there are so many additives in discount gasoline that it ruins your gas mileage. I thought he was nuts, but I did a test-- filling up at Shell (paying 8 cents more a gallon than Sam's) and compared the gas mileage.

I got 40-50 miles more out of a tank of gas, fueling up at Shell. So the $1 I save by fueling up at Sam's Club is completely negated-- I'm saving $8 or more by getting my fuel at Shell, BP or Phillips' 66. The refineries that output gasoline for these fuel stops don't put nearly as many additives in their fuel-- according to the guy at Shell, "Murphy Oil fuel is garbage." (Murphy supplies Sam's, Wal-Mart, etc etc with their fuel).

So $8 a week (I use a tank a week in my TrailBlazer) times 4 is $32 a month. Multiply that by 12 months and you're looking at SERIOUS savings, in the neighborhood of $384 a year.

$384 is a GREAT accessory from Louis Vuitton or a cute bag from Coach. Think about it! Don't we give those discount retailers enough of our money anyway?