Magazine Review: Allure May 2010 - Catherine Zeta-Jones

I made more notes on this issue than I have for any other magazine since I started doing reviews. Which is a very good thing.
In the Beauty Reporter sections they had a (positive) review of the Tresemme Fresh Start Dry Foam shampoo, promoting the trends of white eyeliner, teal eyeshadow & liner, highlighter & taupe nails (taupe nails have been talked about for months now. Have a feeling they'll be around for awhile). The Beauty 101 was on Shiny Hair, nothing ground-breaking. They had 2 pages on Shear Genius Brig's win (I was NOT happy about that).
As for their longer articles, there was the spring/summer mandatory sunscreen article but at least this one was a little more interesting, talking about SPF 30 vs SPF 100, how to layer w/other products & application spots commonly overlooked. They had the top 5 trends for fall in Backstage Beauty, but none felt very new or exciting. Shock Value is a pictorial about bright lipcolors, created a few lemmings for me but the photography could've been better. They also had an article about hot rollers & different ways to use them, which I will note is something that I don't think I've read in any magazine before (that I remember at least).
This is the annual "naked" issue. TBH, the nakedness is over-hyped. Too much strategic posing, most of the time covering more than a bikini. Emmanuelle Chriqui is the only one who really seemed naked (& she looked great). Oh course this was accompanied by 22 Ways to Look Better Naked which didn't have any new or interesting tips.
As far as articles, the only standout was Beauty Behind Bars. There was also a mention of Molly Ringwald's new bio, Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family & Finding the Perfect Lipstick.
One thing I also noticed about this issue was that not all of the reviews were positive. As an example, about half of the hot rollers mentioned in Heat Wave were dissed.

I know I had some negative opinions about this issue but I still think it's worth getting.

Books: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.
"Once you start The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, there's no turning back. This debut thriller--the first in a trilogy from the late Stieg Larsson--is a serious page-turner rivaling the best of Charlie Huston and Michael Connelly. Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch--and there's always a catch--is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues. Little is as it seems in Larsson's novel, but there is at least one constant: you really don't want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo. --Dave Callanan" taken from Amazon.com

I feel like this book is a bit over-hyped. For one thing, it starts out *really* slow. It doesn't get interesting until150 pages in and the part about them working together doesn't happen until around 260. It's a good book but you could've cut out about 50-75 pgs and they wouldn't have been missed

Magazine Review: Cosmo May 2010 - Heidi Klum

Not quite sure why Heidi Klum is on so many magazine covers recently. Doesn't seem like she's promoting anything in particular.
Not much by way of fashion in this issue. They do have a swimsuit section with suits by price range (even under $25 options).
For beauty, their Beauty Cheat Sheet is on Giving Roots a Mega Boost (blow-drying techniques), hairstyles that draw attention to your best features (eyes, cleavage, etc), The Power of Red Lips, which has a few options in each tone category (like orange-red, pink-red, etc). One odd article seemed to be anti-freckle. As someone with lots of freckles I thought they were accepted now but apparently there are lots of people looking for ways to cover them up.
And in typical Cosmo fashion, they have bikini line stencils. lol
Overall, nothing really stood out about the issue. Unless one of the things I mentioned above really interests you, I'd skip it.

NOTE: On Sunday the 18th, Hilary Duff will be starring in a ABC Family Original Movie called Beauty & the Briefcase, which I believe is inspired by or based on. working in the Cosmo offices.

Great style: Hilary Duff

Great style: Camilla Belle

Basic makeup

This is the makeup I use as the base for almost every look. I can narrow it down by using the Colorstay as a spot concealer & under eyes, e/l & mascara and done. But if I have more than a minute this is what I use.
Start out by applying Maybelline Pure all over, then using Colorstay around nose & eyes. Then use Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer under eyes, setting w/Revlon Matte in Peach Sorbet. I contour/bronze my fave w/Rimmel Natural in Sunlight, applying under cheekbones, around temples, down face & around frame of face. Then use a skunk brush to apply Hard Candy bronzer in Tiki (it's so light I use as a highlighter in the summer months) to top of cheekbones & on browbone. Milani Luminous on apples of cheeks. Wet n Wild cream e/l along top lashline (sometimes use a black e/s wet as a liner for a more casual look). Curl lashes. Mascara. Fill in brows w/the dark brown matte e/s in the Maybelline Natural Smokes quad (very light hand).

I usually just vary the eyeshadow & lipcolors. If I'm doing a bright lip I skip the blush. Sometimes I change the blush if I'm doing a warmer eye (then I use L'Oreal HIP cream blush in Enamoured) or if I'm doing a pinker look I'll use a pink blush (Wet n Wild Heather Silk, Wet n Wild Coy) or sometimes I'll make the blush the focal point (Tarte Cloud Nine or Stila CC in Petunia).

Books: Where the Girls Are

Where the Girls Are: Growing up Female with the Mass Media by Susan J Douglas. This book is a great overview of the most critical years in the development of feminism. The author talks about how media encouraged change but also tried to influence attitudes & opinions with the tv shows and movies that they produced.
Very enlightening & a must-read.