An easy guide to conceal under eye dark circles, courtesy of Bellasugar:

By Melissa Stephans

Fashion’s Night Out was a major production this year.  Retailers, large and small, offered up some seriously exciting events–from a ferris wheel on Rodeo Drive to Justin Timberlake’s meet-and-greet for his William Rast clothing line at Nordstrom in the new Santa Monica Place (more like palace) mall.  There were tons of events to choose from, but the one that excited me most was happening five feet away from William Rast.  Sorry JT, but I wanted to meet the man behind the makeup line Smashbox–Davis Factor!  The grandson of Max Factor and brother of Smashbox co-founder Dean Factor, Davis offered an impressive gift to FNO customers–the accomplished photographer (he’s shot Angelina Jolie, Robert Downey, Jr., and so on) gave a mini photo shoot to any customer who spent $150 or more on Smashbox goodies.  The minimum purchase was not hard to reach, seeing as their photo-friendly line has added a new collection:  Masquerade.  This bevy of shimmering, jewel-toned products offers up the company’s trademark blendable textures in a multicolored eye palette, lip glosses, eyeliners, and more.

After my Smashbox 'Masquerade' makeover

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Make Up For Ever HD Foundation, $40

I just realized you all probably need a food-post break. Good timing too because I just got a new foundation I’m obsessing over.

Being the liquid foundation-phobe that I am, I found myself for some reason repeatedly going back to the beauty counter to try out Make Up For Ever’s HD Invisible Cover liquid foundation. It took me a good month of convincing since I had bid adieu to any liquid foundation a long time ago, but the application just seemed so flawless I finally bought it last weekend.

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Good grief. I have a few favorite lip glosses, but this one has everyone sneaking into my makeup bag. I’m simultaneously stocking up as well, lest the scarcity of this limited-edition product leaves me scouring Sephora for a less-than-adequate replacement.

Smashbox Desert Chic Lip Enhancing Gloss in Sand, is normally $18, though it’s on sale right now at on amazon.com (2 for $13!). It’s a light, sheer golden beige color, and pairs nicely when you’re playing up your eyes with dark shadows; or even if you’re going for the bare-beachy look with just a little bronzer and nude lips that Cali girls do so well. And don’t worry, ‘Lip Enhancing’ doesn’t mean it’s a plumper that contains irritants. Just that it gives a smooth luster without the glittery shimmer. I also love it because it’s not really a seasonal look — I’ve used it year-round and it looks frosty in the winter, and in the summer it looks, well, chic.

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As much as I like talking makeup, I love doing makeup too. Which is probably why my darling friend Ayesha S. asking me to do her makeup last October for her engagement. I was so excited to oblige, but I still get a little nervous when I’m asked to do it for these big occasions. Luckily, Ayesha (like the other brides I’ve done for pre-wedding parties) was really laidback and open to letting me experiment a little. Since she was going to be the center of attention, I liked her idea of doing a smokey liner and still making her eyes pop with accents of whites and lighter grays. I wanted to keep the rest of her makeup light enough so she can save the dramatics for her wedding.

I think she may have found a new favorite lip gloss from the one I used on her that day, which is a barely-there cross between a nude and light mauve color from Vincent Longo’s Lip Vinyl lip gloss collection called “Divine” ($24).

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