The Golden Compact Awards

The Golden Compact Awards is the first every Beauty Awards by the beauty blog community. The awards showcase the best in beauty products that have debuted from January and December 2008 with winners in five separate categories: hair, skin care, body care, makeup and nails.

Finalists are selected by three wonderful beauty bloggers Jamie Allison from The Beauty of Life, Michelle Mismas from All Lacquered Up and Lilan Doug from The Daily Cookie.

Brands include MAC, YSL, Frederic Fekkai, OPI, Estee Lauder, Lancome, Benefit Cosmetics, Lipstick Queen, and many, many other favorites.

The blogger panel has spent a good deal of time testing and reviewing the products and will reveal their top picks soon! Readers can head over to The Golden Compact site to cast their vote for best products in each category! One random voter will be chosen to receive a prize packaged filled with the items from the finalists (all the more reason to vote! Wink, wink, nudge, nudge!).

Visit www.goldencompactawards.com to cast your vote and join in the fun!

It's The Daily Cookie's Birthday!

One thing about blogging that's awesome would be the people you meet and become friends with. I can't begin to tell you how many wonderful people I've met and became friends with simply because we share a common interest of blogging!

Blogging just wouldn't be the same without these people. Friends that don't blog can't always understand the entire concept behind it. Sometimes when I speak to certain friends they just scratch their heads and shrug because they just don't get it. That's when you turn to your blogging friends. Your blogging friends listen to everything about life and blogging which makes them extra special.

One such blogging mate of the Muse's would be the very cute and beautiful Lilan from The Daily Cookie.

Help the Muse out by celebrating Lilan's First Blogging Birthday by clicking over to her site and reading all about her latest contest in celebration of her year of blogging!

On Saturday, August 30th, our favorite Cookie is inviting a dozen ladies out for a day of pampering with a mani/pedi party, appetizers, and refreshments at Lavande Nail Spa in San Fransisco.

Each guess attending will end their afternoon with a goodie bag full of makeup! Whoa! Makeup, food, pedicures.....hmmm do you think they'll be cookies too? The Muse is seriously upset she's all the way in New York when this is happening hmmm I might need to fly on for the occasion hehe!

For those of you who live in the San Fran area you and a friend will have a chance to nab a spot and celebrate in style with Lilan and her friends! Head on over to The Daily Cookie and enter for your chance to win! Entries will be accepted through August 24th at 11:55pm and the winner will be announced on Monday the 25th!

Hurry! You can't possibly want to miss your chance to meet Miss Cookie!

Click!

Wendy's Awesome Dior Collection

My very sweet reader and friend, Wendy, created some killer videos with her Dior Collection! She's such a cutie I was utterly enthralled listening to her dutch accent (my x-boyfriend was dutch and had a similarly awesome accent!).

Do click here and have a visit with Wendy at her site Why Me Sweetie! Her blog is a fun read and I especially enjoyed viewing her Dior Collection!

Anyone for a trip to the Nederlands? Maybe if we are extra nice Wendy will let us pet and caress her Dior palettes (try not to drool on them!).

Whatta ya think?

Cheers Wendy! Gorgeous Collection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MAC DressCamp Contest @ A Beautyful Sentiment

The very beautiful and sweet Jennifer from A Beautyful Sentiment has just started a blog of her very own! She's been visiting me here quite some time and always brightens up my blog with her great input and feedback in my comment section!

Her blog is quite shaping up to be a wonderful array of fantastic reviews and beautiful cosmetic pictures and posts!

The good news is in celebration of her awesome new blog Jen is being very generous with MAC DressCamp. As you know the collection sold out in a silly amount of time and not everyone was lucky enough to nab it but have no fear Jen is making the chances of nabbing it a reality!

She has a contest up at the moment that will enable you to win the two best pieces in the collection in the Muse's opinion which would be the DressCamp Palette and She-Gold Lipglass!

How's the contest work?

Simple!

You have to guess how many pearls are in Jen's Guerlain Meteorites container!

Click on over here to participate in the contest!

The Muse is going to take a lucky guess herself (not to win as I already have the collection but just for fun to see how close I can get!).

Good Luck Everyone and Congrats on the fantastic new blog Jen!

Snowkei's Be My Greeeeeeen Video Tutorial

A few months ago I had introduced you to Snowkei's blog, click here to refresh your memory!

Snowkei now has a few videos up on youTube and in particular she's taken her famous Be My Greeeeeeeeen Specktra FOTD and did a video tutorial for it! If you lurk Specktra you must know who she is!

I'm thrilled to see this because she does an amazing job plus makes it look so easy to do!



I've attempted duplicating this look twice with little success but her video makes me want to retry it!

I literally stalk her on Specktra so I can see what new looks she creates. She's truly a master at the game and I'm utterly envious of her skills!

Do check the video out for yourself!

Dalenna's First FOTD

My awesome little mate Dalenna decided to brave the storm and jump onto the FOTD bandwagon!

She did a beautiful look that I really envy! I can never make my makeup look so natural, fresh, and gorgeous like this!

Click here to show Mizz D a little love for her first ever FOTD!

While you're giving her love you should also help me hate on her for her flawless silky hair...sheesh why doesn't my hair behave so great???

Cheers D! Great job sweetie! I look forward to seeing more FOTD's in your future posts!

Specktra Haul-a-Days

Check out Specktra Blog for a special Holiday Event! Specktra Haul-A-Days is happening now! Don't miss out!

I see some great companies participating in this event such as MAC, Stila, Cherriflip, and More!

So run, don't walk, and join in on this special event!

Shop PBS

I'm not affiliated with or endorsing PBS but it's a project that's very near and dear to my heart and a little pimpin' never hurt anyone hehe!

I can remember as far back as when I was about 7 or 8 year's old and seeing little old ladies carrying around PBS tote bags rushing for the bus! Funny as back then it was more along the lines of ewww who'd carry around a PBS tote!

Now I guess I'm that little old lady because I carry mine around like it's Prada!

In all seriousness two projects that are very important to me are Animal Rescue and PBS so if by some slim chance your interested in supporting PBS you might want to wander over to their Shop PBS site and order yourself a Philosophy Tree House Hand Care Kit.



The kit includes an Philosophy Apple Hand Wash and an Apple Hand Lotion. It's $25 for the kit and you might be wondering what's so special about this collection. The special part is your $25, 100% of it, goes to support PBS!

So why not give a gift that gives? I purchased 4 of these as stocking stuffers and it pleases me that my total cost is being donated to PBS!

Cheers to Philosophy for being so amazingly generous and supportive of PBS!

Teen Corner: Pigment Pressing Tutorial

If you're a great reader of beauty blogs like the Muse you must make several stops to Makeup Bag a day (it's ok you can admit your addiction to this great site)!

A wonderful and beautiful lady runs the site by the name of Erika and she has three gorgeous daughters one of which writes a column each week entitled Teen Corner.

This week I did so have to share with you, if you hadn't already seen it, Bree's (Erika's daughter) fantastic Pigment Pressing Tutorial!

I've seen plenty pigment pressing tutorials but I find Bree's entertaining and fun to read and quite helpful so I really HAD to link her!

Go visit this adorable girl :)

I'm sure her mum is very, very proud of her fantastic, witty, and clever beauty posts!

Ahhh...the future of beauty blogging lays in the hands of the young (the Muse is feeling old today lol) ;)

The Muse Hits Rocketqueen's Blog

The Muse would like to say hello to the Rocketqueen and a big thank you and hug for featuring my review on your site!

Rocketqueen's blog looks awesome the Muse wishes she could read Swedish so she can do more than look at the pretty pictures ;)

You can visit with the Rocketqueen by clicking your way over here.

I'm loving the green FOTD do check it out!

The Weekly Beauty Read

Time for the beauty blog round up girls!

15 Minute Beauty Fanatic tries an AMAZING 2 Minute Mask from Become!

PJ from A Touch of Blusher gives us first impressions of all the latest and greatest holiday collections!

Beauty Blabber recreates Tang Wei's Look!

Beauty and Fashion Tech looks at Tropez, a great value cosmetics line!

Beauty and Personality Grooming shows us how to correct a gummy smile

Etailers Mall wants to know what etailer products do you use?

Face Candy peeks at the Dior's Holiday Romantic Collection 2007

Makeup Moxie reviews Too Faced Lash Injection Mascara

Makeup and Beauty Blog brings us Everything You Ever Needed To Know About Boyfriends That Secretly Wear Your Eyeliner!

Mytical Beauty's Musings tells us more about the lipstick lead scare in recent news!

Savvy Skin recaps Savvy Skin's Best of Summer 2007

Temptalia has all the pictures, reviews, swatches and more about the latest MAC collection from Alexander Mcqueen!

That's all for this week's Weekly Beauty Read! Happy reading ;)

This weekend's Steals and Deals will be postponed and back with you next weekend ;)

MAC Holiday Collection Price List

The Muse's lovely mate Janice has done all the hard work for us and has been busy like a bee compiling all the prices for the Holiday Color Collections.

If you have your wish list and was wondering how many pennies you'll need to save to make that list a reality do head on over to Specktra Blog and see the price list.

Click!

All prices are USD so if you happen to be in Europe, Asia, or some other exotic part of the world you can compare your country prices to the US prices (which I'm sure you'll find are far more cheaper in comparison)!

Rouge Deluxe Joins The Beauty Blog Network

I'd like to take a moment to welcome my good friend Iris into the Beauty Blog Network ;)

Her passion for cosmetics is a welcome addition to the network!

Welcome Iris :)

I'm so glad you're here!

Yay!

I know a majority of you probably already have but if you haven't for some reason do take sometime out to visit her @ Rouge Deluxe!

I guarantee you won't regret it if you're a big lover of Japanese Cosmetics (or makeup in general)!

The Weekly Beauty Read

Let's have a look to see what's up with the lovely members on The Beauty Blog Network!

PJ @ A Touch of Blusher shares a shopping list of goodies from Japan!

Sugar as a Beauty Aid? The thought never crossed my mind until reading this article at Beauty and Personality Grooming!

Elke takes a back and reviews one of her favorite lipglosses of all time on her blog! Click over and have a peek!

The Etailers Mall Blog is telling me where to get the ten best goodies for Halloween from E-tailers!

Face Candy takes a look at Bobbi Brown Holiday 2007!

Lipstick, Powder 'n Paint has a great article from Whole Foods that suggests we Be Good to Our Whole Body! Sneak a peek at this interesting article!

Age old question, what to do with unwanted make-up? Mytical Beauty's Musings has the solution for us!

I always get a case of dry skin when I fly due to the stale air in the plane! But Savvy Skin has the solution to Protect Your Skin When You Fly!

I just purchased the new MAC Beauty Powders this week after reading the lovely Temptalia's blog about it! Check out her swatches and review!

15 Minute Beauty Fantastic features a review of Elizabeth Arden's Holiday 2007 Everything Glows Collection! Yay for early Holiday Collection Reviews!

My favorite Moxie is telling us all about the Duwop Payoff Eyeshadow Intensifier. Is it a payoff or a ripoff? The Moxie is on the case to let us know what she really thinks of this new product! Visit Makeup Moxie to see the review!

Makeup and Beauty Blog reports on Elizabeth Hurley, Marisa Acocella Marchetto and Estee Lauder “Win the Fight Against Breast Cancer” and Karen takes you there!

The Mineral Makeup Blog gives a look at Mineral Makeup Invading Whole Foods Market!

indieperfumes shows us an inside look at Absolutes Concentrated Perfume.

And that's it for this Week's Beauty Read ;) Enjoy and Happy Weekend!

The Weekly Beauty Read

Ahhhh it's that special time of the week kids! When I can kick back, relax and of course catch up on reading all my sister blog posts on the Beauty Blog Network!

This week quite a few items caught my eyes and I'll be ever so nice and share them specially with you!

I'm tempted by Bonacure Hair Products especially the Kick Leave in Conditioner! Sounds like something my dry hair might like! Do check out the review from Beauty and Fashion Tech!

The lovely Elke Von Freudenberg brings us the WORST Beauty Trends of Fashion Week! Wander over to her blog and have a look! The Muse must say that she agrees the "no make-up" just doesn't do it!

Oh my am I drooling! PJ has posted up the Dior Holiday Collection and the Muse has decided to make it her business to get this collection as soon as it pops up UK side! Repeat after me...Must Have...Must Have.....click on over to see the pictures and PJ's first impression of the collection!

The Muse really has a thing for soap. What's that? You do too!? Great! you should visit the Etailers Mall and have a peek at the perfect soap for fashionista little minions like ourselves! Believe me it's quite the perfect little gift or maybe you want to get a few to spoil yourself with! Have a peek!

Ahhh..pink...ever girl's signature color! Hello Dollface brings the pink this weekend with a great blog about Jaqua's Pink Potion Collection! Jaqua makes great products and this Pink Potion is one the Muse hasn't had the pleasure of using! Uh oh I do believe the folk at Hello Dollface have created a bit of a "want" here!

Makeup Bags...we all need 'em...! Organization is quite important with a large, medium, or even small collection! Lipstick, Powder 'n Paint show us some nifty little bags to organize our cosmetic bits and pieces!

Temptalia is busy tempting the Muse with visions of MAC's new color story, Mattene. The Muse promised herself she'd be TRY to be good until the Holiday goodies arrived! But reading Temptalia's blog is making me want Mattene! Click on over and check out reviews and swatches for this new collection!

The most lovely Marina from Makeup Loves Me discusses the trend of the half moon nail this week! Sadly, the Muse bites her nails like mad but reading and viewing the picture on Marina's site makes the Muse realize it's about time she stops and starts taking better care of her nails so she might partake of this latest trend! Have a click and visit with Marina!

Face Candy brings a tale of mini! Dontcha love mini cosmetics? I sure do! Sneak a peek at Face Candy's blog of mini!

Canadian Beauty has helpful hints for prolonging your summer tan into the Fall! Click over and have a look!

Want radiant skin? Mytical Beauty's Musings has the secret to gorgeous skin!

Might I also pimp Makeup Moxie's Beauty Blog! Jazmin, a most gorgeous girl, runs this great blog! Do check it out! The Moxie and the Muse got on famously during the live chat the other night and with that I present to you her blog! Do visit this darling girl! Her site is Muse approved ;)

And with that said and done I say have a great weekend and I'll see all of you Monday!

A short note please keep in mind that I hide little hot links all over my blog entries! Particularly the Weekly Beauty Read! So if you happen upon a blog with a word that might be colored purple that means it's a hotlink, click and you'll be magically whisked away to a new site to explore!

Enjoy!

A Reader's youTube Videos

A lovely girl by the name of Aimee happened to e-mail the Muse about a month ago (*blush* it's taken me this long to get to replying).

In her e-mail she explained that my videos had inspired her to make some of her own!

I love looking at other people's collections and this video deserves a look (A traincase full of goodies)! Aimee also happens to have some great tutorials up!

The Muse recommends you have a peek!



Thanks for the e-mail Aimee and keep up the great work with the videos! The Muse approves and loves 'em ;)

And of course she's utterly flattered she's inspired you in someway!

The Weekly Beauty Read

My New Family @ Beauty Blog Network have a ton of interesting blog entries this week!

Check out some of my favorites!

The Muse's good mate PJ has a wonderful review on Prescriptives Flawless Skin and Anywhere Foundation up! Click on over and have a visit and a read! And maybe a nice cuppa as well since PJ's fabulous presence graces the other side of the Pond!

Click on over here and visit with Elke! She was in the Muse's knack of the woods for Fashion Week and has a great article up of her experiences at New York Fashion Week plus other interesting tidbits!

The Muse can only ever hope to be as amazing at eye makeup application as this beautiful girl! Click yourself over to Temptalia and learn how to create the perfect dramatic smokey black gold eye look!

Elke Von Freudenberg on the Wedding Podcast Show

I happened upon this tonight and thought I'd share! The Muse's new mate, Elke, is on the Wedding Podcast Show discussing quickie makeup application tips and eyebrow shaping! I was particularly enthralled listening to her discuss eyebrow shaping (I had a giggle when she said she sorta looks at girls in the street and envisions what she could do to make the brow area better, etc...). I'd love to see what sort of advice she'd give the Muse about her brows!

Anyway do CLICK over and listen! It's quite interesting!

While were on the topic of eyebrow shaping check out the photoshopped eyebrow job that Kiss and Makeup did on Keira Knightley!

Remember kids, eyebrow shaping is important, don't want to go around looking like that scary photoshopped version of Keira do ya?

Anti-Aging Week

The Muse's lovely mate at A Touch of Blusher has an entire week of Anti-Aging! Some wonderful articles to be had on general skincare, skincare reviews, and great tips and tricks!

Of course the Muse is gorgeous and never aging so she has no need of trivial things such as anti-aging methods (I'm Kidding! I'm Kidding!)!

My favorite so far is Thursday's entry which contained a link for What Makes a State-of-the-Art Moisturizer? Very interesting reading!

And of course when Anti-Aging week is over you can always keep A Touch of Blusher bookmarked for other fantastic blog entries about cosmetics, skincare, and all good things girly!