Binge Beauty: MAC's Secret Crush See-Through Lip Stain Is Your Summer Crush

($14, MAC)

I will be totally straight-up honest with you. When I first received MAC's "Secret Crush" See-Through Lip Color (top shade), from the Rose Romance collection, I was like WTF? I had so many questions, like... "Why is this so tiny?" ... And... "Why it all gelatinous?" Then I put it on... And was all "Ew. Gross... What's on TV?"

... And I almost wrote it off. And then I inadvertantly taught myself an important lesson in patience. And that lesson is that patience IS important. Because See-Through Lip Color is an OUTSTANDING beauty summer product. First of all, a teeeeeensy weeeeensy little bit goes a LONG way (recession-friendly!). Also, it stays on for FOREVER, and not in that nasty-ass crusty chemically way. If you're the type of idiot who wears lipstick to the beach, make this one it.

It also has a lovely cooling property, and as someone who's always BOILING, I so appreciate that, especially in the summer, when I'm boiling x3. And it's so light that you'll have to check your mirror to cure yourself of "I can't believe I'm not wearing product" disbelief. Secret Crush = perfect summer shade -- it's a sweet little hint of color that stays on with zero gross goo. It's also an A+ way to do the red-lip trend I'm seeing so much of without committing to actual red lips in the summer, which is kinda gross and difficult, you know?

Anyway, yay, patience! Now go get MAC Secret Crush, and make it your summer crush.

Urban Decay's Lipstick: Packaging To DIE For... Or By

($22, Urban Decay, Sephora)

Aside from the heavy-like-a-roll-of-quarters bulk, ferociously scary/ awesome dagger detail, fun fun fun brand embossing that says "Urban Decay" right on the erm, shaft of the lipstick itself, purple metal tube, and the caramel scent of Midnight Cowboy (a shimmery beige), I kinda love the fact that you could totally put someone's eye out with any of Urban Decay's lipsticks as clearly they double as weapons.


And if you really like Urban Decay's lipstick, you can vote for it at the Golden Compact awards! Some of my FAVORITE beauty bloggers are judges!

Kat Von D's Lolita Lipstick: I Don Bought It

Honestly, I know little about Kat Von D -- never seen her show, I have no tattoos nor do I particularly care about them, and I don't usually go out of my way to embrace celebrity beauty lines just because they're celeb beauty lines. And truthfully, I need a new lipstick like Sarah Palin needs another kid. But I popped into Sephora last night (after seeing the cutest musical (13 -- think Breakfast Club meets Mean Girls with a Jewish Neil Patrick Harris-y Jr. lead), and I tried on Kat Von D's Painted Love lipstick in "Lolita." $18 later, my lips are a gorgeous dusty rose (not the color shown above -- couldn't find a pic of "Lolita").

Even though it's a light rose/ mauve shade, the lipstick itself is a very noticable, very thick, warm, full-coverage, matte. Think industrial-strength stay-on coverage. Perfect for winter and downplaying glamma drama eyes. Also, the packaging is phenomzorz -- a beautiful Lucite base and a rubberized cap with rose imagery.

Kat Von D's Painted Love lipsticks only come in four total shades, and Lolita's the lightest. Based on their thickness, I couldn't imagine wearing any of the darker shades without my lips looking like a stop light, but more power to you if you can pull it off. These are the thickness, and I definitely recommend it if you're looking for a strong, sturdy, stay-put lipstick. Available only at Sephora, which, at this point, I visit more frequently than my local supermarket.

Friday Night Linky Dinks!

Yep. Still couched. And now, a whole bunch of links that have about as much in common as spaghetti and kitty litter.

+ American Apparel takes one step closer toward absolute corruption as they reintroduce Hypercolor shirts. Why God, why? Brightest Young Things reports.

+ Nylon previews the next designer to team up with Target for their Go International collection: Richard Chai. Pretty fall solid separates in purples and blues.

+ MOTHER! Dress up like Little Edie Beale in jewelry inspired by Grey Gardens.
This is the best thing to wear for today, you understand.

+ Makeupandbeautyblog takes a look like Chanel's Fall 2008 gold-flecked metallics in princessy fairy shades. Love the Fantastic Plum lipstick.

+ Beauty Anonymous experiments with mascaras with magical battery-powered wands that whirl, twirl, and could possibly blind you. I'm afraid. (Via Beauty Blogging Junkie)

+ For the Love of Beauty explores India via Lancome's forthcoming India-inspired Fall 2008 collection.

+ I can't wait for Ashley Paige: Bikini or Bust, and after watching about 10 hours of television today and seeing this commercial about 14 times, I'm practically an expert.

+ Crafty ladies: Roman Sock knows how to make meerkats that are so cute you could just break down and cry.

Beauty Binge: Natural Products Worldwide Lipgloss Pots, Cargo Plant Love & Jane Iredale

Packaging Whore. That should be the name of my next blog. Because I am one. A packaging whore.

Just take a second to consider whether you can even deal with the cuteness of Natural Products Worldwide's (a British gift and design firm) Naughty But Nice little pastried-up lipgloss pots. Just TRY to see if you can handle. Moving right along...

(Apprx $3.80 USD, npw.co.uk)

(Apprx $15 USD, npw.co.uk)

My awesomely thoughtful friend Elinor brought me this little four-pack from her trip to London earlier this year. While usually, novelty beauty products are heavier on the novelty, lighter on the beauty, these l'il guys -- the cream tart in particular, actually moisturize like champs. Sweet!

($20, Cargo, Sephora)

These super cuters Cargo "Plant Love" lipsticks aren't exactly new to market, but they -- and they're irresistible packaging -- are new to me. They're made from all sorts of... green... stuff (green is the new black!) like corn. Six of the shades were designed by celebritayze -- I like Mariska Hargitay's and Evagenline Lily's -- though I like the non-celeb shades best. (And the celebs are super random -- Kim Raver, Denise Richards, Sarah Chalke and Lindsay Lohan... um, probably at least three of them have slept with Charlie Sheen, but at least they've all got fame in common?) Best of all, $2 from each shade goes to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.


Finally...

($24, Jane Iredale)

See, I'm not JUST into the kiddie packaging -- Jane Iredale's Sugar & Butter Lip Exfoliator is totally sophisticado in its dual-sided ingenuity and pretty gold patina, and the product is superb. The brown sugar exfoliator works well, but the ginger and mint plumper is light, lush and lovely and leaves your lips unbelievably soft and smooth. Huzzah! And if you're not into the exfoliator (it does leave a few trace grains of sugar, but that was also because I was practically chewing it off its stick with sugary excitement), check out the regular lip plumper. It tingles but doesn't sting. Huzzah!

Beauty Binge: MAC Mattene Lipstick In Flattering

Sooooooo... clearly FashionBinge is mainly about fashion, but it occurred to me the other day when I was switching bags and transferred about 18 lipsticks and glosses from one bag to the other: I have a beauty addiction. And lipsticks and glosses are my drug of choice. So, instead of admitting I have a probzor, I've decided to blog about it instead...

My newest acquisition is a MAC lipstick from their new Mattene matte line -- perf for fall, y'all!! The shade I have and am McLovin' is "Flattering," which is described as a beige pink semi-matte. On pasty-ass me, it's extremely pale but gorgeous and more peach than pink without any annoying old lady coral qualities. And it's super smooth yet light at the same time, and bish stayed on for HOURS without any icky build-up. This is the perfect complement to dramatic, smoky eyes.

The line hits October 4.

(I THINK this is Flattering, but I couldn't tell for sure.)