Clarins doing makeup for the Summer? I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read about it. The name, Instant Sunlight, is particularly clever and makes me think of lazy, languid beach-filled days on Fire Island and the Hamptons.

The mochas and browns in the Clarins Instant Sunlight Makeup Eyeshadow Palette have summer spice written all over them:

The collection also has a Smoothing Luminating Compact in Natural and Bronze:

There are three Click & Gloss Lip Glazes in Vanilla, Coral & Cinnamon:

There are three limited edition Crystal Balm Smoothing Lipsticks in Crystal Coral, Crystal & Crystal Red:

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If exfoliating is a cult, we are definitely the leader. In fact, we’ve been known to use everything from coffee grinds to brown sugar in order to slough off dead skin and clear out clogged pores. So when we got our paws on a bottle of Lierac Paris Micro-Abrasion Stimulating Smoothing Cream, we hopped in the shower to give it a test run. Despite being referred to as a face cream, Lierac’s Micro-Abrasion is really a face scrub that is rinsed off after massaging gently for two minutes.

Composed of alumina crystals for deep exfoliating (heavier scrubs can’t light a candle to these), Lierac’s smoothing cream is specifically designed for dull skin that’s lost its luster due to everyday life. We lathered it on after a thorough cleansing, and loved how smooth our face felt afterwards. If your pores are a problem like ours, we bet you’ll feel the same.

For more information, visit www.lierac-usa.com. Micro-Abrasion retails for $38 per 2.25 oz bottle.

Have you ever taken your dog for a walk, and realized that their hair is in better shape than yours? Well if you’re starting to feel jealousy towards your Golden Retriever, that’s a deal-breaker, ladies! For men and women with chronically dry hair, all the moisturizing and conditioning in the world doesn’t seem to give hair that glossy shine we crave. But all hope is not gone, folks; maybe you just need a deep hydrating treatment to repair the breakage from endless hair dryers, flat irons, and blazing sun rays.

The Bumble and Bumble Quenching Collection reaches deep to repair the cuticles of your hair with a blend of wheat proteins and pro-vitamins that basically glue the hair’s cuticle back into place. Hydration is restored, and your hair finds the strength to shine on.

We tested out the line on our victim, Christine, whose thick hair had lost its shine under the weight of her split ends. This photo is of Christine’s wavy locks before using the Quenching Collection.

Christine immediately felt her hair rehydrating while showering. The Quenching Shampoo is a gentle cleanser for all types of hair, while the conditioner instantly smoothes cuticles and packs in the vitamins that have been depleted by over-processing. Christine was particularly impressed with the conditioner’s ability to detangle. After conditioning, she applied the Quenching Masque, which is an intensive, therapeutic moisturizer that only needs to be applied once a week. After letting it sit for 10 minutes and then rinsing, hair is replenished and strengthened. Christine immediately noticed a difference after rinsing out the masque, and commented that her hair felt “very moisturized.”

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If you were to create a “London” look, who would you most resemble? Kate Moss?

Kate Winslet?

Keira Knightley?

Or you could create a look completely your own and GO to London, thanks to a new competition sponsored by Rimmel and Seventeen Magazine.

All you have to do to enter the “Ultimate London Look” competition is to log on to Seventeen.com/UltimateLook and upload a custom-created makeup look photo. You’ll have to use at least 50% Rimmel London products, which shouldn’t be terribly hard since their mascaras and makeup rock.

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I am a die-hard eyeliner junkie. I have jetted out the door, typical “New York Minute” style, wearing no makeup except my eyeliner (which to me - is like wearing a good outfit and killer shoes).

So, naturally, when my dear friend Karen Robinovitz unveiled a bevy of new products to the world at large on HSN, I simply had to have the Lashionista-Modelista Mascara-Eyeliner combo in After Dark.

This is a magical wand because it combines the Bonnie and Clyde, the Bert and Ernie, the Regis and Kelly of eye products: liner and mascara.  It’s such a great pocketbook friendly wand and it could well be my Nimbus 2000. It retails for $32.50.The Modelista eyeliner contains sparkles made with real diamond dust, so it’s glittery, date-friendly and so subtly glowing that your eyes will feel fairy lit and special.

Here are three beautiful ways to wear your Lashionista Modelista (shown in After Dark).

Wear Modelista as a thick liner and coat your lashes with two coats of Lashionista.

Line your eyes once (on top only) with Modelista, and close your eyes and leave for a minute to dry. Then reapply the liner again for a thicker look. Here, I am wearing the Spring Forecast 4 Eyeshadow palette by MAC with shades Manila Paper all over the eyes and brow bone, Flip on the inner corner of the eye, and Aztec Paper on the outer crease of the eye.

Use Modelista as part of a smoky eye look.

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This winter has been the worst on record for my face. 14-20 inches of snow mixed with gusting winds that feel like they have some 200 horsepower is not something you want to subject your birthday suit to — as a result, I suspect that I may have ended up with windburn, which is a serious bitch (thanks, Mother Nature).

Therefore, I’ve had to resort to sensitive skin treatments, and one of the crown jewels during my search was the Sensitive Skin Line from Votre Vu Skincare.

The Attentive Facial Cleansing Milk ($29) is one of the most gentle, almost baby safe creamy cleansing milks I’ve tried. It contains safflower, sunflower seed oil and Roman Chamomile extract to remove any impurities without chaffing or reddening your skin with the abrasion of Brillo Pad, so you can rest easy.

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Casting pearls before swine may be a past time that Guerlain enjoys doing on a frequent basis, but I must confess that the Summer 2010 collection of the Guerlain Meteorites Perles is luxurious, eye-catching and delicate at the same time.

The Guerlain Meterorites Perles Makeup collection houses the colorful makeup pearls in a rose-motif silver box. They come in three shades:

1. Rose Tint

2. Beige Tint

3. Gold Tint

The Eyeshadow Palette is all beiges, roses and brown tints. Called Ombres Perles, it features a white rose embossed pattern on two of the four eyeshadow pans.

The collection will also showcase two new wicked Kiss Kiss Baby lipsticks, in Cherry and Summer shades:

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MAC Cosmetics’ Riveting Collection ($12 each) had me from “Hello” because of its serious metallic components. But most of all, I love the three nail lacquers from the collection, which are matte in finish.

I simply love matte - I would say I love matte more than a shiny finish, and these shades are wearable with almost any outfit. The only caveat? Be careful how you apply them. These are some seriously thick polishes and a few coats will do the trick, but the way you apply them will really show (not so much for the Studded shade below, but for the other two, the way you apply the polish and the direction of your strokes will be palpable).

This shade, Black Enough? is a rich black that is best left applied by a pro. This is a decent swatch but it took me quite a while to get it nice and even. If you want a richer, deep sooty black, then apply three coats.

This is my favorite of the three Riveting Nail Lacquer swatches: Wham, Bam Glam. It’s a beigey-taupe with a nice matte finish.

If you’re seriously in the glinty mood, try Studded. This is the easiest to apply of the three because the nail imperfections don’t show as much.

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We wrote about the MAC Viva Glam and MAC AIDS Fund spokespeople, Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper, and their particular shades of lipstick (a cool blue-pink shade; and a light coral-red color) a while ago, but we didn’t show you the shades of the lipstick yet.

My first question when any piece of makeup comes across my desk is: will it work for my complexion? I still find that several colors that come out are best suited for that character in one of Jane Austen’s novels: peachy-skin, creamy and gorgeous. But we gave both these Cyndi/Gaga Viva Glam lipsticks a whirl and these are the mug shots.

Wearing Lady Gaga Viva Glam

This might be a mugshot from hell, but the cool blue-pink shade works if you pair it with a really vibrant eyeshadow color (here I’m wearing Revlon Matte Eyeshadow in Venetian Blue; Fresh Cosmetics’ Firebird mascara; and foundation by Dior- Diorskin Nude in 052).

Wearing MAC Viva Glam Cyndi Lipstick

Red shades always suit darker complexions better (warmer colors). I do love the faint shimmer of the Cyndi lipstick:

Well, what do you think? I totally love the coral-red nature of this lipstick because it makes your face so suddenly summer.

- Charu Suri

FusionBeauty has been known to hype pretty girls’ lips (my lips are still ballooning, Angeline-style, thanks to the original LipFusion). Now the brand is launching a set of four new shine glosses as part of its new “Luxe Boudoir” LipFusion Capsule Collection.

The four new glosses have a shimmer effect and also link to Seven Bar Foundation’s charity called “Kiss Away Poverty” which receives a dollar from every sale of LipFusion Color Shine (each gloss retails for $29, so they aren’t cheap).

Kim Kardashian will be the face of this new collection, as well as the company’s new Illumifill Line Filling Luminzer which will hit stores this spring. Our dear, curvalicious KK has indeed been a busy bee lately, with the launch of her fragrance and diet supplements.

It’s a lot to keep up with, KK, no pun intended. We haven’t tried the glosses yet, but as soon as we do, we’ll give you fresh print, Butterflydiary style. Mwah!

- Charu Suri