I recently attended a Bloggers at Midlife Conference where I found a tribe of fantastic women, who could not stop talking about one particular product from conference sponsor, MadisonReed. MadisonReed hair products have been featured in Vogue, Elle, and Redbook magazines.

The conference favorite was the MadisonReed Root Touch-up Kit. It is an oil-absorbing powder that covers roots, adds volume, and stays put until you shampoo–even through workouts and rainstorms. It is quick and easy, and gives your hair a boost between full color sessions.

The brush-on powder is made from ingredients you can feel good about and goes on in seconds to cover roots and gray. Micro‑milled pigments (with no harsh chemicals) give hair natural‑looking depth and create incredible coverage that stays put until you wash it out.

MadisonReed makes it easy to determine your individual color online. You even can take a photo of your hair and send it to a Color Crew, who will match your color and talk you through the process. ($29.95. Provides approximately 60 uses.)

Take a look at this MadisonReed Video.

**MADISON-REED IS OFFERING FREE SHIPPING ON YOUR FIRST ORDER.**

Highlighting and Contouring–Made Easy. Highlighting and contouring are big buzz words in the makeup industry right now.

What it is? Highlighting and contouring are makeup techniques that create light and dark areas that sculpt and shape the face so it appears more balanced. The light/dark techniques can also showcase your best features, while diminishing the less-than-perfect ones.

There are a lot of complicated diagrams out there. Here is a simple photograph that shows basic placement. Notice:

1. Highlighter (top) is brushed on top of the cheekbone.
2. Cheek color (middle) is blended outward on cheeks. (Don’t go below the nose.)
3. Bronzer (bottom) lightly brushed underneath.
4. All colors slant upwards, creating a flattering “V” angle.

Maybelline has a  “Master Contour” kit that makes it easy to understand the concept. You don’t have to go out and buy this kit. Just look in your own makeup drawer. Do you have bronzer? Do you have blush? Do you have a highlighting powder? That’s all you need to make this idea work.

But the secret to all of this is BLENDING. I didn’t particularly like the brush that came with this kit. I use a narrow brush for highlighting the cheekbones, and a fluffier brush for cheek color and bronzer.

Note: Don’t brush the highlighter too close to your eyes, or you could get the frosted powder caught in your squint lines, which will highlight wrinkles…Yikes.

Long-Lasting Lip Color

A friend’s daughter recently gave me the name of a long-lasting lip pencil she used on the day of her bridal shower: REVLON’s Matte Balm.  The color stayed on the entire day (even through the mimosas and the chicken salad). She couldn’t believe she didn’t have to reapply.

Just thought you’d want to know.