Ah, weddings”¦the stuff fairytales and dreams are made of. With all the pre-planning frenzy, you might forget the little details such as which colors to apply for your bridal mani-pedi. Fret not””here are some nail collections specially designed to make every blushing bride glow with infinite marital bliss…

Essie ““ Your ticket to paradise starts with Essie’s 2006 Wedding Collection. Brides-to-be can easily match their makeup palette without any mishaps. Hand-picked by Essie herself, the six universally flattering shades can be worn alone, layered or combined for an elegant French manicure. Perfect for the bride, mother of the bride, bridesmaids or guests! The collection includes: Ballet Slippers, Blanc, Limo-scene, Mademoiselle, Sugar Daddy and Waltz. Also available in the adorable Mini 4-Pack, this is a great gift idea for shower attendees (includes Ballet Slippers, Blanc, Limo-Scene and Mademoiselle).

Full size bottle, $8.00 each; the Mini 4-Pack retails for $12. Visit www.essie.com for more info.

Barielle – Strut your bridal stuff with Shades by Barielle’s latest collection “˜Positive Emotions.’ Featuring seven colors created to complement every skin tone, these lacquers will keep your nails feeling positively healthy. Demure and romantic, the hues range from lovely sheer whites to pale pinks with fitting names like Innocent, Sensitive, Enduring, Love, Cherish, Serene and Gleeful.

Using only safe and natural ingredients (keratin, protein, vitamins and plant extracts), the salon-strength formula is free of damaging irritants such as dibutyl-phthalate, toluene and formaldehyde. It provides a nice glossy finish and is quite long-lasting””a perfect touch to your perfect day.

0.5 fl oz, $8.00 each. Visit www.barielle.com for retail info.

OPI ““ Live happily ever after with OPI’s new Princess Charming SoftShades Nail Lacquers featuring six sumptuous shades ranging from shimmery pinks to ivory-golds. The cheeky hue names will keep a sly smile on your face throughout the ceremony””I’m a Princess, You’re Not!, Princesses Rule!, Who Needs a Prince?, Got a Date To-Knight!, My Daddy’s the King! and Your Royal Shyness.

Already hitched? The Honeymoon Edition is even sweeter. Seductive shades of peachy creams and elegant violets help ring in a romantic life with your sweetheart. The six colors include Matched Luggage, Privacy Please, Second Honeymoon, Tickets to Paradise, Mimosas for Mr. & Mrs. and Sweet Memories.

Available at fine salons (including Pure Beauty) for $7.50. Call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com for more info.

For the bridesmaid with the bride to be on the brain, it’s easy to forget her own needs on the big day! Booty Parlor has invented the perfect little kit for the bridal party that’s perfect for a fun and flirtatious evening. This ideal kit includes a little Bling Bling – this glitzy ring gives pleasure that’s solid as rock, a powerful Add Magic Lubricant, an I’m So Sexy Lip Gloss, a few fun Booty Parlor Tattoos, a seductively Safe Is Sexy Condom and a sumptuous Sweetheart Chocolate Bar.

The Bridesmaid’s Baguette retails for $45.00.

For more information about the Bridesmaids Baguette and Booty Parlor, please visit www.bootyparlor.com.

Your wedding day is the start of a beautiful life with your special partner. It’s also one of the most stressful ones as well. As if brides-to-be don’t have enough to worry about, you also have to think about your makeup game plan. In reality, it’s not as hard as you might think. With the proper products and some practice, you can easily create the magazine-perfect look on your own. The following suggestions will guide you to obtaining that dewy, fresh visage.

Prep – Begin by prepping your skin with a toner such as Kiehl’s Rosewater Facial Freshener Toner and then moisturize with a light lotion. We used Estee Lauder Future Perfect Anti-Wrinkle Radiance Lotion SPF 15. Follow with your favorite eye cream and lip balm.

Face – Bridal makeup should never be heavy. You want it to enhance your features, not hide them under cakey layers. Makeup artist Maggie Kerr applied Aveda’s Inner Light Tinted Moisture SPF 15 to even out skin tone. She then used Burt’s Bees Concealing Creme to eliminate dark circles and blemishes. Everything was set with Stila Sheer Pressed Powder. A light wash of Estee Lauder BlushLights was then gently blended on the apples of the cheeks.

Eyes – Begin with a MAC eyeliner pencil to define the upper lash line. Kerr then used NARS Decameron on the base of the lid and blended Estee Lauder’s Pure Color Eye Shadow in Bronze Cube on top. Blend, blend, blend! The dark brown shade from Tarte’s Social Butterfly Palette was then gently swept along the crease and lightly lined the lower lash line. Finally, curl lashes and brush with Estee Lauder Illusionist Waterproof Maximum Curling Mascara.

Lips – Get a sexy pout with Tarte’s Sexy-Lexy Double Lip Liner“”nude shades that will work on most skin tones. Glide on Tarte’s Supergloss in J.R. and you’ll be all set!

Hair – 2006 marks a resurgence in soft styles with mild sculpting for a romantic look.

“If you have thicker hair that has length, try leaving your hair down as wearing it all the way up might be too heavy and give you a headache,” Steve Elias advises. “For thin hair, use pre-styling and blow-drying volumizing products to get more texture and hold, as thin hair tends to lose style quickly.”

Elias started by applying Aveda’s Light Elements Reviving Mist, then blew-dry the locks to remove excess build-up. He sectioned the hair into one-inch sections, starting in the back. Using a one-inch ceramic curling iron, Aveda’s Brilliant Hairspray was sprayed to guard against humidity as the hair was curled in different directions for a natural, tousled look. To set hair in place, he gently finger-styled the locks to loosen the tight curls.

Voila! Bridal perfection is now at your fingertips…

*Credits:

Photography: Will Taylor, wtphoto.com

Makeup: Maggie Kerr, missmaggiek.com

Hair: Steve Elias, steveelias.com

Wardrobe: Verrières & Sako, studio23fashion.com

Model: Amber Lunsford of Look Model Agency (SF)

You’re late! Your alarm clock didn’t go off, you barely have time to hose off last night’s makeup, and you’ve just tripped and decapitated the kitten heel off your pink lizard slingbacks. Relax. Take 5″¦

That’s all the time you need to restart this frantic day with a second take and a fresh face. Created by model turned Hollywood makeup artist Judy Twine, Take 5 Cosmetics was designed to make every girl “camera-ready in 5 minutes or less.” Emmy nominated Twine has worked on the celebrity pouts of Nicole Richie, Angie Harmon, and Kimora Lee Simmons, but now she’s bringing her trade secrets to beautyphiles everywhere.

Take 5 has you covered from “vo-LIP-tuous” lip plumpers to sheer oil-free tinted moisturizers packed with hyaluronic acid and squalane to restore your dewy glow. You’ll be particularly impressed by Take 5′s cleverly conceived water resistant “Indelible Brow” automatic pencil. Afternoon spring drizzle or an accidental rub of the eyes have nothing on this resilient brow sculptor. The trio eye shadow color palettes will bring you back to childhood summers at the shore slurping down a triple scoop ice-cream cone.

As if the close up-worthy products weren’t enough, Take 5′s logo will surely ignite your inner Norma Desmond with its throwback to Old Hollywood.

Check out Take 5 Cosmetics on the web at www.take5cosmetics.com

When you need a little something sweet this spring, reach for Hard Candy’s lollipop lip glosses and you’ll get the sugar fix you’ve been craving. Each gloss is a combination of two fun flavors swirled together for a charming design that will help you perfect your pout in seconds.

In four unique flavors, you’re sure to find one that satisfies your sweet tooth. Strawberry Kiss ““ A pink berry gloss. Cherry Kiss ““ A sheer gloss stamped with the Hard Candy Heart. Chocolate Caramel Kiss- A chocolate and caramel mix. Raspberry Kiss- A chocolate and berry swirl.

Lollipop glosses retail for $6.00 and can be purchased at the following locations- HardCandy.com, Beauty.com, Sephora.com, Sephora, Ulta and select Nordstroms.

As a beauty writer for several years, it’s always interesting to find new beauty product stores. Sephora and major department and specialty stores abound across the Southern California landscape. We search for parking around Fred Segal Studio (Santa Monica) and Fred Segal’s Apothia (Melrose) like a heat-seeking missile””sometimes to no avail or with a nice parking ticket on the windshield. (Ugh). Or we head over to the Beauty Collection at Farmers Market and find that ““sigh””we definitely have to pony up for the parking fee””particularly if we haven’t found the Holy Grail product of the moment.

Wait! All is not lost. There is yet another spot to hit and this one is sure to ring the chimes of beauty heaven. Wilshire Beauty is a Miracle Mile beauty haven (founded in 1947) that’s undergone a major facelift and is so easy to find between Fairfax and La Brea, on the corner of Wilshire and Cloverdale. This Art Deco Moderne style building is sure to catch your eye, but what’s inside is mind-boggling!

My girlfriend Tricia and I went for a visit on a day chock-full of events and appointments. We came here first and actually should have come here last because this is a jaw-dropping experience. This store has everything!!! No lie; I repeat””everything.

This is a huge store and we were amazed at the product selection and the number of services available at this store. From hair to skincare, body products to cosmetics, the lines carried by Wilshire Beauty feature every product in that line. Looking for that hard to find Kerastase product? No problem ““ it’s here at Wilshire Beauty. Need something for ethnic hair? There’s an entire aisle of products and tools. Looking for men’s grooming products? There will be something to suit even the pickiest male.
No matter what it is you are seeking, if Wilshire Beauty carries the line, you will find even the most obscure beauty products. Their inventory includes cosmetics, hair, nails, tools, brushes/combs, bath and body, children’s, men’s, skincare, aromatherapy, fragrance, candles and electrics.

What’s in a pout? Sexy girl power, that’s what. No wonder the aptly named Pout Cosmetics took the Grammys and the Oscars by storm””and you can too with their “Five and Fabulous” product line-up.

Allison McGinnis and Deb Svarc, key Pout Makeup Artists, shared with BNLA their tips on how to achieve that fabulous glow and radiance with only 3 to 5 Pout products! As McGinnis described, “Our products are made for the average woman (mother, business woman, student) to use easily, without spending a lot of time, that they probably don’t have, on their makeup.”

Go from blah to beautiful in about 5 minute with Pout’s Top Five Products that will create a radiant you!

1) After Glow-Illuminator ($30) is a translucent cream illuminator that gives your skin a healthy bronze glow. The cute packaging alone will brighten you up!

2) Wild Berries Flush Blush ($22) will have you blushing a natural dusty pink. Pout’s unique cream to powder formula leaves a sheer wash of color that can be layered for added intensity.

3) Bamboo Eyeslick ($22) is a cream to powder eye shadow that won’t crease or fade as the paparazzi light bulbs flash away. The color “Bamboo” offers a brown shimmer that’s smokin’ sexy.

Spring beautifying checklist: 1) Get those brows tweezed into shape, 2) Open up your eyes by adding some lowlights to your lashes, and 3) Remedy winter white skin with a hint of personalized tint.

Glitz Beverly Hills offers you the one-stop solution: a warm and friendly makeup and brow studio with a posh address””located just across the street from the famed Peninsula Hotel. So-Cal natives Kristin Deasy and Natalie Elkinawy, the fresh and cheery owners of the welcoming abode just opened last August, offer you ten years of combined experience in the cosmetics industry with resumes that include the tony Valerie Beverly Hills salon.

Upon entering the shabby chic studio, I realized I’d stepped into every girl’s dream boudoir. Taking a page from the Anthropologie bedroom collection, the cozy space is bedecked with sparkling sconces and accessorized with chandeliers radiating from the lobes of the ceiling. Most noteworthy is the flattering ethereal lighting that somehow keeps your complexion glowing even mid-brow plucking.

I was greeted by Natalie who promptly seated me in front of one of two mirrored vanities while eyeing my brows. I must admit that the former makeup stylist for American Idol moderator Paula Abdul knows her brows. After a few plucks and a little trimming of mine, my sparse victims of teen years past spent zealously over-plucking actually appeared replenished and for once complimented my visage.

No need to take your daily vitamins anymore. Instead, wear your vitamins and minerals on your face.

Larenim (mineral spelled backwards) is a mineral makeup that works as an anti inflammatory and anti aging agent. The makeup uses natural ingredients to create a high end make up that looks amazing, feels great and rejuvenates your skin while you wear it.

Oscar goodie bag company, Silver Spoon, included Larenim creating a buzz within the Hollywood Elite clientele. Autumn Reeser of the O.C., Loretta Devine of Boston Public and Diedre Hall of All My Children all rave about Larenim. Actress Joan Allen wears Larenim in her next movie and Paul McCartney sported the line in a photo shoot and at his concert in New York in Fall 2005.

Unlike some other makeup brands, Larenim combats breaks outs, decreases pore size and discoloration, and works as both an anti-inflammatory and anti aging therapy.

The line’s creator, Kirsten Corcoran, says that she made the decision to develop the line because years of makeup use was “making my skin worse””my pores were getting bigger, and I developed Rosacea from irritation of the make up.”

I just got the Dior Gourmette Lip Gloss Bracelet. It looks like some monogrammed silver ID bracelet your high school boyfriend would wear with two exceptions: it is extremely oversized and the monogram says Dior. It looks really oversized and tongue-in-cheek, like something Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku girls would wear; an 80s throwback taken to extreme proportions. The best part? Inside there are two shades of Dior Addict Ultra-Gloss. Pink Shimmer and Light Bronze Shimmer. Jewelry and makeup in one product”¦what could be better?

It’s fun to wear and makes your lips eminently kissable. The Dior Gourmette is one of the hottest beauty products of the season.