The beautiful Becki Newton who plays Amanda Tanen on Ugly Betty shared her makeup contents with InStyle magazine. Here’s what you’ll find inside her Ricky’s NYC clear bag.

1. Benefit Her Glossiness Lip Gloss in Life on The A List

2. Stila Perfecting Concealer in Shade C

3. Face Stockholm Pearl Eye Shadow in No.38

4. Benefit Cream Shadow/ Liner in Carte Blance

5. Guerlain Terracotta Tan Booster in Light

6. Napoleon Perdis China Doll Eyeliner in Equinox

7. Chanel Extracils Mascara in Brun

8. Stila Illuminating Liquid Foundation in 30 Watts

9. Face Stockholm Blush on in worship

10. Chanel Precision Eye Definer in Coffee Bean

11. Tarte Glam on the go brush with case

Get ready for spring with Body Bling. Scott Barnes’ Body Bling skin bronzer, is the secret weapon behind the famous “J. Lo bronzed glow”. Body Bling is a moisturizing bronze tinted body lotion that wears all day and gives a suntan glisten all night. It is said that it makes legs look longer, arms have definition and torsos become 3D. The lotion feels luxuriously moisturizing and skin softening. There’s no commitment – unlike a self tanner you rinse Body Bling off and pass on the sun damage. Body Bling was rated best Shimmer Lotion by Instyle magazine in 2008 and is used by celebrities such as Faith Hill and Jennifer Lopez. Have you tried Body Bling? What were your thoughts?

Retails for : $48.00 at Scott Barnes.com

The InStyle 145 Best Beauty Buys Issue is out now. I picked up a copy last night because it’s always a great read for all of us beauty addicts out there. I won’t give away all 145 winners but thought I’d share a few picks with you so here they are….

Best Mineral Foundation:

Bare Escentuals Bare Minerals SPF 15

Our opinion:

You can’t go wrong with Bare Minerals!

Best Undereye Concealer:

Cle de Peau Correcteur Visage

Best Powder Blush:

Nars

Best Inexpensive Eyeshadow:

Loreal Hip

Our opinion:

Loreal Hip is wonderful and very similar to Mac but I’ve never noticed it was all that “inexpensive”. I would say the best inexpensive eyeshadow would have to be Milani.

Best Shampoo and Conditioner:

Kerastase

Best Self Tanner for Body:

St. Tropez Auto Bronzant Lotion

So there you have it some of the best according to InStyle magazine. What do you agree with? What do you disagree with? To see the rest of the list pick up a copy of InStyle magazine on newsstands now.

I have been coloring my hair at home for years (after many bad salon experiences) and have found my favorite at home hair coloring product so far. Clairol has just released a new permanent hair color with a one step coloring process. What this means is that it dyes hair in only 10 minutes (compared to the usual 30), it also smells great and leaves your hair smooth and silky. I swear after I used this product my hair looked like I had just left a very expensive salon. The best part is that it only cost me $13.00 instead of the usual $100.00 which means I have more money to spend on makeup, haha. Have you tried this product? What were your thoughts?

Retails for $13.00 at Target

I was running low on concealer and since my nearest Sephora is almost an hour away I decided to just pick something up at Target. I had read some great reviews about this product recently in magazines and when I saw it on sale I snatched it up quickly because hey I love a good sale.

I’ve been using it for two weeks now and I just had to tell you ladies about it because it’s the best drugstore concealer I’ve used in a very long time. This double duty tube has a concealer on one end and a highlighter on the other. I love using the highlighter on the inner corners of my eye to help brighten them up. Have you tried this product? What were your thoughts?

Retails for : $9.00 at Target

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before but Alexis Vogel is one of my favorite makeup artists ever. Years ago my sister and I would stay up late at night just to watch her infomercials, lol. I don’t think either one of us ever got around to ordering any of her products but we just loved watching the “miracles” she could create with makeup. Now years later I’ve been lucky enough to get the chance to interview her and even though she’s a very busy lady she took to time to do this interview with me so I could share it with all of you lovely ladies. Thanks again Alexis!!

1.Where did your love of makeup begin?

I used to watch my father oil paint when I was about 3 yrs old. I was obsessed with colors and painting at that early age. By the time I was 13 yrs old I was doing everybody’s makeup I could get my hands on!! I actually started working professionally at the age of 17 as a full fledged makeup artist. By 19 I was well on my way, went to school at Joe Blasco MU Academy and the rest is History~ My mom was a model and Beauty Pageant winner before I was born and continued afterwards. Her beauty and her drive was very inspiring, I used to watch her do her makeup all the time!!

2.What was your big break as a makeup artist?

Wow, that is a hard one to answer? It was just word of mouth and it spread very quickly in the industry at that time! Back in the early 80’s. I worked on Disney productions to Playboy and on and on! TV shows, Films it was crazy I was working 24/7 by the time I was in school I could barely make it to my classes but I did!! It was not just one thing it was hard work and I was very very focused on where I was going and what I was doing! I LOVED my work and I had been blessed with a talent. Hard work and talent can be the big break. I wish I could say it was this person or that but it was not really?

3.What challenges have you faced in this field since you began?

I have been very blessed and it has been an abundant of work and cool people and jobs of course!! Maybe that I don’t have enough time for me sometimes I find. I am always giving and doing for others and to take the time out for me is a tough thing to do!! My work is very demanding and long hours? But that is who I am and what I love to do!! I am learning now how to find a balance to fit a bit of “me” time in!! That is the biggest challenge for me.

4.What’s a typical day like for Alexis Vogel?

Sleep as much as I can, that is hard for me to do! I love to be creative at nite time, so that is when I am most productive working on my web sites, products etc. I get up early when I work, drink a protein shake all fresh ingredients, Take a lot of vitamins too and drink a lot of water!! Drive to my location and start to work on the job who or whatever it is! Times can all be very different if it is TV/Film it can be a very early call time. If it is a Makeover I am going to do it is more normal hours like 10am-4pm? I try to work out at least 4 days a week that is huge and so important to me to keep healthy and stress down too!!! I love to watch movies and go to movies when I can!! I try to fit that in!! lol I do love to visit with friends too and love the beach on the weekend if I am lucky enough to have a weekend off!! I do go out to events a lot with my Celeb clients so life is always one big social fun event for me most of the time!! A party every day at work not literally but I am around a lot of people all the time. So when I am home a nice blockbuster rental and a great hot bath is awesome!! And I do enjoy my wonderful Finance’ too he is a dream! He is amazing and a lot of fun. Lucky for me he is a fantastic Photographer too!! So we have a lot of things in common!!

5. Name someone famous you always have a blast working with.

I love working with all my clients that is so hard to answer!! I am afraid to answer that one! lol

They are all a blast !!! Carmen Electra is an angel she is a doll and always so fun and funny! We do have a lot of fun !!! I guess that is ok to say!!

6.If we peeked inside your makeup kit what would we see/find?

Mostly my products, but I will be doing an all new line this year!! But I do have a little bit of everything else too. There are bits and pieces of my Favs of other lines of course. I cant make everything right? LOL So I have a few pieces of other lines from Chanel to Maybelline , Mac, Max Factor and some odds and ends I find at the Beauty Supply Stores!!!

7.What’s the one beauty item you can’t live without?

I could not live with out Under Eye Creams I am an addict!! I love them and my favorite is Lancome Progress I have been using this for 20 yrs and I swear by it!! I love it and apply it a few times a day and before bedtime too~ it rocks..!!!

8.What’s the last beauty item you purchased?

OK I give here- This is an addiction I feel it is the best one out there on the market right now. I have many of my Celeb clients hooked on it!

Yves Saint Laurent Mascara Volume Effect Faux Cils Luxurious Mascara

9.Give us your best beauty/makeup tips.

Too many omgsh lol!! Where do I start? Always keep powder in your purse and a few pointy tips for quickie touch ups! Powder is so important never want to look greasy! Dewy is one thing but never greasy. Never apply heavy or too much moisturizer in the day time before application of your foundation. It will stay on much longer and wear better if you have a light hand with moisturizers!! Always brush your brows before you pencil them in so you wont tug out any hairs~and keep the brow pencil sharpened too so it wont also pull out the hairs! A mist of spray water like Evian on your face after powder/foundation makes you look more dewy it helps give that JLo glo effect with out the grease and oils! It will also make the powder look just go away!! Great to use a lipstain under your lipstick colors so you will always have color on your lips as the day or nite goes on and on you won’t be left with an empty pout!!! Great tip love that one I have stains everywhere! lol I even go to bed at nite w/ stain on so that I look less washed out for my man!!

10.What are the makeup trends looking ahead to Spring/Summer 2008.

This is a great time for makeup styles because everything goes, it is all individual style that is in style now!! Whatever you want to be for that day is cool! If ya want a Bo Ho look short for Bohemian look or you want a natural/hippy chic look that is great too. Or you want to really Vamp it up and do the sexy smokey eye look you can do that too. I love NOW!! This 2008, it is all good , all in style!! There is no mistake in ART!! We are our own artists. Play! Have fun, there is not just one look…. unless you only follow a trend and that gets boring and sometimes does not even fit you !!!

11.What’s the biggest beauty mistake women make?

They do not blend their makeup down the jaw line into the neck!! They usually stop and leave a line of demarcation the foundation just stops. you have to blend it downward!! Use a sponge it works better then fingers or those messy foundation brushes!!! And they do not match their skin tone either, go out side with a tiny dab and make sure you match your overall color. Take a nice average of your color from you body, neck and hands.. Faces are always lighter so you need to usually go a shade or 2 darker then your face we all use sunscreens on the face while our bodies are more colorful! This will give you more radiance and a healthier look too!!!

12.Will you ever write a makeup book?

I surely do hope so! I have been asked several times and I am actually started working on one as we speak!!! Yes thanks!! I am in many though!!

13.In my opinion your signature look is the Sex Kitten / Pinup look. What tips do you have for helping us regular women recreate the look at home?

I will have a new Eye Kit coming out this year end of summer!!! It is amazing and will have everything and the kitchen sink in it too !!! Ha ha ha.. Ok a few tips are to invest in a great eye shadow brush!! I love the Mac no222. It is awesome and makes it easy to accomplish a seamless flawless job of it !! Use eye shadow colors that are not too hard in color like nice soft burgandys instead of blacks for example. Use one that has a good pigment quality so you can blend and spread it like butter!! I do like many of the Lancome eye shadow textures!! LASHES IT IS ALL ABOUT THE LASHES!! YSL is the bombshell maker! lol A good shadow, great brush, great mascara with a good eye lash curler to crank those puppies up to the sky to give lift to your eyes! Like an eye lift without the surgery!! A good eye lash curler with a great mascara will give you the same appearance as false eye lashes!! That is a really good tip~ Hi light with a nice glowing shimmer dust under brows it is awesome!! Always rim your lower eyelids under the lash line with a nice chubby soft pencil and go over it with your eye shadow too! Then smudge it down with your foundation sponge or Qtip!!! Eye liner on the top lid is a must for both looks!!! Do a nice soft smudgy style line not a hard heavy line!! It is all about the dramatic Liner that really pops your eyes out!! Like a picture frame around an oil painting right? What is a painting with out the frame ?

14.What’s next in your career?

New Infomercial, new line this year and working on the Book too! And a possible makeover studio coming also!!!

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview Alexis. Do you have any final words or thoughts? There is no mistake in Art that is my motto so have fun, paint it up try lots of things you can always just wipe it away and try and try again that is the beauty and fun of Makeup!!! Love Alexis

Thanks to Isaiah Mays and Alexis for letting us use the photos.
To learn more about Alexis you can visit her online at Makeupbyalexis.com

As a child of the 80’s I love all things neon including anything Hot Pink, Hot Orange, Hot Yellow, etc. So you can imagine my excitement when I ran across the Get Hot Tech Kit from Nubar. This kit contains seven hot nail polish shades that would be perfect for Spring. Scarlett Johansson scooped up a set of these fluorescent shades now it’s your turn.

Retails for: $39.95 at ByNubar.com

Smashbox’s Green Room collection takes social consciousness to the next level. Along with creating environmentally – friendly formulas in recyclable packaging the company also compensates for their carbon footprint by planting a tree from the proceeds of each item sold. And as always Smashbox products are Cruelty Free.

You can purchase any of the Green Room Collection from: Smashbox.com or Sephora.com