I would like to think that I know what every back to school beauty wants in her backpack, but after a week of school, I know for sure what my daughter and some friends need in their's. With the help of a few 12 - 17 year old girls, my sons girl friends loved spilling their backpacks to let me see their beauty loot, we have come up with our Backpack Essentials.

The number one and two must-have items are a hair brush and hair spray. Seems no one can get through the day without taming their luscious locks. One girl even carries a flat iron in her backpack, but swears it is only for afterschool touch-ups.

The girls love the new Herbal Essences Set Me Up Max Hold Hairspray, and at around $4, it is very afforable to keep in extra can at school.
 

Next up on the list is a fragrance spray. Our favorites are the new Hard Candy Fragrance and SO...? Kiss Me.

Lip gloss and Lip Balm are must-have backpack items too. While my daughter is a MAC girl (yup, she get all the shades I cannot wear), the others are in love with Burt's Bees  - both the lip balms and tinted lip shimmers.

Mascara, Maybelline's Great Lash to be exact, was in five out of the 8 backpacks I got to see, and most of them had a bronzer (or two) in there floating around too. Our favorites are various bronzers from Physicians Formula inlcuding their new Bright Bronzing Powder, and another from Hard Candy.  I found it a little funny that these New England girls love their SoCal Glow Bronzer.

I was surprised that only one gal, the one who toted that flat iron around, had an entire cosmetic case full of makeup in her backpack.  I was never one to carry much makeup around, so it sort of shocked me that a young girl would need so much to get her through a six hour school day.

For teens going back to school, it can be stressful. Times of stress in teens shows on their face, by way of breakouts.

It is never too early to get your favorite teen on a great skin care system. TESS, Teen Everday Skincare System is one of the newer systems for tweens and teens. Formulated with all natural ingredients, and the freshest of scents, you can trust that these products will help keep your teens skin balanced, clean, and clear.

The set, pictured above, is  available at QVC for just $30, and it is everything teens need to start a perfect skincare routine. Two kits are available: Almost Normal and Skin with Attitude.  Look is what the Almost Normal kit contains:

• 2-oz strawberry/jojoba Rise and Shine facial cleanser
• 2-oz apple Ooh-Refreshing facial toner
• 2-oz lavender oil-free Out and About lotion with SPF 15
• 4-ml peppermint Zip-It blemish stick

My 15 year old loves the Zip-It blemish stick, and uses it just a few times a day on pimples until they disappear. While my 12 year old loves the Ooh-Refreshin toner. She says it makes her face feel awake and ready to go.

 "Why is TESS different: The paraben-free products contain natural ingredients such as lavender oil, aloe vera gel, chamomile, green tea, lemon peel, and apple strawberry. The kit is fun and easy to use, with inspirational and empowering messages on the packaging and bottles. Tess gathered input from moms and teens to create the scents, ingredients, and textures of the products."

My family is so glad to have found this, and your favorite teen will be too.

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One of the easiest ways to lighten up your makeup routine is by finding a great makeup palette or kit, with products for eyes, cheeks, and lips.

Using a palette or kit will not only simplify your makeup application, it will cut down on the time you spend fishing through your makeup bag to find the perfect products to go with your daily look.  

I have found two perfect solutions. One is a kit, and one is a palette.

First there is the all-in-one palette, or as they call it their Quickie Chronicles, from Too Faced Cosmetics.  This Quickie is called The Miss Sixty Girl.

The Miss Sixty Girl Palette includes an eye shadow quad in sunflower yellow, white pearl, shimmering pink, and dark navy;  powder eyeliner duo in black velvet and black with silver glitter;  shimmering peach blush; and four lip glosses in shell pink, cotton candy pink, champagne shimmer, and ruby berry red, plus a removable mini pocket mirror.

Then there is a makeup kit from Bare Escentuals. This kit is appropriately titled Renegade Chic.

The Renegade Chic kit includes a  Lip Gloss in Rose Radiance,  BareMinerals Eye Shadow in Dove,  BareMinerals Eye Shadow in Graphite,  BareMinerals Face Color in Rose Radiance, an Angled Face Brush, and an Eye Defining Brush.

Shop Sephora.com for these and more great makeup palettes and kits. 

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Want a simple way to stay on trend? Add some metallics, albeit subtle metallics, to your shadow collection.

Bobbi just launched a collection of palettes, exclusively for Nordstrom. These are the Metallics.

Could it be more beautiful? This is the Burnt Sugar Metallics palette. These shimmery, highly pigmented shadows were adorning my eyes over the weekend. And they were beautiful! The powders are so soft, that they almost feel creamy. The shadows are formulated for all-day wear, and my lids are showed no signs of creasing. 

Pictured from left to right: Toffee, Gold Dust and Burnt Sugar. I used Gold Dust over my entire eye lid, from lash line to the top of my brow. I then applied Burnt Sugar over most of my lid, just not bringing it all the way into the inner corner, near my nose. I used a bit of the Toffee shade in my crease, and extended it upward and outward, to give my eye a bit of a smoky look. Finally, I dipped my eyeliner brush into Toffee as well, and lined my upper and lower lash line. Beautiful!!!

There are three more Metallic palettes, including Mignight Metallics that feature Platinum, Rockstar and Midnight; Velvet Plum Metallics which feature Raisin, Champagne Quartz and Velvet Plum; and Forest Metallics, with the shades Sage, Balsam and Forest.

Each Bobbi Brown Metallics palette sell for $45, and are exclusive to Nordstrom.

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Easing your way into the Fall season is a difficult task. We want to still look healthy from our summer (hopefully fake) glow, but want to stay on trend in the same.

I found a glorious collection that is perfect for making the transition during this in-between season seamless. Meet the Summer Solstice Collection from Borghese.

Start with a Tinted Moisturizer – “Summer Glow”, in a shade that gently kisses the skin with a healthy radiance and a touch of protective moisture. This moisturizer glides on efforlessly and leaves a beautiful glowing finish to any skin tone.

The collection also includes five delectable Lip Balm Shimmer shades to take you from daylight to moonlight. Each on is sheer and light, yet loaded with shine. The balms also deliver soothing protection to keep lips smooth, color-drenched and kissable. The shades: Starlight, Breeze, Sun Goddess, Sherbert, and Beach Berry can be worn alone, mixed, or smoothes on over lipstick for a final touch of "glow".

And do not forget the eyes! A Shadow Milano Trio in Firenze Blush provides the prettiest palette to highlight the eyes from dawn to dusk. They blend together beautifully, and help keep you looking glowing and healthy, while adding in just the right amount of color.

Fantisimo! 

Whether you are going back to school (or work) or your kids are, it is time for a change. Simplifying your beauty routine is no easy task. With so many products to discover and choose from, it is easy to get caught up in buying what you don't need.

We have been working hard behind the scenes of Beautiful Makeup Search to seek out the best beauty products you need now. From multi-tasking products, all-in-one makeup palettes, to great haircare options, and our favorite products from the Summer and new ones for Fall, we have you covered. Join us over the next few weeks as we help you get through this busy time of year with our Back to School beauty features.

Well, my friends - Fall has officially arrived. And it seems that I am in the minority because I hate the fall. I hate the cooler temperatures, the days getting shorter, all the leaves and acorns - just about everything about it. The only bright spot in the shorter, darker days is that I am able to start wearing new Fall makeup. And new Fall makeup means darker shades, browns, and berry's.  I turned over a new leaf this week and started with the Fall multiple seasonings of color.

On my eyes, I have been loving all the three brown shades in Benefit's Weather Girl Palette.  They are a bit frosty, but just perfect for my hazel colored eyes.  And topping that is Bourjois Metallic Eyeliner Pencil in a beautiful copper called Feuille De Cuivre. I use the eyeliner, which is just so easy to smooth on, over the shadow and it highlights the  frostiness in the shadows with the metallics in the eyeliner.  Stunning.

On my cheeks I have been loving Tarte's Mineral Powder Bronzer in Hotel Heiress. It is not too bronzy, just a bit of bronze with a hint of a ruddy pink it in. It does not look that way at all in the compact, but that is what it does to my cheeks - and it is just perfect. If I am looking for more color, I have just discovered MAX Factors Satin Blush in Peach Spice. If NARS Orgasm Blush is a tad too light for you, try this shade. It is just a tone deeper, and perfect for even my now pale complexion.

Okay - the lips. I swear I have been trying a new color everyday. A few of my favorites so far are DuWops Anti-Venom Satin Lipstick in Bamboo, a sheer wash of berry; MAC's newest Viva Glam VI, a plum with a pearl finish; Bobbi Brown's Lip Shimmer in Candlelight, the perfect gold to simply wear along or over one of Fall's berry lip shades; Clinique's Full Potential Lips (their lip plumping lipgloss entry) in Blackberry Bloom, a sheer yet rich berry shade; and Benefit's Color Plump in Hey Sailor, a glazed berry with their Big Magic 2 Lip Gloss over it.

That is all I have gotten to so far this Fall. What are some of your new Fall favorites?

Gold. Glitter They seem to go one in the same. But all that glitters doesn't have to be gold. How about pretty silver?

Silver. Sexy. All That Glitters is a sexy, silver shimmer powder infused with a very sexy scent - and it comes right out of it's own brush. This makes it simple to sweep over shoulders and decollete - making every day - or night shimmer.

The scent. This sexy shimmer is scented with clover, apple blossom, and clementine - for an alluring, confident fragrance.

All That Glitters is also available in Sweet or Sassy. It retails for $9.99 at mass retailers and chain drugstores nationwide.