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Valentine’s Day is next week—and while we don’t really love everything the holiday represents, there’s no denying all the cute beauty products that go along with it. Our favorites this year either have hearts all over them or are shaped like hearts—and, we’re sure you’ll agree, there’s just nothing sweeter.

Twist & Pout Lip Moisturizer SPF 20
Clip the round ball onto your bag and you’ll never be without soft lips again! And as a bonus, the swirly heart print and jeweled details make it super girly and fun.
$15.95 at hsn.com

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips in Love Always and Speed Dating
Super easy nail art? Yes, and super cute too! These are definitely our favorite nail polish strips to date, and these two patterns are just too adorable for words.
$8.99 each at ulta.com

Stila Love At First Blush Palette
Various shades of pink, tons of shimmer and a gorgeous overlaid hearts design? Our favorite palette to date.
$14 at sephora.com

The Body Shop Chocomania Soap
Soap shaped like a heart that smells like chocolate. We honestly can’t think of anything better.
$4 at thebodyshop.com

Philosophy Sweet Talk
From the 3-in-1 and the body lotion to the delicious lipgloss, the three products in this set make us want to do nothing but talk sweet.
$22 at beauty.com

Lush Love Potion Massage Bar
Every time we look at this bottle-shaped massage bar with a huge red heart on the front, it’s all we can do to keep from singing “Love Potion No. 9.”
$7.95 at lush.com

Nicole by OPI Have a Heart Nail Lacquer
As if the sparkly red hue didn’t already say “Valentine’s Day” loud and clear, the polish is simply dripping with miniature hearts. So cute.
$7.99 at drugstore.com

Sally Beauty Secrets Tweezers
Red and white and hearts all over? We think we will.
$1.49 at Sally Beauty stores

Gianna Rose Atelier Black & White Toile Heart Soap
We know we should be gifting this soap to others, but it’s so gorgeous we simply have to keep it for ourselves!
$10 at giannarose.com

Charlotte Ronson A Perfect Kiss Lip Gloss
Six gorgeously kissable shades, topped off with a heart-shaped cap. Perfection.
$14 each at sephora.com

2011 is here! And with that comes a slew of resolutions that we are certain we’ll do the best to keep … and then we’ll fail miserably. But this year, we’re trying something a little different and giving ourselves beauty resolutions instead of unattainable goals (like learning to cook like Julia Child, for instance). We’ve listed our resolutions below — and we’d love to hear what yours are, too!

Wear Sunscreen Daily
Every dermatologist and aesthetician tells us this is a must … and, still, we walk out of the house sunscreen-free on pretty much a daily basis. No more! We’ll be turning to our fave sunscreen, Supergoop! SPF 30+ Everyday UV Moisturizing Sun Protection Lotion for Faces & Hands ($22 at supergoop.com) to ensure our faces remain young, vibrant and wrinkle-free for years to come.

Be Adventurous with Eyeshadow
We’ve gotten into a bit of an eyeshadow rut. A bit of taupe shadow here, a bit of bronze shadow there, a coat of mascara to top it off … we’re getting super bored with our go-to look! In 2011, we vow to take chances with our eye makeup. Purples! Pinks! Greens! Blues! The sky’s the limit, thanks to gorgeous colors from every brand under the sun (our favorites are from NARS, M.A.C, Make Up For Ever and Bobbi Brown).

Drink More Water
Yes, we know we should drink 2 liters a day … but, to be honest, sometimes water is just too boring! Give us a Diet Coke, give us a martini, even give us cranberry juice — it’s tough to drink so much of the clear stuff on a daily basis. But we resolve to do our absolute best to drink tons and tons of water each and every day — because, at the very least, we know it will make our skin that much less dehydrated!

Play with Nail Color
We resolve to only wear boring pale pink on our nails once a month … at most! There are so many fabulous colors out there from brands like Deborah Lippmann, Illamasqua, Rescue Beauty Lounge (Recycle, above, is a favorite — $18 at rescuebeauty.com) … it seems foolish not to play!

What are your beauty resolutions for 2011? Let us know in the comments!

Our favorite thing about the holidays? Glittery nail polish. Our least favorite thing about the holidays? Removing glittery nail polish. “Glitter polish is wonderful for layering over other shades to create a fun, distinctive look,” says celebrity manicurist Deborah Lippmann. So we turned to some of the biggest names in the manicure biz for the tips and tricks for removing every last ounce of pesky glitter from our nails.

“Glitter can be a real pain to remove, and you MUST NOT pick it off, no matter how fun it is to cover the subway in flecks of gold,” says Nonie Creme, manicurist extraordinaire and founder of butter LONDON. “When you pick, you remove little chunks of nail as well, causing damage that has to grow off.”

One thing all manicurists agree on? For best results, be sure to use an acetone-based polish remover, like Cutex Quick & Gentle Nail Polish Remover ($2.49 at drugstore.com). Soak a cotton pad or cotton round in remover and then place over your entire nail, firmly pressing down for about a minute. “Let them soften up a little bit with the pad on top of them,” says celebrity manicurist Beth Fricke. “I think that’s really the only way.”

After pressing the cotton round against your nail, use a fresh remover-soaked pad to whisk away remaining polish. Celebrity manicurist April Foreman recommends swiping the cotton in a downward motion, away from the cuticle. “This ensures that you don’t press glitter into cuticles and surrounding skin, which makes cleanup that much more work!” she says.

And if that glitter is just so stubborn, no amount of rubbing and acetone-based remover seems to make it go away? “Follow up using a facial exfoliating pad for a second pass over nails,” Foreman recommends. “This grabs any remains of glitter, leaving your nails completely bare and ready for the next color.”

Manicurist Susan Nam, who owns Polished Beauty Bar on NYC’s Upper West Side, says you can also pour an entire bottle of acetone-based remover into a glass bowl and then soak your nails for about 2-3 minutes. “The polish should come off completely,” she says. If you let the remover sit in the bowl for awhile, you’ll notice all the glitter sinking to the bottom — at which point Nam says you can actually pour the remover back into the bottle “until the next time you need to take off that really stubborn color!” Just use a coffee filter when pouring to ensure none of the glitter gets back into the bottle.

If you plan on repainting your nails right after removing the glitter, Creme recommends doing so immediately following the remover. But if you’re taking a break from polish — “Heaven forbid!” Creme says; she advises washing your hands thoroughly and rubbing a capful of olive oil into your nails.

Seen above: Deborah Lippmann Boom Boom Pow, $20 at deborahlippmann.com

Now that the holidays are upon us, guess what? We’re going for high-shine, total bling, gold to the max nails. That’s right — it’s time to be the golden child with gold nails. We’ve rounded up some of our favorite gold nail polishes guaranteed to put the attention and spotlight directly on you at every holiday party.


Zoya Richelle
A gorgeous golden bronze shimmer that looks so unbelievably decadent upon the nail.
$7 at zoya.com

Essie Golden Nuggets
Doesn’t this color just make you wish you were mining for gold during the gold rush?
$8 at essieshop.com

Deborah Lippmann Boom Boom Pow
One of Deb’s newest colors for holiday is so blingy and bangin’, we can’t WAIT to flash our nails at every party!
$20 at deborahlippmann.com


China Glaze Peace on Earth
Something tells us if this greenish gold shimmer were rolled out to the world, peace wouldn’t be far behind.
$4.50 at amazon.com

OPI Bring on the Bling
We love every color from OPI’s Burlesque collection — but this amazing glittery gold completely stole our heart.
$9.99 at rickysnyc.com