Falling In Love (Again)

Sad that the summer is over? No more trips to the beach, no weekends in the Hampton's and no more strappy little sandals. On the other hand no more nasty sunburns, no more sand in unmentionable places, and no more unbearable humidity. And, think on girls, there's the Fall Collections to look forward to. The good news is that the wedge heel is back. Hurray! I love wedge heels. Many years ago I bought a black suede pair of wedge slingbacks with a peep toe from Marks & Spencer's. Not only were they gorgeous footwear but they were that most elusive of items, comfy shoes. I wore them to work. I wore them to parties. I wore them to the supermarket. I wore them out. Finally, after more time than any shoe should be expected to give to its owner they quite literally fell apart.

Apart from wedge heels, patent leather, pseudo-bondage and sparkles are all very apparent on this season's footwear. I may well bankrupt myself, which would be an awful shame considering the lovely cosmetic collections I might miss out on as a result. The Clarins Colourful Horizons (Fall 2006) Collection is just divine. Get to a cosmetic counter NOW and purchase the utterly wonderful Colourful Horizons Eye Palette ($32.50) which like my lamented suede wedge slingbacks with a peep toe from Marks & Spencer's is a limited edition. This is a must have purchase which contains six amazing eye shades in pretty 'colour buttons' (each eye shade is presented in a cute button pattern). The shades themselves are fantastic particularly the wonderful vibrant green and the just in time for fall gold.

Although the Eye Palette is the highlight of the Clarins collection it is not alone in being a must-have. The collection also contains two new shades of Eyeliner Pencil ($21) (which can be used as either eyeliner or eye shadow), in Black and Khaki. The Khaki pencil is simply fantastic. The colour is subtle yet striking and goes well with all of the eye shades in the Eye Palette.

Like all good collections the Colourful Horizons collection also has some scrummy new lip colours to help cheer up those shortening evenings. Clarins have added four shades to their line of Lip Colour Tints ($19) each with a suitably fruity name and flavour - Guava (a pale pink), Latte (a subtle browny/beige shade), Redcurrant (red, go figure) and Raisin (a vibrant deep purple hue). The Clarins Colourful Horizons collection also contains another limited edition, the Express Face Palette ($35) - three companion shades for face to highlight and contour. tarte have introduced a number of spicy sounding shades for lips that will brighten up the darkest of days ahead. For girls who have a Dim Sum approach to life and like to sample a little bit of everything (and who could blame them) check out Some Like It Hot, tarte's collection of ten mini-cinnamon flavoured lip glosses. The ten shades have suitably sizzling names - Pep, Red Hot, Sizzle, Zesty, Blaze, Fiery, Fever, Cayenne, Spicy and Zip. The only problem with this scorching collection is choosing which shade to wear. So much choice, so little time. And if that wasn't bad enough tarte have also introduced Rise & Shine Lip Stain ($21), a new addition to their signature lip duos. This time though instead of having two complementary glosses the duos contain a lip stain and a complementary plumping lip gloss what more could a girl ask for?

If you spent too much dosh on that summer share in the Hampton's, or indeed if like me you foresee far too much money being lavished on shoes and boots do not despair, Mattése NYC have a great collection which will leave plenty of cash for shoe shopping or next year's summer share or indeed more make-up. Mattése NYC was developed under the guidance of celebrity make-up artist Kevyn Aucoin (who also has a make-up line which bears his name) so you know its good stuff.

I can't recommend the Mattése NYC Nail Enamel ($4.99) highly enough. There are 18 different shades to choose from but the one I tried Passion & Lilac (a vibrant pink) looks absolutely fantastic on. It works well with the Baby Doll Lip Gloss ($9.99) one of eight shades available. From their Shadow Dust ($9.99) eye shadow collection I tried the dramatic Gold which is a definite must-have for the Fall and Winter. Rimmel London are well known for their high quality, yet reasonably priced cosmetics and the new Fall colours are no exception. For lips try Lasting Finish Lipstick ($5.90) in Vamp Chic along with the wonderful 1000 Kisses Stay-on Lip Pencil ($3.05). If you like metallic colours but don't fancy gold then check out Rimmel's Infinite Colour Eye Shadow ($5.70) in the No Limits shade.

If on the other hand you DO like Gold then get thee to a MAC counter ASAP. Rockocco, one of their Fall Collections, an opulent luxurious collection which will make even the lowliest of ladies feel like a princess. They've also added a new line of lip shades - Plushglass, a high shine sheer coverage gloss that creates fuller looking lips. And further, MAC claim that Plushlips will help keep lips healthier and younger looking over time - sounds good to me. Check out the shades Pretty Plush and Mauve Maven.

Keeping up the gold theme, I'm obsessed I know, Aveda Shimmer Accents Inner Light for face and décolleté ($20.50) in Sunstone has a glorious underlying gold shimmery sparkle that would enhance the homliest of faces. Aveda lip shades to look out for in the Fall - lipglaze ($15) in elestial quartz and lip colour concentrate in zingiber and roseapple ($14) the latter is a particularly striking shade that will work equally well for day or evening.

Speaking of which.... Isn't it loathsome to have to drag your entire make up collection into work when you have a date or a big evening out planned? Well God bless Mally Beauty who have come up with the solution to all of that hassle. Mally's new Work 2 Work it Shadow Duos will help you perform that all important transformation from office drudge to vampish vixen. The duos contain a subtle pretty shade for daytime and a complementary but more dramatic colour for the evening. The Work 2 Work it Shadow Duos ($28) come in three different shades - Natural2Knockout (a soft pink and deep coffee), Taupe2Terrific (a pinky taupe and a pearly deeper taupe) and Silver2Sensational (silver and charcoal). Yes!!!! More metallic shades. Between those and the sparkly shoes people will need to wear shades in my vicinity over the next couple of months. Bring on the Fall, bring it on.