We hate the idea that, in order to create a mascara that thickens and lengthens our fabulous lashes, poor, defenseless animals had to endure testing. We absolutely hate it. However, while it's easy for us to tell the cosmetics companies that they need to find an alternative, doing so isn't as easy as all that. There wasn't an approved alternative to animal testing until now.

Did you know that most makeup tips try to work the eye into an almond shape? It's true. The shape is considered the most flattering and extremely exotic. However, the tips often don't take into consideration those with deep set, wide set, small eyes, round eyes, or heavily hooded eyes. And if you wear glasses? Puh-lease, you'll never find info for that! Except for here that is.

Its summer which means its time to brighten up from head to toe. Here are the hottest nail color picks for one scorching summer look.

Read ahead for our picks from top sellers at Sephora, Beauty.com, and Drugstore.com.

The nice folks at Stila sent us some samples so we could try their products first hand. We spread the bounty across two bloggers Kristen Seymour and Cat Lincoln, who will share their reactions with you this week.

Our second Stila product for review was Long Wear Lip Color. We've admitted before that we're lazy about reapplying lip color, so we were excited to try one that purported to be a soft-on-the lips hybrid gloss, with serious staying power.

We rotated the three colors over the course of a week:

• Serenade -- golden red (weekend brunch color)
  
• Coquette -- pink mauve (tasteful day wear)
  
• Rendezvous -- brown reddish (dramatic night out)

The nice folks at Stila sent us some samples so we could try their products first hand. We spread the bounty across two bloggers, Kristen Seymour and Cat Lincoln, who will share their reactions with you this week.

First of all, we are huge fans of lip gloss -- it's seriously one of the easiest ways to make yourself look just a little more put together at the last minute. Stila's lip glaze is a best seller, and they call it "an essential addition to any beauty bag."

Okay so the best thing about an at home pedi is the fact that it is A) free and B) you don't have some stranger touching your embarrassing, unshaved legs. You might also be surprised how relaxing it is doing it yourself. Let's check it out.

Many of us gals have been the victim of expired cosmetics. Here's the scenario. After seeing pics of that smokin' gloss we used to wear in high school, we rush to our beauty closet only to open the tube to a rank stank that we don't understand. Most beauty products do not have any smell, or if they do, it is very faint. If you start noticing some product BO, it's because that favorite gloss is dying a slow, bacteria-invested death in that dark, tightly sealed tube. Once the product has peaked, it can cause some pretty gross irritations or infections if used. To avoid all of the above, follow these general toss time guidelines.

Remember when we were all in love with Dove because they ran an ad campaign featuring "real" women? Well, kind of real -- clearly they weren't going to use fat or unattractive people, but at least the women in the ads were of more normal stature, and not Photoshopped to completely unrealistic proportions.

Or were they?

Over the years, there's no doubt that Oprah Winfrey's look has changed dramatically -- you can check her out right now at StyleList's Look of the Day. Her hair, her weight, her wardrobe -- they've all been switched up on a yearly basis. But, has she gone under the knife to make more drastic changes?

Many experts say no -- as a matter of fact, although the look of her face has changed somewhat throughout the years (most notably, her schnoz), it's more a matter of makeup and lighting than surgical intervention. Because, let's be real, folks -- how many of our faces don't look considerably different now than they did in the '80s?

We always love reading about a new "how-to" when it comes to make-up -- one never knows when she's going to learn a swell new trick. However, many make-up tutorials on the web are geared toward women with fairly light skin and large eyes, not toward Asian or African American. That's not to say they're not out there -- they're just a bit less prevalent.

Are you looking to update your skin care products or makeup now that the summer sun is starting to shine? Before you end up with a drawer full of fancy new products, make sure you know what your skin truly needs.

This article, at Divine Caroline, gives the lowdown on how to read and evaluate your skin. The type of products you use should be based on your skin type, so you need to know whether your skin is sensitive or not, as well as whether it is dry, oily, normal, or combination.

As we've learned from StyleList, we shouldn't keep certain cosmetics for too long past an undisclosed "expiration" date, but really now, how much does it hurt to throw out a half-full tube of $42 mascara?

It hurts, friends. It hurts.

That's why for some certain things, it's just better to be a Drugstore Beauty Queen, and we're sharing the goods from our makeup bag to show you which specific things we like to pick up from the CVS on the corner. Check it out:

Every cosmetics company has a mascara on the market that promises to volumize, lengthen, and eliminate clumps, but how many actually live up to the hype?

Second City Style thinks that Spinlash might be the answer to all of our mascara prayers. The mascara, which comes in black or brownish-black, has a rotating brush. It can spin both ways, allowing you to easily apply mascara to your top and bottom lashes.

Could you go makeup free for one day? I sure couldn't or at least I wouldn't. Today is National No Makeup Day. I know, what genius made that holiday up? The organizers of National No Makeup Day created this silly holiday because they say women are too dependent on makeup. Um duh, yeah we are!

I am starting to think that giving up a nasty crack habit would be easier than giving up makeup for an entire day (at least in public). But really, I am being a bit dramatic. I do leave the house without makeup to do things like move my car from one side of the street to another and to go to the gym -- but that's about it.

Over the years I have learned to use makeup do wonderful things for my face, things that everyday onlookers think happen to my face all on it's own. Like my blemish-free dewy skin, my longer than life eyelashes, my just got finished having sex flushed cheeks -- those things aren't natural people it's the makeup.

When normal people see me without makeup I get remarks like "Are you mad at me?" or "Late night" and the always popular "You look tired." I don't know if I could handle going a full day without, I might just lose my mind. Tell me could you all go a day, a full 24 hours?

Yesterday I took a breather in Sephora -- I mean really where else can you find inner peace? I found myself in Make Up For Ever's section of the store, which is a section I am not too familiar with. What I found was a bevy of bright eye shadows, glitters, and ridiculously stylish fake eyelashes -- I was in heaven.

I am not a fake eyelash type of girl at all. I have really long eyelashes (don't hate), in fact once when I was at MAC I bought a pair of fakes and my lashes were longer than the ones I bought -- true story. Anyhow, the lashes from Make Up For Ever are amazing, even a girl like me can appreciate these.

The lashes are over the top (to say the least) and super-affordable (about $14 a set). Many of the lashes are made with funky feathers or are so long they surpass your eyebrows. These lashes aren't for daytime use, unless you want to look like a complete fool. I think these hot pieces of beauty are best suited for hitting town and painting it red.