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How to Apply Eye Shadow Like a Pro

by Sabah Karimi (RSS feed) — Feb 10th 2010 7:31PM

Whether you're pulling off the sexy smoky eye look or just want your eye makeup to last longer, the secret is all in your technique. You don't need to spend a lot of money to replicate a celebrity-inspired look, but you do need to apply powder to eyelids using certain color combinations and blend colors in just the right areas.

Get that runway-inspired look you crave with these essential tips for applying eye shadow from the country's top makeup artists:

1. Apply eye shadow wet. Dab a layer of alcohol-free toner onto your lids before sweeping on your favorite shadow to increase the shadow's staying power. The "trick is to mist the eye shadow, not drench it", says celebrity makeup artist Elke Von Freudenberg.

2. Use shimmer powder to enhance the smoky eye look. Combine your dark brown or pewter shadow with gold or silver shimmer for the ultimate celebrity-inspired look. Celebrity makeup artist www.christopherdrummond.com/Christopher Drummond points out that the key to achieving beautiful and sexy, smoky eyes is to "keep the darker shades toward the outer crease and the shimmer highlights toward the inner crease of the eye".

Tips for Tipping on Cruise Ships

by Sabah Karimi (RSS feed) — Feb 4th 2010 9:31AM

Tips. Gratuities. Service Charges. It's the cost of getting great service, but how much do you tip the waiter, butler and housekeeping personnel each day of your cruise vacation?

When it comes to tipping on a cruise ship, the recommendations and requirements vary only slightly by cruise line. Norwegian cruise lines points out that guests are "not obliged to offer a gratuity for good service", but they do recommend tipping a service provider that's gone above and beyond the call of duty to meet your needs. Celebrity Cruise Lines takes a different approach to the cruise tipping process, automatically adding gratuities to all restaurant and stateroom services and encourages guests to add extra if they feel they received exceptional service.

Most cruise lines encourage passengers to tip for services per person, per day, but tips can be rolled into the service charge or fee you pay as part of your cruise package.

If you need a general idea of how much to tip each individual who serves you, here's a breakdown based on recommendations per person, per day from Celebrity Cruise Lines, Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean International:

Suite Attendant: keeps your room clean and orderly, orders supplies and amenities, provides you with towels and fresh linens as needed, works with housekeeping staff and handles laundry and room service deliveries
Recommended tip: $5.75