As a little girl, lipstick was always the first item I’d reach for in my mom’s purse. I always watched her swipe a little across her lips and look instantly beautiful. I wanted to look beautiful, too.

And now that I’m actually old enough to be wearing the stuff…well, lipstick scares me. Although it defined icons like Marilyn Monroe and Christina Aguilera, I find the whole thing a bit stressful. There is a very fine line between looking glam like Gwen Stefani and looking like you’re just trying too hard to look glam like Gwen Stefani. And I always worry I’m in the latter category.

But I still want it! Lipstick is classic. And if it’s done right, it’s glamorous.

So how does one do it right? How do we college girls find the right lipstick to enhance our lips without making us look like a clown? I’ve been doing my research (OK, so it was for my own selfish reasons, but I’m sharing it with you now!) and I found some general lipstick guidelines for choosing the best shade and wearing it well.

Picking a Color: For everyday wear, choose a color that is only a few shades darker than your natural lip color.  Remember, your lips are naturally a few shades darker than your skin tone so if you’re testing a color on your hand (you know, to avoid germs…I’m a freak) keep that in mind.  Choosing a color this way will enhance your lips naturally and not scream, “I’m playing with my mom’s makeup bag!” In general, the lighter your skin tone, the lighter shade you should choose.  Read More »

I have to admit – it’s becoming somewhat painful to watch Project Runway this season and find things to write about. Unlike seasons past where designers say and do funny things beyond whipping up runway looks, all things more than worthy of writing about, this season is a whole lot of blah. And it’s impossible to write about blah.

Perhaps that’s why the producers decided to bring in Bob Mackie and Christina Aguilera last night. Maybe a little sequins would liven things up a bit?

Too bad it didn’t work. I mean, absolutely nothing about this challenge worked. The designers were instructed to take some inspiration from Mr. Mackie and go all out on a stage design for Christina Aguilera. CHRISTINA FREAKING AGUILERA. A woman known for her strong voice and her awesomely choreographed shows.

Not a woman known for living in a cave and tearing meat from dead animal carcasses with her teeth, Logan.

And not a woman who is currently retired and heading to the Assisted Living Annual Ball, Jordana.

I’d like to think that in a subconscious homage to their good friend Epperson, the designers misunderstood Tim Gunn’s assignment. Maybe they were struck dumb by all of Bob Mackie’s brilliance and instead of hearing “Christina” they heard “Junior Prom in the Midwest”? All that sparkle. All that glitz. Seriously, I walked away for a minute to grab a snack during the show and missed the part where the designers got their assignment. When I came back in and saw what everyone was picking up at Mood, I thought this was a crossover event with TLC’s Toddlers in Tiaras.

It was just bad. Almost as bad as Irina’s bitchy attitude. Almost. That girl is one big biznatch. And that ice skating costume she made? Hurl. Read More »

I see London. I see France. I see Pink’s…. sparkly vagina?

I wonder what was going on in Pink’s mind when she donned this nude jumpsuit for her audience. “Tonight I’d like to wrap my body in tape and have my vagina shine like the diamond-encrusted treasure that it is!”

Not sure what she was hoping for, but, personally, the image of Pink’s sequined camel toe has been be burned into my retinas and I fear I may never be able to close my eyes again.

Not only has Pink’s frightening outfit choice scarred me for eternity, but it also drudged up images of other questionable choices in concert costumes’ past. As far as I can tell, the trend can be traced back to Madonna’s trend-setting cone boob attire. Since then, entertainers have found ways to take their costume choices to entirely new levels of indecency and utter fugliness.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we? Read More »

I want to go to Italy with Jake Gyllenhaal.

Christina Aguilera goes “Burlesque.”

Afghanistan solves the swine flu problem.

Jessica Simpson on the cover of Vanity Fair.

Protecting yourself has never looked so chic!

The best and worst sunscreens for summer.

I hate diets. I do. I don’t believe in them. I think diets just lead to breaking diets which leads to eating a whole lot of pizza and then feeling guilty about it. And I don’t think anyone should feel guilty for indulging in the deliciousness that is pizza every now and then.

So imagine my own surprise when I found myself buying a copy of Dr. Ian Smith’s new “diet” The Four Day Diet last week.

Fact is, these past two years, I have been in a constant fight with my weight. It goes up 5 pounds it goes down 4 it goes up 3 it goes down 1. It fluctuates more than Christina Aguilera’s voice on any given song. I can’t seem to successfully lose and keep off these last couple of pounds. Even though I do eat pretty healthy. Even though I workout 5-6 days a week. Even though I know the importance of complex carbs. And lots of veggies. And fiber. Oh boy do I know about fiber. I’ve read it all – I know the spiels.

So after realizing that complaining about the lack of results doesn’t do me any good and just makes those around me more miserable, I decided that I wanted to do something to give my body (and my metabolism) the real kick in the ass that it needs. Something to get back on track, clean my act up a bit to start seeing progress again. I know it’s cliché to start some sort of weight loss resolution in January, but here it goes. I’m trying it out. And blogging about it for you here.

The 4 Day Diet drew me in because it seems simple. And it’s just that- only 4 days. Well, 4 days at a time. There are 7 modules each lasting for only 4 days. Surely I can stick to something for 4 days! It works out perfectly: just when you get sick of eating one way you switch it up. Read More »

I’m going to level with you, here—I go to Stanford. It’s not snowing out here. I get pretty cold at night and in the morning, but that’s because I’m from SoCal, which makes me a big baby in the weather department, I know that.

So although it’s relatively warm here during the winter, there are definitely some changes that occur with the change of the “seasons,” and, as with everything in life, they come with their pros and cons:

Pros:

1. Cute scarves.

2. Better tea (Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride from Celestial Seasonings, anyone?)

3. Pumpkin and cinnamon flavored everything. Yesss.

4. I have an excuse for my Scandinavian chronic paleness.

5. Christmas lights in the palm trees.

6. Christina Aguilera’s “My Kind of Christmas” from 2001. I bust this out every year and it NEVER gets old.

Read More »

Have you ever noticed that guys have, like, the WORST timing ever?

When it comes to breaking up, dudes take no consideration to the fact that the holidays are coming up and they leave you stranded during the most romantic time of the year! *ahem* Bastard *ahem*

Well we here at CollegeCandy say “Eff ‘em! We refuse to let boys ruin our holiday fun.”

So stop blasting the most depressing break up songs (Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares” = waterworks) and rocking yourself to sleep clutching a box of tissues. Instead try dancing by yourself in your room to these empowering songs that are sure to have you over the d-bag that dumped you and making out with some hottie hot-hot under the mistle toe in no time: Read More »

The American Music Awards aired last night. Yup, another music awards show. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I watched anyway (I mean, it’s Sunday…what else is there to do?) and there were some really great performances. It was actually really exciting to watch.

HOWEVA! I was slightly disappointed with the quality of these live performances. Take the Pussycat Dolls, for example. Yea, they’re hot and they had polls and some seriously sexy dance moves…but somewhere in the beginning of “When I Grow Up” Nicole Scherzinger’s voice did something funky and she sounded like a little boy goin’ through puberty. You know, like the Jonas Brothers, who were also unimpressive.

And, yes, I’m a huge Annie Lennox fan — how can you not rock out to “Walking on Broken Glass”? — and she totally deserved the Award of Merit. But something about her live performance of “Why” last night just didn’t hit the spot. (I’ll tell you who did tho… Justin Timberlake when he introduced her! Sweet Jesus.)

Despite those misses, though, there were some seriously memorable performances last night. So here are (in my opinion and in no particular order) the Top 5: Read More »

Have you ever noticed this pattern that Disney has created of breeding teenage pop queens only to have them turn around and become like whoa sexy?

Let’s start with those Mousekateers we all love so much. I mean, how cute were Britney and Christina? Then out of no where they become pop sensations, vamp up their wholesome styles, and become sex icons for many a-teenage girls..and boys. I’ll tell you what though…they did a damn good job with Justin. (yum!)

Years pass, and a new group of young actors take over the Disney scene.

Enter Vanessa Hudgens. So cute, so talented, soooo naughty. She made it big with High School Musical and then to all of our surprise, pictures of Hudgens posing NEKKID start popping up. Might these pictures have been for her oh-so-hot boytoy Zac Efron? hm.

Then of course there’s Miley. The adorable, raspy voiced teeny bopper became the idol of millions of little girls all over the world with her hit show Hannah Montana. From there, her singing career took off (I definitely had a couple rock out sessions to “See You Again”). In 2008, little Miss Miley caused some controversy with her sexy photo shoot for the cover of Vanity Fair. Was she too trying to break the girl-next-door image that was bestowed on her by Disney?

The most recent Disney girl-gone-wild is Cheetah Girl, Adrienne Bailon. Pictures of her posing in a bra…and nothing else surfaced on the internet. The pictures were supposedly stolen off her computer and meant for her boyfriend, Robert Kardashian (yep, Kim’s bro).

Maybe Disney has forced these girls to be wholesome and innocent and they rebel with over-the-top sexiness? Or is it that Disney has nothing to do with it and these girls are just being girls?

[Let's be real, in college, the pre-game is almost as important as the actual party. Besides a killer outfit, a case of booze & a few good pals, the most essential part of any pre-game party is the playlist. So, we made it easy for you: every Thursday here at CC we'll be building you the ultimate pre-party playlist and bringing it to you through our favorite thing ever, MixWit. All you have to do is just click, play & enjoy. So hook up your laptop speakers, bust out your 40's & get ready to pre-game harder than those other kids party.]

After looking at smokin’ hot pics of Faith Hill, I started to get a little nostalgic for middle school and her super-catchy hit, “This Kiss.” So, I decided to craft my first weekly pre-game playlist around my memories of songs that I used to LOVE in middle school. I’ve tried to include a little bit of everything – from the classics like *NSYNC and Hanson to lesser-known one-hit wonders like Samantha Mumba. It’s crazy the different meanings I get from some of these songs now. Seriously…”MMMBop” is some deep sh*t!

If you’re looking for a playlist to share with a mixed crowd, this might not be your best bet. But if you’re chillin’ with a group of girls & ready to travel back to the 90’s with all it’s boy bands, flare jeans and glitter eyeshadow (and after a few drinks, who isn’t?) – then enjoy!

Get the party started here.

[If you have suggestions for future playlist themes or have a track you really think should be included in a future installment, let us know in the comments!]