OK, so "miracle" might be a little strong, but the other day my boyfriend called me on my way home from work and said his parents had stopped by and we were all going to dinner. A nice surprise, but I was a little panicked when I looked in the mirror and saw a shiny, red mess -- my makeup had totally faded. Luckily, on my way out of the office I happened to grab Benefit's Get Even powder.

If you're looking for a way to feel good about a makeup purchase (just in case that shopper's rush isn't enough), Lancome has a new line out called The Daria Collection, and a portion of the proceeds go to help arts education programs in Brazil.

While doing research on highlighting my color-treated, dark brown hair at home, l decided to call the customer service hotlines at color giants Clairol and L'Oreal Paris for help -- eager to speak to their color experts. Starting with Clairol (1-800-CLAIROL or 1-800-252-4765 for you cell phone users), I waded through a few automated prompts and was placed on hold for several minutes before getting a human on the line. The advisor listened to my predicament:

"My usual stylist would use bleach or lightener to lift my dark hair color, then use a level 8 natural/neutral toner to get the right highlight color. How do I achieve this with box color from a drugstore?"

Gotcha! You might be wary of eating tomatoes due to the recent salmonella outbreak, but that doesn't mean you have to give up them up entirely. Even if you decide to skip them on your sandwich, you can still reap the benefits of tomatoes in your skin care. These four highly rated products all contain tomatoes, a great source of antioxidants:

Burt's Bees Garden Tomato Toner

On Sunday, Reese Witherspoon was spotted at an event sporting a new, short bob. While it's a very cute cut, we have to admit, we're a little sad to see her long layers go. What do you think? Do you like her new look (above) or do you prefer a longer-haired Reese (below)?

Our homepage poll asked you if you had ever returned a used beauty product, and more half of you hadn't. I doubt this was because you loved every product you ever bought. (If you're anything like me you probably have a beauty graveyard in a cabinet somewhere of barely used, less-than-thrilling products.)

Tracey Cunningham, Redken Creative Consultant for Color, says that this summer we should go for natural hair color and embrace our roots (see some examples of what she means above). She says: "Darker roots, with the rest of the hair one [to] two shades lighter, portray a natural, edgy look and exude a beach-feel -- perfect for summertime unwinds."

Havaianas -- makers of classic flip-flops -- has asked celebrity makeup gurus Trish McEvoy, Laura Mercier and Bobbi Brown to design special-edition flip-flops for this summer. The styles are really cute (check them out above) and perfect for the beach, and all proceeds benefit charity: water, which works to bring safe drinking water to impoverished communities.

There are some beauty tips that are timeless and should be followed by everyone: Drink lots of water, stay out of the sun and don't over-pluck. But there are some tips through the years that should definitely NOT be followed; this article highlights some of the scariest:

This morning I dropped my beloved Chanel Joues Contraste Powder Blush. It's always upsetting when a product slips out of your hands during the morning getting-ready rush. It just sets you up for a bad day -- luckily everything else seems to be okay thus far. Do you have tricks for putting the pieces of powder back together? I've heard adding a touch of alcohol and pressing it back into the compact works well. I've also heard to push it back together with a quarter wrapped in cheese cloth. I'll have to try this later when I'm not trying to rush out the door. If you have other ideas on ways to remedy this (or just want to share your broken makeup sob story), let me know.