Today we’re giving away more gorgeous MAC holiday items and the lucky winner—drawn from our list of Makeup Bag Monthly subscribers— is Katie O.!

Katie gets the 5 Eye Brushes set from the MAC Heirlooms collection, 3 Red Lips from the MAC Royal Assets collection, and Mi’ Lady Eye Shadow from the MAC Antiquitease collection. Congratulations, Katie!

Sign up for our NEW Makeup Bag Monthly newsletter and you, too, have a chance to win:

Not that hair is our only issue, because—trust us—we have many. But our hair is truly a girl’s worst nightmare.

In order to achieve the slightest bit of volume, we must pack on the product, and blow-dry with a big round brush almost immediately after getting out of the shower (read: hair must be sopping wet).

If we don’t go through these steps, our baby fine hair lays flat against our head like we’ve been wearing a beanie for 18 hours. It’s bad.

The one alternative we’ve found to avoid these woes is the Tigi Bed Head Dual Waver.

This handy little waver is our best friend when we get distracted in the morning—updating this website, making breakfast for the kids, doing last-minute ironing—and find our hair completely dry before we know it (when you have hair as fine as ours it air-dries in 6 minutes flat). Thankfully, a few crimps with the Tigi Bed Head Dual Waver and we’re ready to walk out the door with perfectly presentable hair.

The barrel is adjustable for deep or shallow waves and works wonders to give life to our limp locks. We use this 2-3 times per week (or more) for wavy, voluminous hair in half the time it takes to blow-dry.

If you like Lancôme Trésor, a romantic fragrance with notes of rose and lilac, you’ll love the new interpretation: Lancôme Trésor Elixir.

A luxurious and intense version of the original Trésor, Lancôme Trésor Elixir has base notes of sandalwood and Absolute vanilla to add depth and sensuality to this Lancôme favorite.

This is a limited edition fragrance and is currently available at Lancôme counters nationwide and online at lancome-usa.com.

Because if you are Aidan’s Mom, you have just won these items from the MAC Curiositease, Heirlooms, and Finery Holiday Collections!

If you are not Aidan’s Mom, you still have a chance to win—we’re giving away more fab products from the MAC Holiday Collections this week!

If you signed up for our monthly newsletter earlier this week, your name has been entered into this drawing—If you haven’t signed up, what are you waiting for?

Now’s your chance to nab the fun lip gloss jewel from Lancome Holiday: Precious Light. The entire collection is currently available online at lancome-usa.com.

Red lipstick has the ability transform our face, our outfit, and our mood in a matter of seconds.

What’s amazing to us is how different we felt with each shade we wore. Our husband will argue that all these lipsticks look the same, but we clearly had a va-va-voominess with MAC Classic Dame (Day 1) that wasn’t there with Estée Lauder Rich Red (Day 3). However, Rich Red is the shade we felt most comfortable in—our lips were defined but we didn’t feel like they were on stage. Chanel Rouge Allure in Lover (Day 6) and Shiseido The Makeup Perfecting Lipstick in Real Red (Day 5) are the shades we think look best on our pale skin. Both have a pink undertone, with Real Red bordering on berry.

The common denominator with all these reds is most certainly the glam factor. We found ourself on the receiving end of several admiring winks this week (who cares if it was the Schwann’s delivery guy, the mailman, and our 70-year-old neighbor—a wink is a wink, right?)

There are so many other great red lipsticks on the market today and we can’t wait to try more of them this season. We’ll be sure to keep you posted on our finds.

Thanks for following along this week, it’s been fun!

Seven Reds in Seven Days: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7

Yesterday was our final day in the Seven Reds in Seven Days series.

We wanted deep, wine red lips for this outfit so we chose TRUE Pure Lip Color in Empress. Because we were going to a dinner party, we wanted a color that could last through cocktails, conversation, and, of course, dinner. This lipstick formula is on the dry side, and tends to be longer lasting than some others.

After dinner, we excused ourself to the powder room to see how Empress held up and we’re happy to report it didn’t let us down—even after repeated dabbing with a napkin throughout dinner. Of course, it wasn’t perfect, but we could have easily sat through dessert without feeling self-conscious.

Stay tuned later today for a final report of  Seven Reds in Seven Days!

This quirky little girl in a witch’s hat is my 5 year old sister Janey.

I’m sharing these pictures of her because, as crazy as it seems, she inspires me with her style and confidence. A full ten years younger than me, Janey picks out her own (mismatched) outfits and usually styles her own hair (she did her own ponytails here) and then struts around with a sparkle in her eye, flipping her hair over her shoulder like the diva she thinks she is.

Many times, she’ll come to me wearing light blue flower-print knee-high socks with gold tap shoes, a striped mini skirt, and a maroon top that reads “I only fly first-class”—and I want to tell her how hideous she looks and to go change immediately. But when she stands before me with her hands on her hips, all sassy and self-assured, I don’t have the heart to break her spirit with my stupid opinions.

I can only nod in agreement when she looks up at me with her big brown eyes and says, “Bree, look at me! I look SOOOOO cute!”

And then I watch in amazement as she works the room (or the gym) visiting friends and parents, dazzling everyone with her confidence. I’m sure the terribly un-matched smattering of clothes she’s assembled on herself makes people wonder how my mother let her out of the house looking like a homeless musician on the streets of San Francisco, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Janey has taught me to pay attention to my own sense of style, instead of worrying about how I think others expect me to look. It doesn’t come as easy for me as it does her, but being confident in my own skin makes me feel much prettier than having a face full of impeccable makeup.

Beauty is confidence, and confidence is beauty. Just look at my baby sister.

(PS—this is the outfit she wore shopping yesterday. Witch’s hat and all.)