With celebs still rocking the oompa loompa look (and in Christina Aguilera's case it also includes lipstick on the teeth), maybe it's the time to remind everyone that there's a kinder, gentler way to fake a tan. A bronzer gives you much more control over the level of color, and unless you make a seriously wrong choice won't turn you orange.

I love Paula Dorf's pressed powder bronzer. It's as finely milled as it promises to be, goes on lightly and easily (I use a full brush that distributes the powder evenly) and gives me the touch of sun that I'm craving these days. My color of choice is Bronze (it's also offered in a lighter and a darker shade) which on my skin looks naturally sun-kissed. Just without the guilt. Normally, it's also available from Sephora, but their online store is out of stock at the moment.

Transformed

With liquid liner being one of the hottest trends of the season, Paula Dorf's Transformer is 0.5 oz of sheer genious. I've been using wet eye shadows as liners for a long time, but they don't hold all day and the effect is softer and lacks the sharp and sexy look of the liquid liner.

Enter this little bottle. What it does is simply make your eye shadow look and act like a liquid liner. It's easy to use: Put a drop of the liquid anywhere (just not directly into the compact)- I use the back of my hand. Dip a brush (I like using a thin angled brush, but Paula Dorf also sells a Transformer brush for this purpose, and any eyeliner brush that you feel comfortable using, would work just as well) carefully into the liquid and swipe a little color from the edges of the eye shadow. Use it above the lash line just as you would any regular liner.

It takes very little practice to get the hang of it and learn excatly how much liquid you need. It's easy, and the result is great. A smudgeproof, vibrant liquid liner in every color you want and have in your collection. I've been playing and testing it with many shadows, and it works great. Even shadows that weren't all that great when it comes to staying power (like the MAXeye- today I'm wearing one of their bluish shadows as a liner) get a new use and new life and can look very beautiful.

A few weeks ago I was considering buying a liquid liner palette, like the one from Smashbox. But the Transformer made it unnecessary- I already have all the colors I could ever want and more.

The Transformer, like the rest of the Paula Dorf line, can also be bought through beauty.com.