Best in Beauty: 7/29/2012.

I'm officially on vacation. Yipee.  Let me just say that I need it. It doesn't stop me from catching up on all my favorite beauty reads though. Here is the best in beauty of the week.

Braids are hot this year, and Beauty and Fashion Tech shares five summertime braids that I need to try.

Lipstick Powder N Paint tells us how to prevent sun damaged hair.

In Makeup Wars, we shared our favorite summer lip look. Did you see mine?

Product Girl has a look at the beautiful new NARS Vent Glace Eyeshadow Duo.

I'm all about tropical scents in the shower, especially in the summer. The Daily Cookie has me dreaming about this body care duo from Organix.

All About the Pretty has me wanting this Foam Cleanser with Rose Petals.

Gosh, I love Bliss' body creams, and now I want the new Healing Body Balm that The Beauty of Life showed off.

Best in Beauty: 7/22/2012.

It was another super hot week in New England. The heat waves have been epic this summer. Just when I feel I am getting used to the heat, it gets so humid and thick outside; no one ever gets used to that.The entire makeup and beauty routine becomes challenging.

Anyway, enough about the heat - I feel I talk about that every week. Let me get to the best in beauty for the week.

Gouldylox Reviews the summer collection from a brand new to me called Be A Bombshell. Her look is very pretty!

Phyrra shows us the new Urban Decay NAKED Skin Makeup. I'm intrigued.

Prime Beauty took a drugstore beauty to the test and tried Revlon's Just Bitten Kissable Lip Stain. Have you tried it yet?

Beauty 411 shows us some of the beauty exclusives that are part of the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. My list is LONG, starting with that NARS palette, which they didn't have in my store so I HAVE to order.

Today's newpaper has a special coupon from COVERGIRL in it. Did you get yours?

Caci shows us the products she uses for an easy, summer makeup look. She has my entire beauty closet to go through, so it's fun to see exactly which products work for her.

Pink Sith got her hands on the new NARS Vent Glace Eyeshadow Duo for fall. Of course I need it now too.

Spoiled Pretty is sporting a pretty pale green color on her nails. Take a look to see what it is and how pretty it looks.

Best in Beauty: 7/15/2012.

It was another hot and busy week for me. It was a bit more busy than usual, because I took some time off to get away to the beach. In order to take time off, I feel like I have to get so much done ahead of time. It was much overdue, so it was all very worth it.

In beauty land, it is all about summer makeup, skin care and bronzers. Did you see my $20 Makeup Challenge? I now search drugstores for more great makeup like never before. I hope you caught my best drugstore bronzer and best luxury bronzer round-ups too. I swear, I am obsessed! I still have a few more round-ups this week, so be sure to look for those.

Onto some of the best in beauty of the week:

Product Girl explains and creates the "new cat" eye look.

Beauty411 details the new Laura Mercier Cinema Noir Makeup Collection.

Beauty Girl Musings tries out a natural looking makeup look.

Makeup and Beauty Blog shows us how she uses the new NARS Eyeshadow Trio in High Society.

Raging Rouge shows us a gorgeous Glide-On Pencil from Urban Decay.

Kiehl’s took off on their third annual LifeRide for amfAR which spans over ten days, July 13-July 22 They are traveling from Miami to Washington, DC, and you can follow their real-time updates from the road by following Chris Salgardo’s personal Twitter @KiehlsPrez. For for each new "Like" to the Kiehl's Facebook page, Kiehl's will donate an additional $1 (up to $15,000) to amfAR. To learn more, see the video.