Fab, Fun Makeup Palettes By Lauren Luke

While most of us can relate (unfortunately) to that feeling of being an outsider in school, who do you know has had the pluck to sublimate those misfit tendancies into a homespun cosmetics empire? "I started to experiment with makeup to make myself feel better, and was drawn to it because I was in love with colour and all things vibrant," explains Lauren Luke, a native of the "humble yet proud" English town of South Shields, and self-made makeup maven behind the new color cosmetics line By Lauren Luke. "While it didn't do much for helping me to fit in, it did start my love affair with this magical thing called makeup." Self-taught, she studied the looks she was seeing on celebs, in magazines, and on stylish streetfashionistas, and began posting instructional how-to videos on YouTube in mid-2007 - in part to supplement her gig selling makeup on eBay so she could quit her job as a taxi dispatcher and spend more time with her then 9 year-old son, Jordan. "After I uploaded my first video in July of 2007, the minute it went live, I sat scared, trembling in my chair, wondering 'will people see it' and 'what will they say?'"

Alot, apparently.

To date, there have been a mindboggling 39 million views of her video tutorials, making it the UK's #1 YouTube channel (Panacea81); the BBC recently ran a 30 minute documentary on her life, dubbing her "The World's Most Popular Makeup Artist"; she has a starring role in a new Nintendo DS game, a book deal in the works, and mentions in Vanity Fair, Elle, Look Magazine, Radio 1 & CBS; and recently even enjoyed a meet & greet with the Queen of England.

By Lauren Luke is launching on April 27th with 5 palettes of hand-picked shades and accompanying tutorials for maximum glam impact upon application. The names are charming as the 27 year old single mom (who, equally charmingly, appears to shoot her videos in her bedroom), including feeling sugar or spice (My Fierce Violets), working the red carpet that is your life (My Smokey Classics), getting down to earth (My Luscious Greens), in need of a look that could kill (My Sultry Blues), or just feeling flat-out fabulous (My Vintage Glams).

"I went into this with something very specific in mind: a great product that works, at an affordable price that will help you embrace color and experiment more," adds Luke. "My hope is that your will be waiting at the letterbox for your package, about to chew the postman's hand off with excitement just like I always am!"

Available starting April 27th at ByLaurenLuke.com.

- Lesley Scott