What's in your makeup bag? If all it has is five tubes of lipstick and an old blush brush, it's time to give your cosmetics kit a makeover. Charleen has the 411 on the must-have products that will help you build the perfect beauty kit.

By Charleen Gonzalez for Shine Latina

Basic brushes

To start, I recommend having a good quality brush set. My favorite is Sigma's Essential Kit-Make Me Blush which contains all the necessary brushes for any makeup look. I suggest having at least a big fluffy powder brush, an angled blush brush, a foundation brush, a blending brush and a flat shader brush. You'll also need a brush cleansing spray like Sephora's Daily Brush Cleaner to keep your brushes clean and prevent bacteria from building up.

Watch my video to find out which are beauty must-haves:

Building a base

Next, get a foundation or tinted moisturizer to even out your complexion. For full coverage get a foundation like MAKE UP FOR EVER's HD Foundation. If you want lighter c

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By Liliana Moyano for Shine Latina

Before I traveled to Italy, the only way I knew how to eat eggplant was when I ordered "eggplant parmigiana" at a restaurant. While tasty, it's fried and covered with mountains of melted cheese. Even if you go organic on the ingredients, there cannot be much of a healthy aspect to this dish. Once in Italy I realized that many restaurants carried several dishes containing melanzane (eggplant). I started experimenting and found a ton of delicious eggplant recipes that are not fried and definitely have fewer calories.

The easiest of all is an eggplant a la parrilla (on the grill) to enjoy with the entire familia during a Sunday barbecue. Eggplant can be a little dry when cooked on the stove or on the grill, but if you slice it finely and add olive oil a few minutes before cooking, you will have a crunchy and flavorful side dish. And it gets better- eggplant is packed with fiber and promotes even skin tone. Asi que ladies, get to your supermarkets and

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By Liliana Moyano for Shine Latina

My abuelo used to make his special guacamole during family gatherings at his finca (farm) in the small town of Melgar, Colombia. His ritual consisted of scooping the avocados and giving my cousins and I the skin to rub it in our faces creating a homemade mask. While the mask took effect, he made a guacamole that didn't last until dinner. His special secret: white tequila.

Yes, white tequila makes a perfectly smooth guacamole. I took the recipe from grandma a few years back, and she suggested I buy a molcajete. Molcajete is a Mexican bowl made out of rough stone that comes with a thick mashing tool from the same material; it smashes the avocados to perfection. Well, luckily enough, my friend happened to be in Mexico around the same time and she brought me this great kitchen gadget. I still make abuelo's guacamole at family gatherings. My mom maintained the mask tradition, and her skin looks better than ever!

A guacamolear…

Guacamole with a twist

(4 servings)

I

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As adapted from Mariana Coria | Otro stylo para cocinar

Churros are a delicious, must try snack that melts in your mouth; they're pillows of fried dough that you can either cover in cinnamon sugar or dip in your favorite filling. In this case, we're combining the filling inside the churro.

Yields: About a dozen pieces

Total time: 1 hour

Level: Medium

Ingredients:

1 cup water

3.5 oz. (100 grams) butter

1 cup all purpose flour

2 eggs

Pinch of salt

1 cup dulce de leche

Sugar, to coat churros

Vegetable oil, enough to fry

Related: The exotic world of Latin sodas

Preparation:

Put water, salt and butter in a saucepan and bring to a boil; once the mix is boiling, add the flour all at once and stir well until the dough comes away easily from the sides of the pan. Remove from heat, and add both eggs, one at a time, until well combined.

Place dough in a pastry bag with a mid-sized star tip.

Heat the oil in a clean pot; once it's read

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By Charleen Gonzalez for Shine Latina

There are many fabulous high end makeup brands out there, but for Latinas (and any chica for that matter!) on a budget quality doesn't have to be sacrificed for affordability. Here are some great dupes for high end products.

LIPS
Starting with the Clinque Chubby Stick ($16) which imparts a sheer wash of color on the lips; Revlon has a super affordable alternative that won't break the bank. Revlon's Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain ($7.69) has more opaque color coverage and also works as a stain which lasts for hours. Next up is lip liner, MAC's Lip Pencil ($14) comes in a variety of colors and is revered around the world as the go-to lip liner. The price is not so fabulous, however, and I found NYX's lip liner ($4) to be a great alternative- just as pigmented and easy to use.

Watch my video to see which products give a better bang for your buck:

 

EYES

Eyeshadow primer is an absolute must before applying eyeshadow in order to increase the...Read More »