Say you're in the market for a lipstick.

Imagine a place where you can ask for your friends' feedback on their favorite brand, get advice from a pro on the shade that looks best on you, watch a video on how to apply it, buy the lipstick you choose, and then upload a haul video after you finally take the plunge.

It's online shopping intersecting with the likes of Facebook, Youtube and Twitter, and it's exactly what Sephora is going after with the launch of BeautyTalk, an online community catering to the specific needs of the beauty obsessed.

Today, the LVMH-owned beauty retailer will unveil the beta version of this interactive beauty space, which can be accessed from a tab on Sephora.com called "Beauty Advice," as well as a tab on their Facebook page.

"We thought about what a community of beauty shoppers would want," Julie Bornstein, senior vice president of Sephora Direct, told StyleList in a telephone interview. "You can ask any beauty question to be answered by your peers or by Sephora experts. You can join a conversation on any topic, as broad a dry skin or as specific as oily skin that breaks out when you're in your 30s."

The community will merge both professional and real-women advice for clients to engage in the medium they feel most comfortable. Users can trade advice on discussion boards, ask questions to online experts, watch video tutorials from the Sephora Pro Team, get tips from celebrities, and read relevant articles from Sephora's blog, Beauty and the Blog. "What's interesting is it offers both expert advice and peer advice," said Bornstein. "We want you to use which you prefer, or both."



The pro advice will be served up by a small group of highly trained employees from Sephora's call center who will not only man the BeautyTalk boards, but answer questions on the company's Facebook and Twitter pages as well. Sephora took a card from social media retail innovators outside of the beauty space while formulating this plan – Starbucks and Zappos.com both have employees dedicated to the community frontier.

Sephora first saw a space for BeautyTalk after launching Ratings and Reviews on their site in 2008. The response was immediate, and massive – Bare Escentuals' BareMinerals Foundation garnered about 1000 reviews on the first day – and, according to Bornstein, the most highly reviewed product now has over 15,000 reviews, with total reviews on the site nearing 825,000.

Clients clearly want to talk, and they took their discussion to Sephora's Facebook page, which has grown to 801,000 fans since its launch in 2008, and every day hosts active discussions on its wall.

The most active users were deftly maneuvering between the Sephora Ratings and Reviews page, Sephora's Facebook page, MakeupAlley.com (a popular beauty discussion board), and Youtube, where beauty devotees post "haul" videos showcasing the makeup and hair items they've bought on recent shopping trips. BeautyTalk will tie together all of these social media mediums, using technology developed by Lithium -- a company that specializes on social media customer relationship programs -- that aims to surpass competitors with better archiving technology, and a more robust and user-friendly experience.



"I want our clients to be able to get any questions they wanted answered while leveraging the value of huge population of Sephora shoppers," said said Bornstein. "Our Facebook wall became a space for doing exactly that. People answered each others' questions." Sephora's banking that BeautyTalk will attract these same aficionados.

And if you want to talk about a product that's not sold at Sephora? Not a problem. "People can talk about any product they want," said Bornstein. "We're not trying to control the conversation. We're excited to offer up the place where beauty lovers to get all the information they need."

Beauty talk will evolve over time, and retail shopping will eventually be integrated into the space. Users will be able to mouse over product mentions to see the image and click to buy. And the customer reviews will be used throughout Sephora.com, with relevant discussions and Q&A's around, say, a mascara, surfacing on its product page.

"We're leveraging technology to make shopping experience better," said Bornstein.

And getting shoppers -- and the beauty industry -- chatting.

Gossamer eyes and frenetic curls at Marc Jacobs' Spring 2011 fashion show at New York Fashion Week matched the larger-than-life flowers and fancy flounces the designer imbued in his collection. The look was a little bit flapper, a little bit '70s glam, and a whole lot gorgeous.

MAKEUP: François Nars, founder and creative director of Nars Cosmetics

Andy Warhol is enjoying his 15 minutes of beauty fame. The purveyor of Pop Art keeps popping up as a reference backstage at Spring 2011 Fashion Week.

Diane von Furstenberg showed blaring pink lips on otherwise fresh faces on her Spring 2011 runway. The inspiration? Her very own Warhol portrait, naturally.

"It is!," the designer told us when we asked her at the DVF + HP Experience Lounge, a digitally-enhanced space nestled next to the Diane von Furstenberg Studio in New York City's trendy Meatpacking District, where the online glitteratti had gathered to watch a live stream of her catwalk.

"At some point in the creative process we pulled the picture," which Warhol created in the 70s year, silk-screened from a Polaroid of her that he'd snapped previously. "I was young in the 70s and all these clothes remind me of my youth," said von Furstenberg of the parallel between the lips and the clothing at her collection.



Makeup artist James Kaliardos, who created the look for MAC Cosmetics, described it as "popping pink-orchid-fuchsia pigment meant to look like a Warhol silk-screened lip. It's a symbol of femininity." And he was not exaggerating. The lips jumped off the skin like they were 3D, just like they do in Warhol's painting.

Von Furstenberg's favorite way to get a look like this herself? Cheek stain. It's her go-to beauty item. "I have one cheek stain and I use it on my lips as well," she added.

But that wasn't the only Warhol reference at Fashion week.

At Victoria Bechham Dresses, Beckham and makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury for Lancome were inspired by Warhol's bright portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. The result eye-opening makeup, which featured the layering of purple eye shadows and a strong liquid line with an exaggerated version of Monroe's trademark flick at the outer corners.

"I am a deeply superficial person," Warhol once said. We think he'd love his beauty moment.

Speaking of which, check out the beauty look at the Marc Jacobs Spring 2011 fashion show.

When it comes to her hair, Lady Gaga's tried just about everything.

But never this.

Gaga walked the red carpet for the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards with lilac-gray locks dipped in turquoise at the ends and around the face for a tie-dyed effect.

She topped it all off with bronze-dipped feathers, and a trendy gray (though garrishly long, we think) manicure.

Her floor-grazing, printed dress is from Alexander McQueen's final collection for his eponymous label.

What do you think?

Is this Gaga's best look yet or should she leave the feathers to the birds?

The final hair look at Behnaz Sarafpour's Spring 2011 fashion show may have been beautiful, but from the look on this model's face it took a little strife to get it that way -- ouch!

No pain, no gain, right?

From the intricate look of the finished 'do, it was worth it -- a beautiful, up-swept French braid that hair stylist Ashley Javier for Kérastase Paris told StyleList 'felt sculptural, very serious, with structure and execution, backstage at the fashion show at New York Fashion Week, which is underway right now.

"We did child-like, French braids but not a cornrow - there are four rows here with a side part, that can actually last for a week, and can be multi-purpose hair," he explained.



If you dare to try the look yourself, here's how: First, divide hair into three parts and make one french long braid, starting at the top and jogging the hair over to each side while braiding to make it curve at the back of your head. Use a skinny pony tail holder to fasten the ends, and bobby pins to help hold stray hairs in place. Spray all over with Kérastase Double Force Controle Ultime Hair Spray for extra-strength hold.

Still not sold? Try a pretty ponytail instead. We've got a few glamorous options in the video below.



StyleList is your source for New York Fashion Week. Read our runway reviews and backstage beauty reports. Gawk at fashionable celebrities. Watch our video interviews with style personalities. Ruminate on it all with our roundups of Spring 2011 trends.