Cartoon Inspired Spring Makeup - Hello Kitty, Barbie and Smurfette

If you've checked out some of the spring makeup offerings, you may have noticed a few cosmetic companies looking to girls' toys and cartoons for inspiration. Hello Kitty, Smurfette and of course the style icon Barbie, who is celebrating her 50th birthday this year, are the trendsetters responsible for this year's spring looks. Some may wonder whey these figures were chosen, and I have to admit I asked myself the same thing when I saw the Smurfette line - can anything that looked good on blue skin work for anyone else? It's not so much the actual makeup these characters were known for, well except for maybe Barbie, but it's more about celebrating the characters who have inspired generations of young women to get in touch with their femininity. So this season marks a return of bright lipsticks, vibrant eye shadows, fresh blushes - everything that could make you feel super cute for spring courtesy of the cartoon trendsetters.

Mac's Hello Kitty line has a few different parts: the Hello Kitty Kouture, Swarovski crystal bedazzled compact and lip glosses, the Hello Kitty Mild, eyeshadows, blushes, lipsticks and glosses in more subdued pinks and purples - nothing to dramatic just very girly, the Hello Kitty Wild, a more playful collection of eyeshadows, blushes, lipsticks, glosses and glitter in bright bold colors that definitely make a statement, and finally a whole range of Hello Kitty accessories (graphic totes, makeup bags, charmed and mirrored key clips). These collections are flying off the shelves, in fact most of the Wild line is completely sold out. Beauty insiders say that the Hello Kitty collection will outsell the MAC Barbie collection that came out a few seasons ago, which was considered a huge success at the time. Some of the colors are absolutely amazing, especially the pigment in the shadows, lipsticks and glosses. It's such a fun line, you can't help but like it. If you'd like to see more of the the collections, visit MAC.

Barbie has been a major fashion icon through the decades. Since this year marks her 50th birthday, different cosmetics lines, fashion designers and stores (David Dixon, Town Shoes, Fred Segal, and more - click here if you'd like to see who else is doing something special for Barbie's birthday) have dedicated a spring or fall line to celebrate her fabulousness.

Stila, has launched the Barbie loves Stila spring collection, "four Decades of Beauty paint cans are filled with everything you need to recreate your favorite iconic Barbie looks. The sets also include a Barbie Look Book that includes a history of each top-selling Barbie doll over the last 50 years." So, each can has a palette with two eyeshadows, a cheek color, a mascara and a lipstick or lip gloss that fits the look shown on the doll of that decade. There is also the Barbie Loves Stila Talking Palette, which has four eye shadows that talks you through you through applying the perfect Barbie eye, and the Barbie Loves Stila - Eye Shadow Trio & Lip Glaze, two shadows, a liner and an exclusive Barbie lip glaze. I'm kind of in love with the Decades of Beauty, and the fact that you can recreate the look of your favorite Barbie, so cool! If you'd like to see more of the line, visit Stila.

And finally, probably the least likely to be considered fashion forward, Smurfette. As the lone girl living in a village of dudes, you gotta wonder about her. She always wore the same white heels and dress, and I don't think I ever remember her wearing any makeup, well besides some false lashes - man those puppies were long! But she did represent with all of that flowing hair. Too Faced launched a line exclusive to Sephora that showcases Smurfette's smurfy looks: an illuminating face powder, a quad of shadows, liquid glitter eyeliner in sliver or blue and a moisturizing lip gloss. It's a quirky line and the shadows are actually pretty gorgeous together. But by far the stand out of this line is the gloss. The gloss goes on blue, but then turns into a unique shade of pink depending on your lips. It's like a lip gloss mood ring. I'm not sure this line is going to be hanging around much longer so if you want to check it out, visit Sephora.

Who knew cartoons would translate so well to makeup, now if someone would just do a Jem or Rainbow Brite line. Those two are my absolute favorite cartoon heroines of the 80's, and way more fashionable than Hello Kitty or Smurfette, well in my opinion any way.