Barbie vs. Hello Kitty

There was a fun piece in the NY Times today about a Fashion Week battle between Barbie and Hello Kitty, two of my childhood favorites. Both toy icons will have designers creating frocks inspired by them showing at the tents next week. Fabulous, yes, but what does this have to do with beauty? Well the two divas are taking their beef to a cosmetic counter near you!

In honor of Barbie’s 50^th birthday, Mattel is teaming up with Stila to release the Barbie Loves Stila Collection, exclusively at Sephora. The collection features a talking eye shadow quad and four make-up tins. Each of the tins has the image of a popular vintage Barbie and the Stila products needed to recreate her look. The Black Barbie included in the collection is the 1980 Foxy doll. I would like to say that I’m feeling this collection, but I’m not sure how I feel about it. Foxy looks gorge, but I feel like she got jipped in the makeup department. I like the shadows and blush, but they have nothing to do with that tangerine lip gloss. Some brown and olive skinned beauties gave the kit great reviews on Sephora, so maybe it’s just me.

On the flip side, MAC is set to release its much-hyped Hello Kitty Colour Collection. The collection, to be released February 12th, is set to include Hello Kitty inspired versions of MAC's lipglass, beauty powder, nail polish, blush and other MAC favorites. There will also be a higher end Hello Kitty Kouture collection of limited edition Hello Kitty accessories, including a mirrored compact, brush kit and other goodies, some studded with Swarovski crystals. The collection will be available at MAC stores, Nordstrom and maccosmetics.com. Hello Kitty is a childhood obsession of mine that I never quite got over, but I don’t know that these super-bright colors are working for me. I might pick up an accessory or two from the Kouture line.

(Side note: For all you Smurfs fans, Too Faced Cosmetics has created a limited edition collection inspired by Smurfette, available at Sephora. I know. This mess is getting waay out of control.)

What about you ladies? Any plans to revive your inner baby diva and pick up any of these collections? And while you're at it, have any thoughts on why these kinds of collections are becoming so popular? Let’s hear it!