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Month: October 2010
Victoria’s Secret Fall Face Kit – Review
Victoria’s Secret has been really churning out high numbers of various beauty products. Both of their makeup lines are getting pretty good feedback, and a good amount of money from my pocket. I’m a big fan of the VS lipsticks for their creamy consistency and the color choices, as well as their Beauty Rush lip glosses and shadows.
When I went in for a routine scan of the counters for what I may not need but want, I found the Fall Face Kits. The packaging was yelling at me about the money I can save and the benefit of the kit on the go.
The kit is good at describing the trends and the look you are trying to do for cheap on the back, as well as the descriptions for each product inside the packaging. It comes with three eyeshadow colors, a base, a bright pop of color, and a highlight. Also, there is blush for the cheeks, liner and mascara for the eyes, and gloss for the lips.
My favorite was the face chart. I love face charts for everything, so the packaging premise for this was a 5/5 for me. This of all things is what makes you feel like you’re recreating the runway look featured on the cover.
Once I got to swatching, I found that the products weren’t as pigmented or as strong as I hoped them to be. Pretty, just not strong.
The gloss came in rose pink. A shade that would flatter any skin tone, with enough coral, beige, and shimmer for you to break out the song about how Poppin’ your lipgloss is. The liner was creamy but on the light side. Perfect to smudge around for a slight smokey look, or use on the waterline without severe drama. Mascara? It’s pretty average.
Overall, this is an okay buy. The downturn came at the pigmentation and color payoff of the shadows. You would really need to pack these on, or apply them wet for them to be powerful. I think there are drugstore dupes you can get to pull of this look for the same price. The verdict? This is a cute buy to have for the packaging and the basics, but if you really want to pull off the runway look, I suggest you look elsewhere.
Have you tried this?
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Paul Smith does a Double Wrap
Trending on the streets originates from heavy research and people watching. People invariably end up ruling on which trends they want to appear next, but in cycles. The colors, the fabrics, the shapes, and the accessories; they all get a vote in one way or another, even if you don’t notice your impact.
The Paul Smith collection featured plenty of menswear inspired pieces for women, but most interesting was the use of belts in the show. Gone was the large belt used to suck in a third to half of the female ribcage (and how wonderfully do they do it!), and instead there were two to four belts layered and criss crossed over one another to take up just as much space, but in a new and more interesting way.
Photo Credit: Style.com
If you’re looking to double or triple up on your belts, you can start your internet shopathon searching for “double wrap” belts. These are made in twice the length of a normal belt, and thus you can wrap it around yourself and make it double. Pockets feeling the pinch (or you want to create your own color combo)? Use regular belts (especially mens) and wrap it around and criss cross. Voila!
How do you belt it?
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McQueen Rises
I don’t think any show was as anticipated as the McQueen show. Following the memorial service, the show went off as both a tribute to the designer and a rebirth of sorts for the brand with British designer Sarah Burton at the helm.
Photo Credit: Style.com
The white colors throughout the show reminded me a bit of funerary traditions where attendees wear white to symbolize angels welcoming the passed into heaven. The look and garments had soft factors with interesting embellishments and lots of belts and hardware to accessorize.
As with the past McQueen shows, the ants in your pants are from waiting for what the shoes will look like. Burton’s shoes weren’t claw shoes, but they were interesting enough to get the welcome card. I really like the shoes in the bottom images. Granted, they’re not your everyday shoes, but they don’t look painful to wear, and have a similarity to coral reefs. If I had the extra cash, I’d so get them.
What was your favorite?
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Swatch Throws a Fab Party
Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Swatch party to promote their New Gent collection. The watches were released in a variety of bright colors, overall a larger silhouette of the popular Gent model. The event had a great DJ and an electric violin player who could rock your socks playing along to Kid Cudi and Mr. West.
Fabolous and Chris Brown came to support the brand and were rocking the latest New Gents. Fab had a black pair, and I didn’t get a chance to check what color Chris Brown was sporting as I was busy checking out his sneakers and all his tattoos (did I never notice that he had so many on both his arms?).
Yours truly with Fabo. I caught some sniffles and germs so I had a scarf and bag full of Kleenex to keep my sneezes contained.
Can you spy the all black New Gent on his wrist?
Almost all the colors look like jewel tones, so you know I was in love at first sight. The watch band is a smooth rubber and the watch face looks a bit like brushed metal under a plastic top. The face looks like it’s all about business and the band is into play. I can see this working with a blazer and a casual top or just a tee and jeans.
The DJ and the violin power. These girls rocked it all night.
Chris Brown got up in his booth to jam to a super charged performance of the violin. You can see the contrast of outfits between him and Fabolous, and notice that the New Gent works effortlessly with both.
What kind of watch do you sport?
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Alex & Eli SS11
From my not too extensive experience with designers and their collections, I have found that there are two kinds of designers. There is the one who will give you a word or two (if that) in regards to the collection and prefer your emotion and interpretation to take over the collection, rather than theirs. Then there’s the second type. The one who spells it out in black and white to you. I don’t know if I have a preference for either. Sure, it feels good to think that your out there hypothetical story can be the real story of the collection, but sometimes it just feels good to be told something and all you need to do is have an ‘aha’ moment when you realize that the words and the images add up.
Enter Alex & Eli. Inspiration? Jacques Cousteau. Can you see it? Try and say no. What about “deep-sea ocean life, complex structures of transparencies and shades.” That requires a little extra consideration, but not much once you see the lookbook. Check out my faves (and their collection video after the jump):
Do you like it?
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You need a Kiss… or two for Halloween
When I was of the age to trick or treat, I remember dressing up as a bride (I had a three year fascination with wedding dress costumes – not a Bride of Chucky kind of thing – just a… bride!) and running door to door with my cousin. As soon as we exhausted all the sweet and sugary options our neighbors could supply, we went walking down the streets of our neighborhood with my aunt or grandma as a chaperone in tow.
The most vivid memory remains when we ran into a greeting card store and my aunt was waiting outside. After requesting a trick or a treat, we of course, got some candy. We got Hershey’s Chocolate Kisses. My cousin and I were ecstatic (sometimes stores skimped on the sugar and gave out mints) and as we ran outside, I was met with a question from my aunt. “What did you get?” I didn’t even pause to yell out KISSES!! What did I know? I was seven or so. I think the color from my aunt’s face drained faster than I could say the word again, and my happiness faded instantly. I went on a mad search to find the forsaken candy in my goodie bag to prove to her that the police did not need to join us. To this day, the story gets a belly laugh out of everyone in the family who hears it.
For my adult Halloweens, I spend the week in preparation deciding what costume I can wear that doesn’t come with “sexy” as the first part of it (you know – sexy police officer, sexy nurse, sexy doll, sexy witch, etc.) and what funky things I can come up with for my nails. Almost every year I end up in the drugstore getting press on nails because spending money on a Halloween manicure sounds super duper crazy. Kiss must’ve been logging into my thoughts, because they have press on nails available for just the night at all drugstores for just $3.99.
The designs vary from Halloween webs to a red and black moon mani which can be used for fancier days ahead as well. The nails come in twelve (12) sizes, with two of each, to guarantee a perfect fit for your nails. The best part about these is that you don’t have to confess to your boss the next day whether you were giving kisses, getting them, or just wearing ’em!
Do you have anything planned for Halloween yet?
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Julianna Margulies joins L’Oreal team
Star of The Good Wife, Julianna Margulies is joining a long list of spokespeople on team L’Oreal. As of 2011 you will be seeing advertisements featuring the new L’Oreal Beauty Ambassador.
Photo Credit: L’Oreal and USAToday
Graphics Courtesy of MyOwnJudge.net
Who was your favorite spokesperson so far? Who would you like to see represent the brand?
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Naomi Campbell and Russian GQ
Though she may be as infamous as she is famous, no one can deny the fabulosity that is Naomi Campbell.
Every time she has a run in with the law I shake my head and suck my teeth. Why can’t she dust all that diva off and be as great as her shoots? Then I think about how I don’t really know the woman, and for all I know, it could all be “any press is good press,” without much merit behind it.
So I stick to the images. I love the woman in a photo shoot, and she seems to like it just as much. She was featured on the cover of GQ Russia as one of the people to remember in 2010, and being that Russian is my native language, I felt like having fun with the cover, isolating the diva, and translating a bit. I’ve been experimenting a lot with images and graphics, trying to improve on what you see on MOJ. Do you like it?
The collector’s edition features the model sporting several hairpieces, and I have to admit, I prefer the old school bangs and bump better than the long or short hair.
Naomi can still rock a mean pose and no matter the amount of photoshop, you can’t tell me anything about the girl being in shape. She looks great. Her shot below makes her look like a doll, no?
Photo Credit: MagXOne and GQ.com
What do you think?
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ME! Bath is all about… Me!
During my last drugstore window shopping adventure, I was looking for a new body scrub to try out. Sure I had two favorites (probably the same as plenty others in the world – St. Ives Apricot Invigorating Scrub and Victoria’s Secret Garden Love Spell Body Scrub), but a little voice in my head said to try something new. I’ve always used my two favorites simultaneously – St. Ives for the weekly scrub, and Victoria’s Secret for the super scrub sessions. The first is softer on the skin and does a general clear-out of the dead skin cells, whereas the latter is grainier and provides a deeper and thorough scrub (it also has some oils in it to moisturize skin – that kind of scrub can leave you dry as ash if not moisturized!).
As I walked the aisles of the new and improved version of the swanky Duane Reade by Bryant Park (not each one is created equal!), I noticed some goodies. Ice cream cones, bath fizz balls, tubs full of scrub reminiscent of sherbet containers. Was I in a candy store? Nope. This was my first encounter with ME! Bath Products
The sample jars had me sample scrubbing and sniffing jar upon jar of innovative flavors scents (Pomegranate and Hawaiian Plumeria and Freesia convince you?). Scrub granules were on the corners of my nose and my hand with no faucet in sight – if you didn’t know me better, I’d look like I had a problem.
Every product has a story, and funny enough, the one I chose is the one they donate a percentage of the sales to benefit Cancer Research. Check it out here!
Check out the list of ingredients:
The scrub has a consistency that is a bit thicker than St. Ives but not as rough as Victoria’s Secret. It smells amazing and my skin loves it. My only gripe is that with the price of the scrub, I would’ve liked for it to be in a squeeze bottle, so that I wouldn’t waste too much product by reaching into the tub and getting all greedy-like when getting ready to scrub a dub dub.
What’s your favorite body scrub?
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Sometimes Yaya 