Sometimes Yaya

Babor Cosmetics Lipstick

Following my Babor Csometics makeover, I was excited to try out the products for myself. First in line was a proper stick of lipstick.

You know me – a fan of packaging. The gold packaging for both the box and the lipstick make the product purchase utterly special. The allure of golden packaging for products across the spectrum is just the Midas effect I suppose. Who doesn’t want to own something golden?The color I tested was #13 – Rouge Noir. It looks like a super dark vampy red out of the packaging.The color varies depending on how many times you swipe it across the skin. It has a bit of a blotchy finish once you start getting a little happy with the application. But no one is guilty of that, right? (I won’t tell!)After two swipes, the lipstick is completely not as dark as the lipstick seems at first sight. It comes off like sheer vampy burgundy and applies very softly without staining the skin in case of errors. The only gripe was how the coloring stuck to every imperfection of the lips. That is the curse of darker lipsticks (and the super light ones as well) – they will forever point out all flaws. Being that it is getting colder and I have a terrible knack for chewing on the dry spots one finds on their lips, I wasn’t happy with how it looked. The combination of flaws and the color made it look a bit like scabs – not cute. The remedy? I went to my fix all and used a Victoria’s Secret Beauty Rush lip gloss with shimmer to top off the color and hide imperfections.
So much better! The lip gloss adds dimension with the shimmer and helps deflect from looking at the flaws. It adds great personality to the lipstick.

The win-all for this lipstick is definitely the even and creamy application. It feels as smooth as chapstick just running over your lips. It had no drag that an extra thick lipstick can sometimes have. It’s a little bit rich in the $25 price tag, but if you think about it, so many nondrugstore brands are around that price, that it’s nothing new.

I am unsure whether all lipsticks are as sheer in application as this one, but if so, this would be super awesome. It verges on a combination of lipstick, lip gloss, and lip butter products. A general application that can be used whenever – depending on what color you choose of course.

Have you tried Babor Cosmetics yet?

Disclaimer: This product was sent to the author for review by the manufacturer/PR. All reviews on MOJ remain unbiased and unpaid. For more info, feel free to contact the author.

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Jane Fonda get Physical with V Magazine

Just as I was clearing out old VHS tapes from my retentive stash at home (Dennis the Menace, Kathy Lee Fitness, Jane Fonda, etc.), I came across the age issue triple covers for V Magazine. The broads on the cover (and I use the word broads with respect – it’s like the female version of “pimp” … kind of) are Susan Sarandon, Jane Fonda, and Sigourney Weaver. If at the time of reading this, you have not ever seen a movie by any of them, or done a Jane Fonda workout, I’m going to need you to start on that mission pronto!

The ladies prove that age is just a number, smiling as if they got the last laugh. Covers featuring older stars who have turned their fifteen minutes into prime time programming are most interesting – they don’t just belong on magazines discussing retirement and medical care. They can surely teach us a thing or two.

Whose cover do you like best?

Photo Credit: Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin and V Magazine
The contrasting covers feature black and white shots with a bright V along the center, but I would’ve loved for it to be the other way around and seen the stars in some bright lipsticks.

Have you seen it? What do you think?

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One of a Kind Show

This weekend and last weekend, New York is home to the One of a Kind Show. A venue for creative minds and artists to come together and display their creations to collector’s and unique individuals alike. Last weekend, scheduling and mush for brains got in my way of reporting about the event much. I mixed up the times, had only fifteen minutes (out of four days – don’t ask me how I do it) to check out as much as possible, and no camera to do it with (although I brought the darn charger!). I vowed to come back better prepared this time around, with enough time for the readers to check it out themselves.Festive ornaments, bookmarks, paperweights, or just something pretty was available from Vilmain.The most pleasing part of the event was the unity of all the presenters aesthetically. Regardless of what kind of craft was being showcased, everyone remained within white walls and hallways. It offered a very clean passageway from one precious item to the other, without wasting time or money on curtains, posters, etc. This also helped for the items to stand out and catch your attention (and to not get lost).Jewelry and sculpture (though they can sometimes be synonymous) were the two prevalent types of products at the show, the first being what caught my eye the most. These pure stone rings by Anna Ruth Henriques were breathtaking. Not only are they skillfully made, but these are pure rock (minus the itty bitty spider). Different ones are made from different stones and retail for just a wee bit under a thousand (with a much cheaper price for show-goers of course).Does the quote call for agreement or disagreement? The resting area featured couches and chalkboard walls, where vendors and visitors alike seemed to embrace their inner children (or artists).I was tempted to take an easel or a print home, but I had to remind myself that until my living area is free of clutter, I have to refrain from big purchases – hopefully I’ll get it together by next year.There is a table for gift wrapping, being that the holidays are around the corner and there are so many innovative holiday gift items on sale. Check out the rest of the artists on the floor plan here.

There is a section to the show featuring all the sponsors of the event, including Susan G. Komen, ReadyMade Magazine, Etsy and others.
You can choose to purchase a card, or make a card, where all proceeds of the sale will go to benefit breast cancer research.ReadyMade offers creative tips on how to decorate your house and be green at the same time. They have three tree decorations that anyone can make (and I will attempt and place on YouTube shortly).Another sponsor was Sierra Mist. A favorite of mine because they quenched my thirst (and Rogue confections for keeping my belly full of chocolate).Another favorite was Pébéo. They had their porcelain paints available for people to create ornaments.Everyone picked a heart and went to work, using brights and glitters to make their own unique ornament. Some designs were way fancier than mine, but I got a little sentimental and did a dedication to the Mister. The paint can be washed off if any errors are made, and when you feel ready, you have to first let the paint dry for a day or so and then bake it to secure the color. Voila! The paint will now be permanent.Once dry, you can hang up your ornament to dry and come back to pick up, or wait.
These ornaments hanging to dry were my favorite. Made me think Betsey Johnson was in the building!

Now it’s your turn! Are you on the East coast? Can you make it to this show this Saturday or Sunday? (11/20-21)? If so, the first five to leave their e-mail address in the comment will get a free ticket to the show!

If not, do not fret, the show will make its rounds in Toronto, Vancouver, and Chicago as well. Check out the site for details.

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Black Friday Sale Notices Begin

Notices for deals following Thanksgiving are starting to peek through curtains and announce their presence. I am torn between saving money and buying everything the eyes can see to save money. Sales give me considerable guilt – for either purchasing, or choosing not to. You just can’t win!

Bookmark http://www.stilacosmetics.com/warehousesale in your web browser and wait ten days for the Stila warehouse sale. Something tells me you won’t be disappointed.

Live in California? Check out the sale in person on December 11. Check out details here.

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Rock Star Mani

As promised (although a little while back), the Revlon out of this world colors have made it to my nails. After a long awaited pause for my nails to quit their whining and regain a healthy look, I can finally wear colors and show you (otherwise, I just wear twenty colors at a time and refrain from photographs!). I have been trying to change them up every few days, because a major clean of the house is in order, and every time I seem to take on that project, I say farewell to my nails. Rock is a very attractive creamy purple. Purples in a bright consistency without any false shimmer to it (you know – when the bottle looks purple, but on the nail it looks more metallic?) are the best polishes to own. A natural purple is also hard to achieve, as many just get darker and look more vampy unless in direct sunlight.
Here, Star is layered above the Rock polish. It contains different sizes of glitters, but is a little difficult to get an even coating of confetti and glitter on a nail. When using, you end up applying far too many coats to have the desired amount of glitter on your nails. Regardless though, the duo looks great to me.

What does your Rock Star mani look like?

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Rihanna – Monochromatic Looks

The only always successful monochromatic look anyone can pull off is when they wear all black. Even then, there might be the issue of deciding if you are a character from The Matrix. It is harder to match colors of a different shade, and sometimes questionable if you are the epitome of the variation of colors from head to toe. Ever see someone wearing light blue to dark blue all over? How many times was it a success?

Rihanna visited the color wheel right before she made her appearance on 106 and Park for BET Studios (so everyone is visiting New York right about now!) promoting her new album, Loud. Her large knit sweater matched the pastel green of her leggings. The light color of the leggings verges on being unflattering on her (let alone people who don’t train or perform regularly!) and could have used a pattern, embellishment, or even a thicker material.

She did adhere to the “tight on the bottom, loose on the top (and vice versa)” rule, keeping her from turning into an ice cream colored blob, but I feel like she could’ve done better. The look came off leisurely and relaxed (the straight hair also added to the look, because it wasn’t as fancy as we I expected), but was inches away from being a bit of a disaster.

To copy the look, try darker leggings or tight jeans/pants instead. Embellishments, like black trim along the sides will deflect from any problem areas you have in your bottom half (I know I have some dimples that no leggings will care to hide).

Here are some ideas:

American Apparel, Urban Outfitters, American Apparel

Leggings by American Apparel
Skinny Pants by Marciano

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Tantastic at the Drugstore

Bronzers are the perfect addition to any makeup collection year round. When it is warm, you can use it to fake a tan (being that we’re all slathered in SPF and hiding in the shade – well I am!), or brushing on some during the colder months to fool coworkers into thinking you took the weekend to have Tahiti adventures.

Personally, my secret has been to apply bronzer lightly instead of blush. It adds a tint to the skin reminiscent of a tan, and adds angles and shadows where needed. If you check out videos on Youtube, you’ll also see that you can add bronzer on each side of the nose to add shadow and slim it out (if that’s the look you’re going for). The technique is most helpful to mavens with round faces, much like myself.

A bronzer is very multifunctional. You can use it all over the face, as a blush, or to define angles when contouring. For the best effects, you can even use two different shades; one for all over and one to contour with.I decided to try out some more drugstore brand bronzers as I started to hit the pan on my more expensive shades. The first on the list was the Milani Tantastic face and body bronzer.

The packaging swivels out to the side to reveal a baked bronzer with golden, bronze, and pearl shades swirling together. If you’re anything like me, the packaging will confuse you for a bit.The bottom opens up to reveal a flat and wide brush, but most helpful is the mirror. You can remove the ingredient sticker on the bottom to have a clear mirror, or peek through it to do makeup on the go.How it looks on the skin:The top of the swatch is blended and the square slice is untouched.

It seems to be less for everyday and more for show and maybe body. It has a bit of a gold-like finish to it and the shimmer seems of a larger size than regular pressed powder. This would be perfect to brush on your shins you elongate the leg during summers and add shine. Verdict is still out though, on how it will fare on the face.

Have you tried this?

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We’re All Family and Friends

When one family and friends discount goes, another one appears. Nothing beats the sale marathons going on throughout the holidays.

SkinCareRx (brands like La Roche-Posay, Dermalogica, and Revitalash, among many others) and Apothica (Bobbi Brown, Napoleon Perdis, Smashbox, etc.) are sharing the discount to their Family and Friends Sale.Your discount? 25% off the sister sites.

APOTHICA and SKINCARERX

Use Code ‘FF25’ to get your savings before December 1, 2010. (Some brands excluded from the discount)
Let me know what you get!

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American Apparel Debuts New Colors

American Apparel has been long known for their basics and decorative garments (as well as the photography in their advertisements and let’s call it “unsavory” business deals), but it is still an infant in the nail polish business.

This status hasn’t stopped the company from creating a memorable bottle with an equally unforgettable consistency of nail polish sure to win over any diva with a manicure. All the colors contain high concentrations of each color, making it an easy purchase, given that what you see is what you get.
The brand debuted some new colors, and being the purple fiend that I am, you already know which color went to the top of my shopping list.

Photos Credit: AmericanApparel.net Graphics courtesy of MyOwnJudge.net

The polishes retail for $6 a bottle and are available to be purchased in preset sets of three (although when I was at the physical store, you could choose your own combination) or seven for cheaper per bottle rates.

Source
What color suits your fancy?

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You’re Invited!

Tomorrow, I will be spending my money and getting a slight buzz on as I meet new brands – such a difficult task! Purchase tickets here or read about other dates across the country.

Will you be joining me?