Sometimes Yaya

Burlesque Green Showdown

Fellow Mickey Mouse club alum, Justin Timberlake proclaimed Christina Aguilera the strongest and best vocals of his generation. As I mentally replay her musical catalog through my head, I do have to say I agree (admit it – even Genie In A Bottle was pretty good vocally,no? Just me?).

The singer extraordinaire has been promoting her new motion picture, Burlesque (check out the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), where she shares the silver screen with an icon for many generations, Cher. When she sits down for Thanksgiving dinner this month, I’m sure she’ll be thankful for these great opportunities as well as being honored with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

Though I am a bit saddened by the breakup of her marriage (was I the only one rooting for these two strangers?), I’m glad she’s back in the spotlight. Rocking a red lip on the regular with curve hugging styles, she seems to have figured out the magic formula of being sexy without showing too much (and while being a mom) with every red carpet.
Photo Credit: Phun

She’s not the only one checking the books and getting their study on, though. As mentioned before, green is a very trending color in a gal’s wardrobe, and so Christina aptly had some competition. Kristin Cavallari sported a green mini, which may have outsparkled, but not outshone Christina’s flowy strapless getup. It all depends on what you prefer on your starlet, no?

The two gals stepped it up a notch and had a forest green smokey eye. I am favoring Christina’s for the presence of lime green/yellow towards the inside of the eye (whereas Kristin’s looks like a neutral tone, or just an absence of color).

Who worked it best for you?

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Beach Bunnies Galore

Beach Bunny Swimwear have taken over the aquatic market. Okay, they may not be a huge empire or a household name, but they got all the Kardashian sisters creating collections (check out Kim‘s, and Kourtney‘s) as well as Sports Illustrated model Irina Shayk. Kim recently did a Barbarella inspired shoot (also the inspiration for her capsule line) to promote her line and no word on whether Kourtney will do one based on her Bridgette Bardot inspiration (or if Khloe will get her own line!), but I’m more into Irina‘s shoot.

Photo Credit: Phun

Which line do you like most?

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Sephora VIBs get extra time

Are you a Sephora VIB? Today is the last day you can use code ‘VIB20‘ to save 20% off your order. This is no different from the family and friends sale, except this time not everyone gets it. Only the big spenders! Not a VIB? I’m sure you know one or two. We can even work on something, you and I ;).

Getting anything?

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Wet n’ Wild Lipstick Shades

After my successfully indulgent trip to the drugstore (as well as the follow up online confession), it was only right to expose how the colors looked like in real life. In this photo – I tried to make the lip shades look like a Cingular sign :).

As I’ve said in my review, the lipsticks are creamy and highly pigmented, and very very worth the money. Something else I found out with these babies? They’re not for the faint of heart, and by that I mean, they are high maintenance. These sticks (or at least the colors I chose) need a brush applicator on hand at all times. If you use the lipstick on its own and brave it out, you’ll have plenty of cleanup to follow (it’s the worst to do cleanup after red lipstick, because your skin may turn pink from either the coloring or the irritation from rubbing). Every time I tried to apply Red Velvet on my own, I was running cleanup interference to the point that I wiped the whole thing off and started again. Did this three times before I gave up and took a brush thankyouverymuch
No swatch post is ever enough without the before and after shot. Here’s my before. There is no flash on the left and flash on the right. This pattern is the same throughout all the colors.Red Velvet is a bad mama jama. It’s matte but super creamy (okay all of them are – but still). It’s bright and has a blue tone to make your teeth look pearly white. Did I mention this would look awesome on all skin tones?Then the trouble started. Just Peachy is the kind of beige that a girl with my skin tone should steer clear of. As a matter of fact, I’m starting to think this shade is so specific that I’d have to keep my eye out for the perfect match. It has an pastel orange tint to it, making it disappear on my face. It felt like I was hiding my eyebrows… just you know – on my lips. My skin shade by MAC standards is NW20, so you’d have to be wayyyy below or way above for this color to work on you. It’d need to create a serious contrast.But alas, Yaya will not give up. I decided to layer my Armour Beauty gloss on top to give it more dimension.
What do you think? Any better?
Smokin’ Hot Pink is a very attractive coral and pink mix. It’s a bit reminiscent of pinup gals.I slipped up on Mauve Outta Here. Where the heck is the photo without flash? Y’all know as much as I do. It’s a lilac and pink mix that verges on not matching skin tones, but is just enough to get away with. Do you agree?

I kind of want to get more colors but my wallet is asking that I take a conservative stance with the pending holiday and birthday events. Ever notice how birthdays are always in clusters (and never in the clusters where you have the most discretionary income!)?

Which is your favorite?

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Ashley vs. Camilla. You Be the Judge

Ashley Greene and Camilla Belle (or their stylists) must have been on the same page when they paired a duo of a dusty khaki with black. Ashley’s outfit is an easier dress (easy because you don’ have to play the “what goes with this?” game), while Camilla’s separates are a little more fun with a lower neckline and embellishments.

Madewell, Jil Sander, Phoebe Couture, Beny & Hizzin

Day Dresses by Milly
Mid-length Skirts by Jil Sander

I looked for lookalike garments, and fell in love with an opposite (khaki/bronze animal print on the bottom half and black in the top). Not digging the skirt? Pair with black slacks or switch the color blocks upside down with a black top and khaki pants.

Which one is more your style?

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Green Queens

It’s not just the environment that is waiting for everyone to go green – the dresses are patiently waiting too! A fresh color for the fall/winter wardrobe comes in a variety of shades – take olive, bright green, pastel, or a mix of green and blue as just a few examples. Then of course, we have to consider that this is one of those colors to flatter all skin types and body shapes. It has now entered the purple and black group.

Check out celebs Olivia Munn, Rose McGowan, Monica Cruz (yes Penelope‘s sister) and the Hilton sisters strut their stuff in green at various functions this November.

Photo Credit: Phun and Zimbio Graphics Courtesy of MyOwnJudge.net

If you want to break out some green for your holiday camera screen (sorry I just had to make it rhyme), remember that the cold weather cannot get you down. Don some opaque black leggings (or even yellow or turquoise if you dare) with booties or heels and a jacket. When you relinquish your outerwear, the crowd will surely ooh and ahh as if you are the holly straight off the tree. Don’t have any of the sort? Check out the below selection to get your shopping cart rolling (they’re all under $50 to take into mind your holiday shopping list needs).

eDressMe, Forever 21, Nine West, Sparkle & Fade

Plus Dresses by INC International Concepts
Cocktail Dresses by Gianni Bini

All the above looks are below $50 and each image is linked to the appropriate retailer. Anything catch your eye? Let me know!

Do you have anything green in your closet to rock for the holidays?

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Well Heeled Donors

You may be accustomed to a pair of Loboutin heels costing well over a thousand dollars, but have you ever braced yourself for one hundred percent of the proceeds going to charity? I sure wasn’t. Now I’m not trying to say the company is cheap or anything of the sort, but really – a product that is expensive to make, when all proceeds go as a donation, it means the company is donating funds as well. Think of it – money to produce, as well as time and monies earned.

The famed shoe designer has produced a limited edition of only 33 pairs to benefit the Grameen Foundation in favor of microfinancing. What inspired the move? Louboutin was inspired by the book “Creating a World Without Poverty,” written by Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus (also author to Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty), founder of Grameen Bank and Grameen Foundation, a microfinance group.

The well heeled patron will drop $1,495 on a pair. They come in three colors, each in a flagship store. Champagne in New York, lavender in Miami, and pin in Los Angeles. Word is still out if the 33 pairs are for each color or each pair is available in only eleven pairs. If so, that’d probably only mean that there are only one or two pairs of each color. Drama!

Source: WWD

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Affordable Eyeshadow Palettes

I’m usually very skeptical of uber cheap cosmetics. Why should 28 colors ever cost under three dollars? What did they save money on? Was it color? Quality? Safety? Packaging? What’s the secret!?!My last trip to Walgreen’s had me come face to face with a Profusion wallet palette, retailing for $2.99. My suspicions were only halfway put to rest by my previous experience with the brand and their lipgloss, and I thought the brand may be a sister company (or even the same?) to the Profound $5.00 palette. Plus, I thought, how much damage can you do with $2.99 I already decided to spend on unneeded items like gum and chocolate (I put them down in favor of cosmetics!)?The beauty wallets are very space friendly and boast a plethora of different colors. The wallets are in various color combinations and correspond to the color of the packaging. I purchased the violet and lime green, but there were others available. The size of these is slightly smaller than a cd case overall, but pretty much as thick as a cd case is.As you all may continue to read, I am a packaging junkie. I really like their ‘Beauty Wallet’ premise, but opening the packaging had me verging on temporary insanity. What I thought would be an easy plastic case to remove turned into a rage of ripping up the packaging.

This could have damaged the shadows had I not aimed away, or if I dropped the darn thing (happens often to me). If you decide to purchase this palette, take it from me and use scissors to open it up.The sleeve on the packaging doesn’t contain much information other than the ingredients. The palette doesn’t name any of the colors (which isn’t the greatest idea, because I’d like to know if they’ve been reused in other palettes), but does have a chart on the back of the sleeve numbering the colors – which aid in depicting swatches for me.
I took inventory of how the colors come off by swatching them on paper and then applying with a wet brush to my skin.Some of the colors look very similar to one another, but after trying them all out, I can say I like the combinations and that there is variety to the palette, compared to others having preference to neutral or blush colors.The wallet looks most attractive without the product sleeve and doesn’t look like a palette from the outside at all.

Pros:

This is a definite win if you’re trying to mask your “I need nothing to look like this” plan.
The price of $2.99 cannot be beat.
The color payoff is pretty good, especially when applied wet.
There is a mini tutorial on the inside cover.

Cons:

It is not an organic product (meaning it contains talc, mineral oil, and synthetic wax among others).

Verdict:
Skip a machiato or a soda for the day and grab this palette.

Have you tried this? Do you want to?

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Emma Watson makes Potter magic

Silver screen darling, Emma Watson braved the dropping temperatures to rock some lace and feathers at the Harry Potter premiere. The tie back dress was the perfect accessory to her gams and pixie cut, that it needed no further accessorizing, something Emma seemed to grasp. She sported medium sized drop earrings and a cool look with pastel lipstick and eyeshadow. To keep the look from washing her away, you can spot black liner on her waterline (and I wouln’t be surprised if there is some on the inside of the top lash line too). Oh and the dress is back (called it).

Photo Credit: The Phun // Graphics Courtesy of MyOwnJudge.net

I’m sitting on my hands as the movie inches to a theater near me, but isn’t a two part movie just fab for stars who want to show off their favorite fashions? Double the clothes for double the premieres!

Do you like this look?

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J Lo at the Latin Grammys

Jennifer Lopez went from stellar bod to rockin’ mama, to triathlon runner, and came back full circle. As I set my jealousy aside, I want to discuss her outfit for the night at the Latin Grammys. The singer and actress donned a skin tight floor length number with a deep v cut.

Photo Credit: The Phun // Graphics Courtesy of MyOwnJudge.net

Her dress was adorned with stars, but not one to be outshined (we’re going to make that a real word for the day), Lopez fit an equally shiny ring on each finger. Her monochromatic look flowed from head to toe, including her hair and bronzed look – a dangerous feat, as most come off like they wore the whole color story out from their closet.

How do you like it?

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