Sometimes Yaya

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 brand has an interesting approach to skincare, and if you visit the site, you will find that they have an interesting setup for their site as well!

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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Gisele – the Terminator’s Sweet Dream

Hot mama Gisele is looking as great post baby as she did beforehand in the new shoot for DT magazine’s October issue.

Photo Credit: HotCelebsHome and DTLux.com

The supermodel’s photo shoot for the Italian publication is full of grunge and heavy metal. My first thought when I saw the images was that it looked like the Terminator’s wet dream.

The shoot was styled with chain-mail, leather, and cargo pants. She’s sporting a chain fringe bib necklace, something I’m dying to make (but can never find enough time for!).

There’s a shot of her holding two tires, and I’d like to know if those were real or just props, because those buggers can be heavy!

Check out some metal and chain accessories you can pick up for under $50 to rock some heavy metal in your jewelry drawer.

Madewell, Madewell, Gerard Yosca, GUESS, Madewell

Shortsleeve Tops by Vero Moda
Bracelets by Topshop

Like it? Love it?

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Hakaan has a new accessory for SS11

The entrance of fall is also a festive time for fashion week. The world celebrates as a whole as the week jumps from country to country, across continents, to bring people out of their assigned seats with the bright colors, beautiful fabrics, and statuesque models.

Photo Credit: Style.com

The clothes are usually styled to their best possible presentation, with precise attention to shoes, jewelry, bags, etc. But piercings? My first experience with the sort was looking through the photos of the Parisian fashion show for Hakaan. The nose bridge piercings looked very interesting as they were placed on each model walking the runway (though they weren’t real). I’ve previously seen piercings like these on arms and the back of the neck, but never on the nose. Though not something I’d get for myself, I prefer the nose the best for this type of piercing. It adds a whole lot of character to the face, don’t you think?

Photo Credit: Freakinfrench.blogspot.com

The show had different carefully tailored shapes worn by models, most of whom had killer guns (I need me some biceps and triceps like those!). Though the garments differed from pant suits to dresses, the colors didn’t veer far from white, black, and a gray/slate shade in between. The buildup with the garments in color order added to the presentation of the collection. Another highlight? A sighting of hot mama model Jourdan Dunn!
Check out the full collection on Style.com and let me know if you have any favorite looks!

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Teen Vogue’s Youth in Hollywood is all Wrapped Up

The young stars and starlets showed up for Teen Vogue’s Young Hollywood event. The best dressed ladies had two things in common – high waist menswear and wrap skirts and dresses.

Photo Credit: Celebrity-gossip.net

The festivities involved plenty of fashion and fresh faces on the scene as well as tween, teen, twenty-somethings, and the rest of the in crowd. Twitter was all abuzz about the Michael Kors presentation, and plenty more. Check out the Teen Vogue Young Hollywood shoot at their site, favorites from Scott Pilgrim and more are giving their best poses, and read on for tips on how to copy the looks after the jump!

When wearing a wrap skirt or a high waist pant, remember the attention is on the bottom. Keep the top simple and tucked in, and if it’s cold and you have to wear tights, keep it to one color, so as not to steal away the limelight.

Antik Batik, Spiegel, Rag and Bone, Topshop

Cocktail Dresses by Alice + Olivia
Mini Skirts by Topshop

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You Be the Judge! Glee Edition

Another series of You Be the Judge has landed on the pages of MOJ with Glee starlet Lea Michele. The gal has come into her own in the spotlight, starting to experiment more (or hiring a daring new stylist?) with the fashions she sports on the red carpets, as well as shoots she signs up to do. She even did a topless shoot for Marie Claire UK (but it wasn’t a Maxim type shoot, trust me!).

I prefer the lady with her hair down, but I’m more of a fan of when she uses brighter lip colors like in number 5. The point of this series is to compare looks that stars have used in outings, without any photoshop or lighting assistance. Lea doesn’t look too awesome with vampy lip colors, but bright does her right.

Which one do you think looks best?

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Armour Lip Gloss

Tell me when you have a single day of not needing a lip gloss. No go ahead, tell me… I’ll wait. If there are in fact days that I can’t make it for long without my lip gloss, ipod, or cell phone – I feel naked without these! How sad!

If my bag doesn’t have lip products, my money inevitably gets spent on something new. Most of the time it’s on a cheap filler product and other times on a great newbie. The case with this Armour Beauty lipgloss was neither. I was at The Makeup Show (and going to the show, you can surely expect to spend money before you leave) and met the folks behind the company. They had a quaint setup for the product, and the packaging is pretty smooth too. I invested in a single gloss and promised to do a thorough review.

The first major win for me was the packaging. I love a good packaged product y’all. If you’re a regular reader on MOJ, you will know this to be a fact. Great packaging is the way into my wallet and heart!

Want to know more about the brand? Check out the info from their ‘About’ page:

p.s. I’m still figuring out the coding for this darn setup, so instead of having a ‘continue reading’ link, please click on the post title to read the rest! If you know the answer to my dilemma, I’d love to hear it!

The color of choice? Dreaming. I always try to get a shimmery gold tone gloss when I try out lip products. Why? Well, the color is generally a pleasing color to look at on everyone. No matter the skin tone, outfit, makeup, etc. The other reason, equally important, is that this shade is the favorite for Mama Yaya. She is the sole benefactor of the goodies that run through my credit card statements, so I try to purchase the ones she won’t roll her eyes at (unless they’re neons and purples – that’s all for me).

The ingredient list

Though the packaging was snazzy looking, the solid glass (or really tough plastic?) made it seem like I’d be losing out on a lot of quality gloss when it came down to the last ounces. I’d have to find out if it’s microwavable, because then we’d be talking. Another downer? The sponge tip applicator. Brushes and plastic wedge tips work best for not sucking up your product, as well as keeping it minimal on the bacteria end.

Left image is without gloss and right is with. The left came out a bit blurry, but I didn’t pick up on it until the gloss was on and ready for a close up.

Despite all the cons of the gloss, it is very effective. Being that I bought a shimmer gloss (check out the shimmer and opaque varieties here), I can’t talk much about the color – this baby is clear. The shimmer packs a punch though! It does not, and I mean not budge. Unlike other glosses, this one does not leave you with a glitter mustache. All the goods stay right on the kisser!

The consistency is a bit stickier than I expected, but it’s not a nuisance. The best part of it all was how long the gloss lasted past my drinking iced tea straight from the bottle, munching on snacks, talking, etc. I’d say it stayed on for over three hours, and started to fade after that, though the shimmer stayed for a good five to six.

The glosses retail for $19 so it’s not necessarily perfect for an impulse, ‘forgot my regular gloss’ purchase. You know, unless you got it like that. If you’re looking for a ‘by my side forevermore’ gloss though, I’d suggest you take the gamble.

What gloss is rocking your socks?

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ChinaGlaze debuts limited edition for the holidays!

Normally I’m the crazy person buying up gifts for family and friends starting from July. By mid October I am only shopping for boxes and wrapping paper and thinking about how many cards I’d need. Not this year though. In between financial deficits in both my pockets and my bank account, and the spacial deficit in my storage room and apartment, I felt like I’d be better at winging it this season. Last year taught me that the procrastinators got the best sales anyway.

This year, China Glaze is kicking up gifting nail polish a notch. Sure you can buy a nail file with a polish bottle, and sure you can cook up a crazy gift bag with plenty tissue paper, you may even get really crazy and put a coveted polish bottle inside several Russian Nesting dolls and have your giftee work triple hard for their gift… or you can hit up China Glaze.

The colors are as follow (color description courtesy of China Glaze):

Naughty and Nice: Deeply rich wine crème.	Sugar Plums: Plum shimmer.
Mommy Kissing Santa: Deep cherry red shimmer.	Phat Santa: Red crème.
Ruby Deer: Bright red crème.	Mrs. Claus: Red glitter.

Party Hearty: Green, gold and red chunky glitter. (I spy a favorite!)

Mistletoe Kisses: Green glitter.	Jolly Holly: Forest green shimmer.
Peace on Earth: Olive green shimmer.	Little Drummer Boy: Navy blue shimmer.
Jingle Bells: Champagne shimmer.	Midnight Kiss: Gold shimmer.
Cheers to You: Silver shimmer.	Frosty: White frosty shimmer.
Snow: White crème.

The company famous for colors that go opaque in usually just one coat has caught the holiday spirit early, with sixteen limited edition colors available in singles and gift packs. I’m digging the gift packs, they are in packs of three, as well as sets with gifts like shot glasses, stuffed toys, necklaces, and candles. That way, when you purchase a polish gift you don’t scratch your head thinking; “Should I be adding something else to this gift?“

The gift sets will feature the following colors:
Celebrate in Style Collection: Includes Little Drummer Boy, Peace on Earth, Mommy Kissing Santa, Jingle Bells and a holiday necklace.
Merry Mint Set: Includes Naughty and Nice, Mrs. Claus and a complimentary China Glaze Peppermint Oil.
Rejoice Set: Includes Mistletoe Kisses, Mrs. Claus and a special red holiday candle.
Cheers to You: Includes Midnight Kisses, Cheers to you and a China Glaze shot glass.
Dreamin’ of a Green Christmas: Includes Mistletoe Kisses, Midnight Kiss and Jolly Holly.
Oh, Ruby Deer: Includes Sugar Plums, Ruby Deer and a stuffed animal.
Peppermint Kisses with Holiday Wishes: Includes Mrs. Claus, Phat Santa, Snow and Frosty.