Sometimes Yaya

LG of the Jury: Sock It To Me!

When people speak of fashion faux pas and crimes, they often mention socks with sandals amidst the top five. I have to admit that personally, when I see socks with sandals I cringe a bit.

The trend has morphed a bit with the presence of colored stockings with summer shoes as the weather gets cold. So is there a difference?

Kate Spade lookbooks have always caught my fancy for their penchant for bright colors and using a diverse group of models in both ethnicity and age (I love me a grandma in a bright orange peacoat). The same with J. Crew. Their photos of short socks with sandals have yet to convince me though. Which brings me to the return of Ladies & Gents of the Jury.

The trend is not new of course. You can see plenty of images of a geisha wearing socks with thong slippers, and others through history. Check the runway? Burberry models were rocking the socks with sandals and even on top of stockings.

So Ladies & Gents of the Jury, what’s your verdict?

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Why I Oughtta Wipe Your Face Out With… Korres

I have been a long time follower of the use a cotton square to remove makeup from your face. As far as the removing agent? Either a cream or an oil (hello Mr. Olive) did it well. Then I started buying makeup wipes.

First I bought makeup wipes for the ease of use when cleaning makeup brushes. Just pull out a wipe and you can quickly run your brushes along it to clear ’em up. By no means is this the way you should clean your brushes all the time (thorough cleanup and drying is necessary from time to time as far as I’m concerned).

Then I started buying more and more packs of these time saving wonders when swatching products and taking photos. This was much easier to do at the desk than to have to lug everything with me to the bathroom. I had found a winner for the ease of use but I was still skeptical about using these for my face. See, I was buying cheapie wipes (read: Dollar Mart) and am not chemically blessed to understand if the cheaper versions are any better than the pricier ones. So I just kept to my old time techniques for face war paint removal.

Being that this post is here though, you understand that the story doesn’t end there. Following the first Bloggin’ Beauts get together, all the Beauts went home with a pack of the KorresPomegranate makeup wipes.

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&nou=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=myowju-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=B001GMTUZWReview:
Packaging: 4 out of 5
Price: 4 out of 5 ($12.00 from site, Amazon, etc.)
Quality: 5 out of 5
Overall: 4 out of 5

The wipes are significantly thicker than any other I have tried before. When they are applied to the face they are much softer and can pick up more makeup without feeling like you’re dragging your forehead down to your chin. Plus, as per my previous Korres review, the product smells great.

I did a picture at half a face painted.

Now I realize this doesn’t look like a lot of makeup on. My problem with makeup is that if I put on enough to see in a picture, then it’s more than overdone in person. The solution? I took a close-up while using the wipe to create temporary face graffiti.

There you go! Now you know I had plenty war paint on. 🙂

I’m pretty skeptical with wipes because I always think they leave a lot of product on your skin that you may not see. So I checked with my handy dandy cotton squares and olive oil and saw barely any remaining product. I have trouble removing mascara with the wipes because I feel like I’m always attacking my lashes, so I use olive oil there. I also make sure to rinse my face after using the wipes just to make sure.

The wipes come in a pack of 25, so naturally, my qualm with the product is the price. I feel like I could pay a little less for it, but with it’s efficiency call it a worthwhile splurge. Even if you can’t afford this for regular day use, I’d suggest purchasing a pack for an almost fool-proof plan for travel (plus I’m not sure if these count as liquid or not when packing).

Check out the after & the damage control with the wipe:

Do you use wipes? Tell me your experience(s) with wipes & you might win a pack of these babies!

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Nina Garcia at Sephora

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=myowju-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=0061834017Combining a lot of favorites, this past week I got to meet Nina Garcia from Marie Claire. She was signing copies of her new book, The Style Strategy: A Less-Is-More Approach to Staying Chic and Shopping Smart, and in the meantime, the first 100 (I was #5… clearly I was serious!) got $10 off their purchase and a copy of Marie Claire!

Didn’t hear about the event? I almost missed it myself had I not read my Google Reader updates in time. Check out the Sephora blog daily so that you don’t miss the special events either! (Case in point? Tomorrow, 11/12, all VIB’s will be able to partake in the exclusive shopping event to get some goodies for themselves & possibly friends at a discount.)

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=myowju-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=0061664618When I first walked into Sephora, I was told that I was the second to come in. I must’ve been misplaced, because when they gave out wristbands mine said #5. No matter though. I just wanted to be in the 100 (which is coincidentally Nina Garcia‘s other book title: The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own). In the time spent wandering, I found plenty items to give out as presents (but did not buy yet) and fell in love with two new polishes from Sephora by OPI. Perhaps you read my Twitter feed and saw me raving? The fab colors are Absinthe Makes the Heart, and Worth My Weight. Both the titles are a little off from what I’m used to, but are adequate in that you can imagine what the color is without seeing the bottle. (Green & Gold) Yes?

Guess who!

My favorite Toledo illustration in the book!

There are few polishes that make me grab my phone after testing and compel me to let everyone know that I found a zinger. No, really. I walked around with my nails in alternating colors just marveling at the upcoming holiday appropriate glitter on my nails. And when I came home? Wore each polish for a day. (All images are maximize-friendly)

…gifts for moi?! 🙂

If you’re better at keeping money in your pocket than in someone else’s register, they’re great as stocking stuffers or mini gifts as well, with their present ready gift tags.

Disregard any indents on the nails. I was way too happy to photograph and caused many a dent before the polish dried. Oh and the short nails? I need to get my calcium appetite up because my nails have gone to the wayside…

Went nuts with the China Glaze Matte Magic top coat as always.

Just as fab with matte coat.

I preferred this one shiny, but the first two fingers from the left are with matte coat in case you can’t see the difference.

What do you think? Like ’em? Have any new favorites?

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Talk It Out Tuesday! Consumer Activity

It’s that time again!

When a financial crisis was reported, I felt bad for the fact that my bank account wasn’t ready for any dilemma. If I were to lose either of my jobs (I got 2), how would I pay off my retail habit debt and my education (let alone rent)? Not sure. And yet, I still purchased things here and there. I mean really. Yes, you have to be more of a savvy finance-ista (?) 🙂 but you can’t just stop living.

So I ventured into stores and spent a bit here and there. Did you?

Stores weren’t as optimistic about the future, so they toned down their spending. They tried to sell what they had, and trimmed their orders for the future (aka now & the coming seasons). In comparison to their smaller orders, it seems that they are getting closer to a happier bottom line. As a matter of fact, many news reports say shelves may actually be out of stock sooner due to the quantity of items available and people and their darn holiday gift lists.

With that said, every week when I read a financial overview of the week past, I hear the same thing: Consumers are spending again. But I wonder, are they really? Has the spending stayed the same? Are people feeling “safer”? Are you shopping?

Tell me all about it!

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Deals A-Brewin’

There are about five hundred million or so deals starting to brew in preparation for the holidays. I don’t know if I can keep up with all of them, but I will surely give you a heads up on the ones I find most important! Click through the links to see the deals from Zoya, Shu Uemura, and Urban Decay!

Become a Twitter follower of Zoya by 11/11 & they’ll give out a code for three free lippies, just like they previously did at the 6,000 mark with three free polishes.

Shu Uemura is on sale on Hautelook! Remember that you get a $10 credit when you sign up with this link!

Urban Decay is having a friends and family sale. Just go to their site and enter code FNFW1 to get 30% off your ENTIRE order – 11/9 – 11/20.

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Shecky’s & Style Fixx Girls Night Out Goodies

After letting y’all know I was headed out to all sorts of fancy events, you think I’d just leave you out in the cold without any info?! No no!

To maximize on time I ended up going to both events in one night with a galpal, and boy were we tired afterward!

StyleFixx:

I went to this event first because it was only a two day availability. The floor was packed with vendors vying for your business. The mix was a pleasant one of beauty and fashion, with beauties like Eve Pearl, Emmy award winning makeup artist, Kara Janx fashion designer from Project Runway, and many more.

I went to the events after work and was present sans makeup. So I must’ve paled a bit next to Ever Pearl (left), and that’s Kara on the right.

The bar had a fab selection of drinks (the event was 21+ after all!) and my favorite of the night was the X Rated Fusion Liquor Martini with passionfruit & mango flavoring in it.

Shecky’s:

This event was bigger than the first in many ways. The goody bag and the venue held a lot more companies, and this event lasted five total days (and is also available in more locations). There was teeth bleaching and beer tasting available, along with personalized cell phone covers, lingerie, etc.

The Verdict:
I honestly think both events are a must go. The Style Fixx event is newer in age and is thus growing in size and event locations. Both events have vendors I didn’t hear of, and the only vendor they both had was hair strengthening services. If I had to choose one event to go to, I would sign up to be a Shecky’s insider to get in for free with general admission and skip on the goody bag and pay for my StyleFixx ticket with goody bag.

Both events were extremely great at bringing brands that people weren’t familiar with and had a great mix as I’ve mentioned previously. This isn’t a pop up version of a mall y’all. If we are to support local businesses and find new things everyday, then these two Girl’s Nights Out is where we need to be!

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Trial Practice Tips

How y’all liking this new feature?

This is the second time that I’m coming out with this feature. I hope y’all enjoy the tips and tidbits I’m bringing to you guys. I’d also love to know what you guys follow & stick to yourselves!

The tips are always in threes, Beauty, Fashion, and Fitness:

Beauty:
Don’t overscrub. We all know that we need to scrub (right?). We accumulate dead skin cells through regular day to day activities and by the mere fact that we are living individuals. You know when you get a little itchy? And you start to spot a little ash here and there? That means time to scrub!

Don’t you get too excited though. That outer layer of skin is necessary. If you have cuts or injuries, the outer layer (scab) is there until the skin underneath is no long raw. When you start scrub-a-dubbin’ every day, you are leaving your skin naked against the elements and may experience more acne, or sensitivity. Try to do a whole scrub once or twice a week. Trust me, you won’t turn into a leapin’ lizard.

Fashion:
Embellish a bit. You don’t need to have a million pieces of clothing to look new and fresh on a regular basis. I fell victim to this though, I fell under the spell of wearing things a minimum amount of times and grew horrified to the size and quantity of closets I needed to support my habit.

Then something happened. One day, a window was left open for too long and an itty bitty moth turned into an army after a week. My attempts at cleaning and purging this army led me to minimizing my collection of clothes and appreciating a more minimal approach. I probably have way more items that I need, still, but nowhere near what it was.

Make it new by using brooches, necklaces, etc. You can even use brooches on shoes, attach bracelets/necklaces as chains to the beltline on your pants.

Fitness:
Make the most of your time. When you are told to do a minimum of 30 minutes of activity in a day, no one ever tells you it has to be continual. When you brush your teeth in the morning, straighten your back and lift to your toes. This will work your calves. Waiting for the bus/elevator? Lift your handbag from holding it at your side, to curling it to your chest. Alternate, and thus work your biceps! Y’all already know that you can do additional exercises while watching tv!

Have some tips for me? Feedback? Comments and/or e-mails are always welcome!

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Your Daily Worth

When improving a country, people always seek to educate the female population first, as they are usually the backbones for the family, or the future generations. With our wallets struggling to keep up with our needs vs. wants, it doesn’t hurt for a gal to get some financial advice that doesn’t involve a snoozefest.

Don’t get me wrong, I can sit around and peruse a financial site for days, and I can read the Wall Street Journal as avidly as I do WWD. But when I was younger? It wouldn’t have hurt for me to know some things before I had charged up every pair of jeans in sight to my credit card as soon as it came in the mail (okay that’s an exaggeration – but still). So how great is it that Dailyworth.com came on the scene to offer financial advice in a bloglike format? I do like me an educated woman who makes her money work for her!

“Dailyworth.com is a free daily financial newsletter written by and for women. Did you know that women are chronically under-earning and under-saving? Women are often willing to work for 1/3 the price that their male competitors charge – and to add to that, most of the financial resources on the web don’t speak the language that we can understand. Women often operate under the assumption that the more money we make, the more we have – and that is so far from the truth! (at least in my case!)“

Here is a snippet of an e-mail I got from DailyWorth.com this week:

The e-mails put together real life events and dilemmas to show you how and what to prevent, as well as just give you a heads up.

The story from this e-mail hit very close to home as it talks about insurance for people who rent and not just own their property. I didn’t think I needed any until my apartment was broken into several times over the course of a year. The cause of this turned out to be faulty construction in the windows and the door, but though the landlord fixed all that, no one could return my property. Not the landlord, not the police, and not my broke bloggin’ behind. You can read the rest of the post here, and don’t forget to sign up!

Are you financially savvy?

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Danessa Makes You Beautiful

Following the NY Makeup Show, I have been obsessed with Danessa Myricks of I Make You Beautiful. An acclaimed makeup artist, she is well known for her instructional videos and classes, and I know her as a good good looking thaang!

“After years of experience working as a corporate executive in education, marketing, and publishing, Danessa Myricks was itching for a way to express her creative side. Being the tenacious Entrepreneur that she is, she decided to take her hobby of experimenting with makeup and turn it into a career. Now, whether it’s for a celebrity photo shoot, a magazine spread or a wedding, she transforms women from simple to sensational.

Continuing in the path of her mentor Daniel Green, Danessa Myricks now offers hands-on educational classes nationwide and step-by-step training DVDs to help others learn how to successfully start a career in makeup artistry. Beginning in October 2004 you will be able to catch a glimpse of her makeup training DVDs streaming live on America Online (at www.aol.com or www.blackvoices.com). You can also see her work at www.imakeyoubeautiful.com. “

At the Artist Summit in Miami, I had a chance to swatch some of the gel liners that are sold under her brand (could not find them on her e-commerce site for the life of me) and was surprised at their vibrant colors and long lasting quality.

The colors are really vibrant and last forever. I wore the bottom left teal liner all day and had to use about ten cotton swabs soaked with makeup to take off. You can swim in the Olympics with these suckers and come out looking glam for your medal!

Here is Danessa during a seminar about Eye Focus. She was demonstrating on an audience member the way to change an eye shape or eyebrow shape with makeup.

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The Essence of the Ruby Room

I came across the brand Ruby Room while walking around the commerce section of The Artist Summit in Miami. I was curious about the products from far, as I saw a table full of sprays amidst a hall of cosmetics. When I walked over I was introduced to the brand.

“Launched in February 2009, we are thrilled to share with you Ruby Room’s Aroma Infused Flower & Gem Essence Collection and accompanying service, Aroma Infused Flower & Gem Essence Journey, to help you manifest the life you envision.

The collection consists of ten sprays – seven of them created to balance and harmonize each of our seven main chakras (energy fields) and three essence boosters. Each spray is infused with specially chosen pure essential oils that further enhance the benefits of the flower and gem essence blend while taking you along on an energizing, inspiring, grounding, elevating or calming sensory journey.“

After a bit more research, I found out that the magic doesn’t stop at the sprays. Ruby Room provides guest services (when traveling), spa services, and other products as well. Check out the website for more info.

When I was speaking to the representative for the brand at the Summit, I was told that these sprays, made of essential oils are preferred by designers and makeup artists to sort of “clear the energy” during shoots and in spaces. That makes a lot of sense when you think about people being funky and their mood creeping over into you. I’ve certainly had those moments. Talking about chakras was a little over my head but, it made sense that certain aspects of each spray would do what promised because of the ingredients. We already use lavender to relax, chamomile to soothe, mint to focus/awaken etc. So without a chakra education you can still see why people would prefer them right?

Being that the sprays are made with essential oils and are natural, you can use this as a room spray, spray around yourself, or spray into a tub when taking a bath.

My only disclaimer to this product is that you should check if any of the ingredients rub you the wrong way first. I was enamored with the sprays but had a minor allergic reaction to one. Even still, I’d buy another (without my pesky allergen).

Have you tried this?

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