#RANDOMS

Fun, fun, fun in NY with beauty junkies (Nikkia of Silverlips and Shana Janelle) that understand "browsing" for hours for makeup OR makeup shopping and food comes last!

I stalk Duane Reades when I'm in NY. Here I found a Latina makeup line..YAY!!! *shakes bells*... but where is it???
#irritated: photog skillz sux, loving my Ruby Star Maybelline Color Sensational lipstick and then not being able to find my digi-cam charger.

Other #Randoms:

1. I ordered myself an Edible Arrangement -__-
2. I'm appreciating a good sports bra over a regular bra.
3.Can't wait to get this new glitter acrylics.. dark powder, green scaley glitter... yum!
4. Me and the kid constantly exchange I<3 u's.

Upcoming topics to chat about:
1. Stila's illuminating tinted moisturizer
2. My fave drugstore bronzer of the moment
3. Wearing red lipsticks that I collect thanks to Erin
4. Nars and Inglot!

My round nails are back and black glitter polish love

So my dears, I'm back to my pointy round nails! I missed them! Can you believe I got a refill of the same sparkly glitter. In a rush, I decided this fill would be faster when I really was after pink cream polish and red glitter for Valentines Day. I was totally inspired by Killa Cam. I punked out. *sighs* It's okay, I really love this. There's something I love about dark polish that's not black with some jazz to it... (this is black/charcoal/silver glitter/leans denim blue in some lights)
Check this out, I have all of these:
Nubar Knight's Armor
Sally Hansen nail polish strips in Blue Ice
Milani polish in Silver Dazzle

..but still go right to the shop and get this glitter acrylic. I think I'm obsessed with black glitter-esque polishes, so I've started collecting anything remotely close. I'm still stuck on sparkly purples, but sparkly black has my interest too now. While at the C+C event, I chatted up one of my fave bloggers, Michelle of All Lacquered Up about this and wanting a nail company to come up with a black jelly polish with black glitter. Her response, "We all do! The nail polish companies say to grab a number and get in line!" Something about the formulation doesn't make it the easiest polish to make. The closest we got was Deborah Lippman's Funky Chunky from the 10th Anniversary Collection. Ahh until that idea is perfected and redone, I think I have enough of the options above to keep me busy.

Which one do you think resembles my glitter acrylic mani the most? When Michelle saw my nails she instantly thought of the SH strips in Blue Ice. I'm thinking the Milani gives my nails a run for their money.

P.s. Revlon's Steel Her Heart has stolen my heart a bit. I know, just a steel metallic gray, but it's that dark, but not black quality that does it for me. Love how it coordinated with my black sparkly concoctions on my nails.

What are you rocking on your toes and tips?

Bending the Cosmos

You guys, this has to be one of my most proudest shoots to date. It's simple, classy, full of color, classic, edgy, bold, vintage... so me! We had plenty of challenges facing us the day of shoot, but the end results are stunning and fab (if I do say so myself)! I loved our team and the outfits... the shoes (I ordered the red pair).. that red lip-- beet liner filled and shaded in, a dark liner like MAC's chestnut or night moth to contour the lips and a sheer dark purple gloss to add some shiny depth. The smokey winged liner and shadow to dress up the model's beautiful shaped eyes... I'm in love!

Random shoot info:
-The model is under age, but performed like a pro!
-The shoot was canceled Saturday night around 11:00pm, but was on again in the wee hours of Sunday morn
-Stylist Victor Price was a former NARS regional cosmetic director
-These wardrobe and other similar items can be found at Junction.
-The owner of Junction, Shannan was on set styling and she's as lovely as they come!

I usually have the behind the scenes shots for you first, but I got finished(?) photos first, LOL

How did we do, family?

Cocktails and Couture 2011 Event

Cocktails and Couture was the fab social event hosted by The Makeup Girl, Lianne Farbes for beauty mavens, bloggers, beauty editors and beauty PR to gather during NY Fashion Week.

I had an awesome time mingling with familiar faces and new ones alike! I met a lot of my twitter friends too! Here are some official press photos. My personal cam photos aren't the best, but I may upload them at a later time.

What better place to have a beauty party than at Aveda Academy!
India Jewel of Glam Blush was on the turn tables. She kept me moving!
Hpnotiq kept everything cool and classy making delish cocktails for the event.

Shana won a gift bag! Some people went home with new HTC mobile phones and more!

Here are the recipes to the official cocktails of the night... top class info! Way too yummy for my own good!

Jamie (blue top on the right) was getting her nails Shellac'd (CND)!

Makeup artists unite!--Kelly, Vaughan and me

@Airy88 on the right! Love meeting fellow artists and twitter peeps in real life!

Hpnotiq's candy bar was to die for... I'm still after some grapefruit sour jellies!

Here's This That Beauty's Felicia in a hot red lippie by Stila and Victoria Stiles in the middle with some new hot red hair!

Walking through the Aveda doors, I was wondering who these girls were and what they were holding and giving out: Hpnotiq girls with vials of blue M&M's lol!

Paint & Powder makeover stations!

Full List of Sponsors

Mario Badescu Skincare (Title Sponsor)

Aveda (Venue Sponsor)

smartwater

Hpnotiq (liquor sponsor)

Alzerina jewelry

Beautisol

FRS Healthy Energy

Popchips

Tarte

CND

VMV Hypoallergenics

Smith & Vandiver

Pure Dark

Lierac

HTC

Victoria Stiles

Paint & Powder Pro-Team

A great time was had by all!

Happy Valentine's Day: Sweetest Tabu

Sweetest Tabu by yummy411 on Polyvore.com

Miss Dior Cherie Perfume For Women by Christian Dior: Amazon.co.uk:...
48 GBP - amazon.co.uk

Aquolina Pink Sugar 1.7 oz Roll On Shimmering Perfume
$18 - sephora.com

Buy Fantasy by Britney Spears Eau de Parfum Spray for Women Online at...
$13 - drugstore.com

Coach to Launch Poppy Fragrance for Summer - StyleList
stylelist.com

Not sure if you taste like candy or want to this Valentine's Day, but you can definitely smell like candy! Here are a few of my favorite sugary sweet fragrances.. Yum!

Clockwise from top left:

1. Coach Poppy- currently using

2. Britney Spears Fantasy- about to purchase

3. Aquolina Pink Sugar- the original sugary pheromone

4. Miss Dior Cherie- it gets so sugary I have a hard time wearing it sometimes.

Do you have any favorite sweet fragrances?

Deep Plum Lips

Recently, I wore a bold lip out and it felt great! Hollywood even! As much as I love bold lips, I'm a neutral gal. So I collect them and don't wear them often enough. I felt like changing that this particular day.

My lips:
MAC Nightmoth l/l
Wet n Wild's Sugar Plum Fairy Mega Last lipstick

(This is after quite a few hours of wear and eating.)

These aren't the best pics, but I had to blog this because I got so many compliments-- from my son's 6 year old friends to older family members that I'm surprised liked my slightly vamp lip.

Mini- review: I wasn't the biggest fan of the new Wet N Wild lipsticks when they first debuted. Can we say thirsty, dry lips? This was a bit more moisturizing. I might have put on too many layers to get an even color over my out of shape lips. (I just need a few more minutes of the day to remember my at home lip scrub!) If I so much as touched my lips, the color went smearing. I know tips to help, like blotting my lips, dust with powder, put on another sheer layer.... I just don't have time for all of that. Overall, for the price and convenience I'm feeling better about these lippies and look forward to trying another color.

Versatile Blogger Award!

Thanks to Miss Jen for sending the blog love my way! I love her blog! I know you all have checked it out before, right?

The rules for these awards are:

*Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.

*Tell us 7 things about yourself.

*Award 15 recently discovered new bloggers.

*Contact these bloggers and let them know they've received the award(s).

7 Facts About Me:
1. I have all sisters and we still have all sons!
2. I love red heads!
3. MJ The Experience is my favorite video game right now.
4. I'm looking for a chunky black glitter polish.. do I need to make it myself?
5. I've had two major surgeries in my life.
6. My sister introduced beauty and eye brow arching to me at 14.
7. I never have B2M empties... depotting needs to happen now!

15 Beautiful Bloggers:
The Dollymix Diaries
The Glamorous Gleam
Curvy Recessionista
A Complicated Melody
Creatively Yours
Luxe Tips
Married 2 Makeup
Queenie Keisha
Makeup Theory
Makeup by Celly
What I Wore Tip to Toe
We Should Makeup
The Cosmetic Girl
Vex in the City
Expensive Pink

Best Ways to Remove Facial Hair

Get Rid of Facial Hair -- Stat!

Find out all the different forms of hair removal and pick the one that's right for you

This is a TotalBeauty.com hair removal article Because of the stigma sometimes associated with facial hair, you can become self-conscious, suffer from self-esteem issues and/or become reluctant to enter into a romantic relationship. But, don't despair! Check out these options on removing facial hair now. Find out

Beautiful Books

On a trip to the library for my KidYum's school project, I found myself emersed in beauty books after dealing with school stuffs! Here are a few selections I picked up!




Pic 1:
Pro Makeup, Salon Secrets of Professionals by Kit Spencer. I liked this book as a comprehensive resource. It poo-pooed a bit on drugstore makeup brushes, but... overall I liked it. I have Bobbi Brown's book and Iman's so this just reiterates everything.
Nigel Barker's Beauty Equation This was a no brainer... I've met Nigel and had to see what his book was about.
Teen Makeup by Linda Mason. I've met Linda Mason too, would like to visit her boutique and this gave me a chance to see her work and beauty for Teens.

Pic 2
Thank God I'm Natural by Chris-Tia E. Donaldson with a forward by Motown Girl, yeh!
If I Can Cook, You Know God Can by Ntozake Shange I only knew N. Shange for For Colored Girls, so I decided to pick up something else by her.

The last book isn't necessarily beauty related, but I love cooking/ethnic books anyway. I also love my library's online renew system. I do have to make a promise to myself: only to check out one book at a time upon completion!

NARS Opens Their First Boutique!

*Happy dance, happy dance!* New York City, you have a new NARS Boutique opening up on February 10, 2011! Who's going? Can't wait to see what this beauty space looks like!

Follow NARS news on Facebook!

Reader Approved Concealers

19 Reader-Approved Concealers

These concealers are the secret beauty weapon when it comes to having flawless-looking skin

This is a TotalBeauty.com face makeup article To help you find your new best kept makeup secret "friend," we rounded up the highest rated concealers as reviewed by Total Beauty readers. See the list

No. 19: Cle de Peau Correcteur Visage Concealer, $68

TotalBeauty.com average reader rating: 8

"This concealer is amazing, smooth, creamy and will make you look absolutely flawless."

No. 18: Smashbox Camera Ready Full Coverage Concealer, $18

TotalBeauty.com average reader rating: 8.5

Despite having a thick texture, readers say, "it has the power of a concealer, with the 'spreadability' of a moisturizer."

No. 17: Bare Escentuals bareMinerals SPF 20 Multi-Tasking Concealer, $18

TotalBeauty.com average reader rating: 8.7

"Works great as a concealer for blemishes, redness and dark under eye circles" and it "won't clog pores or make blemishes worse."

Want to see what other products made the list? Click here!