Yummy411: Cult of Cherry Party with the Pretty Committee (Photo Heavy!)

To start, I had to get You Don't Know Jacques off of my nails. My sister helped me out by swatching some of my choices:

(left to right) Finger Paints polish in Be a Pal-ette, China Glaze's Crystal Ball, Icing's Awkward and China Glaze's Wagon Trail. Not great swatches, but she was giving me an idea and wasn't doing this for the blog. But, I like to take pics to see what they will look like under the flash and haha, they end up on the blog!
On her thumb, China Glaze's Lubu Nails.

I'm a sucker for jewel tones and lotsa sparkle!

What did I end up with?

China Glaze's Lubu Heels! (oh and that's my good ole Lancome Fever Gloss in Rainbow)

Lubu Heels is a faint black based polish with red glitter. I thought it would fit in nicely with our Cult of Cherry theme for The Pretty Committee meetup. Next, I'll definitely be wearing the Wagon Trail... LOVE!

The Pretty Committee met up on Friday night at Lauriol Plaza to celebrate Cult of Cherry, remember that collection? Great Mexican food with rounds of swirl margaritas!

Here's Nikkia and Sheryl

The group seated (left) Nikkia and myself. (Right) Sheryl, Shawnta hiding and Suzie wayy back there LOL

Suzie and Shawnta. Are you all catching the array of Cult of Cherry looks going on?

Nikkia and myself.

Sheryl (I didn't crop Shawnta out of the pic cuz she was wearing a great red lippie!)

For those of you bloggers that love to take pics of food and get readers all hungry, here ya go! Suzie's plate.

Suzie with her mojito.
Shawnta's food
My tastey dish of shrimp covered in Jamaican mango sauce with vegetables over rice. Smackin' ya lips yet?

Some pretty flowers that made me smile... carnations!

Me, trying to do the dark lip and debuting my Dottie Bird earrings that I recently got from AccesoRehab.

My FOTD

Eyes- HiP Lofty paint, Brash e/s from Spice Chocolate Quad on lid, Sweet Chestnut from quad on second half of lid, both aforemention shadows swept outside of eye to the top of my cheeks (I don't care that it may have looked like a rash, I liked it!), Soft Brown e/s in crease, Carbon on outer v, Sharp e/s on tear duct, black liquid liner on top lid, UD's Zero liner on waterline, UD's Lucky liner on bottom lid, L'Oreal Double Extend mascara, liquid liner black dots on left cheek. Cork e/s and Swiss Chocolate e/s in brows. Concealer to highlight.

Lips- MAC's nightmoth lip liner and Kirsch matten lipstick, sometimes it was topped with Lancome's Fever Gloss in Rainbow.

Face- MAC Face and body foundation, Mineralize Skinfinish loose powder foundation

I'm more of a nude girl, so this would really be my style. See my new babies (the earrings)?

Suzie remembered the feathered lashes that I loved and gave me heads up when she found some at her local drugstore. We are in the same area. You'd think they would have them at my local store too! Thanks Suzie!!!

Yummy411: Lusts, Likes, Reviews and Randomness

Did you all have enough fun viewing all of the Political Pretty FOTD's? I hope so, because I sure did. Now that we are over another weekend and I'm back, I have a few things to share. Some lusts, some likes and randomness.... Where do I start?

Let's go with LUST.

(photo: ulta.com) (photo: smashbox.com)

I'm LUSTing after Smashbox's Coy lip gloss (gloss on the far right) from the Wicked Lovely Fall collection. I imagine that the girl in the promo pic is wearing Coy. When I tried it on, my lips looked as succulent as hers! Great texture, no huge glitters or shimmer, just a perfect cute and sexy nude! $18

Next, I'm LIKE-ing the Stila The Front Row Look Palette.




(photo: sephora.com)

I know this is old news, but this is technically the Fall makeup! I was never a big Stila fan; price point a bit too high, the garden party drawings not as sophisticated.... ehh I could pass. But look at this packaging! It's sleek, feminine, chic and calling my name! I was passing through Sephora and thought to swatch this collection since Specktra's Blog and Erin of Makeup Fiend are big Stila pushers. To my humble surprise, once I swatched the clouds opened and harps started playing. I wanted to sing at the highest octave. Who knew that these shadows were butter velvet and uber pigmented??? Aw man! I. MUST. HAVE! LUST or LIKE?? It doesn't matter, this is hot! (I actually swatched the other two palettes in this collection, but I'm sure this one won't disappoint!)



Now, I'm really liking the Lancome Color Fever gloss.

(photo: sephora.com)

Here's your review! While in Marshall's bath and body section, I happened upon two lonely boxes of Lancome. Kind of odd amongst the other brand name and otherwise unfamiliar bath and body products, but hey.. who could fault them? I was skeptical since I've had trouble with another type of Lancome Fever product and the drugstore sister gloss, L'Oreal Infallible gloss, but the cosmetic whore in me didn't let this go away. This random, $8 discovery was a diamond in the rough! I got a crystal rainbow color ( name translates to clear gloss) but that's okay with me. The formula feels plush, lush and smooth! It's the appropriate thickness... yes along the lines of MAC glosses, but no where near as sticky as MAC lipglass. Can both be possible in one tube? Yes! I am so curious to try other colors to see how evenly pigmentation spreads, covers, and lasts. I'm even willing to pay the retail price. The wand is exceptional too! The bent wand with an oval head mimics a smooth, diagonal, flat surface of a new lipstick. The head has a hole in it, but it layers the products on the lips evenly. Forget those juicey tubes! Me likey!


Randomness for your reading pleasure!
Cell phone updates:

Drugstore Paparazzi hasn't been out in quite a while.

Before all of the Jemma Kid and Napoleon Periodontis, Perdonite???....came into existence at Target, I found that you could also get your Clarins and Origins there too. Does your Target have this? I haven't seen this since (or I haven't frequented this particular Target in a while), but this oddly reminds me of the Coach and LV bags that made a brief appearance on Target racks.... That wasn't in your Target either? Hmmmm...

Totally random and not beauty related. I was out at the Golden Corral (all the DMV area folks, that would be the Boulevard location) having brunch one morning. After being seated, I noticed this non sense!

All kinds of corner store goodies being sold, Baby Bottle Tops and all...

Barack Obama screen printed t-shirts....

Even a cut out of him and a photographer! All in the middle of a restaurant! Oh, I shouldn't forget to mention that the candy front was a decorative measure for the dj booth! "Awww, we got some Redskins fans in the house?! How y'all feeling this morning? Here's my jam!" Maybe I missed the sign that this was the Sunday brunch entertainment. Why people why?

I hate this time of year. I now have to split my drugstore cosmetic shopping in half to try on costume masks =(

Well, I can get in on a little fun, right? (My first Twitpic on Twitter! LOL)

How was your weekend? What cosmetic product are you lusting after?

Yummy411: My Beauty World

Beyonce has a commercial out now promoting her new Beyonce phone; Sprint's Upstage celly with her name across the top. I wonder if special images and ringtones are already downloaded on the phone? Still not interested. Can anyone suggest a reliable and cute pda on Sprint's network?

I visited the Thursday 8th Street Open Air Market with my friend Julie. We got some treats: delicious raw honey (the flavor) gelato; huge cookies the size of my head and I almost bought some gourmet soaps. I know I could make those at home, but sometimes it's much nicer to go somewhere let them do all the mixing, cutting, etc. There were other tasty treats like empanadas, crab cakes and soup, but I have to save something for the next trip.

As you can see, we got another special treat! We got to meet Wolfgang Puck! I hope to taste the fine fare at his new restaurant, The Source, opening up right across the street from my job.. woo hoo!

Keeping things all about beauty, my friend Julie gets her glowing, low maintenance look with the help of Clarins pressed powder that gives her buildable, light to medium coverage. She swears by Lancome mascaras for long, separated lashes.

The weekend before last, Apple Diva made her way over to the DC area for a concert. Of course we had to link up. We met and chatted over food from Cafe Asia (tempura veggies, yum!) Apple Diva had on great makeup behind her chic eye glasses. I wouldn't be able to show you because the images aren't authorized for publication from Apple Diva.. so just know that I told you so! LOL

The first of MAC's holiday collections hit stores this Thursday: Antiquitease.
My 'must see' picks from the collection:

-lipglass: Majestic- yellow gold with gold pearl (frost) -lipstick: Antiquitease- copper with red pearl (frost) -eye shadow: Engaging- pinky beige and yellow gold with rose veining (frost)
-fluidline: Uppity- yellow gold with gold pearl -nail lacquer: Gold Veneer-tarnished yellow gold (Frost)

MAC is coming out with a WHOLE LOT MORE! So keep your eyes open and your pockets protected!

What's on your to- buy list?! I wanna hear!

Tuesday, Upcoming and Around the Blogosphere

It's Tuesday and I remember always having a music list lined up to buy whatever album of whichever artist I wanted to support that week for making music that either made laugh, cry or dance my heart out on the dance floor. My beauty addiction has long taken over my music cravings, though I still need some sound for the soul.

Right now, this is silently playing in my ears and making my head bob:

"I met this girl when I was three years old

And what I loved most she had so much soul

She said, excuse me little homie, I know you don't know me- but,

My name is Wendy and, I like to blow trees and,

From that point I never blow her off.........."

What song and artist is that? Anyone else bopping with me?


Here's some cool stuff from around the blogosphere:







Our blogosphere style vixen, Samida of Stained Couture, put me on to this pump; Vince Camuto 'Lottie' Peep Toe Pump, $119.





Daneen from Spoiled Pretty shows us the most universal flattering hairstyles and how to get them!





I've been totally lusting after this product, the YSL Palette Esprit Couture #2.. but Tia of Shake Your Beauty shows us a comparable palette until I can get my hands on this collector's item!


I love Essence mag and they've come out with Style Diary, a beauty and fashion blog. The media is taking blogs very seriously these days. I knew it was coming sooner or later, but I was hoping they'd outsource some help *smile* Speaking of Essence, I love the 10 Things We're Talking About section which features the hot, controversial topics Black media and culture. Short and concise, it fits me well since I'm a list kind of girl (keeping up with my attention span). Besides it's written by one of my best buds C. Gordy. I'm always looking for more from her and I've found it on Essence.com! I'm diggin in first where she gives Jena 6 some coverage, interviewing with Mychal Bell's mom.


I adore Scandalous Beauty Blog, but Erin is giving us even more MAC coverage by giving it its own site : The MAC Fetish! Yay! For the makeup/MAC heads, it's never enough =) The official launch date is 10/22, mark your calendars!

There's sooo much more out there. Check the right sideline for great blogs, info and the different widgets over there to feed you more great articles!



Upcoming:
This was a long weekend, which gave me time for what? more beauty LOL. I can't give you all the scoop at the moment, because I don't have pics of everything.
-I did a fab photoshoot for an up and coming gospel artist.
-I met up with a fellow makeup addict that you all are acquainted with- Apple Diva.
-Some fabulous how- to's that are long overdue (eyebrows and more!)

Stay tuned, I'll be working on the pictures!


An Ode, not really, to one of my fab sisters
(Unfortunately, this ode does not rhyme and you can't sing it... lol)
My sister Toni, recently told me to get on my knees and to lick and scrape every (negative) word I ever said to her about makeup off the ground while she was experiencing one of my makeup addiction highs over breakfast on our Columbus holiday. While we both love beauty, here's the difference between us: At our impromptu breakfast at the College Park Diner (home style, delicious food; a breakfast lover's indulging haven) I was sitting in loose jogging capris, a t-shirt and my quilted hoodie, looking quite busted (with boy in tow) plotting on how to include a beauty run into my busy schedule ahead. She, on the other hand, looked divalicious, with her curls bouncing from her press and curl fresh out of a wrap, a "I-can't-tell-you're-preggo" maternity outfit on (black capris, bubble sleeved satin wrap shirt and gold accessories) AND baby boy in tow! I hadn't even bothered to contemplate earrings as I wore my hood... I constantly think beauty as she wears it with ease (WITH A BABY IN HER ARMS AND BELLY!) Oh well... peeking out from under my hood, that I quickly removed, I eye-ed this scrumptious cutie; tall stature, black jogging suit... a UMD bball player perhaps? Great! Why can't I wear beauty with ease?! For her, it's a habit. An ode, but not really, to you Toni!

Bitten by Sarah Jessica Parker

(photo)

I'm writing this sipping on my oh-so-delicious Bubble Tea. Now, I've had the drink before with different flavors and all: in China I couldn't quite get my question across to ask what exactly I was drinking and in the malls with terribly firm bubble (tapioca) balls. This time, I visited the known Tea-ism in DC and gave it another chance to experience the flavor of the place. I had a chicken bento box and a bubble tea (original flavor- with yummy soft and sweet bubbles). All of it was delicious! Now, I see why Rachael Ray herself came to the tea house, why my Spanish meetup group chooses this place to meet up and why the Food network featured cookie makers who sales cookies out of Teaism.

So on with the post and why I'm really writing today (just pretend that you are sipping bubble tea too)... On Saturday, I rode out with the homegirl Slvrlips and her sister in pursuit of makeup. On our journey, I was informed that we'd be in the same locale as an infamous Steve and Barry's where Sarah Jessica Parker's line Bitten is exclusively sold. ( I didn't even know I was within driving distance of a Steve and Barry's, let alone heard of it before Bitten.) For those in my DMV area, it's located in Potomac Mills Mall; yes people still shop there lol.

I was pretty impressed by the selection Sarah! Nice clean, GAP-esque pieces. The classic work shirts did it for me, but there were an assortment of items to choose from: sweaters, casual shirts, a cocktail black dress, lounge wear/ intimates and jeans. I didn't have time to try out the jeans (I HATE TRYING ON CLOTHES) but now I'm all too curious, as I heard they were long enough for the high hipped and long leg female-- not the usual short leg dubbed as 'average' length.

(photos)

(l-r) Kimono sweater, $20; Vest, $15; Sleeveless Top, $8

There's so much more over at Bitten's site or at a Steve and Barry's near you.