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Hot Beauty Favorites
Here’s a roundup of the top five beauty products for 2009 as chosen by The Blush Stops Here.
These get-pretty products, in no particular order, have earned their keep with beauty breakthroughs that have caught everyone’s attention.
To stay on top of beauty trends for 2010, check out our beauty picks updated regularly.
Image: burningkarma
Fight the Freeze with a Winter Beauty Routine
Now that Carrie Underwood is engaged to hockey player Mike Fisher, she may need to change up her beauty routine routine for the Canadian hockey season. When compared to the frigid climate of Ottawa where Mike Fisher stars for the Ottawa Senators, the winters in Nashville are almost tropical.
Here are a few seasonal beauty tips to keep skin hydrated through the coldest days of the season.
Image: Cosmopolitan
Favorite Products Re‑invented
Who says you need a lighted mirror to touch up your makeup? With the latest generation of LED-enhanced beauty products, you can fix your gloss, mascara, or brows whether you’re in a dark nightclub or parked car.
Too Faced Lashlight is a smudge-proof mascara with microscopic mirrors that bounce light off your lashes for a deep black finish. The mascara wand contains an LED light that shines the spotlight on every lash from the root to the tip. A mirror on the side also helps you apply the unique formula with Red Algae for maximum lash flexibility.
Lip Gloss and Man Attractor All in One
Sometimes, it takes extreme measures to find the right date for a big event.
When it comes to the birds and bees, one theory that has been kicking around since scientists have been studying bugs is the power of pheromones. The blend of chemicals called pheromones may just be responsible for evoking a reaction in another member of the same species.
If you’re ready to go all out to find your New Year’s date, Urban Decay Pocket Rocket Lip Gloss could help you find your man. The lip gloss tube, designed to lay flat in your pocket, contains a pheromone strip.
Just rub the tube in the vicinity of potential suitors to release undetectable pheromones into the air and let the magic happen. Read the rest of this entry »
Holiday Style Lather and Rinse
With all the excitement of the holidays, everyone needs some down time to relax. A hot bath or shower with your favorite bubbles may just be the answer.
Cake Beauty brings equal opportunity and homemade goodness to your cleansing routine with the Cake Gingerbread Woman Bath & Shower Bubbles blend. Infused with a festive scent of ginger and sweet vanilla frosting, you can continue the holiday spirit long after you’ve unwrapped all of your gifts. Read the rest of this entry »
Image: Marie Claire
How to Avoid Overloading on Alcoholic Calories
With a lot of holiday parties on the horizon, you may want to come up with a game plan to avoid weight gain. Making careful choices for dinner and dessert seem obvious, but what about cutting calories when cocktails are the main event?
Here are a few ways you can reduce calories when drinking and appetizers are the only choice on the menu.
* Ask for your cocktail on the rocks, instead of frozen. Slushy drinks tend to be prepared with bottled mixers that contain added sugar or syrup. Read the rest of this entry »
Go Canada! Eye & Lip Palette
If you’re having trouble finding the Olympic red mittens, how about celebrating the upcoming Winter Games with a medal inspired makeup kit. Vasanti’s Go Canada! Eye & Lip Palette has all the right shades to get your game on for Vancouver 2010.
Perfect for any indoor or outdoor competition, the celebratory kit contains three winning eye shadows based on the three medals of the Olympic games: Read the rest of this entry »
100% Free of Animal Bi-Products
What could be a better gift for a friend who loves the outdoors than a lip balm in a pretty compact? A vegan lip treatment that donates its net proceeds to a worthy cause!
Formulated with jojoba and shea butter to condition your lips, TheBalm to the Rescue is also infused with vitamins to save you from dry, chapped lips. As you apply the balm, smart micro-exfoliating crystals dissolve leaving your lips feeling soft and smooth. Read the rest of this entry »
Image: Carl's Jr.
Carl’s Jr. Launches Three Entree Salads
Following in the high-heeled footsteps of Paris Hilton and Audrina Partridge, Kim Kardashian is the latest reality star to promote fast food at Carl’s Jr®. What’s on the menu this time? Carl’s Jr. Premium Salads.
With her recent toning up and weight loss, Kim prefers salads over burgers because she’s “really into fitness and health” (check out an interview with Kim where she discusses Carl’s Jr. salads and more, courtesy of PopEater). In her upcoming ad promoting the salads, Kim also shares her love of bed picnics, where she puts out a towel and eats in bed. Read the rest of this entry »
Lip Balm Kit for Trendy Tweens
What’s the appropriate age to wear makeup? Mothers and daughters have been battling over this issue, as long as women have been tinting their lips.
If you’ve been sitting on the fence whether your tween is ready for lip gloss or eye glitter, why not ease her into the world of cosmetics with the Make Your Own Lip Balm kit. Designed for budding makeup chemists, the kit includes all the essentials for making customized lip balm. Read the rest of this entry »
Image: The Insider
Kristen Stewart Goes Joan Jett
Since Kristen Stewart has been topping most of the trendsetter lists for this year, it wasn’t surprising when all eyes turned to her performance as Joan Jett in the Runaways.
To live the life of the 70s rocker, Kristen chopped her long Bella locks into a retro shag cut: short on the top and long in the back for a deconstructed look to go along with her punk fashion look.
The original shag, with its extreme layering, may have worked on rock chicks and Hollywood leading ladies like Jane Fonda. Most often, however, it resembled an Edward Scissorhands creation.
If you want to get in on the iconic rock hairstyle this time around, try an updated version with piecey layers that take the weight out of your hair, but leave in the shape. Read the rest of this entry »
All the Colors of the Rainbow in High-color Shades
If you’re a regular shopper at American Apparel, you can now get your hands on a new nail collection. American Apparel, known for its provocative advertising campaigns, is now offering a vibrant range of nail colors designed to match important parts of the company.
Fans of deep red colors can try Downtown LA, a custom shade of red that takes its name from the area the factory is located it. Or follow the grey nail polish trend with Factory Grey, named for the shade of paint on all floors of the company’s manufacturing operations. Read the rest of this entry »
Image: FilmoFilia
Sophia Loren Has an Enduring Beauty
In director Rob Marshall’s musical Nine, Sophia Loren plays the mother of Daniel Day Lewis’ character Guido Contini. At 75, the legendary Italian actress can still turn heads, just like she did when she appeared in her first movie, Le Sei Mogli di Barbablù, in 1950.
Considered one of Hollywood’s most beautiful actresses of all time, Sophia’s curvaceous beauty launched her into stardom with films such as The Pride and the Passion co-starring Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra. In 1960, Sophia moved beyond her pinup status and earned an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the Italian film, Two Women.
Even among the younger talent of Nine, Sophia’s striking looks shine. Her natural beauty has caused much speculation as to whether she’s indulged in plastic surgery. The actress insists she’s 100% percent natural, claiming that with plastic surgery “everyone looks the same.” Read the rest of this entry »
Image: courtesy of Paris Breakfasts
Limited Edition Chanel Style Bag in Cocoa
If you’re visiting France over the holidays, designer Alexis Mabille has created a one of kind Yule log
(bûche de Noël) for the Angelina chocolaterie/restaurant in Paris.
Resembling a quilted purse (a la Chanel), the couture Christmas cake fashionably designed by Mabille includes his signature bow and edible buttons. Read the rest of this entry »
Image: Daily Mirror
Embrace Your Inner Granny
If you’ve spotted a few gray hairs lately, don’t panic. After exhausting every possible color of the rainbow this summer including pink, yellow, and blue strands, the new trend among the coolest hipsters in East London is gunmetal gray hair (check out a gallery of fashionable gray hair courtesy of Trend Hunter).
Like most women who regularly bleach their hair, some of the newly silver coiffed have suffered from “blonde-orexia”. What do you do when you’re hair is never blonde enough and you’re under 30? Dye your hair gray.
According to the Times Online, English model and socialite Pixie Geldof is a fan of the silver foxette look. So is Victoria Beckham who has been seen with the odd gray streak showing through her soft bob. Read the rest of this entry »
Sweet Smell of Candy and White Chocolate
It’s one of the most recognized symbols of the holiday season, but over the years the candy cane has developed a bad rap for its empty calories. If you can’t live without this minty treat, then try a luxurious peppermint scrub with moisturizing cocoa butter.
The Candy Cane White Chocolate Scrub from Sweet Beauty is good enough to eat with real pieces of candy cane, raw sugar, and essential oils of peppermint and vanilla. Other ingredients including organic cocoa butter, rosemary extract, and Vitamin E help nourish and soften dry, wintry skin.
Every batch of Sweet Beauty products is handcrafted, and starts with a base of organic fair-trade certified chocolate and cocoa butter. Slather on the Candy Cane White Chocolate Scrub and you’ll definitely be dreaming of a white Christmas.
Chocolate Spa Recipes
Image: Los Angeles Times
Calorie-Free Bath Bombs Without Cheese Stuffing
Now that Hanukkah has started, you may want to pick up something special for a friend who celebrates the Festival of Lights. Since the holiday is low-key on the gift giving scale, a perfect choice just may be the Better Than a Blintz set from LUSH Cosmetics.
Packaged in a dreidl ( spinning top) shaped box, the set contains four bath bombs infused with essential oils and fruity scents. Relax and unwind with So White scented with apple and rose, Magic packed with peppermint, Happy Pill bursting with mind-clearing mandarin, or Avobath infused with lemongrass and bergamot essential oils. Read the rest of this entry »
Clothes for Children to Move and Have Fun in
As yoga becomes more mainstream, children of all ages are lining up to learn about poses and breathing exercises. With demanding school schedules and jam-packed activities, yoga offers the perfect balance.
If you plan on enrolling your kids in yoga class, you may be wondering which clothing suits this type of workout. Yogini has the answer with yoga-inspired clothing for children aged 2 to 14. Combining style with comfort, the clothing line works with breathable fabrics that allow kids to move freely whether they’re stretching on a mat or swinging on a jungle gym.
Chito Santé is a new, eco-friendly fabric made from a natural biomass called Chitosan. Since Chitosan binds easily, it can be combined with different fibers to create fabric that is absorbent, durable, fast drying, and wrinkle proof. Chito Santé also has natural anti-bacterial properties that help the fabric stay fresh, hygienic, and odor resistant.
French terry is popular for sporty clothing because of its absorbency and comfort. The easy to wash fabric works particularly well for infant and toddler styles as stretch in the fabric grows with your child.
Of course, your kids will remind you that they want athletic clothing that’s cool while they’re bending and stretching. Yogini has an earth-friendly collection of brightly colored tees, pants, and hoodies that are just right for your yogi in training.
Limited Edition Boxes Designed by Raphael Mazzucco
With almost 60 days to go before Vancouver 2010, the spirit of the Olympics is picking up speed and making its way across Canada and the world. In honor of the upcoming winter games, Lancome has collaborated with renowned Canadian artist, Raphael Mazzucco, on the design of the limited edition boxes for the Gold Fascination Collection.
Representing the focus and vision of Canadian female athletes as they gear up for top level competition in Vancouver, the gold-inspired collection includes:
- Color Design Quad Eye Shadow Palette (in Showstopper Style)
- L’Absolu Rouge Lipstick (in Absolute Rouge, Cherrywood Luxe, and Sienna Ultime)
- Color Design Blush (in Pret A Plum Sheer and Model Mocha)
- La Base Pro Perfecting Makeup Primer Read the rest of this entry »
Lip Gloss that Glitters like Crystals
What happens when you combine sparkly jewelry with lip gloss? You get the Cristal Boreal Crystal Gloss Jewel pendant designed by Swarovski for Dior.
The cameo-style necklace is inspired by the Aurora Borealis crystal, originally created for Dior by Swarovski in the 1950s to emulate the sunlight reflected in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles.
Each necklace is decorated with 52 Swarovski crystals, including four Aurora Borealis crystals, and comes with a long, black silk cord (a hot tip from a Dior counter I visited was to dress up a plain handbag by attaching the necklace to it). Read the rest of this entry »
Image: courtesy Project M·A·R·C
It’s Never too Late to Begin Protecting Your Skin
After recently declaring to millions of Rachael Ray viewers that “exposure to the sun isn’t dangerous” and that “she lives to tan,” Rosie O’Donnell is under fire by a skin cancer group.
The Ray Festa Melanoma Foundation have criticized Rosie’s view on potentially deadly skin cancer as being “ill-informed” and “irresponsible.” The group, whose supporters include Yogi Berra and Joe Piscopo, suggested that Rosie record a public service announcement to retract her statements.
As a melanoma survivor, I have to side with the Ray Festa Melanoma Foundation on this one. Check out their site for the 5 steps to melanoma prevention. Melanoma, which usually occurs in adults, is the most curable form of cancer when found early.
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Play it Safe in the Sun with these Hot Trends
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Wet n Wild 2010 Lineup
Look for three new product lines from drugstore brand Wet n Wild in 2010, as more than 70 new items will be launched in updated packaging with advanced formulas. The goal is to deliver a more luxurious product to a broader range of women at the same value pricing.
New Additions
To celebrate the New Year and Wet n Wild’s new look, you’ll have even more choices with these additions:
* The Color Icon line offers eye shadow in single, trio, and palette format, as well as blusher and bronzer. Read the rest of this entry »
Image: The Globe and Mail
Michaele Salahi Wore Yurman
Now that everyone has covered the security issue as well as the chutzpah of the White House party crashers, it’s time to deal with the fashion angle. We already know that Michaele Salahi wore a red and gold lehenga (traditional Indian formal wear), but whose jewelry was she wearing?
According to Women’s Wear Daily, the large cocktail ring and eight bangles worn by Mrs. Salahi were designed by David Yurman. A spokeswoman for the jewelry company did confirm that the items were from Yurman. However, there was no confirmation whether the company appreciated the publicity.
Update: Michaele Salahi is putting the red dress that helped her get past national security up for auction. She ceremoniously handed it off to the Potomack Company, an all-female owned auction house, that will put the garment up for bidding on October 2. The Salahis have also instructed the company to forward a percentage of the sale to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund.
How to Maintain a Rosy Glow
Sometimes you feel like cream cheek color, sometimes you don’t. For the days when you’re not sure which type of blush will work, Laura Mercier Crème Cheek Colour Pot is here to the rescue. The blush duo combines two colors in a pot with creamy cheek color for a flushed effect and loose powder for an understated glow.
As part of the fall Fresco Beauty collection inspired by colors found in Italian paintings, the cheek color is available in two colors. Soft Apricot is a peachy shade, while Sienna Sunset is a warm rose tone. If you want either of these shades to pop, just apply the loose cheek powder to set the cream cheek color.
Not only do you get two for one with this pocket-sized accessory, you also save space in your makeup bag to buy other goodies when you’re on the road.
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Don’t Hate Them Because They’re Beautiful
Christie Brinkley, Halle Berry, Elin Woods. What do they all have in common? They’re all striking women whose husbands strayed from their marriage, much to the wonder of the rest of us.
The transgressions of Tiger Woods have shocked everyone, but what most of us can’t believe is how he’d step out on a beautiful woman, who has been by his side for over five years.
I’ve heard all the angles over the last week why a man with a gorgeous partner goes shopping elsewhere, including these gems:
* Men have to follow their instincts
* Men want to pursue someone younger
* Beauty and wealth do not bring happiness
* He’s just a guy, and guys do stupid things
* Guys think the grass is greener on the other side, so they always want something better
Spreading Beauty around the World for Over 50 Years
Have you ever dreamed of starting a cosmetics company? Elizabeth Grant did. Back in 1958, Elizabeth was invited to sell her skin care line at Selfridges in London, after she worked with a chemist to create a miracle ingredient for treating injuries from a dropped bomb during WWII.
Over 50 years later, Elizabeth is CEO of Elizabeth Grant International which has achieved tremendous success and worldwide recognition. Her Canadian company, which has grown from one employee to over 100, offers a full product line of skin care and beauty products that regularly appear in swag bags at red carpet events. A key ingredient is age fighting Torricelumn: a blend of vitamins, proteins, botanicals, and anti-oxidants that penetrate into the skin making it appear firm and smooth. Read the rest of this entry »
Image: FabSugar
Rich Chocolate Without the Guilt
Assorted chocolates are big around the holiday season, but some chocolate is better for you than others.
If you’re attending a splashy holiday party, stay one step ahead of the crowd with chocolate pearls. Zero calories guaranteed.
Celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker love their chocolate pearls. So does America’s Next Top Model Cycle 13 contestant Nicole, who won a $5000 chocolate pearl necklace for an extreme challenge.
Chocolate pearls, like the ones shown below, are relatively new to most jewelry counters since the color is man made. Several methods are used by jewelers to create chocolate pearls that won’t fade, including bleaching Tahitian black pearls during formation. Read the rest of this entry »
Technology and Beauty Combined
If you’re a tech geek and a makeup lover, Stila has the perfect beauty tool for you. The Stila Makeup Player is a multi-tasking portable vanity with a built-in media player docking station and speaker system designed to help you become a Stila makeup pro.
To get started, learn how to use the stash of Stila best sellers included with the system by following along with a DVD and instruction card. The new One Step Makeup Foundation combines four products into one and works as a primer, foundation, concealer, and powder. The classic Eye Shadow Trio contains three bronze shades including base, crease, and liner. You also get two other Stila classics: Convertible Color compact for cream-based cheek color and Lip Glaze for color with high shine. Read the rest of this entry »
