FNO 2011 Report - Venice, CA

I had a lovely Fashion's Night Out last night on Abbott Kinney with a couple of girlfriends. It was quite mellow; we just wandered down the north side of Abbott Kinney into the various shops with events, had a free drink at each place, browsed the merchandise, tried on a few things and onto the next place. Places were busy but not packed, a few had DJs, most had drinks and some had casual snacks. It was a balmy September night in the mid-70s; a really nice way to spend an evening with girlfriends.

DJ at Alternative. First time in the store, I really like it! Lots of comfortable slouchy cotton knits.

I decided to go with the Theyskens' Theory Dewi dress for the evening since it was such a warm night. Weather is going to be too cool soon to wear this dress. I really like the rich violet color, the reverse mullet hem (longer in the front, shorter in the back), and the pockets, which gives the dress a more casual vibe. The silk drapes so comfortably so it's very easy to wear.

Theyskens' Theory Dewi Dress, Balenciaga Velo bag, Swedish Hasbeens x H&M sandals.

Also wearing my new favorite lip color: Nitrolicious: 2046 Lipglass by MAC, the perfect glossy red lipcolor for a little glam with minimal makeup. Perfect new fall nailcolor as well: Essie's Power Clutch

A closeup of Essie's Power Clutch color for fall. It's described as a deep grey green, but the green doesn't really show up on my skintone

Image from Essie

Goody Spin Pin Review: Cool!

Photo from the web

After reading about the Goody Spin Pin yesterday, I thought it sounded too good to be true, so I drove to Target in search of the pins to test them out. I love the polished look of buns, particularly post-Black Swan, but have never been able to get my slippery heavy hair to stay put into a bun. Unfortunately Target was all out of the brunette pins (they are always frustratingly out of stock) and the mini versions didn't work for my hair, so I got them at Walgreens. To use the pins, twist your hair in a bun, and then starting from where the end of the tip of the hair finishes, you twist one of the spirals clockwise through the bun, and then twist the other spiral in starting from the opposite side. I was very skeptical, but amazingly, it works quite well! I had to practice a few times to get it right; it works best if you try to keep the spiral parallel to your head, not going in too deep towards the scalp or too far out, and it also helps to tie my hair in a ponytail first, particularly for a higher neater bun.  I put my clean, completely dry hair up this morning with no products and the bun stayed put all day, even through most of a yoga class, handstands and all. It's a little expensive for a simple piece of twisted metal, but I love them.

Sulfate-Free Hair Care: L'Oreal EverStrong

 

I'm a little late on the bandwagon, but I finally switched shampoos to a sulfate-free shampoo, L'Oreal EverStrong Sulfate-Free Reconstruct Shampoo and Conditioner, thanks to A.'s recommendation.  Apparently sulfate-based hair care products can be really harsh and drying on the skin and hair, plus possibly lead to more serious side effects. Despite regularly splurging for beauty products, I never really gave much thought to my shampoo and conditioner, just automatically buying the jumbo sizes of Pantene from Costco for as long as I can remember.  My hair has certainly suffered for it: it's been dull, frizzy and lifeless, only made worse by the dry winter weather.  I've only been using L'Oreal for about a week, but I'm quite pleased with the results already: my hair is shinier, tamer and seems to stay cleaner for longer.  It foams up nicely and rinses cleanly, and I like the smell. I'm still not planning on splurging (yet) on hair care, but at $5.99 a piece at Target and Bed Bath and Beyond (cheaper with the occasional coupon) for L'Oreal EverStrong, the price is quite reasonable.

Recent Beauty Product Purchase Reviews

I went on a small make-up shopping spree based on recommendations from Nicole Deanne and Vincent Longo.  Based on Nicole's recommendations (and how amazing S. looked at both her trial and her wedding), I bought MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Dark (at LAX duty-free) and Maybelline's Full n Soft Waterproof Mascara in Very Black.  I love the MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural; it's very light and you don't feel like you are wearing anything at all, but gives a very even smooth finish with a natural glow.  I don't ever wear foundation or concealer, but it provides the perfect coverage for me over my everyday Laura Mercier's tinted moisterizer in Sand, if I'm going out at night.  As we learned from Nicole, certain powders and foundations can look weird and unnatural in photographs, but she likes the MAC powder because it looks very natural in person as well as in pictures.  The mascara doesn't really do much for me; it goes on smoothly and doesn't clump, but doesn't really add length or volume (which, in retrospect, is fine for Nicole since she usually uses false eyelashes on her brides).  I love all the Vincent Longo products, particularly the wet / dry diamond eyeshadow for a dressier night out and the liquid shadow for a more casual night out.  I sometimes regret cosmetic purchases after taking them home as I often feel that they don't look as good as when a professional applies them in a department stores, but fortunately that's not the case with my recent purchases.

Bellacures Vs. Bonjour

After a pumped up YogaHop class with Kourtney, S. and I went across the street to Bellacures to get our nails done.  Bellacures opened on Montana Avenue a few months ago and has two other locations: Brentwood and Beverly Hills.  Normally, I just go to Bonjour Nails, also on Montana, which is super no frills but very cheap: $25 for a mani / pedi or separately, $15 for a pedi, $12 for a mani.  Since S. was getting married after all, I decided to splurge and keep her company at Bellacures.  It's definitely a really nice place; the chairs are very comfortable, the technicians were meticulous and everything seems very very clean, which is the most important thing in a nail salon.  It's almost twice as expensive, at $25 for a pedicure and $12 for a manicure.  Prices actually aren't bad compared to the old NYC prices I was used to paying.  Hard for me to judge right now; we'll see how long my nails last, but I'm torn, it may be worth it since the place really is so extremely clean and nice.

Update: almost a month later, pedicure still looks almost perfect. I may be a convert to Bellacures.

Vincent Longo Makeover

Vincent Longo on the right

Z's always been my makeup guru; I've gotten so many great recommendations from her that I still use to this day, from Bobbi Brown's shimmer brick to Nars blush.  She has a talent for finding products and also applying them; she always looks radiant and flawless.  It's probably as much, if not more, due to her naturally perfect skin as the makeup, unfortunately we all can't be blessed with skin like hers, but at least the makeup we can buy. She's been a fan of Vincent Longo products recently and wore his waterproof liquid shadow to dinner during one of her last visits in July and it looked amazing: natural, yet dewy and illuminated. Ever since then, I've been meaning to try Vincent Longo products for myself; just hadn't gotten around to it.  When I saw that Vincent Longo himself was going to be at the Bloomingdales in Santa Monica Place for consultations and makeovers, I immediately went over to check it out.  He spent a good amount of time with me, picking out complementary colors and applying the makeup. One of his other makeup artists started and finished everything off, but under his guidance.  I really liked the look that he created for me; I usually go for a dark smoky eye for going out, but he created a more sophisticated look for me.  It was still slightly smoky, particularly around the outer corners and even along the lower lash line, which I don't normally do, but with a little bit of a shimmer and irridescence that not only softened the look but also highlighted and brightened the look.  Part of the reason why it looked so good was his technique of applying the makeup, he blended everything really well, even the eye liner, and built up color layer by layer.  I doubt that I will be able to recreate it at home, but I bought some of my favorite product just to try: Duo Eye Pencil in Rich Topaz Aura Chic, Wet / Dry Diamond Eye Shadow in Capucine, Liquid Shadow - Waterproof in Bronze Shadow.  I also really liked the Wet / Dry Diamond Eye Shadow in Dawn Flesh for highlighting, but I have something similar already from MAC.  The pigments and consistency of his products are really nice; it blends nicely together for a dramatic yet natural look, and the color lasts a long time, still looking fresh several hours after application.

Wet / Dry Diamond Eye Shadow in Capucine

Liquid Shadow in Bronze Shell

Duo Eye Pencil in Rich Topaz and Aura Chic

My trip to Vincent Longo capped off a full day of beauty product education.  I went with S. to Newport Beach for her wedding preview (wedding is this weekend!) with Nicole Deanne, who was the makeup artist for my wedding.  I was so happy I worked with Nicole; I really think she's the best bridal makeup artist I've ever seen; her makeup just looks so flawless in pictures.  When I hired her, she was just starting her own business, but now she's one of the most sought after makeup artists and often does shoots for bridal magazines.  S. looked beautiful; she's going to be one amazing bride!  Some of the products that she used on S. that we all really like included: M.A.C. Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Dark, M.A.C. Penultimate Eye Liner, a highlighter from M.A.C. that I need to get the name of, Maybelline Waterproof Full 'N Soft Mascara (she also likes CoverGirl Waterproof Lash BlastCoverGirl Lash Blast Waterproof Mascara - Black).  I love the foundation that she uses, called Your Name, but it's only sold to professional makeup artists.