Make Up Beauty Tips

On Earth Day, click on over to Spirit Beauty Lounge to check out what beauty Spirit Demerson has to show you in her Top 10 for Spring lineup.  There you'll find eco-conscious treats of makeup, skincare, haircare and other items to keep you looking and feeling your best from brands like Vapour Organics, rms beauty, Priti Nails, Nvey Eco and more.








Visit Spirit Beauty Lounge and select your goodies!  No better time to do so than Earth Day!

Here's a collection sure to pull at your heartstrings, if for no other reason then because it sounds so completely divine.  Trish McEvoy's new limited edition Love Fragrance Collection is sure to leave a touch of sweetness in the air, on your skin, and yes, even on your lips!

Love will envelop you in the delicate fragrance of No. 9 Blackberry & Vanilla Musk Eau de Parfum and Super Enriched Body Cream while the Wild Blueberry Vanilla Candle burns gently to soothe your soul. My senses are already desperate to experience these pieces. Add to that the Seduction Flawless Lip Color as the finishing touch of beauty and elegance to complete a romantic aura leaving those who adorn completely irresistible. Sweet, sensual, and undeniably one of the most loving collections of beauty a woman can get her hands on this spring, the Love Fragrance Collection is a the perfect assortment of pleasure. Would make a perfect Mother's Day gift, n'est pas?

Trish McEvoy’s The Love Fragrance Collection, set to retail at $90, will be available beginning April 18th at TrishMcEvoy.com. Can't wait!

Could there BE a better giveaway to announce the arrival of Spring? Me thinks not.  Just look at this prize giveaway, with spring's hot shades and patterns brimming from every which way you look.  I am drooling at the thought of winning.  And though I considered not sharing as the less of you who enter, the better my own chances of winning, I just couldn't keep it in.

So here are the deets.  The winner will receive a custom, one-of-a-kind Tibi Peony & Python dress AND all pieces from the Bobbi Brown makeup collection including the eyeshadow palette, beauty case, blush, lipgloss, eyeliner and brushes. Sweet!



You can learn more about the Tibi Peony & Python collection here and Bobbi Brown's gorgeous Peony & Python collection here.  Enjoy!

Enchanting! That's what comes to mind when I think of Chantecaille.  Once again, Olivia Chantecaille charms us with her delightful palettes that create experiences of both elegance and feeling good about the purchase. 


Universally flattering, the Sea Turtle Palette ($78) features two eye colors in Soft Pearl and Golden Brown, a deep Emerald liner and a pink cheek shade.  The formula is made with the highest quality pearl and pigment particles. The two eye shades reflect the golden warmth of new spring neutrals complimented by an on trend deep sea green eye defining shade. The perfect coral/pink cheek color offers a universally flattering flush of rosy warmth.


Chantecaille is partnering with Dr. Karen Eckert of the WIDECAST Organization, focused on saving sea turtles in North, South and Central America and the Caribbean. 5% of proceeds from this palette will help WIDECAST ensure the survival of sea turtles.


Tiger in the Wild ($78) was carefully selected to go with Fall Trends and includes eyeshades in Cream, Pewter and Indigo, as well as a flattering sheer persimmon cheek shade, however these shades are divinely perfect for this year's Spring as well. 


To celebrate and raise awareness for the wild tiger, Chantecaille has created a limited-edition palette with a selection of easy-to-wear cheek and eye shades with an elegant tiger embossing.  While the world celebrates the Year of the Tiger, the plight of this majestic animal continues. In fact, this celebration of the tiger places it in a more perilous situation. Tigers are poached, hunted and exterminated for profit. 5% of the proceeds benefit TRAFFIC .


Chantecaille Sea Turtle Palette and Tiger in the Wild Palette are both available at Space.NK and Nordstrom.

Euphoria. The inspiration behind Monique Lhuillier's Spring 2011 Collection.

Feminine evening gowns. It's what Monique Lhuillier does best.  What surprises me about this season's collection is the choice of color palette, a departure from what we've come to expect for her.  Nude, white, gold ... yes, very familiar ... poppy red? Really? Ok ... we're willing to take a look. Let it sink in a little bit.  Ummm .... sure, I suppose this could be interesting. In fact, the more I study the collection with its pops of soft seafoam-y teal contrasted with the warmth of the golden red, the more appealing it becomes. 

"Welcome to the Garden of Eden," greets Lhuillier, gesturing around the hotel suite. "We have the angelic side, and the naughty side."

Slender metallics, draped silk sheaths and flamboyant ballgowns — poufed and appliquéd chiffons with plenty of fanfare like bustled, petaled or trumpet skirts. Your choice, ladies.



Lead makeup artist Val Garland for MAC created glowing faces that complimented the elegant feel of the line. The eye was for facial focal point here, using black gel eyeliner for a “sleek Fifties” winged feel. “It’s a bit of a cat eye,” said Garland. “It's a 1950's Audrey Hepburn look with an aerodynamic beautiful eye liner.  Very haute couture and red carpet, slightly debutant with gilded lilacs on the eye lid, liner and a delicate soft pink glossed lip.”

Proving you don't have to match your makeup colors to your clothing, Garland used MAC eye shadows in Digit and Vellum layered onto the lids, Crystal through the crease of the lids and a layer of Idol (one of my fave MAC shadows) applied wet on the top.  Woodwinked was dabbed on the inner corners of the lids for golden highlighting. Eyebrows were slightly extended to frame the face. MAC Face and Body foundation was applied as a base with Bamboo Cream Colour Base blended onto the cheeks and Shell Cream Colour Base to highlight the cheekbones. Garland’s “soft look” for lips was achieved by patting on MAC Viva Glam Gaga Lipglass, a pigmented matte baby pink lip gloss.

Rudi Lewis, lead hairstylist for Bumble and Bumble described the look he created at Monique Lhuillier’s Spring 2011 show as “magical but modern.” Before beginning the updo, Lewis added Spray de Mode to blow-dried hair. He pulled hair up into a “sculpted high ponytail.” A section of hair on the top of the head was left out of the updo and given a softer texture. He then tucked hair up in a roll, using only one long piece of elastic to create the refined look. “This is reminiscent of an Irving Penn woman,” said Lewis. “It’s Fifties without being too retro.” Lewis added that models were styled to look “expensive” and polished. “It’s not about trends,” he said.

When asked to name the inspiration for her Spring 2011 collection in one word, Erin Fetherston responded, "Aphrodisiac;" this photo (below) was submitted as an inpiring element ... just envision the travels this diva must have experienced.

"I like the idea of this woman who travels far and wide, and collects these treasures to add to her wardrobe," Erin Fetherston said before her Spring show.

With that inspiration, Fetherston opened Spring 2011 show with two safari jackets. "Birds of Paradise," the name of the collection, showcased one-shouldered cocktail dresses, peplum jackets and other pieces in florals and patterns. Somewhat neutral shades of ivory, a muted warm green and peachy orange enhanced the color palette. Nowhere in this collection will one find the berry, plum or jewel tones of Fall 2010 trending.


Fetherston's penchant for feminine charm shows through this season, the clothes almost demure, pretty silk wrap dresses in soft geometric prints and chic jackets with fronts draped to look like bows, flowy silhouettes. The pop of pumpkin orange lipstick courtesy of MAC enhances the simplicity of the designs in a marked way.


source: wwd, MAC, the cut, erin fetherston, youtube (aol)

Loving Alexander Wang's Spring 2011 collection, well - some of it! Feminine, breezy, light and airy, and the color palette ... fresh and clean, just beautiful. The "construction" theme went a little overboard for my amateurish taste.  The rose gold metallic splashes here and there on some of the designs just didn't do it for me, and the color blotches gone haywire seemed a bit - overdone (can I say that?) ... but hey, I'm a minimalist purist with conservative style in its simplest form, so forgive me.

“I wanted to explore a purity and honesty,” said Wang, preshow. “As you can see, there’s not one hint of black.”

So far this NYFW we're seeing designers are returning to the feeling of light-ness, and what a welcome relief. Wang certainly appreciates this idea in his new collection, though it gets skewed with a few of the "color gone paint-ball" designs and sloppiness of some of the exaggerated pieces for the sake of his construction motif.

The collection includes overalls and wide-leg carpenter pants, denim jackets accented with copper paint. His flyaway silk trench had utilitarian crisscross straps at the back. The foil details throughout? Apparently a reference to duct tape (see image at top). His models came accessorized with swipes of white paint in their hair to add to the overall "under construction" vibe. 

In the continuation of last year's deconstruction theme, he showed layering and ultra-relaxed silhouettes. As reported by WWD, Wang also introduced his first-ever in-house prints — childlike scribbles and doodles done by his staff and interns on a 5-foot-by-5-foot sheet of paper in the studio and reproduced on fabrics in washed-out hues. “There are inside jokes [written] that even I don’t know,” he said.

source/images: WWD, Style.com