Tag: Bobbi Brown

My Final Four… Scents That Is

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March 9, 2015

March is the time for spring renewal, cleaning out your closet and March Madness brackets. Me – I don’t watch basketball but I do participate in the former two activities mentioned. In terms of renewal,  this is the time of year most of us are thinking about changing our scent to something a little lighter. I myself wear the same scents no matter what the season, but I always come back to these four. Scents are personal and it will be hard to sway your opinion as you can’t smell these through a blog post, but still I wanted to share these with you because three out of the four of my favorites inspire compliments from passersby when I wear them. So if you are looking for a new scent to try, perhaps reading this post will sway you in that direction.

1. Bobbi Brown Beach

As you may remember in my post about the great Miss Bobbi Brown, I have been wearing this fragrance since I was 24 (a long time ago). It smells like summer, sun tan lotion and happiness, even in the midst of winter and makes me smile. It now also reminds me of my mother because she also became a Beach convert. Bobbi has expanded her Beach line to include body moisturizer, scrub, oil and hair conditioner.

Find out more about Bobbi Brown Beach here

2. Lollia Wish

I love everything about this fragrance, from the bottle to the font to the website to the scent itself. All Lollia products are gorgeous and look like they are out of a French boutique so they are guaranteed to look pretty on your nightstand or bureau. Honestly, if this brand had wall paper I would wrap my house in it when I buy one. Each scent has its own collection of bath salts, perfume, bath soak, candles, hand cream and body moisturizer. Wish is the most popular of all the Lollia fragrances and it smells light, airy and beachy (in a different way than Bobbi Brown’s beach). Whenever I wear this, someone comments on it (in a good way). I have a mini bottle at my desk at work for scent refreshers as well as at home. Once available only excuslively through Anthropologie, now you can get the fragrance online as well as small boutiques.

Find out more about Lollia Wish here

3. Auric Blends Egyptian Goddess

Ok, so I’m going to be straight out with you – this is one of those hippie oils that you find in shops that sells incense, crystals and posters with wolves on them but believe me when I tell you when I wear this I get compliments. I first smelled this when I was a teenager in a summer dance camp and when my favorite teacher would come over to correct my foot placement or posture, I would smell this amazing fragrance on her and wondered what it was. Years later I smelled the same fragrance in one of these shops and it brings back such wonderful memories, as well as smelling amazing. The scent itself is warm and musky, but not too intense. I have one coworker who couldn’t stand it any longer and had to purchase one of her own. Egyptian Goddess is the company’s number one selling perfume oil and is always sold out when I happened to come across it in a store. You however don’t have to search for it as you can go on Amazon to purchase it. The fragrance also comes in a perfume spray and soap form but I find the oil it more saturated and potent and a little goes a long way.

Find out more about Auric Blends Egyptian Goddess

4. Victoria’s Secret Sexy Little Things Noir

I have never been big on the fragrances from Victoria’s Secret as they are often too strong and powerful for my taste but one day a few years ago I stumbled across this fragrance and have been hooked ever since. When I started wearing it, my best friend smelled it, loved it and also started wearing it. The scent is warm and exotic and I think what I love most about it is the scent of amber. Unfortunately you can’t find the scent in every store now so if you are interested I would call before you made a trip to see if they had it. Larger stores should carry it, such as the Natick Collection store in Massachusetts. The company has come out with a lighter version called Noir Tease, but I still love the original. Also adorable is the old school bottle, which reminds me of a flapper putting on her perfume in her boudoir. Click below to view the bottle as the one I have in my post is the spray mist.

Find out more about Victoria’s Secret Noir

 

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What is your favorite scent? Have you tried any of the above fragrances and loved them?

Maureen

How to turn a bold lipstick nightmare into an everyday dream

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February 8, 2015

Have you ever wanted to try a brave lipstick trend like a classic red lip or a dark wine pout? I’ve been there too.  Sometimes you get just the right color and you think “I am so glad I did this-it’s exactly the change I needed”. More often than not though your response is “Why did I think I could pull this off?” or “Where would I wear this?”. Yep, been there too. This holiday season I was determined to rock the bold classic red lip that was featured in Bobbi Brown’s email. The model was fair, like me so I thought if she could pull it off, I could too. When I actually tried the look out, it didn’t look bad but it just wasn’t me. I’m a more natural but polished kind of girl and I just felt uncomfortable. Before I went to return it, however I tried some tricks in order to make it more “me” and voila, I salvaged the lipstick and now I have a new rosy lip look. If you have had the same sort of experience with a lip color that just didn’t turn out how you wanted, before you return it, try the below tricks to see if you can make it fit into your lifestyle.

1. First make sure your lips are nice and smooth to start with. The cold has reeked havoc on everyone’s skin, especially our lips. Try exfoliating them and then applying a nice balm after on a regular basis (nightly if you like). You can buy lip exfoliants from brands like Fresh and Sara Hipp but its really easy to make it at home. Mix a little oil and sugar in your hand and then rub over lips after wetting them with warm water for about 30 seconds. Wash off with warm water and then apply your balm. Don’t have any sugar? An old toothbrush will also work. This step is important because the more chapped your lips are the more they will stand out (in a bad way) when you apply a statement color lip.

2. Apply a muted lipstick. I have one that I like from Maybelline that I wear on its own called Raw Reveal. If you don’t have a muted lipstick that’s ok (but consider getting one-they are really great when you want to create a feminine look. I love big lashes and muted lips) you can use a cream or liquid foundation or a concealer. This purpose of this step is to tone down your color but it will also help your color adhere to your lips. Bonus!

3. Apply your color choice. I like to apply with a lip brush as you have more control in putting the color exactly where you want it. If you don’t have one, you can apply right from the tube but GO EASY. Do not put a lot of pressure on the lip as you did with your muted lipstick. Apply until you feel comfortable with the color depth and then finish by rubbing your lips together to blend step 2 and 3 together. Your color should resemble the one in the tube but should be a softer, less aggressive version.

4. If you like your look feel free to call it a day and be done. I personally love to end the look with a pearly, brightening lip gloss. The gloss does a few things for this look. It makes it less “I’m on the way to the Oscars” and more “I’m running to a meeting and look pretty” which makes it appropriate to wear in everyday situations. It also brightens the look up with a white color and it gives it sheen. My favorite (surprise, surprise) is Bobbi Brown’s Brightening Lip Gloss in White. It lasts forever, is applied with a lip brush and smells like vanilla. I wear this over almost anything as well as on its own.

So what do you think-want to give it a go? Hopefully this helps you feel a little bit more comfortable about going out of your lip comfort zone.

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All I wanted for Christmas is to be beautiful!

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December 28, 2014

Good evening and welcome back from the holidays! I admit I have been lacking on the blog posts in the past month or so with the hustle of the holidays but I am back and resolve this year to publish more posts on the regular so stick with me. Besides whipping up some home-made body scrubs for some ladies, here are some beauty treats I gave and received on Christmas.

To my darling mother I gave my most recent mascara purchase which she test drove at Thanksgiving ( I apologize for not blogging about this stuff – its pretty amazing stuff). It is by a cosmetics company called Younique and the product is called Moodstruck. Its almost exactly like Too Faced Better than False Lashes (a step mascara with fibers) except the fibers in Moodstruck are black, not white and the effect is much more “pow”. If you decide to purchase you just have to choose a salesperson (pick anyone at random) to give the commission to.

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For my soon to be mother in law (by the way the six month count down began yesterday!) I was asked to put together a box of cosmetics, which I did very happily! Some items included Too Faced Better than Sex mascara, mascara guide, Garnier BB Cream, ELF Lip colors, brushes as well as the Bare Minerals eye shadow and cheek pallette below. I can’t wait until she uses it!

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Lastly, I was a lucky lady this year and received some Bobbi Brown treats as well as some Essie polishes. Recently I saw Bobbi’s email for red lips and decided to really go for it so I asked Kathy for lip liner, lipstick and gloss all in scarlet and all made their way to my stocking. I also received two surprise Essie nail polishes from my future mother in law on Christmas Eve. I can’t wait to try them all out- see below.

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What beauty treats did you give and receive?

Maureen