Category — beauty

Hypnotize: This nail art image from Vogue Beauty should tempt you to mix up your mani. Planting the seed and watering it. Jedi mind trick.

I have always been a big fan of Nail Art — what better conversation starters than the mini canvases on your fingertips?  But I am very particular about what looks I love versus looks that I think are best suited for editorial or the Nicki Minaj’s of the world.  These days, there are many options to DIY (do-it-yourself) your nails.  Instead of taking the weekly trip to salon, save some cash-dollahs by staying home on a Friday night, doing your nails whilst watching Never Been Kissed.  Plus, if your nails are wet, you can’t eat that bag of chips in the cupboard.  Beautiful nails, zero calories!

Here are my Top Fall Nail Trends:

Chanel Frenzy Vernis is the perfect greige (Grey + Beige). And the key to exquisite statement solids is 3 coats to make it opaque.

• A Striking Solid – Nail art doesn’t have to be over the top to have a high ROC.  Sometimes a very unusual colour can illicit ooh’s and ahhh’s.  Right now, I love colours that look like Pantone swatches from ELLE Decor.  The other day, I was getting my nails done and I chose Essie’s Glamour Purse (an almond taupe shade) and the woman beside me felt necessary to comment, “The colour looks like it’s fading into her skintone.”  Puh-lease, you don’t know.  Insert eye roll.

Mix up your French Manicure by applying black tips. Very Fall 2012! You heard it here first fashionistah-adventuress!

• Black Tips French Manicure – A MAJOR trend to ignite the runways, this one is very easy to adapt to real life.  All you have to do is take a classic manicure and making it edgier by using black polish striper to finish the tips.  To create an even more daring contrast, you can use a trendy colour (such as a vampy burgundy, a metallic or a tawny shade) as your base coat.  Ooh la, you are so September Vogue right now!
• Colour Block Those Digits – This is the most fun nail trend.  There are number of easy to follow nail polish tutorials on the web to give you ideas on colour blocking.  Similar to the apparel trend, it would be taking 2-3 contrasting nail shades to achieve a Mondrian-effect on your nails.  My favourite is taking 2 of the same hue (a light & its darker counterpart) to do a French manicure.  There is also the reverse Half-Moon where you use 2 solid colours – very dramatic in black and white!

Katy Perry goes ying-yang for nail art on the cover of September ELLE

Cutepolish on YouTube has many easy to follow Nail tutorials – here are my favourite based on the Fall Trends: 

• Chevon Nails - This one takes effort so you may only want to do your thumbs or ring finger. Totally Missoni! 
• Black Lace Nails - Another MAJOR runway trend. Fun idea: Wear a black lace outfit and do black lace on your nails.  It’s another case of life imitating art, imitating life! (micro-macro)
• Half-Moon Manicure - Vintage 1920′s design will be very popular for Fall/Winter as Baz Luhrman’s highly anticipated The Great Gasby will be released in movie theatres inspiring an Art Deco fashion moment

Art history lesson on The LC: Composition A by Piet Mondrian. Inspiration for many a colour block fashion moment!

What are your favourite nail trends for Fall?  What’s your colour of the moment? Do TELL in the comments!

Blake Lively's perfectly "done-not done" hairdo. Oh yes, you can add tiny braids - that makes this look even more Summer-y!

Two of my top read posts, EVER of all time is DIY: Sideways Bun, Zero Carbs & Lauren Conrad’s Hair Made Her a Star.  I am very lucky because JC gave me a thick, long, shiny mane and I enjoy styling it in different ways depending on the occasion and the outfit.  Now that the nights are warm, I like to wear my hair in looks that feel ”done-undone.” Very Serena van der Woodsen meets Lana Del Rey.  It’s a sultry look to be sure.

Will you be mine, will you be my baby tonight? If your hair always looked like that, it is doubtful that you'd have Summertime Sadness. Cheesy joke, I know. Lana Del Rey stares meaningfully at you.

DIY Hairdo:  Loose Summer Waves

Step 1. Talk the bottom half of your hair and twist into a low bun at the nape of your neck.  Secure with an elastic.

Step 2.  Taking 2″ sections from the crown of your head and using a large barrel curling iron, curl from the ends to the top of your head.  Hold for 30 seconds for each and pull the curling iron away from your head releasing on the diagonal.  Repeat for all the sections of hair around the crown of your head.

Step 3.  Release the bun and apply a generous coat of hairspray – I like both Pantene Maximum Hold & Elnett Satin.  To define some of the curls, use a tiny dollop of a molding mud like Sebastian Professional, and twist the curls around your fingers.  Don’t go crazy on the molding mud though as you still want your hair to be lightweight and non-greasy.

Step 4.  You can either take your mane and pull it to your left side so that it cascades down your left shoulder naturally or you can take a few bobby pins and affix them to the nape of your neck for added hold. 

Step 5.  Hairspray all over again!  Hairspray happy.  I am. I am.

Wow, you look stunning!  You could technically curl all your hair, but the point of this is to be “done-undone.” To have put in some effort without any major try.  Now, there’s only one thing to do — get your hair tousled!

Don't leave home without it. Elnett comes in a tiny travel size which you can actually take through airport security. Banish post-flight frizzies with your little can of magic.

The guy that tousles my hair on the regular (literally, not figuratively). I mean, my hairstylist looks like Neil Patrick Harris. It's his brother from another mother (figuratively, not literally).

Pin that to your Bad Boy Board titled "Boys & Hair Tousling." Chuck Bass never gets old for me.

A plethora of inspiration boards.

I like to think of myself as a renaissance woman.  Inspiration for me is everywhere but I do have an abundance of sources… 

On Fashion – Working in the industry, I am constantly surrounded by clothes and accessories.  Like a chocoholic in Serendipity.  I have many wonderful fashionistah friends who always have their own distinct personal style.  Brunch is never just brunch — it’s a lookbook.  Reading magazines (my faves are Harper’s Bazaar & Vogue) and fashion blogs will also keep you up to date on how to adapt a trend. 

Whoa gorgessity! Emma Stone covers July Vogue. As far as I'm concerned, it's the fashion bible.

On Beauty – The best resource for beauty is Allure.  I learned how to apply makeup from reading the tutorials, collecting books from Kevyn Aucoin and practicing on my friends.  I still beg them to let me before we go out; but they willingly oblige because I do a fierce smokey eye.  In my early 20′s I visited my first Sephora in Paris.  As you can imagine, the clouds parted, the rays of sunshine beamed down and angels sang ‘Alleluia.’  Then I entered, sprayed glitter in my friends’ hair, sampled eyeshadows and played with lipgloss for two hours.  A heavenly experience.

The glorious Sephora on Les Champs Elysees, Paris.

To Live Well – As a bohogi, it sounds cliche but I value every experience from having sangria with friends to afternoon walks in the park.  I love to travel and experience different cultures, so I constantly look at Conde Nast Traveller and dream of an exotic adventure.  I never know how or when I will get there, but I put it out there and make a plan to go.  The universe always delivers!   

Read more about finding inspiration on living well on BlogHer and don’t forget to enter the Life Well Lived Sweepstakes.

My absolutely favourite museum Caixa Forum in Madrid, Spain. They have installations, documentaries, live performances and an amazing gift shop.

Nothing like holding down that spray button. Julianne Hough getting her bangs teased in Rock of Ages.

OMGx3.  In my middle age, sometimes I get a very random memory come back to me and I enjoy a silent chuckle.

As a tween in the 80′s growing up in the suburbs, we often had ‘punk parties.’ To achieve such a look:  find an oversize shirt (WWMW – what would Madonna wear?), throw on a wide leather belt slung on your hips, crimp/tease your hair with a liberal application of hairspray (hold 10 seconds), accessorize with mesh gloves and the piece de resistance, drawing a giant lightning bolt on your cheek with blue lipstick.  Sometimes you would get misinformation and a half hour before your arrival, you wouldn’t know if it was a ‘normal/wear jeans’ party or a ‘punk’ party.  Such stress!  And it’s not like we had cell phones back then! Drrrring! Dring!

In dire scenarios such as these, there was only one out — to keep a tube of blue lipstick in your pocket and offer to punkify the rest of your friends.  With costumes, commitment and persuasion are key.

The reason I missed the bus from 1985-1988, morning episodes of Jem & the Holograms. Model your lightning bolt after The Misfits.

You wanna throw a punk party now.  Ditto.  Here’s your 80′s hair band playlist:

1. Starship – We Built This City on Rock N’ Roll
2. White Snake – Here I Go Again
3. Def Leppard – Pour Some Sugar on Me
4. Guns N’ Roses – Paradise City
5. Mr. Big – To Be With You
6. Poison – Every Rose Has Its Thorn
7. Thompson Twins – Hold Me

Don't forget the bigger the hair, the bigger the attitude! 80s Rocker Chic is so Paris Vogue 2010.

Lipstick Makes a Comeback. Be not afraid. Be that girl at the party with the brightest lipstick, ever of all time.

Lately, I admit I have been reverting to my 90′s teenage heart.  Buried away like an amnesiac grasping for a memory, “Wait a second. Ohmigod, I remember…lipstick!  It looks so good on.”  For a decade, I put away my M.A.C. matte Viva Glam in favour of lipgloss or Chapstick.  But I have been enjoying a renaissance of sorts what with the off the charts ROC (return on compliment) that my pop-art fuschia lips have been inspiring from friends…and random strangers.  By the way, you know it’s a winning look when you get stopped by strangers.  Just take it and say ‘thank you.’

While I profess my love of M.A.C., I don’t think it’s necessary to splurge all the time on lipstick.  I mean, you also need money to fund your shoes and grocery.  You can find some lovely hues at the drugstore and like me, you won’t shed tears when you lose your favourite gloss or get it confiscated at the airport security.  Here are my Top Summer picks:

1. Coral Crush – I think that Coral is one of the most flattering hues to wear in Summer, what with your tan, white eyelet summer dress already going for you.  Whenever you wear a bright lipstick, I think it’s best to keep the rest of your makeup somewhat neutral with shades of taupes or browns and a gentle application of mascara.  

2. In the Mood for Nude -  Nude is sooooo 90′s matched with your M.A.C. Spice lipiner.  Ahhh, we were freshmen then.  Le sigh.  I love a nude lipstick with a baby pink undertone – this is very Edie Sedgwick circa Andy Warhol’s The Factory.  Looks amazing paired with a heavy handed smokey eye and dramatic swirl of cat-eye liquid eyeliner. Meow!

Nude done right: Is it just me or is Drew Barrymore getting more beautiful? Every time I see her in an ad, I want to buy CoverGirl. And she's my idol reforming a bad boy whose father was a CEO at Chanel.

3. Red Never Dies – My mom was trying to make me buy red lipstick today.  It is the classic go-to.  The key to red lipstick is first finding the hue that suits your complexion then practicing to achieve a perfect shape and applying enough coats so that the colour is opaque.  Here is a mini tutorial on how to get The Perfect Red Pout.  Special trick: If you have trouble lining your lips, start filling in your lips working your way out so you don’t line outside your natural lipline.  Ronald McDonald is a definite don’t.  Please be a DO!

Bet on red: I know I wax poetic about my girlcrush Emma Stone but girl can wear a red lipstick like no ones business. This image alone should make you stop what you're doing, get in the car and find a beauty consultant to test shades on your pout. Phew! Run-on sentence.

Blake Lively frolicks on the beach with her perfectly tousled blonde hair, silver tunic dress, legs up to there and gladiator sandals.

A friend once commented, “You are always taking glamourous vacations.”  To this I replied, “It’s glamourous vacations ONLY…with fun friends.”  Stay-cations are fine if you’re moving or you need an extended period of time to do monotonous errands, but I say book me the next airplane ticket out of here and it better include beach, ocean and caftans.

Not a fan of going North of 20th, but I might to hit that giant pool at the Fontainebleau. Oh yeahx3!

I am very excited to return to my stomping grounds, my Latino home away from home, South Beach.  Over the years, I have accumulated travel compulsions knowledge that have carried me many a Resort season.  If only real life could include higher levels of sun and fun, our troubles would melt away like the last ice cube in your salty margarita.  Here are some of those pearls of wisdom just in time for vacation season…

Apply a liberal coating of bronzer on thy legs before wearing bright short shorts: Free People Lace Shorts

Rise from the tides and brunch in this Nanette Lepore Marseilles Tunic. A sideways braid is the perfect way to get your salty ocean hair to chill out.

Espadrille meets Wedge in the Charles David Baja Sandal: The shoe that keeps on giving can be worn for more than a block. The perfect pair for an evening of Salsa or a day of shop-shop-shopping!

I am G-L-A-M-O-U-R: In order to have a glamourous vacation, you must channel your inner socialite. Dear heiress, try this watercolour Maggie London Maxi for size.