Current Favorites!

This is one of the best beauty times of the year for me...the spring shades are all able to be worn easily and I get to start mixing in some of the summer products that I have been so excited to pick up.  I am going to start self tanning soon and my favorite sundresses are ready to come out of the closet, I just love the end of the spring semester and all the promise that it holds for the upcoming months.  I have picked up a few items for summer already and am beginning to dig through all the items that I bought for spring and am deciding what pieces will work as well in the warm weather months. 

I still have a bunch of current favorites from earlier in the spring, I have made a bunch of really good purchases over the past few months and have found some new products and shades that I will use for years.  I think that this has been one of the best seasons for finding great products and I believe that I have made that comment more than once over the past few months but it is just so true in this case!

So what are my favorites now?  More and more I find myself reaching for my bottle of Stella McCartney's L.I.L.Y. and the level of the bottle has been going down more rapidly than almost any other fragrance that I have used in a long time.  I still love one of my lipsticks from MAC that I have been using for almost two months now and I plan to keep using all the way into the summer months.  I also have a new favorite in a cream blush from Stila and a bright aqua polish from Butter London.  My beauty loves are being used at least two or three times a week for me right now and I do not see this trend ending any time soon.

My Favorite Five right now!

Stella McCartney L.I.L.Y - "Lily is like nature—vivid and sensual. The contact with nature awakes her sensations and emotions. “It makes me think of my mum. Her nickname from my Dad was Lily. From Linda I love you.” —Stella McCartney".  The notes are: "Black Truffles, Black Pepper, Lily of the Valley, Pink Pepper, White Musk, Oak Moss, Patchouli."  I bought a bottle of this fragrance during the first round of my shopping from the Sephora Friends and Family Sale and I have been using it all the time ever since I first opened it up.  I have received more compliments on this fragrance than most of my others (exception is the original Stella from the same designer).  People actually will stop their sentences to ask me what I am wearing that smells so amazing and it is quickly becoming a favorite warm weather fragrance of mine.  The Lily of the Valley note and the Bluebell note (not listed but I found it in another description in a magazine) create a light, pretty floral on me that I can wear in any circumstance and whether I am dressed up or down.  I have a feeling that I will run out of this perfume faster than normal and will need a new bottle by next spring.

MAC Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Behave Yourself - "Combining the colour impact of a Lipstick with the shine sheen of a Lipglass, Sheen Supreme creates the perfect hybrid - with no compromise. Lightweight, non-sticky, slick to apply and comfortable to wear. This is a must-have for all those who have craved this kind of fusion."  Behave Yourself is a "light blue pink".  This lipstick formula is very hydrating and reminds me of a lip gloss in that respect yet the pigmentation is completely that of a full coverage lipstick.  My lips are always dry and I can easily wear this lipstick without worrying about dryness breaking through and having to always use a separate lip balm.  Behave Yourself is a perfect cool pink shade for me and compliments my cool-toned skin and I fully plan to use this shade all throughout the year.  Friends and co-workers always compliment me on this shade and I plan to get more shades from this formula for the fall and winter months.  I have a new favorite MAC Lipstick formula!

Butter London 3-Free Nail Lacquer in Slapper - "A heavily pigmented, high-fashion nail lacquer. Created backstage at fashion week for the world’s top fashion designers, butter LONDON’s lacquers are rich in color, giving your nails a look that is more vibrant.   Butter LONDON is a new-era design house, creating extraordinary moments in color by living on the inside edge of fashion. It is a “three-free” company, meaning products are free of formaldehyde, toluene, and DBP. For brilliant results, one should always use butter LONDON™ lacquers with the corresponding butter LONDON base and topcoats. When used together, the products last significantly longer than a typical manicure."  Slapper is a "truly teal" and is the best teal shade that I have ever seen.  I use this shade at least twice a week and have been using it in both manicures and pedicures for the past three weeks.  Butter London polishes are long lasting and I can go about four days with only minor tip wear, I reapply top coat every other day to keep them perfectly shiny but this is one of the lowest maintenance nail polish formulas that I have ever used.  I always want new colors from this company and this will continue to remain one of my absolute favorites!

Stila Convertible Color in Peony - "A lipstick that doubles as a blush. Stila's ingenious lipstick and blush-in-one proves irresistible. Non-greasy, this creamy, sheer tint adds an natural glow to the cheeks while lips bloom with fresh, radiant color. A mini mirrored-compact makes touch ups on the go a snap."  Peony is a "neutral rose cream" that I would imagine works with almost any skin color or undertone, this is truly a universal shade.  I use this formula mostly as blush, it works well to give me a natural flush that stays on through work, class, and then the gym yet too.  This formula spreads easily and is best when patted onto the apples of the cheeks and then blended with a clean finger, this is one of the few cream blush formulas that easily blends right into the skin.  I will use this formula in the summer since it has proven to not budge at all under pressure and I can use it in winter since it blends so easily and won't create an issue with my dry skin.  I want to try and purchase more shades from this product the next time that I go to Sephora.

Carol's Daughter Monoi Repairing Hair Mask - "A deeply nourishing hair treatment to undo and prevent damage by up to 96%.  Strengthening your hair is the only way to lengthen it so you can do whatever you want with it. To really fortify fine, fragile, or chemically-treated hair requires major nourishment found in the Monoi Repairing Hair Mask. Added to the rejuvenating Monoi Oil – a repairing Tahitian blend of the Tiare Gardenia Flower and Coprah Coconut Oil – is rebuilding Bamboo Water and protective Hydrolyzed Silk.  This product is free of alcohol, petroleum, mineral oil, and artificial colors. For over 2,000 years, Tahitians have used Monoi Oil for its natural reparative properties that undo and prevent damage from the sun, sea and surf. Using ingredients that only grow in Tahiti, Monoi Oil is made by taking 15 freshly picked Tiare Gardenia Flower blossoms and combining them with 15 ounces of Coprah Coconut Oil over a 15 day sacred ritual, passed down only through an oral tradition."  This hydrating mask was another key purchase during the Sephora Friends and Family Sale and will lead to more purchases from Carol's Daughter.  This tropical floral-scented mask hydrates and smooths my hair and the results of the first usage lasted for an entire week.  My hair is much more manageable after use of this product and styles much easier than before I tried it out.  I am excited to see that Sephora carries an entire line of Monoi Hair products from Carol's Daughter and I will be ordering more very soon.  I am seeing this being a key product when my hair needs a bit of extra help after a summer of running outside and then into the cold weather months.

This Sephora Friends and Family Sale was great for me, four of these five products were from my first order and they all turned out to be true winners.  I am really excited that I have found some key additions to my product line up and have more colors to order in many of these products.  I look forward to adding more to my beauty product collection over the next few months while retaining all my current loves!

photo courtesy of MAC

Stella McCartney L.I.L.Y.

It's official, I have found a new love from the Stella McCartney fragrance line, everyone knows that Stella is my favorite fragrance and now I have found another fragrance for her line that I can wear in the spring and summer months!  Stella McCartney is a favorite designer line of mine and I long for the day when I can own one of her vegan tote bags (and be more vegan myself) and shoes from her wonderful collections.  She is one of my favorite designers (hands down!) and I can't wait to go to her boutique in New York City!

Her newest fragrance is L.I.L.Y. and was named by her father, one of the biggest crushes of my life.  L.I.L.Y. stands for "Linda I Love You" and the name made me melt the first time that I heard it and I knew that this was fragrance that I needed to try.  I decided to order the smallest size of it during the Sephora Friends and Family and I have been using it like crazy over the past few days, this fragrance is worth me buying the massive bottle of very soon.  Let's put it this way...within two days of myself and my co-worker using this fragrance, we used about an eighth of the bottle and I now know that this is fragrance that I need to buy in the largest size possible.  This is the best fragrance that I have tried all spring season and one of my new favorites!

From the Sephora website, "Lily is like nature—vivid and sensual. The contact with nature awakes her sensations and emotions. “It makes me think of my mum. Her nickname from my Dad was Lily. From Linda I love you.” —Stella McCartney"

The notes are: Black Truffles, Black Pepper, Lily of the Valley, Pink Pepper, White Musk, Oak Moss, Patchouli.

This fragrance is a new favorite of mine for spring and summer and it smells like a true English floral on me, not all the musky notes that are described here.  I was originally told that Bluebells were included in with this fragrance but I don't see them in the description, needless to say this is a true English floral on my skin.  I smell the Bluebells and the Lily of the Valley and I fall more in love with it every single time that I wear it, I just can't get enough of this fragrance and I have been using it like crazy.  It is rare that I can see how much I am using in the bottle but in this case I can see the level falling and I know that I need another bottle.

I have talked so much about how I love this fragrance but there is one downfall...  This fragrance doesn't last long enough for me.  To be fair...I spray this fragrance on like crazy and keep spraying as soon as I can't smell it.  I will overlook this aspect since I just love this fragrance.  It is rare that I love a fragrance as much as I love this one and I can't believe that my newest love will allow me to be vegan and still use Stella McCartney in the warm weather.  I don't care ago length of wear...I just LOVE this fragrance. 

Fragrance of spring and summer 2013?!  Found!

photo courtesy of Sephora

Beauty Loves Week Day Two - Stella McCartney Stella

My favorite fragrance for the past few years has been Stella McCartney's first and still most popular fragrance, Stella was one of the best selling fragrances for years at Sephora and many limited edition versions of this fragrance have come to make it wearable in every single season.  Stella is one of the new classic rose scents and one that I believe will be one of the iconic rose fragrances in the next decade or two.  I am a rose fragrance lover and I own more roses than anyone that I know and this is the still the best rose fragrance that I have ever used and the only one that I have re-purchased when I finally finished the last drops out of my original bottle.

When did my love affair with this fragrance begin?  That would be the end of the summer in 2005, it was a newer fragrance at that time and I tried it on my first (!) trip to Sephora.  In 2005, Sephora hadn't come around to my area yet and my best friend and I decided to drive down to King of Prussia before the college year began and stock up beauty products and try out new clothing styles.  My first trip to my favorite store resulted in me purchasing my first bottle of my favorite fragrance - if that isn't a match made in heaven then I don't know what is. 

I believe that Stella is only sold at Sephora and on the Stella McCartney website and I have turned to my favorite store and website in order to provide a full description and the notes of this fragrance.  "A fragrance based on the contrast between the freshness and softness of the rose, and the dark sensuality of amber, Stella is a sophisticated scent focused on an intense sense of femininity.  The concept of the Stella McCartney bath line is based on an ecological and organic cosmetology, selecting the best natural raw materials and capitalizing on vegetal extracts based on organic agriculture and on extraction methods that respect and protect the natural life force of the plants."

The notes of this fragrance are: Rose, Peony Flower, Mandarin, Rose Absolute, Amber. 

Stella McCartney is a vegan, as is her whole family and this series of beliefs extended to her entire beauty product line and all of her products (clothing, purses, shoes) and she is one of the first major designers to draw attention to environmental and animal issues that are so prevalent in the world today and then makeup cruelty-free clothing that is coveted by even non-vegans.  Her empire took veganism into the mainstream and made is stylish to care about the environment and the effect that the human race has on the earth.  Stella McCartney has gone from a brand to an entire lifestyle and I can only believe that this company will continue to keep growing over the next decade. 

It still amazes me how many people have never heard of this fragrance and ask who Stella McCartney is when I talk about it.  I get compliments all the time when I wear this fragrance and I tell everyone about how much I love it and all about the formula and notes.  This is one of my signature fragrances and I have only purchased a handful of bottles of it for gifts over the years...I don't want my special scent spoiled by having a whole crew of scent twins. 

As I stated earlier, this fragrance has come out with all kinds of limited edition versions over the years and I have smelled every single one of them and I still hold that the original is the best and cannot be replaced by any of the other version.  The rest of its fans seem to agree with me since none of the other versions have stuck around and the original is still being sold at a pretty high rate.  I don't know that I will ever find another fragrance that I love as much as this one and I cannot even begin to imagine what I will do if the company decided to stop making it...

photo courtesy of Sephora

My Favorite Products at this Time

I might already be thinking about the spring months but that doesn't mean that I'm not enjoying some lovely holiday beauty products!  Right now I have been using some of the best candy smelling holiday body products and some party ready beauty products.  Even though this is the season of stress, I have been trying to take some time out and enjoy the best part of the holidays - all kinds of fun new beauty products and makeup shades.  This is the best time of the year for body products, especially for those of us like myself who have a major Snow Fairy addiction and have to purchase all of it this time of the year and make it last until next Halloween.

My favorites of the holiday season!

LUSH Snow Fairy Shower Gel - "The fairy is back again this year for her legion of fans.  The sweet bubblegum and cotton candy scent of this shower gel is mixed in with iridescent glitter, making her irresitible to those who love all things pink and fluffy (and those who deny loving all things pink and fluffy too!).  Mark and Mo's daughter Clarie asked for a sweet, shimmery gel when she was 15, so Mark came up with this fragrance.  We'd imagined that it would be popular with girls, but never believed that it would be so popular with grown men too!  Use to wash your body and hair, and smell like a sweetie all day long.  Lathering up in mounds of sparkly bubbles always tickles us pink!  Being a vegetarian company, we use synthetic musk to give Snow Fairy her sweet vanilla-y scent."  This is the perfect cotton candy scent that makes your whole shower smell sweet but doesn't linger after the shower and compete with your perfume.  This is a returning best seller for a reason, this is one of the original cotton candy scents and I think it is the best out of all of them.  I am considering buying another bottle before LUSH completely sells out.

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Phallic - "Leave your mark with bold, rich, vibrant colors that stand out.  The formula is hard wearing and chip resistant and contains individual finishes from matte to high gloss.  Apply two coats for high intensity and use with Illamasqua Nail Base Coat and Illamasqua Nail Top Coat for the perfect finish.  Make a statement and talk with your hands!"  Phallic is a deep midnight blue shade with a shimmer finish.  This was my favorite shade when I reviewed the product and I am still in love with it, I have done my last few pedicures in it and I keep falling more and more in love with it.  It is the perfect midnight blue with shimmer that can be shine in certain lights.  In certain lights, the shimmer comes out and the shade looks as those it is twinkling on my nails.  This is the best midnight blue shimmer since Ciel de Nuit from Chanel and that is the highest praise that I can give any polish shade.

Urban Decay Eye Shadow in Half Baked - "An industry favorite and our best-selling product!  Available in over 50 shades, our pigment-rich shadows are versatile, blendable, and beautiful.  This is the product we were born to make - our best-seller!  Professionals, celebrities, and makeup junkies swoon for our wide array of shades.  Each one is pigment-rich: we load the shadow with color, and add very few binders (the stuff that holds shadow together), resulting in beautiful color that blends easily and lasts.  Lots of finishes to suit your mood: sparkle, shimmer, duotone, or unsparkly satin.  Our subway token compact comes complete with a window (see your shade without opening), and snaps shut with one hand - no more lost lids."  Half Baked was first introduced to me in the original Naked Palette and now is featured again in the Naked 2 Palette (bought it just haven't finished playing with it to review yet), where I got to play with it again.  It is a "rich gold" and that is exactly what it is.  This is a lovely gold, rich and buttery in texture and is always flattering to my blue eyes.  It made more sense in the original Naked than it did in Naked 2, but I am more than happy to already have a back up of it.

Stella by Stella McCartney - "A fragrance based on the contrast between the freshness and softeness of the rose, and the dark sensuality of amber, Stella is a sophisticated scent focused on an intense sense of feminity.  The concept of Stella McCartney bath line is based on ecological and organic cosmetology, selecting the best natural raw materials and capitalizing on vegetal extracts based on organic agriculture and on extraction methods that respect and protect the natural life force of the plants.  Notes: Rose, Peony Flower, Mandarin, Rose Absolute, Amber."  I just bought another bottle of this scent and the matching roll-on and I have been wearing it almost every single day since.  This has been a favorite fragrance of mine for years and I never cease to get compliments every single time that I wear it.  This is one of the perfect rose fragrances and the amber note in it makes it very unique and adds a depth to the fragrance that is sometimes missing in single rose fragrances.  I also love Stella McCartney and how vegan-friendly all her product lines are.

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Ruby Pumps - "China Glaze is a professional-level nail enamel made with a special balance of polymers and resins that combine to create a nail lacquer that is long-lasting, chip-resistant, and resistant to color and shine fading.  Will not thicken in the bottle, no thinners necessary."  Ruby Pumps is a bright red with red glitter in it and it is made to look like Dorothy's pumps in the Wizard of Oz, this is the perfect holiday party color.  It is impossible to look at this color and not feel festive.  I have done my past few manicures in this shade to lead right up to the holiday itself.  Wear is ok on this shade, it is bright and shiny however I get tip wear within a day of putting it on, so I do need to redo this manicure more than I do with other shades.

Happy holiday beauty everyone!

photo courtesy of Urban Decay

Stella McCartney StellaNude

This fall brings the release of another fragrance from the Stella McCartney Stella line. Not to bring it up yet again, but this is my favorite perfume and really has been since the moment that I first smelled it. This fragrance is one of the very few that can get me excited about different versions and repromotes since I know that I will love every single fragrance. And now...a new one for fall. The company gave us a lighter version of the original for summer and now they are giving us a heavier version for the colder months.

The fragrance is called StellaNude and Sephora considers it to be a true floral fragrance. As far as I am concerned it is has rose in it and it is more on the warm and sensual side then the lighter floral versions of this fragrance. The original version of this fragrance is on the heavier side of rose also so I am really waiting to see how much warmer this one is than the original.

Sephora descibes the fragrance right here, "StellaNude is a fragrance that evokes the delicacy of the skin, the softness of rose petals, and the sensuality of silk lingerie. Create a quiet moment of reflection as the scent touches the skin, revealing beauty and desire from within". the notes are - Moroccan Rose, Grapefruit, White Peony, Pink Pepper, Precious Vanilla, Grey Amber, Musk.

So the major difference with this fragrance is that it contains vanilla and musk as part of the base. So this one should be lighter on the skin than the original. I think the rose would be a bit lighter in this one too, sindce it will be tempered with this vanilla. This is a very different combination of notes to accent the rose, I don't even believe that I own a vanilla and rose fragrance. Next time that I get to Sephora, this perfume will be my mission to pick up.

photo courtesy of Sephora

Stella McCartney Sheer Stella

Several weeks ago I finished up my bottle of Stella, my favorite rose scent ever. This fragrance is spiked with amber so it is bit heavy for the spring and summer seasons. So I have to save this fragrance for the cooler months and find something different in warmer weather. I have many different fragrances but this one is still my favorite and I miss it all the time during the spring and summer months.

As if an answer to my prayers, Stella McCartney has released a warm weather version of this fragrance so now I can enjoy it all year round. This fragrance is Limited Edition so I will be needing to head out and get it pretty quickly. I find the original fragrance to be both sexy and pretty at the same time. I smelled the lighter version of this fragrance and it is retains the pretty factor. However, I find that the sexy part of this fragrance is replaced by notes that are considered to be breezy and fresher. This summer fragrance I find to be more appropriate to outside dinners and breezy nights on the town instead of initimate dinners and trendy clubs.

I found a description of this fragrance on the Sephora website. "Sheer Summer by Stella McCartney is a new version of the original Stella fragrance that lets soft summer shadows reflect the delicacy of fresh rose petals. The elegant bottle design mirrors the sophisticated, light-hearted spirit of the scent." Notes are as follows - lemon, green apple, rose, amber.

What do i love most about this fragrance? It allows me to take my favroite fragrance into summertime. I like the green apple note and I feel that it is stronger than the lemon note. One way to think of this fragrance - imagine combining original Stella with DKNY Be Delicious. Mix crisp and florals. However, I did try this fragrance and the lasting power does leave something to be desired. It is much lighter than the original, I think the lack of lasting power might be by design.

And the bottle design? Totally beautiful. This will look fantastic on my dresser.

photo courtesy of Sephora

Happy Thanksgiving with Stella McCartney Care

Well, Thanksgiving is upon today and it is officially one of my least favorite holidays. I don’t eat meat, so automatically the day sucks for me in that I can only eat about half of the meal that my mother makes. I really enjoy the slaughter of 3 million innocent birds so that Americans can celebrate a tradition. Oh yeah, and after the first Thanksgiving meal, the pilgrims gave their diseases to the Native Americans and then moved in to take all of their land over. I just love this holiday so much…

In honor of this tradition, I decided to look at some skincare and perfume from my favorite designer, Stella McCartney, daughter of the famed Beatle and a 100% vegan.

Her skincare line is called Stella McCartney Care, a unique high quality line that is 100% vegan. It is formulated with 100% organic ingredients and contains no petrochemicals or silicones. With this line, you can be an activist and look good at the same time, a major goal of mine.

Here are the products in the line…

- 5 Benefits Moisturizing Cream - Improves the skin’s moisture, nourishes , helps to protect the skin from exposure to the environment, and leaves skin firm, fresh, and radiant.

- Radiance + Youth Elixir - With a complex of red, pink, and green tea, this elixir stimulates, energizes, and protects against free radicals with polyphenols and Vitamin C.

- Nourishing Night and Day Cream - This rich and luxurious cream for night and day offers high protection against environmental conditions and micro-organisms, formulated with a blend of vegetable extracts to provide a natural protective layer and to repair damaged skin. Cupuacu butter and blackcurrant buds, rich in trace elements and vitamins, nourish and soothe the skin while Brazil Nut oil assists in anti-aging.

- 5 Benefits Moisturizing Fluid - Provides ultimate hydration, protection, nutrition, radiance, and firmness as it protects the skin from exposure to the environment, leaving it firm, fresh, and radiant.

- Gentle Cleansing Milk - Organic lemon balm and apricot, rich in carbohydrates and Vitamins E and A, protect and revitalize the skin. Sesame seed oil, which is rich in essential fatty acids helps rebuild the skin’s protective barrier.

- Toning Floral Water - Antioxidant green tea and linden blossom extract tones, soothes, and enhances the action of the 5 Benefits products, as active ingredients from cornflower help to revitalize the skin.

- Calming + Soothing Elixir - A complex of chamomile, arnica, and licorice, rich in polyphenols and compound lipids, gently soothe and cushion the skin.

- Nourishing Elixir - a complex of soybean, nigella sativa, and musk rose, rich in phytosterols, Omega 3, and essential fatty acids, work to firm and revitalize the skin.

- Discovery Set - contains 5 Benefits Moisturizing Cream, Calming + Soothing Elixir, Radiance + Youth Elixir, and Nourishing Elixir.

A look at any Stella McCartney facial care products would not be complete if I didn’t then check out what is new with perfume line. Stella is my favorite perfume ever and that is a huge accomplishment for this fragrance because I have many bottles of perfume and have tried almost every fragrance that is on the shelves at Sephora and even after 3 entire years, this one is still a head and shoulders above the rest. A couple day ago while in Sephora with a friend, I had her smell the perfume and she commented that is what I smell like all the time. Complete truth. But there is nothing new available for this scent at this time, next spring hopefully she will release more of the lighter versions of it so I can wear it all year round.

photo courtesy of Sephora