BeneFit CORALista Fashionista Sweepstakes

Chic to Cheek - love it.

Here's the newest offer from BeneFit in collaboration with Banana Republic. You're invited to put your best look forward with finishing touches in coral - the season's prettiest hue. it's your chance to win fabulous shopping sprees and products from BeneFit and Banana Republic.

Entering is so easy. Just click the banner below and fill out the short entry form.

Want more? You've got it. To help celebrate the contest, BeneFit is offering a whopping 20% off your order of $50 or more and Banana Republic is offering a grand 30% off their new spring collection (in store only).

Receive 20% your $50 order at BeneFit Cosmetics, click link and enter coupon code: HOTCORAL at checkout. Offer ends soon!

Bliss: One Last Hurrah for February

Bliss is offering a fantastic 15% off all Bliss Spa and Laboratoire Remede products through the end of this month. In addition, they'd like you to know about their fabulous new skincare product Best of Skintentions. Let me share a little info.

Bliss Best of Skintentions is their new once-a-day mega-moisturizer. It not only shields against burn-causing UVB rays, but is also one of the only moisturizers with a PA++ rating which indicates that it’s clinically proven to protect against age-inducing UVA rays. And it’s not just serious sun defense—it also delivers a daily dose of antioxidant vitamins, minerals and omegas to keep skin looking healthy, plus phytonutrients from tonka beans for a luminous finish.

A moisturizer on a mission!

What makes it special:

• protects the skin with SPF 15 for UVB (burning) protection plus a UVA (aging) rating PA++

• instantly illuminates the skin with phytonutrients

• delivers vitamins, minerals and omegas to promote healthy skin

Grab a tube while the price is right and peruse the other great offerings in the Bliss Spa and Laboratoire Remede regimen for high quality products as well. Here's how to take advantage of the special pricing:

Get 15% off Bliss and Remede products + a Free Full-Size Bliss Love Handler; click link and enter promo code: 019908 in shopping bag

Offer ends 2/28/09. Information and products available at Bliss online.

Jenny Packham London Fall 2009

Trying to find out the beauty and hair scoop from this show as so much fun. Jenny Packham London Fashion Week Fall 2009 collection is rockin'!

Girly and bohemian with a tinge of Native American in the gorgeous beading from the fashions themselves. I'm loving it. Here are some photos to whet your whistle till I can find out more.



An up close at the exquisite detailing of the beading and fabrics.

(click images to enlarge for better detail)

source: elle.com

Bobbi Brown New Platinum Collection

Pretty and Fresh

Bobbi Brown introduces her new Limted Edition Platinum Collection.

PLATINUM PINK SHIMMER BRICK (LE) - $40
Skin has a soft and luminous glow this season courtesy of Bobbi's newest Shimmer Brick, part of her Platinum Collection. Five color bars-soft pink, platinum, bright pink, golden coral and rose-blend together to light up the face. These shades work beautifully as highlight colors for cheeks or anywhere you want to add shimmer. The special platinum bar is a great new shade for eyes. Custom-made compact features a metallic silver finish and faux-leather detailing. Available for a limited time.

LONG WEAR CREAM SHADOW - $22
Eyes this spring are strong and smoky with cool shades of velvety-smooth Long Wear Cream Shadow. This award-winning formula goes on easily with a finger or brush—and lasts all day without creasing or smearing. Safe for contact lens wearers. Ophthalmologist tested. Fragrance free.

SHIMMER LIP GLOSS - $20
This ultra sheer, shimmering formula can be worn alone or layered over your favorite lipstick for a personalized look. Scented with a hint of Vanilla.

SHIMMERING BODY OIL (LE) - $34
Infused with pink and platinum pearls, this shimmering body oil gives skin a radiant glow as it moisturizes and conditions with a blend of essential oils. Lightweight formula absorbs quickly into the skin leaving it soft to the touch. Lightly fragranced with Bobbi’s Party, a new scent debuting Holiday 2009. This Fragrance has top notes of Violet Leaves, Lemon Flower and Lily of the Valley. A sophisticated yet fun fragrance.

Meet Bobbi Brown, renowned beauty expert, and learn her secrets to looking and feeling your best. Also, receive a complimentary makeup lesson from one of her professional makeup artists.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

12 pm - 2 pm

(Her beauty team will be there from 11 am - 6 pm)

Saks Fifth Avenue, New York

Call 212-940-2194 to reserve your appointment

Also going on now, Bobbie has a fantastic beauty offer for you.

Receive a FREE Full Size Bobbi Brown Metallic Eye Shadow in Rockstar with your $65 online order. Simply enter code: SPARKLE2 at checkout before 2/28/09 and you'll get this high-shimmer formula that creates a sophisticated, sexy look. Visit Bobbi Brown Cosmetics online for more information and to shop.

Bobbi Brown and Barex for J. Mendel NYFW Fall 2009

model: Kasia Struss

At J. Mendel, makeup artist Tanya Cropsey, for Bobbi Brown, created a fashion-forward face with flat, matte red lips, a matte eye and a fresh complexion. "It's a timeless classic look, but there's a subtlety to it," said Cropsey, who used grays and charcoals, namely Bobbi Brown shadow in Caviar and Steel, instead of blacks, for her smoky eye. "It's more detail-oriented." Cropsey used a brilliantly hued "true red" lipstick and left skin "bare, except for moisturizer," she said.

Hair, which was styled by Odile Gilbert for Barex, matched the makeup's feel of modern simplicity. After giving hair a side part, Gilbert pulled it back tightly on one side and created a pulled-back wave on the other. A straightened ponytail hung in the back and was given an offbeat shape with the addition of an elastic band halfway down and threaded into the back of the hair."It's chic and elegant," said Gilbert. "It's different from every side you look at it, and from the back it is very graphic." Gilbert smoothed down flyaways with a brush and Barex hair spray.

J. Mendel has been a popular pick among celebs and starlets at the award ceremonies this season. As such, a perusal of some of the collection's stunning gowns is in order and they don't fail to impress - these are quite lovely, very feminine and fluid yet with lots of texture and subtle detailing.

source: wwd, style.com, elle

b-glowing Debuts Urban Rituelle

Urban Rituelle is a simply gorgeous line of decadent bath & body products made to celebrate life's simple pleasures and enhance daily rituals.

By using contemporary colors and exotic fragrances they turn the everyday into a visual & aromatic experience. Shower with deliciously scented vegetable soaps & fragrant body washes. Soak in a tub filled with fragrant bubble bath & indulge in the centuries old ritual of bathing. Experience seductively smooth body lotions, decadent hand creams & luscious lip balms.
Turn your everyday routine into an opportunity to pamper yourself with products made to restore mind, body & spirit.

Urban Rituelle products are proudly made in Australia.

There is so much "scrumptious-ness" in these products it's really hard to do them justice through words. They truly are products, which must be experienced. Included in the line are tanning milks, body butters, lip plumpers and balms, bronzers, fragrances, decandent moisturizers and more. Scents of frangipani, coconut and ginger, pink jasmine, ruby mango, balinese temple flowes, tahitian gardenia, white kimono and balms of cotton candy, peaches, mango, vanilla, pomegranate and more tempt the senses and indulge every luxury for your body.

Enjoy b-glowing's special offer going on now. Free shipping with orders of $25 and more is available. As an additional incentive: Receive an exclusive gift of a free Sweet Treats Raspberry Lip Balm with your Urban Rituelle purchase of $30 or more. Offer is good through 3/2/09.

Enter code: urban at checkout

Urban Rituelle products are now available at b-glowing and retail from $8 and up.

Lancome's Brand New Baby ~ Youth Activating Genifique

You know I adore bringing you news before anyone else does on the newest and most advanced products to hit the market. Here's a very early preview, but couldn't wait to share.

Lancome is boasting a new skincare product in Genifique Youth Activating Concentrate that is said to actually boost the activity of genes. Clinical trials have been performed. Lancome says Genifique will get at the very origin of our skin's youth, the genes, which produce specific proteins that diminish with age. Their new product will boost gene activity and stimulate production of youth proteins. The claim is you'll see a youthful difference in as little as seven days.

"Skin looks lit from within, infused with life, breathtakingly radiant. Skin's youthful quality returns: cushiony soft and velvety to touch; tone is astonishingly even and texture is dramatically refined."

Those are some awfully tall, dramatic descriptors.

Lancome Genifique is only available by pre-order at this time and retails for $78 a bottle. For more information or to pre-order your bottle, visit lancome-usa now.

Beautyhabit Introduces Paul & Joe Spring 2009 Collection

Beautyhabit is now carrying Paul & Joe's fantastic Spring 2009 Collection. Within it you'll find fresh faced colors, textures and shades inspired by the silver screen, reminiscent of Hollywood starlets of eras gone by. The colors are innocent and delicate with a coquettish air of sexiness.

In celebration, Beautyhabit is offering an exclusive promo. Enjoy FREE STANDARD SHIPPING within the USA with your $25 or more Beauyhabit purchase. Offer ends 3/15/09.

Enter code: CENTERSTAGE at checkout

To investigate Paul & Joe further or delight in all the other wonderful, luxurious products to be found at Beautyhabit, visit them in their online store here. Happy shopping!

Smashbox: New High Gloss Shine - One Day Only!

Now’s your chance to try Smashbox's hottest new product, three months before it hits stores. But hurry – it’s only available for 24 hours. This advanced formula gloss saturates lips with a high impact shine. Vitamins and hyaluronic acid deeply moisturize, fill in lines, and naturally plump lips for the perfect glossy pout. Wear it alone or over any lip color – the reflective pearlescent shade looks stunning on every skin tone.

Smashbox Reflection High Gloss Shine retails for $19 and is available at Smashbox online now. But only for 24 hours! Buy now and enjoy free shipping and free deluxe jumbo samples.

Here It Comes ~ Huge Lips Skinny Hips

Oh yes, that's right; I said it ...

Huge Lips Skinny Hips

The gloss is the debut product by cosmetic brand PurpleLab. Huge Lips Skinny Hips is the brainchild of Karen Robinovitz, founder of PurpleLab (among others things). Don't get all skeptical by the name yet, let me give you the scoop first.

These are paraben-free glosses featuring Meadow Foam to bind moisture to the skin and Lemon Peel Oil to cool and soothe. Vitamin B3 stimulates blood flow to the lip surface, filling in wrinkles and plumping without much stinging or burning. I say 'much' stinging or burning because you do feel a slight tingle upon initial application; the tingle fades quickly. The 'skinny' part of the gloss is the inclusion of the ingredient hoodia. Now, the idea behind this isn't that you're going to garner so much appetite suppressing power from the gloss that pounds melt away. The idea is that it sets the thought of resisting food squarely in your mind with the presence of the yummy tasting gloss on your lips. A minute on the lips, a lifetime off the hips ... ha ha.

Ok, now let me tell you about the gloss experience itself. First of all, I've tried two of them, Lychee Martini and Worship Kate, and they are stunningly delicious! The flavor of the glosses alone is enough to keep you applying. As I said above, you'll probably experience a slight tingle upon initial application, but you'll also gain a nice plumping effect along with it. This is the first plumper I've tried where I can actually say my lips feel and appear pillowy. Yea for that! It's not going to render you Angelina, but the effect is lovely. The moisturization of the gloss is terrific. Truly, you'll see lines in your lips disappear and they'll feel softer. It's almost a balm-like feel after the gloss set in, and it is long-wearing.

I was a little apprehensive about the shades, as they appear quite pigmented in the tubes. Don't be afraid; they are very user friendly. There's a lovely sheer, shimmery quality to the colors. I was surprised I could wear even the warm, bright tangerine shade on my cool, pinky toned skin. Huge Lips Skinny Hips is oh so versatile. I can't wait to get more!

Want a visual teaser?

Boy are you in luck. If it's still true that sex sells (trust me, ladies and gents, it is), PurpleLab is in for immeasurable success. Get a taste of the hoopla by visiting PurepleLab online. There, you'll experience Karen's sensual, edgy New York style. Be ready to fan yourself, though, it's hot, hot, hot!

Huge Lips Skinny Hips will retail for $20 a tube, will come in six fabulously delicious shades, and will be available at Space NK. The launch is planned for mid-March 2009. Be the first to get news and information - sign up here!

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81st Academy Awards: Favorites in Fashion & Beauty

Natalie Portman


The 81st Academy Awards, or Oscar ceremony as they are known, boasted old hollywood glamour and goddess beauty. Even the format of the show was sweetly reminiscent of years gone by. Hugh Jackman hosted and shared his stage presence engaging in many song and dance diddies, drawing in the stars and viewing audience.

I'm not going to go into an elaborate recapping of the event as many of my blogging bellas (and beaux) have featured a wonderful variety of showcasing, beauty recaps and highlights already. See my blogroll for fantastic blogs full of Oscar coverage.

So here, I'd just like to give you a few tidbits of those I enjoyed most last evening.

Alicia Keys - in a strapless, orchid Armani Privé gown with Fred Leighton jewels and a Zufi Alexander clutch; I thought her makeup was too much, too harsh against the softness of the dress, but the gown itself was exquisite.

Amanda Seyfried - wore her shiny blonde locks down and wavy, reminiscent of Old Hollywood beauty Veronica Lake. She rocked a Valentino gown in the designer's signature tomato red shade. Amanda wore a nineteenth-century diamond flower necklace and nineteenth-century old mine-cut diamond stud earrings from Fred Leighton.

Angelia Jolie - the brunette stunner opted for a half-updo with cascading curls in the back that highlighted her bold emerald Lorraine Schwartz drop earrings (omg those earings were to die for!). Hair was styled by David Babaii using his line of products. Jolie drew all eyes in an Elie Saab gown with a low-dipping bodice.

Anne Hathaway - selected an Armani Privé design, accented with champagne-hued paillettes and Swarovski crystals. Anne wore Cartier white-gold and diamond teardrop swirl earrings, platinum and diamond pavé ring, platinum and princess-cut diamond ring with pavé detail, and vintage platinum and diamond bracelet. Yum!

Evan Rachel Wood - highlighted her porcelain complexion with an ivory gown from Elie Saab Haute Couture wearing Neil Lane jewels. She looked gorgeous!

Heidi Klum - bared a solo stem in a red, custom design from RM by Roland Mouret and diamond and coral earrings, bracelets, and rings from Lorraine Schwartz. Oddly, this was one of my favorite dresses of the evening. I'm not usually much on Heidi's fashions for these events, but she looked fabulous here.

Jennifer Aniston - looked stunning in her strapless Valentino Couture gown, with Bulgari jewels. The delicate braid along Jenn's hairline added a playful element to fabulously healthy, shiny, famous hair.

Jessica Biel - wrapped her curves in a platinum Prada column gown enhanced with Louis Vuitton jewels and a Prada clutch. Her half up, half down hair played off the femininity of the outfit beautifully.

Kate Winslet - looked lovely in her embroidered one-shoulder design from Yves Saint Laurent highlighted by Chopard jewels. Stylist Renato Campora's inspiration was Grace Kelly: "I wanted it to be elegant, classy and work with her Yves Saint Laurent dress," says Campora. To get the faux bob style, he rolled the hair under and secured it with an extra-long bobby pin and plenty of Fekkai hairspray.

Marion Cotillard - in Christian Dior Haute Couture. Marion wore Chopard's blue sapphire sautoir necklace and blue sapphire ring with an emerald cabochon. Ah, simply beautiful!

Marisa Tomei - did not shy away from sartorial drama; the second-time nominee selected a sweeping, single-strap design from Atelier Versace, with Van Cleef & Arpels jewels. Frederic Fekkai hairstylist Adir Abergel wanted Tomei's hair to complement the movement of her origami-like dress, but with added softness. He pinned her hair to the side with clips to see how it looked, and then committed to the style by removing the clips and securing with bobby pins.

Natalie Portman - in another of my three favorites of the evening, Natalie wore an intricately draped Rodarte design that played up her golden skin. She enhanced her gown with Kwiat's vintage diamond studs, Deco diamond cuff, and stackable diamond rings.

Nicole Kidman - in a gorgeous cream colored L'Wren Scott dress. The look here is all about glamorizing the bob. David Babaii used his line of haircare products to produce the look.

Penelope Cruz - wore a vintage Balmain gown with bridal appeal. Chopard jewels and a Leiber clutch finished the look.

Taraji P. Henson - simmered in a layered buttercream confection from Roberto Cavalli. Henson wore a nineteenth-century diamond flower necklace, old mine-cut diamond pendant earrings, and a nineteenth-century pink topaz and diamond ring, all from Fred Leighton.

source/photos: InStyle, style.com