The Gift of Guerlain

If you haven’t met Marcus Monson, my friends, you are missing out! You could travel around the world and be hard-pressed to find an artist who could match his makeup finesse. It’s no wonder that celebrities clamor for his help. He has an uncanny ability to bring out a woman’s best features. Plus, Marcus is both personable and hilarious. So …

Always Under the Mistletoe

With this DIY holiday hairpiece, you are always under the mistletoe! After blogging about the origins of the kissing plant last Meeting Men Monday, I couldn’t help stopping by the nursery for some fresh mistletoe full of berries. Then I put three short sprigs in my hair with bobby pins. I edged the look with three little decorative red bows …

Nordstrom Shopping Party Fun

Most girls don’t need an excuse to shop, but Nordstrom does up the experience by decorating their stores and opening the doors for an extravaganza. The night began with a visit from a quite dapper Santa who donned his Renaissance suit. And then there were the platters of delicious bites constantly passing by. These truffles with edible flowers were too …

Be a Burberry Babe…

…with Lip Glow Gloss. During the holiday season, everything is glowing from twinkle lights on storefronts, to shiny ribbons on boxes and flickering candles on tables. So who says we girls can’t glow too?! This gloss actually belongs to my mom. As I was visiting my family over Thanksgiving, I confess to borrowing this cosmetics keeper. I think I’m going …

Holiday Nails

I’m ready to welcome all the holiday parties, and now my nails are party-appropriate too, thanks to the help of my #1 manicurist. I’m calling this look The Julie Nail. The combination of colors in this creation can carry you through the entire holiday season. To build it, we used OPI and FingerPaints. First, Julie applied two base coats of …

Channeling Chantecaille

What’s about the only place that you can find a throng of fashionable ladies early on a Saturday morning looking bright-eyed sans lattes-in-hand? That would be a cosmetic trend show. And when Alex Chantecaille took the stage, the entire audience had their eyes glued on her. I bet you can see why. She’s intelligent, beautiful and full of information about …

The Frizz-Fighting Braid

Last February, I posted a fishtail-braid hair tutorial. If you’ve never done this look and want to, check out those easy steps. In that post my braid included colored yarn, but without it, this hairstyle can be thrown together in a measly few minutes. By happenstance, I discovered a frizz-fighting hair tip involving that braid. This picture was taken right …

MAC Cat Eye Makeup Tip

I have come a long ways in the art of the cat eye since Fatima, the acclaimed MAC celebrity stylist, taught me how. If you missed her fabulous advice, here’s a step-by-step tutorial with product links. When I first met Fatima, my cat-eye skills were nonexistent…and it wasn’t for lack of effort. I was forever applying eyeliner and taking it …

All About Aerin Lauder

With Aerin on my right and on my left, and with a signed bottle of one of her fragrances in my hands, I’m surrounded by cosmetic genius. This stunner is the granddaughter of the late Estée Lauder, and someone to watch. Her namesake line includes cosmetics, fragrances, jewelry, accessories, fabrics and décor. Launched only two years ago, it’s just a …

What Kind of Girl Are You?

One of my best guy friends once told me, “Girls worry whether guys will like their perfumes. The best way to find out is to bring a man along to shop.” So when samples of six Aerin fragrances arrived at my door, I put them to the test…that is, the Man Test! In case you’ve been on hiatus from the …

Halloween-Inspired Nails

As I was choosing my nail color with Julie, my favorite manicurist, a beautiful older lady approached and volunteered her advice. “I’ve lived through many trends and learned that bright nails aren’t always popular. Go big and go bold while you can!” I have to admit that she was a style sensation, so I’m taking her words to heart with this …

Tinker Bell Hair & Makeup Tutorial

The countdown to Halloween has begun. Only ten days left! I’m so taken with this holiday that I never settle for just one celebration. My Tinker Bell costume is a perennial crowd-pleaser. So I’m sharing my secrets for creating her look, and posting them now to give you time to gather your products if you plan become this beloved fairy. …

Eighty-One Years of Excellence and Heart

That’s Leonard Lauder in a nutshell. Last week when he graced a Nordstrom store, several members of the cosmetic staff had been lined up near their counters awaiting his entrance well before his ETA. The moment he stepped inside, a wave of applause erupted. You might have thought such enthusiasm was reserved for a major celebrity. In the minds of …

No Reason to Hide

That is the name of the Philosophy serum that the stunning host introduced at a cosmetics trend show I recently attended. She explained that it is formulated to work wonders with overall smoothing, preventing skin impurities, correcting redness and reducing darks spots. And does this stud look familiar? I featured Cam and his dating tips yesterday. He was enlisted on …

After Vowing He’d Never Marry Again…

…George Clooney made a different kind of vow. This Oscar winner has long been considered Hollywood’s most-eligible bachelor, but that eligibility just got eliminated. On Saturday, September 27, he and Amal Alamuddin, a human-rights lawyer, held what was supposed to be a private wedding celebration in Venice, Italy. Oh, but when you’re George Clooney nothing is ever really private:) Here’s what the …