Posts from — February 2014

I really don’t have the excuse of feeling the winter blues I used to get when I lived in New York. February was always a ‘bleh’ time of year, usually marked by exams, snow storms and lots of gray skies. Now that I live in LA and I work in social media, all we can think about is Spring, and all the beautiful trends, jewelry and fashion that awaits along with outdoor art shows and performances. It’s anticipation time, and I’m totally fine with that. I’ve had a terrible bout with TMD the last few weeks, which causes all types of pain and discomfort. I’ve found respite in yoga, acupuncture, a change of diet and Spring colors. Yes, colors. They have the ability to alter your mood, and I can’t wait to start adding more and more color to my wardrobe and around the house. During a break in the work day, I grabbed some costume jewelry from Target in orange to welcome all of the wonderful changes taking place. I love mixing these affordable finds and with my cherished jewelry pieces. Breathes new life into what I have in my jewelry box.

My mother always watched old Hollywood films when I was growing up, especially Katherine Hepburn movies. Her hair and makeup was always so flawless, and her personality and sass made her all the more perfect. I was more drawn to the Rita Hayworth, Hedy Lamarr and Ava Gardner when it came to beauty and fashion icons.

But really, as much as I love old Hollywood glamour, it’s not exactly a look I can keep up most of the time. But if you narrow it down to the basics, you can definitely pull off an inspired look for a night out. I stick with inspired by and simple to do. All you really need is a great foundation, two eyeshadows, one mascara, one eye liner, a rosy blush and a red lipstick. Alright, you need a few more things but it won’t take that long, and you’ll be ready for your date in no time.

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Before I go into my excitement about trying out Mary Kay’s CC Cream, allow me to briefly explain the difference between this cream and BB cream, which is what I’ve been using prior to makeup application. BB Cream stands for Beauty Balm (or blemish Balm) and is the multi-tasker of skin creams. It hydrates and evens out skin tone and treats the skin with antioxidants and other anti-aging ingredients. Many BB cream products offer broad-spectrum SPF and leave your skin with an illuminating glow. I started using it about year ago, and realized it was doing the trick when my boyfriend commented on how flawless my skin looked. He’s not the kind of guy to notice those details like we do so that pretty much confirmed that my BB cream was doing its job. CC Cream stands for Color Corrector, and is designed to address things like redness and skin discoloration. My skin is olive in color and has lots of areas with dark blemishes from acne and hormones (darn you 40!). The texture is also lighter and translucent in most CC Creams.

Mary Kay sent me a great CC Cream set in four different shades (ranging from very light to deep foncée, which is like a rich caramel color). Looks like I may need to play around with my new creams and do a bit of contouring. Notice I said a bit. Although I’ve seen amazing contouring transformations, a subtle difference is more my thing. I was also given two beautiful bronzers just in time for Spring. Thank you so much Mary Kay!

(purse: Anthropologie)