Luxury Bath Products - The Powder Room Goes Couture!

 

My powder room, (aka the guest bathroom) has gone high class...and smells heavenly thanks to a few beautifully carved, strategically placed soaps. Yes, I know, but not just any old soap!

Caswell-Massey, leader in lush, high quality personal care products & accessories since 1752 has joined forces with couture soap brand Gianna Rose Atelier!  Gianna Rose is famed for luxurious home decor and bath products. The couture soap is hand assembled by artisans, rich with natural botanical extracts and nourishing emollients, and molded into intricate shapes that are a heavenly accent to any room or beauty routine.

 Some of the brands most popular soaps include Gianna Rose's Egg Shaped soaps in ivory or robin's egg blue with speckles that exfoliate and the Royal Jelly Collection. I have a few shaped like acorns that are just too cute, uh, I mean couture, LOL!

All are prettily packaged in beautiful, custom, hand tied boxes that make a gorgeous gift or self-indulgence.

Available at www.caswellmassey.com, www.neimanmarcus.com, www.saksfifthavenue.com

Fall Makeup Trends and Tips

What's new and pretty in fall makeup?! Rich warm shades.  Wait, that isn't really new is it?

Just check out fall makeup ads, past & present and we'll see smoky brown, burnished copper, blazing red, sizzling gold, warm plum and so on. Once again, companies like Lancome, MAC, NARS, Bobbi Brown, etc. are showcasing these colors.  So, what's new?  We are actually wearing these shades!

Fall marks a return to the full face of makeup! Don't worry, it's classic, not clownish. Lancome's Fall French Coquettes ad (left) executes this look flawlessly - perfected skin, smoldering smokey eyes and the option of a devilishly deep plum lip or a nude lip that's just as naughty. On the A/W 2010 Fashion Week runway, the Christian Dior show also featured a stunning fall face...and you can too!

I'm helping you keep it pretty with a link to key products and a how to video!

Thanks for watching and thanks in part to http://scandalousbeautyonline.com/ for her inspiring version of the fall face!

Full Color Lip Shine in Plum Fetish http://www.lancome-usa.com/makeup/gloss/la-laque-fever.htm 
Ombre-Magnetique Sparkling Eyeshadow in Cherry http://www.lancome-usa.com/makeup/eyeshadow/ombre-magnetique.htm 

Color Design Eye Quad http://www.lancome-usa.com/makeup/eyeshadow/color-design-quad-fall-2010.htm 

Get TARTE Smart - TARTE Cosmetics 40% Off!!!

Hi Pretty People!

One of my favorite, skin friendly, beauty brands Tarte Cosmetics is offering an amazing deal to family and friends.  And as my beauty family, I'm passing the savings on to you!  Time is limited, so get Tarte smart while it lasts! www.tartecosmetics.com

Bridal Makeup Looks - HERE COMES THE BRIDE!

EVERY girl has a vision of who she wants to be on her wedding day!  From angelic princess to fiery diva, I've had the privilege of painting them all.  Here are two of my favorites.   You can rock these makeup looks whether it's your big day or just your big night out on the town! I'd love to hear your feedback.  Which Bridal Beauty are you?!

Recreate these "Bridal Beauty" looks with the products below!

THE PRINCESS

• Foundation - Skin glows with Smashbox Smashing Highlight www.smashbox.com and MAC Cosmetics Face & Body Foundation www.maccosmetics.com
• Cheeks - Blushing brides sparkle with Lovecrush Blush as contour, Dollymix Blush on the "apples" and Vanilla Pigment (highlights), MAC Cosmetics
• Eyes - Lids twinkle with Bronze Creme Color Base, Vanilla Pigment, Star Violet & Beauty Marked Eyeshadows, Blacktrack Fluidline,  MAC Cosmetics
• Lips - Get that Princess pout with lipstick in Show Orchid by MAC www.macpro.com, topped with shimmering Multiplex Lipgloss in 3D by LORAC http://www.loraccosmetics.com/, my new FAVORITE! 

THE DIVA

• Foundation - Achieve a flawless finish with Iman Second to None Stick Foundation http://www.imancosmetics.com/
• Concealer - Brighten undereye with Smashbox Camera Ready Full Coverage Concealer http://www.smashbox.com/CAMERA-READY-FULL-COVERAGE-CONCEALER
• Cheeks - Blushes in Blunt & Style, MAC Cosmetics.
• Eyes - Black Eye Pencil http://www.faceatelier.com/, Black Eye Shadow http://www.shuuemura-usa.com/. Stars Makeup Haven Eyeshadows in: Fireflies, Fresh, Evergreen http://www.starsmakeuphaven.com/. Highlight browbone with eyeshadow in Snow (white gold) by Urban Decay http://www.urbandecay.com/. Kryolan aquacolor in white. Walk the Line glitter eyeliner, Hard Candy http://www.walmart.com/.
• Lips - NYX lipliners in Auburn and Pumpkin http://www.nyxcosmetics.com/,  MAC lipstick in Jist, LORAC Multiplex Lipgloss in Untamed Sauvage http://www.loraccosmetics.com/

Brand Name Beauty on a Budget! All Cosmetics Wholesale

We love a penny pinching, pretty purchase! Thus NYX (www.nyxcosmetics.com) , ELF (www.eyelipsface.com), www.cherryculture.com, and others are all the rage! 

Many makeup mavens claim that low-cost lines of makeup pack the same punch as brands like Urban Decay (www.urbandecay.com), Smashbox (www.smashbox.com) and yes MAC (www.maccosmetics.com).  That's true....sometimes.  But you have to admit, there are others when bargain beauty looks as cheap as its price tag and lasts about as long. 

Of course, we artists and enthusiasts can "make it work" (which explains the skyrocketing sales of Urban Decay Primer Potion and NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk).  But sometimes Coca Cola and Marvin Gaye have it right - "Aint Nothin Like The Real Thing" baby!

Enter All Cosmetics Wholesale (www.allcosmeticswholesale.com) According to the website, they specialize in providing discount, high end cosmetics that are brand new, fresh and AUTHENTIC, at wholesale & below wholesale pricing. As well as rare and hard to find items - brands such as Mac, Bobbi Brown, Estee Lauder, Bare Escentuals, Smashbox, Clinique and more. I've heard rave reviews from all but one person who said she received a faux product.

You know I can't resist a pretty place so....here's the verdict.  I scored some great  Smashbox and Stila that I loved and shipping is fast as lighting! Overall, prices don't beat most of my pro-discounts but this place is pretty paradise if you're a makeup maniac without a discount or live where brands aren't accessible.

 If you think it pretty, you heard it here first...and if not, you didn't hear it from me!

Day in the Life of a Professional Makeup Artist www.crystaljmakeup.com

Join me for a behind the scenes look at a fashion photoshoot!  I'm working with one of Elite Model Management's New Faces (www.elitemodel.com).  I acheived the looks with Nars (www.narscosmetics.com), FACE atelier (www.faceatelier.com), my adesign makeup brushes (www.adesignbrushes.com) and MAC blot powder saved me from having to do tons of touching up (www.maccosmetics.com).

Have fun... I did!

China Glaze, Nail Polish for a Purpose!

China Glaze, one of my favorite brands for nail color, has just become prettier!

China Glaze is releasing the Rainbow of Hope Collection in May 2010!

When you reach for these beautiful colors you're helping to reach for a cure. China Glaze commits 18% of Rainbow of Hope display sales to cancer research organizations hand picked by members of the China Glaze brand family. Extend the uplifting power of color to those impacted by a cancer diagnosis, including their families, friends, and co-workers.

For more, see the touching video: http://www.chinaglaze.com/seasonalcoll/rainbow_of_hope/

"Pretty" Please - Team up with TARTE COSMETICS

Here's one of the prettiest things you can do while you pretty your pout - Help heal a child's smile!

Tarte Cosmetics, Operation Smile and Elle Fowler team up to accomplish something beautiful!
Tarte will contribute $.50 to Operation Smile for every person that signs up for the giveaway (up to $1,000)
Sign up for Elle's lip stain giveaway and you’ll be entered to win one of the 10 LipSurgence™ natural lip stains ($24 value) http://tartecosmetics.com/contest.php?id=17.

At Operation Smile, they measure themselves by the joy they see on children's faces. More than a charity, they're a mobilized force of medical professionals and caring hearts who provide safe, effective reconstructive surgery for children born with facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate. With your help, how many lives can be changed tomorrow?

At CrysnMakeup that's real beauty!