Tuesday, December 28, 2010

After-Christmas Haul: Lush, Bath & Body Works (and Georgetown Cupcakes)

Life is just better with cupcakes; especially limited edition holiday cupcakes!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas/ holiday weekend! I watched the Grinch, drank too much eggnog (which later led to a tumultuous tummy-ache), attended church mass (twice) and slept to my heart's content. I also took this week off work so I'm in super slacker mode right now.

However, I did manage to stop by the mall to do some sweet after-Christmas deal-snatching :)

First off, I ran over to the much-loved LUSH after-Christmas sale (which is now buy-one-get-one-free as opposed to buy-one-get-two like previous years). Instead this year a lot of their regular non-holiday soaps were included in the sale as well, so I picked up slices of Honey I Washed the Kids and Rock Star, along with three chunks (one chunk I got before the sale) of my holiday staple: Snowcake. If you haven't tried this ivory-white almond goodness already, I strongly urge that you do!
I also got two Snow Fairy gift sets, which has a Snow Fairy shower gel, Shimmy Shimmy glitter bar, and a star-shaped Angel's Delight soap inside. And picked up two Lil Lush Pud bath bombs as well.



At Bath & Body Works, I picked up 4 oz Slatkin & Co. candles in Twisted Peppermint, Snow Apple Mint, and Homemade Cookies. The three wick Winter and and Mint Chocolate I had actually gotten earlier in the month. I have been burning Winter all through Christmas and am loving it like cRazy! Makes the home feel so cozy~

So that's that!

I hope everyone has a wonderful and productive end of the year and an awesome New Year!!!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Now Available: Chanel Spring 2011 Collection

I'm still struggling with my Christmas shopping (I'm in trouble I know) and Chanel has already released their Spring 2011 Les Perles Collection! Not that I'm complaining of course. I am loving this collection's beautiful hues of peach, ivory pearl, and gunmetal teal-gray. 

I'm seeing some beautiful photos of this collection popping up here and there on beauty blogs and can't wait to stop by my Bloomingdales and check it out for myself :)


* Currently available on Chanel.com and select Nordstrom and Bloomingdales 

Saturday, December 11, 2010

A Little NYC Haul: Chanel Le Vernis in Particuliere & Riva

I was in Manhattan last week to accompany K on a business trip. And while he was lunching with men of his trade, I took a stroll down 5th Ave. I was happy to find that the Chanel boutique there had received a fresh batch of Riva and Particuliere.
So different, so equally beautiful!

A Drugstore Haul & NOTD

Last weekend I had a chance to stop by my favorite CVS location, the one in Harbor East, Baltimore! It may be silly to say I have memories about a drugstore but... I have memories about this drugstore. Harbor East was the first neighborhood K and I lived in as a married couple so we made many random (and often late night) runs to this 24-hour CVS for ice cream or advil or laundry detergent. Of course I would stop by after school and browse its abundant beauty aisle. This location always received THE quickest shipment of new limited item displays and helped me rediscover the potential of drugstore makeup.

Anyways, enough with the babble. Here's what I picked up!

1. Revlon Multi-Use Palette: Nine times out of ten I arrive at the office with a virtually naked face because apparently there are infinite ways of convincing your half-asleep self that a couple minutes extra snooze is worth looking like a zombie at work. This compact palette looked like a good thing to keep at the office as an emergency kit.

2. Revlon Nail Polish in Perplex: I didn't feel obligated to get Chanel's Paradoxal but that doesn't mean I'll skip on a dupe this good! (See Pink Sith's awesome comparison)

3. Milani Baked Eyeshadow in Intermix: I got this for its name; it reminded me of the Intermix in Georgetown, which I always find to be a stylish little thing.

4. Milani Nail Polish in Gold Glitz:
Glitter nail polish is often disappointing because what you see in the bottle is rarely what ends up on your nails. But this Milani One Coat Glitter polish is packed with gold glitter and looks incredible on the nails. I've never received so many compliments on my nails in my life- love it!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Swatch: YSL Rouge Pur Couture SPF15

I had to rewrite this post because I was so sleepy yesterday night that when I woke up this morning and saw what I had initially written the night before, I thought "who the hell scribbled gibberish on my blog?!" and then of course, I remembered it was me. 
The enraged me and the sheepish me shared an awkward moment. 

Not unlike the awkward moment I shared with the girl working @ Sephora when she saw me taking pictures of my own arm swatched full of lipstick. 

For me, the colors were either too nude or too intense. But obviously that doesn't mean you won't find something right for you :) 
OCD moment: I want to wipe away all those fingerprints!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Are You Winter-Ready? You'll be needing: Hand Cream, a Hydrating Creme for the Face, and Tea

Ella, the snow dog was found on Flickr. Photo by jpctalbot.

A number of my posts lately seemed to be about me getting into winter hibernation mode; candles and mittens and other goodies that seem all the more wonderful because it's cold outside- so I thought I might as well make it into a "thing." I love winter immensely- yes it gets unbearably cold sometimes but I love the crisp air, the snow, the family get-togethers, the lights, the trees, the coziness that wraps around you when you cuddle under a wooly blanket, the fireplaces and of course the occasional snow day that lets you take unexpected time off any official obligations you may have.

A friend got me the snowman from Pier 1 Imports
Albeit all these great things about it, winter is not a season to go into unprepared. So, here are some of the things that I feel grateful for having in my loot to prepare me for the cold weather.

1. Hand Cream: My current hand cream of choice is the MAC Naked Honey Hand & Body Cream. I find myself reaching for this a lot because it's creamy and moisturizing without being gooey/sticky (and I absolutely hate sticky hand lotions). Sometimes, when you wash your hands and apply a heavy hand cream, your hands end up feeling worse than before you washed them. Well, there's none of that here.
Plus, it smells like honey! It's not a sweet honey scent but I still like it because there's something authentic about it. Scent-wise it's similar to the L'Occitane Honey & Lemon Hand Cream, although there's something more clean about L'Occitane's scent. Both are great hand creams.

Some tips with hand cream: One: Do not apply hand cream right before you cook. It will affect any ingredients you touch and anyone eating can taste the lotion. yuck. Two: If you handle a lot of paperwork (I do), it's a good idea to not apply hand cream on the palm side of your hands- since the cream could transfer to the paper and leave a oily mark.



2. A Hydrating Creme for the Face: Next up, one definitely needs a good hydrating creme for the winter. It's easy to brush off this step of your skincare as insignificant especially if you're already using a moisturizer, but your skin will drink up the extra hydration and reward you with glowing winter skin provided you find the right creme for you. For me, that's the Dior Hydra Life Pro-Youth Sorbet Creme. I'll be realistic, it's not a miracle worker, this alone will not give you porcelain skin overnight but it boosts the effects of my regular skincare routine and relieves my cheek area of its, what seems like perpetual thirst for hydration.


I bought it as a set with the eye cream and serum.
Blue boxes always have the best goodies inside don't they?

3. Tea: Finally, I love drinking hot tea in the winter. I like tea in general but in warmer weather it's just so much easier to order a cool frappuccino as opposed to a steaming cup of tea. At home, I enjoy teas from Tazo (Passion is my favorite), Republic of Tea and Two Leaves and a Bud. Every once in a while I may get fancy with my tea ritual but I've been preoccupied with work lately so I can appreciate the convenience of these sachets.

I like the fact that these are visible loose leaves (and not powder) and that they come in a non-paper sachet. I've heard that the chemicals that end up on those paper tea bags can kill a small animal.

It's so important to hydrate yourself during the wintertime, not only by applying moisturizers on your skin but also by drinking lots of water! But drinking cup after cup of water can get a bit tedious and boring, so tea really helps make it a bit more fun (and more healthy while you're at it.)


I get these at Whole Foods. I'm unsure of where else they're available.

So that was my little Are You Winter Ready post :) Hope you got some inspiration as to what you'll prepare for the season. Stay healthy and hydrated!