Okay Ladies, I’m going to be in my cousin’s wedding next Saturday, Nov. 10th, and my bridesmaid dress is Persimmon AKA orange - LOL. I’m looking for some beauty advice on color palettes that you think would go well with this color of dress. Here’s a picture of the dress and my dyed-to-match shoes! Note that the color of the dress is more orange than red like it looks in this photo.

Look forward to your advice!!

PS - Go Giants!

There’s me on the far right dressed up as a roaring 20s flapper - or Catherine Zeta Jones if you’re referencing Chicago. And the rest of the gang are my co-workers!!

Here’s one of me and a hot stewardess, Susan!

Happy Halloween, everyone! Go Trick or Treating and have a safe day!

I don’t know anyone that doesn’t love digging through old stuff just to find something you didn’t even remember existed!

I was going through some old boxes to try and find items to complete my Halloween costume for work this morning and discovered a MAC lipglass set from their Temptations collection - remember those from wayyy back in Holiday 2005? I was so stoked because I love lipglosses and now I have 5 more colors to wear everyday.

Just in case you’ve forgotten like I have, here are the colors in the Cool set (in the order seen below): Fleur de Light, Cultured, Pink Poodle, Dreamy, and Bow Belle. Fleur de Light and Bow Belle are discontinued I think, but White Magic from the McQueen Collection is a comparable duplicate.

Have you found anything in your makeup box lately that you’ve forgotten about and can’t believe you did? I’d love to hear about your finds!

Just because Thanksgiving is just around the corner doesn’t mean that we all have to turn into turkeys!

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the importance of taking care of your neck and décolleté before it all goes down-hill (we don’t want everything to start sagging, right ladies?!).

Trying to be extra cautious about my neck and chest area for the past month or so, I have been road-testing a couple of neck creams to find my favorite.

The first product I used was L’Oreal Advanced RevitaLift Night Cream ($11 - $15 US) for my neck. It’s an unscented, thicker cream – and by unscented, we mean that even our boyfriend can’t really identify what it smells like, only that it smells like a cream (LOL). It’s moisturizing but it’s a little too heavy for me and makes me feel like I’ve been sweating in my sleep (not sexy).

I also tried a sample of Bliss Thinny Thin Chin that I got in my Nordstrom beauty gift. This product is definitely more up my alley. It smells really nice, like citrus and grapefruit without being disgustingly sweet because the scent fades after a little while. It absorbs into my skin quickly leaving it soft and moisturized. It’s not sticky or feels layered on (like the L’Oreal did).

I would definitely recommend Thinny Chin Chin even though it’s a little on the expensive side ($48 US). If anyone has a favorite that they use for the neck and décolleté area, I’d love to hear your reviews and recommendations!

I was pretty lazy to put on makeup today so I just slapped on my basics - powder, eyebrows (a must when they are as thin as mine are!), eye liner, mascara, a little blusher and gloss. What resulted was my perfect day to day look that I can do all the time without feeling blah and boring.

On this particular day, I tried my new MAC McQueen Lipglass that I got the other day. It’s a soft, baby pink with white pearl shimmer (gorgeous!). And as it would turn out, I love it so much because I feel like it gives me luscious lips! It’s definitely going into my purse everyday so I can touch up with it whenever I need to sass it up during the day.

Here’s what I’m wearing:

Shiseido Eyebrow Compact in BL3 (Light Brown) for $28.50 US

Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in Chocolate Shimmer Ink ($19 US)

Lorac Blush in Plum ($16 US)

MAC McQueen Collection Lipglass in WhiteMagic ($14 US)

And that’s all folks, easy as 1-2-3.. okay, maybe 4 but it’s still manageable for 10 minutes in the morning, right? =)

Gwen Stefani is looking gorgeous as usual in this navy blue Lanvin dress over the weekend where she performed at the Black Ball concert in New York. You can steal her evening look for less.

Nicole Miller turquoise jersey halter dress for $174.00.

And if have a love affair with the shoes Gwen’s wearing here, we found the Christian Louboutin Fringe Peep-Toe Sandal for $1,020, too. Way to splurge!

{Photo: InStyle.com}

I’ve been wearing Vera Wang Parfum all day and it’s just one of those scents that are so classic, you can wear forever. When I first put a couple of dabs of the parfum on my wrists and behind my earlobes, it reminded me of Lancôme’s Trésor at first scent - very romantic with beautiful floral notes.

Vera Wang Parfum is definitely a modern, sensual, and romantic scent - a classic without smelling like your grandmother’s perfume. It has notes of rose, cala lily, and mandarin flowers blended with gardenia (my favorite!), lotus, iris, and white stephanotis, then wrapped in sheer musk, white wood, and floral nectar. The combination is a beautiful blend that I would love to wear as an everyday scent but would save it for that special occassion where you want to feel romantic and sexy.

The Eau de Parfum Spray starts at $67 US and if you’re starting to think about the holidays already, I recommend this for everyone! Just pair the scent with the Moisturizing Body Shimmer ($50 US) and your friends and family will love you for it!

Imagine my excitement as I’m sitting at my desk, replying to the gazillionth email on a Monday morning when all of a sudden I receive a brown package full of goodies delivered to me! I had completely forgotten that I had ordered some new (and unneeded) makeup for Nordstorm last week. And when I remembered, it came with the 19-piece sample sample I blogged about a couple of weeks ago - woo hoo! Talk about random acts of beauty - thanks Karen! By the way, check out some of Makeup and Beauty Blog’s random acts of beauty this week HERE.

Here’s what came in my zebra-print clutch - which is kinda hideous, by the way, so I think I’m going to toss it.

The first photo includes:

* Bvlgari Omnia Amethyste Body Lotion
* Clarins Super Restorative Serum
* Japonesque Snowflake Lashes
* Kinerase Intensive Eye Cream
* L, a L.A.M.B. Fragrance by Gwen Stefani
* Lancome Definicils Mascara
*LiftFusion Face Lift (packette)
* MD Skincare Alpha Beta Daily Face Peel (packette)
* N.V. Perricone, M.D. Face Finishing Moisturizer
* Thierry Mugler Alien Prodigy Body Lotion

The second photo includes:

* Bare Escentuals Prime Time Foundation Primer (packette)
* Bliss Thinny Thin Chin (packette)
* Fekkai Glossing Cream (packette)
* Laura Mercier Creme Brulee Creme Body Wash
* L’Occitane Verbena Shower Gel
* Origins Ginger Souffle Whipped Body Cream
* Philosophy Inner Grace Shower Gel
* Smashbox Lipgloss
* Vera Wang Parfum

I haven’t tried most of these products so I’ll be road-testing them all and reviewing my samples over the next couple of weeks. Let me know what you think of these products before I try them out. Maybe your favorite will become one of mine as well!

I was so excited to receive my goodies from the MAC McQueen Collection in the mail the other day - I ordered the lipstick in Masque and Lipglass in White Magic.

I tried out Masque first; it’s a rosy, dirty pink that’s pretty in the tube but makes me look pretty pale as a stand alone color. When I apply it on my lips, I don’t get total coverage with the first swipe. I have to apply about two layers and then blot my lips together to get an even coverage. The look is slightly too matte for me with just the lipstick on so I applied a little bit of gloss to even out the color and to make me look less like a corpse.

Here’s what’s on my lips:

MAC Lipstick in Masque, McQueen Collection ($14 US)

MAC Lip Pencil in Whirl ($12.50 US)

Bourjois Effect 3D Ultra Glossy Lipstick in Lilas Romantic 85 ($12 US)

I’m not really sure if this one is going to go in the favorites collection but it could be a lovely color if you layer with other glosses.

I’d love to hear what you thought of the rest of the McQueen Collection.

I adore Reese and I love this simple, ready-for-fall look from her. Steal her Dolce & Gabbana grey tweed look this season!

Elie Tahari ‘Jette’ Dress ($448 US) is a sleeveless tweed shift dress with faux pockets.

Pair it with black tights and a pair of Delman black patent pumps ($147 US) to complete your Reese Witherspoon look!

{Photo: InStyle.com}