Notices for deals following Thanksgiving are starting to peek through curtains and announce their presence. I am torn between saving money and buying everything the eyes can see to save money. Sales give me considerable guilt - for either purchasing, or choosing not to. You just can't win!

Bookmark http://www.stilacosmetics.com/warehousesale in your web browser and wait ten days for the Stila warehouse sale. Something tells me you won't be disappointed.

Live in California? Check out the sale in person on December 11. Check out details here.

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As I mentioned earlier, I was in love with the Madmen makeovers E! Entertainment whipped up for the ladies from The Hills, Lo Bosworth and Stephanie Pratt. Lo's makeover was a tight fit green with envy dress by Karen Caldwell, a design that would undoubtedly fit right into the plot of next week's show, and Stephanie's frock was a mini from Guess by Marciano with a peekaboo lace at the top, sporting some fab Bardot inspired hair.

I was thinking to myself, it would be great to create a similar look like Lo but at an affordable rate. The look is quite simply, with the dress being the attention grabber, some natural peep toe pumps (you can try booties for some extra 'tude!), a two finger flower ring and some seriously twisted gold bangles. Being that Stila makeup artist Sarah Lucero was on board with the makeover team, I had to find a pretty Stila pink and those bright nails had me thinking of China Glaze. I can't tell y'all which shade gloss or polish to get from each brand though, as their selection has plenty to fit each madwoman (or man!). I got most of the items for the look for less than $50, but the shoes required more work.

Day Dresses at eDressMe
Platforms by Michael Antonio

Is this an Emmy look you'll try to recreate? Which one inspired you most?

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I've confessed sins of being away from the blogging and internet world for a bit, but you will finally understand that the beauty side suffered too.

I had a holiday four pack of Stila smudge pots just waiting eagerly to be swatched and used for months, and it took the summer for me to crack open the packaging.

As you may have read previously, both the company and the smudge pots themselves are in the top ranks of my makeup standings. If this was the World Cup of Cosmetics, they wouldn't need a qualifying round. Click here to check out my tutorial with another smudge pot.

See the snow designs on the packaging? Yeah, I def got this in the winter!

2010 started off with a hell of a bang for many cosmetic companies. Everyone is really trying to do a major overhaul of not just their image, but their product. The consumer (you and I) is getting more and more picky as there is an abundance of choice all around us.

Stila Cosmetics can rely on my customer loyalty because I love their illustrations (okay that's not the only great thing about them...). I also have several glosses and palettes from them and can verify that the quality is up to par with my standards for a good product. So what happens when a brand I love comes out with a new product? Sure I give them some slack, but mostly I try to approach it as a fresh start. Like I never tried the brand before. Such was the case during my last trip to Sephora. Y'all product junkies ever feel like there is a mandatory amount of visits you are obligated to make to drugstores and places makeup counters? It's like a bit of an addiction I guess.

I was already aware of the new Jewel Eyeshadow Palette with heavy, release your inner diva glitter, as well as their Jewel Lip Glaze Trio (the consistency makes me think of MAC cremesheen gloss), and I heard the slow growl of desire for the Black Diamond Mascara, but I most definitely missed the memo on the new Eyeshadow Trios. I walked around plenty a Stila counter with a heavy heart as I saw the duo eyeshadow pans empty out with nary a refill. And then... well I could say that I felt like I saw one of those corny lights and an angellic chorus sing once I saw these, but you wouldn't believe me (even if in my mind it is indeed exactly how it occurred). I had an empty spot in the Makeup Forever palette that I converted into a Stila palette, and I was itching for new shades.

It's the second day of me holiday and I'm lighting up my candles while in warm company of Barbados. The Biblically noted miracle of light that lasted eight days made me think of what would be an appropriate gift for giveaway. Something that adds plenty of light to your life, eh? Well I thought of my most favorite gel liner and of course I thought of Stila and their 24kt Goldern Noir Smudge Pot.

The Simon Duncan fashion show had me excited to try out my first ever tutorial for you guys. I have to give a huge round of applause for the ladies and gents that do this on a regular basis because it is a painstaking process - do you know how many pictures and editing goes into it?!

The look was a pretty natural face & a smokey, black eye with gold sparkle in it and very light bronze contour with a neutral lip. The first thing I thought of when I saw this look was my Stila 24k smudge pot. I dug around for some more Stila goodies and created a one brand look.

I'm already a fan of Stila as you may know, their shadows & gel liners are ultra longlasting and apply like silk. Plus - who hasn't had a clickable lipgloss from them? I used them up like candy! Click after the jump to see the good stuff.

To continue the coverage of NYFW, I am breaking some posts up into pieces so that you don't get restless scrolling. Whenever I get home and troll through photographs and footage and find that I have an abundance of material, I find it best to separate the fashion and beauty and offer more for you to read in separate posts. Either way, you got no choice! :)

As I already said in the fashion post, the collection was great. It was very relaxed and carefree but still prim and taken care of in every aspect. Does that make sense? Every look, from head to toe was flawless, in that it looked effortless. You know - those girls that practically skip down the street looking perfect and saying they just got out of bed? Or when you have a spiffy day and feel refreshed but did next to nothing to achieve it - just wore the tried and true, good to you. This collection was like that.

The overall look was a soft but not overdone bronzed, carefree image. As Sarah from Stila describes it best, it's like the girl who fell asleep under the sun for a bit in the summer, but she had her SPF on - so she just has a glow. Some of the products used were the Pomegranate Crush Stain, the Fandango Duo Eyeshadow, and the Cobalt Smudge Pot (all personal faves!) .The hair was slightly piecy ponytails, mastered by the best, depicting the same story that the makeup began to write. The nails? Well of course they followed suit!

Deborah Lippmann of her namesake brand described the mani pedis (Fashion was the shade used at the show - order here) as reverting back to matching the mani to the pedi. She reiterated that women should rely less on the go to French Mani and venture out into the broader world of polish (to which everyone agreed). The polish used in the show was just the perfect shade (described as a "Not-so-typical taupe" cream color on the website) to dig your feet into the sand and have your toes disappear into sandy oblivion.

Check out the rest of the images a la Yaya:




the Lippmann polish army. See that glitter hiding on the left? That's my wishlist polish in Happy Birthday (and y'all know mine is coming up on the 23rd!)




the Ted Gibson family. Mr. fab hair himself is rocking a tie


makeup prep lineup




Deborah Lippmann polish at work


Ted Gibson working his hair magic




Lela's dog stitch was jonesing for a makeover, but he was fab the way he came!


Check out the show here:

Another day of the life in the tents! This show transpired on Sunday - so bear with me as I catch up. Thankfully, I did not go to any shows on Monday, so I should be reporting faster. That's good right?

I am also going to be entering the world of YouTube y'all! I realized I had no choice as I interviewed numerous makeup artists, hair stylists, shows, and designers for your waiting eyes. These posts might come after all my posts for NYFW are concluded by tomorrow/Friday, because as we all know (or may not know) the videos take a while to upload and edit (mostly to upload though), and I don't want the whole post to wait and suffer because of the video.

Regardless of the wait - you'll definitely love the material. This being the first Fashion Week I participated in (I usually watch at home), I've met so many great people and have gathered more than enough scoop to share with y'all!

The Lela Rose show was a great one. There was a large array of (mostly) wedge shoes and apparel that was the real definition of Spring. The beauty team was a godsend with Stila for the face, Ted Gibson for hair, and Deborah Lippmann for nails. Additionally, Darphin skin care (from across the pond!) was present to keep the gals skin in line and prettified. These girls live the life during fashion week, don't they?!

starting the madness backstage


looks



preparation

The clothes for the show were just as carefree and soft as the rest of the look. The collection contained many bright colors (but not neon) in lime-yellow, fuschia, greens, and blues. There were some pieces that really struck me & my favorites list because of how they fluttered during movement.


I loved nearly every pair of shoes


Lela's dog Stitch, was the real start of the entire show, as he walked the backstage area, taking the rights over his kingdom. He sniffed and greeted every artist, model, worker, etc. (and he probably liked the catering team the most). I actually wholeheartedly expected him to walk the runway.


he was too cute and fast for my paparazzi ways!


mercifully preventing wardrobe malfunctions













on a side note: there were some hot looking shoes in the audience as well:


Check out the rest here: