Urban Decay Friends & Family Discount Event!

Scoop up your favorite Urban Decay items at a discount!! Do it now!

Cheers,

Laura

Hip Handbags from Hammitt Los Angeles

Every woman loves a great handbag and there is certainly no shortage of this most necessary accessory on the market right now. The hip and gorgeous bags from Hammitt Los Angeles, known for their chic riveted details, have recently appeared on Gossip Girl and Entourage, making them even more sought after by chicks in the know. Each bag is made by hand with only the highest quality materials. All of their leathers and suede are imported from Italy and each hide is hand-dyed in an organic vegetable dye, which allows the rich color to run all the way through each piece. The bags are finished with Swiss-made zippers and 24-karat gold plated hardware.

I am coveting one of these fabulous bags in a huge way! Any of the colorful styles would really add a fashionable twist to a gray or black ensemble ~ perfect for the colder months. Naturally the neutral colors complement everything in your wardrobe; any bag from Hammitt will be a total classic, now and always.

Cheers,

Laura

Editors note ~ I was not provided any merchandise from Hammitt Los Angeles in exchange for this blog post.

Piperlime Announces Jewelry!!

You’ve likely heard of the chic online store Piperlime, even if you have been able to resist buying fabulous shoes, handbags and clothing there! Well now they are making it even harder for you to keep your credit card to yourself, by adding stylish and affordable jewelry to the mix!

Visit piperlime.com for a sneak peak at must-have jewelry from brands including Kate Spade, House of Harlow, Juicy Couture, Gorjana, Tuleste Market, Kenneth Jay Lane, Betsey Johnson and more.

This one stop shop offers a bundle of great buys for you and those you might have in mind for holiday gifts. Face it ~ it’s gonna be here before we know it.

Cheers,

Laura

Note from Laura: Piperlime did not provide me with product or any other compensation for this post.

Health, Beauty and Restaurant Picks form Laura

Every now and then I like to share with you the beauty and health products I’m currently enjoying, and today is that day! Let’s peek into my life and see what we can find….

In the beauty world I really like brown eyeliner and pink or plumy rose colored lipstick. Avon has me hooked with their Smooth Minerals Lipstick SPF 15 in Plum Craze and the Jillian Dempsey for AVON Professional Kohl Eyeliner in Bronze. Since I am not a fan of red lips at all and I am not always in the mood for the full on smoky eye look, a nice plum lip and bronze lined eye help me stand out in a sea of red and smoky babes.

I’ve been tweezing my own eyebrows and skipping those salon brow wax visits. While I do miss my waxing girl Jill, who is a doll, I love that bit of extra money each month and that I can totally control each and every brow hair that grows out of my face! I’ve been using Cover Girl Professional Natural Lash Mascara, among other products, to keep my brows in place. It’s inexpensive and works like a charm.

As I’ve mentioned before I am a huge fan of vanilla scented products. I’m all excited about LaVanila Laboratories The Healthy Body Butter in Vanilla Lavender, with its heavenly scent and good for you ingredients like shea butter and goji berry. Sometimes I find body butter too thick and feel like my skin is suffocating but this one really sinks in and doesn’t leave a greasy residue what so ever.

Living a healthy lifestyle is important to me so I always try to find ways to make food even more nutritious. One way I do so is by adding flax seed meal to all sorts of things that I eat on a regular basis. I sprinkle it on yogurt, in salads and even into recipes when I’m baking. A few days ago I made cranberry nut bread and not only did I use wheat flour instead of white, I added flax seed meal and reduced the amount of sugar called for in the recipe. (I do this often and find that I never miss the sweetness. Most recipes call for too much sugar and butter; reduce the amount ~ chances are you won’t realize it. Look at the mostly overweight chefs who write the recipes!!) I also make it a priority to drink fresh juice this time of year, when the weather can change rapidly and our immune systems can feel the brunt of it. I have a juicer and I do enjoy making my own fresh juice. The problem I have is that it takes a lot of fruit and veggies to get a good amount of juice and sometimes that discourages me. It’s very easy for me to simply purchase the local fresh juice made by Arden’s Garden. It’s in grocery stores and there are stand alone stores all over town. My favorite is the pineapple/apple/ginger.

Eating food that is in season is not only majorly delicious (I always get so excited when I see the fresh cranberries in the store; the zingy flavor is so tasty and says ‘fall’ to me) but it’s also more healthful for you. If you eat what is in season and grown locally (or as close as possible) you are getting peak freshness and the vitamins and nutrients in the food are at their powerful best! Food that has been shipped from far away lands quickly loses its healthy potency ~local and seasonal is always best. Many Atlanta restaurants work with local farmers and support seasonal menus. A few include Chef Joey at Buckhead Diner, Chef Kevin at Woodfire Grill (current Top Chef contestant) and Chef Linton at Restaurant Eugene. All of these restaurants are exceptional and you won’t soon forget any meal you eat there!

Cheers,

Laura

Kimberly Snyder's Fall Green Smoothie

Today I want to share with you this healthy and delicious smoothie recipe from Kimberly Snyder, founder of Envision Beauty. (I love Kimberly’s product called ‘The Solution’ with its natural ingredients and paraben free formula. Check it out on her website.) As the weather changes it is very important that we feed our bodies with pure vitamins and minerals to help our keep our immune system strong and our skin looking vital and radiant. This smoothie covers all the bases!

Fall Green Smoothie Recipe

- 3-4 full leaves of dinosaur kale

OR

5 smaller leaves of curly kale

- 3 stalks of celery

- 2 Bosc pears

- 1 banana

- 1 1/2 cups of cold filtered water

Strip the kale leaves (whichever type you are using) off of the stem, discard stems, and blend all the rest of the ingredients until smooth. Tastes best cold, so be sure to use cold water. If your blender is not very strong, and takes longer to blend up, thereby warming the smoothie, make the night before and keep in the fridge overnight. Keeps for a maximum of up to 3 days in the fridge. Makes 4 servings.

In season through the Fall, the extremely powerful dark leafy green kale is the main feature of the Fall Green Smoothie.

Kale is one of the most mineral-rich, beautifying greens there is. It is abundant in calcium, lutein, iron, fiber and Vitamins A, K, and collagen-building Vitamin C. Kale has seven times the beta-carotene of broccoli and ten times more lutein. Full of phytochemicals, it also packs in Vitamin E, which rebuilds beautiful skin. Both Vitamins C and E are also found in abundance in The Solution.

As we switch from season to season our bodies can become more sensitive and it can be easier to get sick. The high content of Vitamin C in kale also helps with immunity, and kale’s naturally rich sulfur content helps boost the body's detoxification enzymes and provides a great cleansing response in the body to wash the system of toxins.

Aim to drink the Fall Green Smoothie 3 times a week or more.

Have a great weekend,

Laura

Get Yourself Some Brow Wow

One of the big buzz trends for fall/winter is brows that wow. The bold brow is big news, as seen at the recent New York Fashion Week shows and on models in the fashion spreads in current magazines. I’ve got some info from beauty experts and some fabulous product picks to help you get your brows looking both bold and beautiful.

Ramy, who’s the creator of one of my fave products, the Perfect Brow Wand, told me: “The brow look for fall/winter is strong.. full but well groomed and with a perfect arch. The look is all about bold with a great arch.”

I also asked brow guru Rachel Gangemi, from Valery Joseph Salon her take regarding Fall/Winter brow trends, and she said: “This season brows shouldn’t be too thick or too thin. It’s important for the brow to be shaped based on your brow line to have the most flattering shape for your face.”

Paul & Joe’s most in-demand beauty tool, coveted by celebrity makeup artists and accredited industry leaders is the Eyebrow Pencil Duo. Available in every shade under the sun, this duo is more than dynamic!

Another great brow product that just launched October 1^st is the gloMinerals gloBrow Collection. I have been using this non-stop since I got the kit! It includes:

*Four brow stencils

*brow brush

*spoolie brush

*tweezers

*brow powder duo

*brow wax

*brow highlighter

*easy step by step guide for brow shaping and product application.

It’s available in blond, brown and taupe and is great for travel or to just throw into your purse.

No matter what shape or thickness you choose for your brows, keeping them well groomed helps you look pulled together even on your most casual days. I find that when it comes to beauty, the simplest details, like pretty eyebrows, make all the difference.

Enjoy the day,

Laura

Jericho Dead Sea Skin Care Products

You’ve probably heard about the skin miracles that are performed when you take a dip in the Dead Sea, right?

Chances are you probably don’t have a lot of opportunities to visit or linger in these transforming waters, so skin care companies are doing their best to bring the benefits to you, with products you can enjoy in the privacy of your own home. There are certainly many Dead Sea related products on the market to choose from and in my years as a beauty addict and member of the salon/spa business, I’ve tried quite a few.

Recently I tested the following products from Jericho Skin Care, the Purifying Mud Mask, Dead Sea Black Mud Soap and Black Mud Shampoo. I am quite pleased with all the products and I’d like to share a bit about my experience with each of them:

This mud mask not only cleans pores but it didn’t give my face that shrink wrap feeling while it was on, the way many mud masks can. I was also pleasantly surprised that my skin felt soft after removal of the mask, thanks to the avocado and lavender oils in the formula.

My husband has commandeered the soap and I can vouch for the fact that his skin is soft and he smells great when he gets out of the shower. We both like the fresh scent of the soap and the fact that is doesn’t smell girly.

I have an oily scalp and I am constantly finding most shampoos are targeted toward people with dry scalp, colored or somehow parched hair. What about those of us with the opposite issue? Using this shampoo and then adding a bit of dry shampoo the following day really helps me to keep me hair looking fresh and healthy without stripping it the way some shampoos for oily hair/scalp are known to do.

You can check out all the fine products from Arabah Mineral Skin Care here. A gift of Dead Sea care is a wonderful idea that is always in style and will be greatly appreciated. Great for holidays, hostess gifts or just a surprise for someone you love. You won’t be disappointed.

Cheers,

Laura