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Lara Eurdolian, Pretty Connected Beauty Blog

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Lipstastic Beauty Finds at Nordstrom

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Kiss up to the holidays, with some of my favorite beauty products from Nordstrom. They’re one of my ultimate go-to beauty destination offering discount sets from everyone from Charlotte Tilbury to Diptyque and exclusives not available at any other retailer. While they have a vast assortment of giftables (you can see them all HERE), these are actually some of my favorite lip and face picks on my vanity. Splurge on yourself first… everyone else can wait for Black Friday.

Laura Geller sets – I literally can’t get enough. All are amazing featuring her top sellers with an incredible value — she went so above and beyond with her holiday assortment. The Color Luster Lip Gloss Duo ($12, $38 value) features two of her high shine, sheer to medium coverage lip glosses in Strawberry Creme and Rhubarb Crumble. Glam On The Go ($35, $104 value) is the perfect travel palette featuring three backed eyeshadows (Oyster, Sunstone, and Cocoa), Golden Rose Baked Highlighter, Honeysuckle Baked Blush and her Cookie Dough Lip Gloss. The Best of Baked Palette ($49, $130 value) features her Golden Rose Baked Highlighter, Pink Buttercream Baked Blush, Medium Baked Bronze-N-Brighten and three Baked Eye Shadows in Sand, Guava and Cocoa. The Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator palette ($30, $80 value) features three minis of her top swirl illuminators, Gilded Honey, Ballerina and Peach Glow. Gilded Honey is probably the highlighter I use the most out of any brand (I’m obsessed), it’s golden perfection! So I also included the full size (pictured above) which is one of my all time beauty must haves.

Ilia Launches New Shades for Fall

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As many of you know I’ve been on my naturals kick lately and one brand I’ve been seeing forever and dying to try is ILIA. Their signature lipsticks feature 72% certified organic ingredients that off a creamy, soft finish. For fall they have added three new shades: Madam Mina (nude mauve) and The Brides (warm nude) are limited edition and Lucy’s Party (blood red), will be part of their permanent collection. Just look at that sheen!

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All shades are true to shade with buildable color. They go on beautifully and feel amazing and lightweight on. The names of the three new lipsticks are inspired by the leading characters of Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula from the 90s.

This is what a $1500 Rossano Ferretti haircut looks like

Rossano Ferretti haircutTrue story. In the middle of getting a cut and color appointment, when I received an email that one of the most celebrated hairdressers in the world, Rossano Ferretti was coming to NYC for the move of his Rossano Ferretti Hairspa and to launch his new Rossano Ferretti Parma collection of luxury haircare products. Thank God we did the color first because you better believe I canceled the hair cut on the spot. At $1500 a cut, there is a waitlist for Rossano Ferretti, so an invitation to meet and have my hair cut but the master and experience his infamous “method” cut was not to be missed or rushed. I cleared my day. I will open by saying, he’s a man of education and created what he calls his bible, sharing the knowledge of his method haircut with his staff, so should you visit the salon you’re looking at a more modest price of $155 – $250 for a cut with one of his stylists.

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Located on the 19th floor in the Fuller Building at 41 East 57th Street (at Madison Avenue), I was greeted with so much warmth by the staff (I love Italians!), and by Ferretti, who toured me around the salon and pointed to the wall and introduced me to his mother. He told me he doesn’t do photos of his press or celebrity clients (which ahem include Kate Middleton, Jennifer Lawrence, Reese Witherspoon and Dakota Johnson to name a few, but this photo of his mom hangs in every one of his salons. I was instantly charmed. Between his 18 hairspas (with four more opening soon!) he’s rarely available to cut himself, so this was a true honor.

Now I will preface the man is a visionary. He was the first to shy away from ground level storefront salons and do an apartment style hairspas a few levels up. He developed his hair revolutionary “ The Method” cut, which is all about reading the natural fall of the hair and creating the perfect bespoke haircut for each person. It’s designed to enhance the individual beauty of every client, customizing the haircut according to the hair type and characteristics of each person.  He told me he could never go into the world if he didn’t have something new to offer.

Reebok x Gigi Hadid x Blueprint Cleanse

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Outfit details:

Reebok Dance Strappy Bra ($50)

Reebok Cardio Pinnacle Tight ($90)

Reebok Studio Reflective Jacket ($350)

Reebok Hayasu Reflective sneakers ($90)

Cleanse: BluePrint 3 day Foundation

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After last weeks trip to North Carolina I was a mess. My stomach was over traveling. I was feeling puffy like you don’t even know from my unstoppable salt intake (I blame my soy sauce addiction), and I was in no way feeling any type of bikini ready for my trip to Cancun. Truth be told back to back traveling is exciting but it takes a mega toll on your body, and if I’m being honest my stomach has been in knots since the election which hasn’t helped anything. My body does not handle stress well. This is my first weekend back in NY for the foreseeable future and I decided to take advantage of it. Cleanse, workout and sleep (in between the massive amount of work I had to get done). I did the 3 day Blueprint Cleanse which I usually do every year (but need to upgrade to every 3-6 months). Full review below! My friends at Six:02 also hooked me up with Reebok’s HOT new Perfect Never” collection featuring Gigi Hadid — she looks amazing in the campaign boxing and being fabulous like she does. I haven’t been working out lately because of all the traveling and whenever I break my habits, I have such a hard time getting back into it! Having actual time this weekend and this sick outfit and beautiful weather definitely helped kick my a$$ back into running and more importantly stretching.

Movie Night with Lily Collins and Miles Teller

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This week, I hit two advance screenings of movies, that are biopics based on real life legends coming out later this month. The first being “Rules Don’t Apply” based on Howard Hughes with Lily Collins (I know, I love her!). And yes I asked about her brows — she uses Maybelline Clear Gel to groom them but basically otherwise keeps them full and doesn’t do anything. She even upkeep’s them herself. I will get back to the movie review but can we take a second to appreciate that she doesn’t even need to fill them in and she goes “drugstore” (her choice word) on them.  Best brows in Hollywood!

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The other movie I caught was ‘Bleed for This‘ based on the incredible story of boxer, Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Pazienza played by Miles Teller, who did a Q&A after the screening. I’ve always thought of him as more of a bro-type actor/person but he blew me away with his performance, range and personality both on and off the screen. I think he and Lily Collins for that matter are two of the most talented actors of their generation. Movie reviews/trailers below!

Colourpop x Hello Kitty

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You’ve probably heard by now but Colourpop is collaborating with Hello Kitty! I was so excited to meet their co-founder Laura Nelson, and the kitty of the hour — Charlie and I both wore red head bows in support. For me ColourPop is an anomaly. As someone who came from the beauty brand side before starting my blog, what they have managed to accomplish in literally no time is incredible in this day and age. I have so much respect for them and love seeing the collaborations they do and all of your support for the brand all over my Instagram feed. Also the brand loves rescues, so now Charlie and I are obsessed.

Painting with Lemurs at the Duke Lemur Center

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If you’re visiting North Carolina and in the Raleigh Durham area or visiting Duke University, add visiting the Duke Lemur Center to your agenda. It’s open to the public and Duke houses the largest and most diverse collection of lemurs outside of Madagascar. They are a research center first and foremost so there is no holding/touching the lemurs but watching them — especially when they jump or rather glide through the air. Meeting so many different breeds (there are over 80 types in existance) is an unbelievable experience.

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The grounds are beautiful and set in the woods, so it’s a great outdoor activity. The lemurs are by the entrance and there are a number of guided tours available starting at $12. All of the lemurs are gated in so you can watch them from outside and learn about the different species. They also have some nocturnal ones which you go inside a dark room to observe them through the looking glass. black-lemur-blue-eyes-duke-lemur-center

American Express Partners with Amazon for the Holidays

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Whether you’re planning your holiday wish list, shopping for others or for everyday household items, Amazon has it all – and at unbeatable prices. For the holidays, American Express’ Blue Cash Everyday card is partnering with Amazon.com between now and January 11, 2017 to offer new Card Members 10% back on Amazon purchases within the first six months of membership, up to $200 when using the Card. New Card Members will also earn $100 cash back in the form of statement credit after spending $1,000 on the card within the first three months of Card Membership. That’s cause for major celebration in my household since Amazon is by far the site I order from the most, and I take full advantage of being an Amazon Prime member.

best-lighting-for-blogger-vloggerI started a photo studio wish list on Amazon awhile ago as I’ve been wanting to start a YouTube channel for some time and update my photo studio to take both my photographs and video to the next level. Also, with winter coming I’ll be doing a lot more of my photo shoots indoors. So, I decided to finally turn wish list into a reality as a birthday present for myself. Here was my lighting wish list (as seen in the above photo):

Lighting – LimeStudio 700W Photography Softbox Light Lighting Kit Photo Equipment Soft Studio Light Softbox ($74.99)

Ring light – LimoStudio 12” Ring Light Dimmable Fluorescent Continuous Lighting Kit ($129.99)

Tripod – AmazonBasics 50-Inch Lightweight Tripod with Bag ($16.99)

GlamGlow Volcasmic Matte Glow Moisturizer

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Right now, it’s all about the GlamGlow Dreamduo, which I confess I haven’t bought yet but am seeing everywhere. However, come December (or sometime in the next few weeks) there’s a new GlamGlow product to have on your radar. Last night I joined GlamGlow co-founder Glenn Dellimore for a sneak peek of the brands first true moisturizer, Volcasmic.

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Volcasmic is a matte glow moisturizer, meaning it absorbs beautifully and hydrates skin but doesn’t have the heavy, shiny effect a lot of moisturizers do. And is probably the first moisturizer in a while I’ve been able to get James to sign on board with — my boyfriend has oily skin and hates being “shiny”. I would say this is the product for anyone with that complaint. It can also double as a primer or you can use a primer over it, which is ideal for any of us that wear foundation and feel like between the tonrt, serum, moisturizer, spf… by the time you get to the makeup level your skin starts to pill, this is a great product to cut a few steps out of.

Oprah’s Favorite Things 2016 Announced

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Christmas just got real! Earlier this week I had the pleasure of getting a sneak peek of the Oprah’s Favorite Things list and O, The Oprah Magazine December issue.

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Hosted by Oprah’s right and left arm, Gayle King and Adam Glassman, there’s literally something for everyone on your holiday list and at all different price points. This is the publications biggest list ever and the experience of having Gayle and Adam present them was so fun! That and every time they gave something out to the audience! While we did not get a car (you get a car, you get a car…), we did walk away with so many cool travel, pet, home, kitchen items that I’m so excited we can finally share with you!