Revolutionary skincare line Colbert MD has expanding their product line to introduce the brand’s first face masks – illumino Anti-Aging Brightening Masks – developed and researched by esteemed dermatologist and Founder of the New York Dermatology Group, Dr. David Colbert. The concentrated Bio Cellulose anti-aging brightening masks deliver brighter, smoother, plumper looking skin using patented QuSome technology.
Maybe it’s because I’m traveling through Europe but I’m having a real moment for Spanish brands and their craftsmanship. Last week I spotlighted Pikolonis shoes and today I’m all about Uno de 50. If you’ve ever seen the handcrafted jewels from Uno de 50, you know they have some seriously special pieces. Spanning rings, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, watches, and accessories, (they have a men’s section to!) everything is designed and made in Spain. The costume jewelry and accessories brand has a true artistry feel with strong craftsmanship. They are one of the few brands that can do chunky for me without it feeling heavy. They also have several great layering and statement pieces and I love the way they style their campaigns. Their pieces can take an outfit from day to night and everything is very wearable everyday and from the beach to a rock concert that you can really style them creatively.
Their renegade spirit and flair for coloring outside the line is evident in their latest campaign video (seen above). I always seem to gravitate towards buying necklaces and rings although with Uno de 50 they have women earrings with a unique style that I’m especially attracted to.
Whenever you see creativity on the runway you can’t help but stare or drool over every last detail. I’ve been a fan of Laurel DeWitt for some time, I mean come on she does metal apparel, how cool is that?. We cover her show every season and for Spring/Summer 2016 her collection did not disappoint. Her ever evolving-craft and attention to detail makes every piece a work of art. A romantic fantasy with regal jewel tones takes you to a modern day take on medieval fashion. As if the knights amour mixed with the Queens jewels and was reinvented for the 21st century. 
Striking a distinct 1930s note taking colorful cue from Elsa Schiaparelli, Ms. DeWitt’s current collection débuts not only a deeply hued array of elegant separates — introducing shagreen, leather, and fabric lacing to her already complex repertoire — but also doses the collection with metal flowers, entirely hand-cut, hand-rolled, and hand-painted to create a stunning display of incredible appliqué work rivaled by few in its detail and labor. I’m completely obsessed with the gold flower pieces, especially this outfit above. It’s beyond amazing!
For me, Autumn is all about traveling! Three years ago James and I took our first trip to Africa, last year we were in Australia and now we’re on a whole European tour. While in Africa, specifically Uganda we could not get a decent cup of coffee to save our lives (and I’m not snobby about much but lacking a good cup of java in the AM wrecks me). Once we moved on to Zanzibar, specifically to the Italian region we were saved by Lavazza. They had their coffee everywhere and it made our lives. Shortly after coming back from that trip I became a Lavazza ambassador (my enthusiasm for the brand did not go un-noticed by them over social media).
Since then James and I try to always spot their logo on our travels and obviously have to buy a cup every time we do. Sydney was my favorite spotting at the Taronga Zoo — good coffee and koalas — it doesn’t get any better then that.
Stila has had a non-stop reign of really amazing product launches. I’ve literally loved everything I’ve recently tried. And on top of that they have launched two beauty boxes that everyone should have on their radar as it can get you 50% off retail! (I’ll get to them at the bottom of the post), but first here are some new winners in my beauty arsenal:
Huge Extreme Lash Mascara – Very similar to the Too Faced Better than Sex mascara, this mascara lives up to it’s namesake and makes my lashes huge and thick. It curls with tons of volume with a creamy formula that doesn’t flake and is long lasting. 1-2 coats is all you need (let it dry between coats!) and it’s a show stopper.
James and I are in the process of redoing our apartment which as you can imagine with how much we travel has been a long time coming! While we’ve tackled most of our storage issues we’re still deciding how we want to organize our shoes. I don’t think we realized how many we had until we cleared out all of the hiding places (under the bed, in the hallway, shoe racks, storage closet…) and as you can imagine have quite the collection! What I want is a way to properly store them so I see everything. We have so many amazing pairs that it also inspired me to start doing a regular feature on cool brands starting with Pikolinos!
A REBEL is someone who stands up for their own personal opinion despite what anyone else says. An INDIVIDUAL who refuses to follow the crowd even if it means becoming an outcast. Jo Sampson’s Rebel collection embodies a spirit of nonconformist cool. Using the iconic motif of the punk stud as the heart of its design, designer Jo Sampson chose the stark, geometry of this simple shape for its enduring outsider appeal. The punk stud injects a tough, streetwise vitality to the pieces, which contrasts with the refined craftsmanship that goes into their creation. Combining golden metal with crystal in shades of plum, amber, blush, pink and purple, the Rebel aesthetic mixes the rough with the smooth.
Clarisonic recently launched Alpha Fit, their first device specifically engineered for men. Introducing the product was Dr. Robb Akridge, President of Clarisonic Global and one of the original founders of Clarisonic. The campaign slogan ‘It’s Your F-Ing Face” hopes to inspire men to take their regimens more seriously and take care of their skin. For the event I brought my friend, Dan Ralph, someone who has worked in skincare for over a decade and my #1 tester when it comes to mens products. He also happens to be the person who bought me first Clarisonic a million moons ago. Here’s his review on the new device:
I have been a big proponent of the Clarisonic since 2010 when I first started using the Clarisonic Plus. This is a three speed model for face and body. Typically when purchasing anything, I prefer the one with all the bells and whistles and the Clarisonic Plus was that. Even though I love this device, I only ever used one speed on my face. Here we are 5 years later and my Clarisonic Plus works just as good as it did when I first got it. Maybe it needs to be charged more often but I can not fault it for that, I find that I need more sleep as well than I did 5 years ago too.
Having spent the past decade on a laptop, I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to have a desktop back in my home. The Sprout by HP really does feel like a machine from the future, it has a touchscreen, projector and touch input mat which allows for a lot of different possibilities. So far it’s beyond any type of computer I’ve ever owned, in addition to your usual desktop capabilities, the Sprout is a fully functional creative workspace with a dual touch interface that lets you scan documents and products and morphs them onto your screen with the click of a button. You also have a toolbar that allows for full editing capabilities to move images, add text, clip art and do drawings. It’s completely interactive and such a great product to use for the type of collaging work that bloggers do everyday.
The touchpad lets you take 3D snapshots to scan multiple products all at once and the software splits up the images with transparency (as seen on the left of the computer screen above) or scan them individually. You can then move the images around for perfect placement and save them into your library for future use. You can also drag previous images scanned to create your collage and then add any additional copy or drawings using the toolbar functionality.
The latest addition to the Sprout is the 3D Capture, which is an affordable at home 3D scanner. While the Sprout 3D Snapshot is great for quick and easy 3D scans, the 3D Capture allows for a full 360 degree image scan of your object and is great for 3D printing. Unlike the 3D Snapshot, for the 3D Capture you can only do one image at a time and it needs to fit on the Capture’s circular pad. Objects cannot be larger then 8x8x8 inches or weigh more then 4 pounds. The circular Capture pad has to calibrate the image and the process takes a few minutes in between scans. Models made from objects that are matte, solid, non-transparent, and not too thin, especially organic objects like sea shells, stones, wood… are more successful than models made from shiny, furry, flat, or transparent.
Did you know? 99% of women have resorted to hair “tricks” – from teasing, to fluffing, to tying hair back in a pony or bun – to get the volume they crave? But what do these “tricks” really convey to others about us?
With a little insight from body language expert Vanessa Van Edwards, we learned how to show our most confident selves:
(1) As humans we recognize highly confident individuals by their relaxed, unruffled presence. ‘Hair tricks’ such as flipping, teasing and fluffing, derail a collected demeanor and make women appear frazzled, rattled and out of control.
(2) Most (women) don’t realize that over 60% of our communication is nonverbal, so the more self-assured our gestures and body language are, the more confident we appear and feel.
(3) A strong presence helps others take our ideas more seriously. Without realizing it, women need to know that mindless hair tricks come across as weakness or low-power body language.
(4) Women who rely on hair tricks not only come across as unprofessional, but can also send the wrong signal and indicate flirtation.
