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Our Favorite Honey Skincare Products in Honor of Christopher Robin

I grew up on Winnie the Pooh, so in honor of Disney’s Christopher Robin coming to Blu-ray, DVD and Digital on November 6th and our Hundred Acre Wood friends, I’m sharing my favorite honey infused beauty products and benefits. I even dressed Charlie as Pooh for our screening and have been saying “Silly Old Bear”, to him ever since.

This movie made me me so happy and nostalgic for my childhood. It was the perfect blend of fantasy and reality and watching my much loved childhood friends, Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, Roo, Kanga, Owl, and Eeyore come to life was so special. You’ll probably enjoy it more than your kids… and relate to Christopher Robin; who as an over worked adult misplaces his priorities until he gets some help from some childhood friends. And what’s better than honey, Pooh? Not much when you think about the benefits of both eating it and putting it on our skin. So much more than a delicious treat, it’s used in many beauty products because of it’s anti-bacterial, antioxidant and moisture boosting properties.

Honey also plays well with other ingredients and is a great formula enhancer! Origins took their best-selling Clear Improvement Charcoal mask earlier this year and added Golden Wildflower & Fermented Honey to create Clear Improvement Charcoal Honey Mask. Historically, charcoal masks can be very drying and for more oily skin, however with the addition of honey it’s enabled more normal to dry skin to draw out impurities that charcoal is famous for without the tight, drying feel.

Marie Claire November Power Issue Feature

When your BOSS rings and Crest smile get featured in The Power Issue of Marie Claire magazine!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just in case you were wondering how I start my day or combat the effects of my coffee addiction (on my teeth), it all comes down to Crest and you can read all about it on page 77 (or just look at the article above…). WORDS CAN NOT DESCRIBE WHAT THIS MEANS TO ME. I know I’ve had some big gets in my career, but this is a truly special magazine and issue for me to be apart of and to work with Crest. The only things I’m really loyal to in life are my dog, family, coffee addiction and Crest so I can’t thank them enough for this collaboration. Mint is my all time favorite flavor so no surprises that 3D White Radiant Mint is my pick on how I start and end the day — so fresh and so clean! I’m also never without their 3D Whitestrips! They have literally gotten me through every major photoshoot and are like little security blankets for my teeth.

Did I mention Kerry Washington is on the cover? It also profiles 50 incredible girl boss’ that are such inspirations, especially to budding entrepreneurs like myself.  Marie Claire/Crest also did me a super solid and featured my BOSS rings as part of the feature. Do you see it? Right there in silver hanging off my leg? AHHHHHHH I’m dead!

This is the part where I retreat to my room and do an embarrassing happy dance…

Thank you Crest for helping me smile extra bright this month!

Laniege Slumber Party + Chloe Kim wore my Boss Rings!

Chloe Kim and Lara Eurdolian

Earlier this month, I got to join Laneige and one of the most BOSS babes on the planet, Olympic Gold Medalist snowboarder, Chloe Kim! Who by the way won at age 17, making her the youngest woman to win a medal. Major fan girl moment below, especially since I gave her some of our BOSS rings from the Pretty Connected Shop and she put them on! #dead, but back to Laneige, who we all came together to celebrate their 1yr anniversary at Sephora!

And what a year it’s been! Chloe blew out the candles of the dreamy LANEIGE x SEPHORA cake. It’s been an epic year for the brand, their Sleep Lip Mask wins literally every beauty award, including Glamour’s Beauty Awards which I judged and is one of my favorites! I sleep with it on and use it as my everyday balm during the day as well. It’s so smoothing, thick but not heavy and magical. My other favorite from them and Allure Best of Beauty Award winner is theWater Sleeping Mask.

Sephora House of Beauty Sephoria LA Trip

In a world of BeautyCon, Indie Beauty, FoundersMade, Ipsy… does the world need another beauty show? The answer is YES, if Sephora is rolling out the red carpet. Last night I got a preview of the first Sephora House of Beauty SEPHORIA beauty event which takes place this weekend at the Majestic Downtown in LA. Featuring endless stands of brands carried by Sephora gifting samples, and offering one of a kind beauty experiences and endless photo opps. And the talent!!!!!! Jen Atkin, Dr. Dennis Gross, Chrissy Teigen (for BECCA), Charlotte Tilbury, Mario Dedivanovic, aka @makeupbymario (for Laura Mercier), Dr. Murad all offering masterclasses… see full list HERE.

There’s an outdoor space featuring Glamglow, It Cosmetics, Viktor+Rolf and Gucci fragrances and the giant La Mer bottle you can go inside of (it’s insane!), then go inside the Majestic for 3 floors of brand activation and mini shops, and master classes.

They’re expecting 5,000 guests this weekend, watch the video to peek inside!

Welcome to beauty paradise, well done Sephora! Check it out at sephoria.com

Elizabeth Hurley + Estee Lauder Companies #TimeToEndBreastCancer Campaign

Earlier this month I kicked of Breast Cancer Awareness month with Elizabeth Hurley and Estee Lauder Companies, who done so much incredible work and fundraising over the decades. Interesting fact: Evelyn Lauder co-founded the pink ribbon campaign for breast cancer in 1992, now whenever I put on a pink ribbon, I’ll think of her and her legacy.

GET INVOLVED: For every post with the hashtags #TimeToEndBreastCancer and #elcdonates, Estée Lauder is donating $25 to cancer research. To date they have raised $76 million dollars since the start of Eveyln’s bca campaign 26 years ago. Every 19 seconds someone is diagnosed with breast cancer.

Learn more at elcompanies.com/our-commitments/the-breast-cancer-campaign

 

Space.NK Beauty Edit

Anyone else get super excited when it’s the Space.NK beauty edit time of year? Same. I love a good travel size and this is one of my favorite beauty gifting programs and a great opportunity to try and discover new and top selling products. This season the edit features 19 bestselling beauty favorites (valued at over $280), and photoed above from much-loved brands including Dr. Dennis Gross, Marula, Christophe Robin, Ouai, Eve Lom, Sunday Riley and more.

Just enter code ESSENTIALS18 when you spend $175 or more while supples last.

Shop and see the full list of what’s in the edit at spacenk.com

YouCam x Pretty Connected Beauty Donation Drive

Since co-founding Share Your Beauty, we’ve done events, and spearheaded countless donation efforts to sustainably get new beauty products donated to women’s and homeless shelters in the NYC/Westchester Tri-State area. For National Lipstick Day though, we had some truly special help from our friend at YouCam who instead of sending out mailers of product to editors, sent postage so they could mail in any extra lipsticks they had in the office. While their beauty app lets us try new looks and feel beautiful virtually, their efforts helped women in crisis in real life. We had an amazing response of over 250 lipsticks sent in! For this donation we partnered with the Hoboken Family Alliance who gave us dozens of bright, bold smiles for some very appreciative women in tough times. I can’t think of a better gift!

You can read all about it HERE. Thank you to our friends at Vogue, Bustle, Elite Daily, Fashionista, Real Simple, Health, New Beauty, Popsugar, Seventeen, The Coveteur, The Cut, Life & Style, Total Beauty, and Hello Giggles for your donations and especially to YouCam + Lindsay Colameo for your friendship and support.

To get involved and donate your beauty products (we take full and sample size, just make sure they are new), head to https://prettyconnected.com/share-your-beauty-donation-program/

BOSS Series Interview: Vjosa of Duart Beauty

Interview with Vjosa of Duart Beauty, wearing her Duarty Beauty Aliza Lashes above.

I met Vjosa last year at a Becca event. Her warmth, glow and flawless everything (skin, makeup, brows!) instantly had me fan-girling out over her beauty inside and out. So smart and someone who know’s her sh!t, I’ve enjoyed getting to know the veteran makeup artist turned vlogger. So when she launched a signature line of eyelashes — something I still a decade later in this industry struggle to apply, I was all over it! I’m clearly not alone in my lash struggle, something she’s seen with her other clients and what’s so absolutely genius about her lashes is they are split into three pieces so you can use them all over or just the edges and it’s the best compromise lash! For me, a strip is too hard to apply evenly and I don’t have the patience for strips, this is genius!

We sat down with this total rockstar and mega boss to get the 411 on her new venture, Duart Beaty.

First, a little about Vjosa, known as @vjosamua on social media. She is a NY based makeup artist and beauty vlogger. Her love for makeup began at the age of 16 which landed her at MAC Cosmetics two years later.  After working for MAC for 5 years she decided to freelance full time.  She has been doing makeup for 13 years and on July 30, 2018 she launched her own lash line called Duart Beauty. Vjosa has a big following on Instagram which demands her to stay on top of creating beauty content to feed her followers needs. She’s a master at what she does which results in teaching Makeup Master Classes all over the US. This year she’s expanding her reach and will be teaching a couple of makeup classes in Europe as well. Vjosa also has a successful bridal artistry business, and does about 200 weddings a year. Being high in demand she generally books out a year in advance so brides, take a number.

Vjosa modeling the Duart Beauty Dua lashes

2. Give us the 411 on lashes. What are they made from, what sets them apart…

Duart Lashes are made from premium synthetic nylon which replicates the texture of silk. They are cruelty free and can be worn 10-15 times with good care. They are custom cut in 3 pieces for effortless application. Duart Lashes have the glamorous look of strip lashes with the featherweight feel of individual lashes.

Photoshoot with Davis Factor + Smashbox Studio Skin Foundation Shade Extension

Smashbox photoshoot with Davis Factor

I’m a big Smashbox fan and majorly fan out for the brands co-founder, Davis Factor. For anyone that’s been in the industry as long as I have, you know he’s makeup royalty and an incredible photographer. The great grandson of Max Factor (yes, the Max Factor), and the mark Smashbox has made in the industry isn’t too shabby either. His photographs though… if you don’t know his work, look it up. So you can understand what a photoshoot with Davis Factor means for me, especially since I got to bring Charlie!!!!!!

Smashbox recently launched a studio in Greenpoint, bk and to celebrate the a shade extension of their infamous Smashbox Studio Skin 15 hour Wear Hydrating Foundation I got a makeover and photo session with Davis Factor.

Buxom Launches PillowPout Plumping Lip Powder

Buxom PillowPout Plumping Lip Powder Review

I’m a HUGE Buxom lip product fan. Their Plumping LipLiners are my go to, and still fall back on some of their former matte lippies that they discontinued. Their latest innovation PillowPout Plumping Lip Powder, excited me since I’ve put eyeshadow on my lips before and love that semi-matte sheen finish. An old makeup artists trick was to use eyeshadow on lips, generally for editorial photography for that visually stunning effect. Unfortunately, it’s not actually practical for longwear since eyeshadow on lips doesn’t really last, and past those first few photos it can give a dry, cracky, effect on lips. That said the eyeshadow trend led to several lip powders launching in the last year but most of them came in compacts and require a brush to apply. Buxom’s applicator and idea was much more intriguing.