In Beauty

If the following situations ring true, then you need The Socializer - ASAP!

1) Every so often you send this text: "OMG, OMGGGGGG, Holy F*CK - what HAPPENED????!!!"
2) Tuesday TEQUILA, just 'cause! WOOOOOOOOO!!!
3) You leave the house wearing sunglasses on a cloudy day on an emergency mission to find Advil.
4) Oh shit. Oh shit-shit-shit. I have a board meeting at 9 and set my alarm for 8PM!!!!
5) He booty called me at midnight. I maybe slept for twenty minutes.
6) Do you have dreams about water too?

Sister, I hear ya! Being a popular socialite is a challenging and demanding role. Sometimes, it messes with our face. The Socializer, by Elizabeth Grant Skin Care, is an eye treatment (SECRET WEAPON!!) that illuminates for 'Bright Lights' throughout the day and repairs for 'Late Nights'. So, in a nutshell - it will make you look fresh, dewy and hide any evidence that your behaviour last night was - um - enthusiastic.

There are two magic wands that come in the sexy cylinder packaging: Bright Lights, the morning treatment, uses Mica, a mineral light diffuser, to instantly brighten and is the key to looking like the night before never happened and Late Night, the evening treatment, blends peptides and Ulva Lactuta to repair, awaken, de-puff and rejuvenate.

How to use? Just click and apply. But wait - let me explain that - because I spent twenty minutes trying to figure out how to click. I was shaking it like a cocktail, trying to twirl it, bumping them together - maybe I'm just daft, but it was tricky to initially figure out. Pay attention - there is a button on the bottom. Push it like a pen and use the brush to gently circle around your eyes. It's fun - like painting circles of youth.

Like, do you know how many late nights we have? It's not normal. Thankfully, there is now a product that understands our ridiculously busy calendar.

SCREW YOU UNDER EYE PUFFINESS, DROOPY DARK CIRCLES AND FATIGUE! CROW FEET - don't even get us started. YOU SUCK!

Keep this by your bedside, lady - it will save you.

For more information or to purchase products go to: www.elizabethgrant.com

My roommates and I have a giant basket of polishes sitting on our coffee table. It is, by far, the most legendary and talked about thing in an apartment full of strange objects. The ability to compare and contrast different brands offered by such a combined collection makes us hands-down polish snobs. And I'm here to tell you: this polish snob is impressed with American Apparel's new polishes. They swipe on silky-smooth, the colours are true, and the chipping is minimal, even with no top coat. Pictured is two coats of Office-that's it. And it looks goooood, don't it! Choose your weapons.

Lonely gas stations, wilderness campgrounds, festival bathrooms-summer will take you to some unlikely, and unhygienic, places. The best adventuress never leaves home unprepared-so we've created a summer tool kit full of everything you need to keep you feeling fresh, no matter where you wake up in the morning.

Andrea Professionals Wax
Keep yourself in line with Andrea Professionals Wax Strips for the Body. So easy to use, you could wax your legs in a campground bathroom. They warm between your hands, so you don't need anything more than what's in the box, and they come equipped with a good supply of post-wax lotion, so you won't have to deal with that all too familiar, all too unfortunate sticky feeling. When summer adventuring, shaving your legs just won't cut it. Keep your legs hair-free for longer with Andrea Professionals Wax, and ensure you're ready to jump in the lake anytime.

Pond's Wet Cleansing Towelettes
These feel fresh and fabulous on your skin, and with a few swipes, will help you put your best face forward. Keep them on hand to perk up after long car rides, swipe off sand and sunscreen after the beach, and freshen your face before debarking a plane. They are an invaluable secret weapon-no need for a sink.

Benefit High Beam, Dandelion Powder, and Benetint
The trifecta of the casual complexion. So simple to apply, you don't even need a mirror. Benefit Powders come in colours to suit any complexion, and instantly give you that 'I just woke up from 8 hours of sound sleep' look. A touch of Benetint on cheeks and lips, and a swipe of High Beam, and you'll look like you've spent the day frolicking in the sun.

Kiehl's Ultra Facial Tinted Moisturizer
Protect against sun damage and even out skin tone with Kiehl's tinted moisturizer. For lighter coverage, wear on it's own. To cover imperfections, mix in equal parts to give your foundation a lighter, skin quenching feel.

Body Shop Soft Hands Kind Hearts Hand Cream
Planes, buses, long car rides, workin' in the sun, all these can take a toll on your hands. Never embark on a journey without a good moisturizer. Help stop sex trafficking by purchasing Soft Hands Kind Hearts, which benefits ECPAT in Canada, Beyond Borders, and The Somaly Mam Foundation.

by Diana Cina
With one of Spring/Summer’s hottest trends being sheer fabrics and bare-it-all designs, how could accessories not follow suit? Designers have been using Lucite, acrylic and plastic materials in a dramatic, yet playful way to adorn just about every part of you. From Fendi’s transparent clutch to Prada’s translucent wedge sandals and matching tote and Burberry’s chunky acrylic bangles, there’s nowhere to hide!

With many see-through items lining stores shelves today at Holt Renfrew and H&M, they shouldn’t be hard to spot. But by far my favourite item to indulge in this season is the ultra-affordable clear bracelet from Swarovski for $32. Covered in tiny crystals and available in four different candy colours (blue, white, pink and yellow), this is a fun option for everyday. As summer approaches, there’s never been a better time to show off a little extra skin.

Before I ran off to interview Carmindy, the notable make-up artist who is in town launching her third book, Crazy Busy Beautiful, I jumped into a salon to get my unkempt eyebrows waxed. I mean, there is an entire chapter devoted to eyebrows. Of course, I ended up having a reaction and arrived to greet the fantastically flawless Carmindy with blazing red eyes. But the bubbly California blonde put me at ease with a little self-deprecating humour:

"This is 5AM make-up," motioning at her face, that looks as glowing and polished as one would assume it to be. 

So I ask Carmindy how she does it. Settle in:  I love that question. First of all I don't wash my face in the morning because I've already washed it at night... slept and been rejuvenated. It hasn't gotten dirty, so I don't wash it again. I wake up and put on my Creme de la Mer - I'm a Creme de la Mer whore - I love it! My skin is dry like the desert. Once that sinks in I put on my second favourite thing which is Skinceuticals Sport SPF Sunscreen...the reason why I like this sunscreen is because it has great titanium dioxide; it really protects, sinks into the skin and you can easily apply make-up right on top of it without it balling up. Then I take two pumps of my Your Skin makeup, which is my line - Sally Hansen Natural Beauty inspired by Carmindy - it's available right now in the US but we've been talking to Shoppers Drug Mart and it looks like they will be carrying it - so it will be available in Canada, thank god.  I put on my foundation with a latex sponge, I then tap a little of my all-over brightener under the eyes and then I do a light dusting of translucent powder.  Highlight underneath my brows, on the inside corner of my eye and on top of my cheek bones. Then I take an eyeliner pencil and smudge it just along the upper lash line only and put black mascara on the upper lashes only. I do a little pink on the apples of the cheeks and a lip gloss. That is my five-minute face, and that's what I rock every single day. 

Wow, that's quite the routine! [But that's not all....] At nighttime - I wash my face with Alba, which is Alba C-mineral Gel Cleanser, you can find it at Whole Foods. If I have any stubborn waterproof eyeliner, I take Rodial A-list cleanser or Make Up For Ever Sensitive Eyes make-up remover and then I lightly take off whatever is remaining on the eyes. Then I use SkinCeuticals Ferulic acid - it's a healthy dose of antioxidant vitamins and I put a layer of that on my face - and on my chest - and then I do my La Mer on top of that - and go to bed every night.

Well, you look great.  I'm 39 years old - I think my skin is in pretty good shape and I swear it is the antioxidants. I eat tons of salmon - I don't smoke - I rarely drink - I ingest antioxidants in powder form, in vitamin form, food form. I drink green tea, I don't drink caffeine - I choose antioxidants in my products. That's my routine.

Shit, I gotta work on mine. What is the wackiest beauty treatment you've heard of? The meat mask, it's in the book. I guess in the 1920's or 30's - they published a beauty manual and one of the tips was to go to the butcher with a cut-out of your face. He'd give you strips of raw beef that you would then go home and lay on your face. It was supposed to be the enzymes or the iron interacting with your chemistry - that was supposed to make your skin glow. 

Have you slapped meat on your face? The meat mask I haven't tried - I dare anyone to try it, let me know how it goes - be my guest.

What about that tip in the book about putting glue on your nose?  I tried the Elmer's glue, that did work - it didn't work as intensely as a Biore strip - but it did work.

Any other juicy weirdies? There was one tip about using snail slime - to cover up zits - actually there is an element of snail slime that is found in a lot of french skincare. 

[Although I wanted to, I decided not to bring up the rumour I had heard regarding Russian women washing their face with urine.]

What do you consider to be your greatest beauty asset? My attitude, hands down - and that's what I try to teach women. I didn't always have the right attitude and it made a huge difference in my life. 

Were you a high school beauty queen? I was an overweight kid, I had braces, I had dark freckles - which I should have been celebrating,  instead of hiding from and being teased. My mom permed my hair - so I had this fro on top of  a fat face. I was ridiculed and made fun of. I was called every name in the book, especially from guys. Growing up in southern California, which is a very image focused culture - I was teased relentlessly. By the time I got into high school, my baby fat started going away.  I started learning how to eat well and exercise. I remember thinking 'you know what - I can't carry this negative self-talk with me' so I started looking in the mirror everyday and instead of saying "ugh, I hate my fat cheeks' or "ugh, my lips are too thin" I was doing mirror mantras and affirmations. 

How do you get other women to feel this way...positive and confident about their beauty?   There's a really great slogan in the NYC subway - it's about terroism and it says "If you see something suspicious report it" and I kind of adopted that in the beauty world, if you see something beautiful - tell the woman about it. 

What if they don't believe you? I like to tell women this, this shuts them up really fast: "You have one life, are you going to spend your whole life beating yourself up and hating yourself? How boring and what a waste. When you are 89 years old and you are on a rocker on your front porch - you are going to be kicking your own ass thinking "why was I not celebrating the fact that I was young, gorgeous and had beautiful skin?" 

In Crazy Busy Beautiful you rant about how hideous lip-liner is, do you consider this to be the biggest beauty faux-pas? Heavy lip liner with a lighter lipstick or no lipstick is the worst thing you can do. It's ring around the mouth - it looks like you've been sucking on a bar of chocolate all day. It's awful , unattractive - women do it because they are trying to draw on this false idea of what lips are supposed to look like. Lips are beautiful - crooked, quirky, small and large and everything in between. If you actually take a litttle gloss or colour and enhance it - your lips will be beautiful-not drawing on some ridiculous shape that they aren't. 

What's the one must have beauty item we should own?  In terms of skincare  - it would be sunscreen. In terms of make-up, it would be mascara. Mascara is the quickest way to frame your eyes and make yourself look a little more polished if you are running out of the house.

How do I manage a red lip at the office, without it smearing all over my face and staining my teeth? If you are going to rock a red lip at the office - I would do almost nothing on the face - except a little highlight around the eye, maybe a little liner on the upper lash with mascara, then take your lipstick - and with your finger tip - push the red into your lips. That's the way to do it. Nothing says confidence more than a red lip  - and if it's done properly at work - it's more of a lip stain.

Anna Wintour has a signature look, I want one too - how do I do that, Carmindy? It's really about playing up your best features. When Anna Wintour got that hair cut it probably showed off her face in the best possible way - I know a woman who''s signature is her red lipstick and that's because she has beautiful lips and she talks all the time. It's about finding your best feature and playing it up. I'm looking at you - and what I love about you is that you have beautiful eyes and you are rocking a rock n' roll smokey eye liner - which is exactly what you should be doing - it makes sense. If you are a beachy/bohemian girl you should do bronzer and lip gloss. If you are kind of a rock n' roll chick sport the eyeliner. You've got to think of your personality as well as your features and then find your signature look.

What is the most rewarding part of your job? Watching women bloom into confidence and empowerment. I've seen women change their whole lives once they believe they are glowing and shine and are impeccable just the way they are - and learn how they can use make-up and hair to showcase their personality. Their lives change - they get better jobs - better boyfriends - move to a better city - their happiness goes up- they suddenly spend more time on their self. They become a better parent and spouse when they work on themselves. That is what is rewarding and why I stopped working on celebrities and concentrated on regular women. 

Is there anything else we should know about you? A lot of people don't know that I'm really rough and tumble. I love hiking in the Adirondacks with like a forty pound knapsack - and then bathing in a stream.

There you have it, this rough-and-tumble babe tells it like it is - and you will enjoy her book full of beauty secrets, moneysavers and how-to's from body basics to brows that wow. I've already made, like, ten changes thanks to Crazy Busy Beautiful. 

 

There are few ways to spend an afternoon more fabulous than eating Susur's signature Singapore style slaw, sipping turquoise bubbly with floating flower petals and getting a mini manicure. Over lunch at Lee, Nicole by OPI launched their new line of Gossip Girl inspired nail colours-and trust us, they're worth talking about. The shades, which embody big city elegance, style, and scandal, combine slick and shiny dark hues with high-sparkle polishes. Our favourites are Party in the Penthouse, a deep indigo shade that draws the eye with depths of colour and a hint of shimmer, and Nicole...Spotted!, a perfect turquoisey-blue with loads of sparkle. The polishes spread on like satin, and even without a topcoat, they stay put. Layering the sparkly shades over the dark ones elevates your manicure from day to evening in a snap. SNAP! The dark hues help bring a bit of edge to the demure fashion on trend this Spring. The only thing that would have made this event better - would have been to bang Chuck Bass in the kitchen apres lunch.

By Becca Shrimpton

Brace yourselves; you’re about to become seriously obsessed with something we all manage to rationalize the purchase of constantly: Lipstick. But we’re not talking about any lipstick here, we’re talking about the lipstick of the season, and it’s super affordable, so no need to run away from the computer at this point to save the little cash you do have in your wallet. The product that’s having all this hype built around it is Gosh Velvet Touch Lipstick and the colour of the moment is Darling. The stick has a soft creamy texture and the shade is an ultra flattering true nude with a hit of soft pink. You already know the current trend is nude lips and while a little concealer and Vaseline can suffice, Darling looks so unreal on you’ll never want to try anything else. This nude pink combo can be compared to MAC’s Angel shade, which is always, and I mean always, sold out at the counter. It makes all the difference when you have one solid lip product that delivers moisture, pigment, and a sheen finish (no top coat of gloss required). You can find Darling at Shoppers Drug Mart for about 12 bucks. Now all we can say now is, enjoy.

By Becca Shrimpton

Its no surprise that NARS is still creating more and more product with its coveted Orgasm name, the peachy-pink colour that originated with the cult classic blush and grew to inhabit bottles of lip-gloss, nail polish, and the multiple. The very latest thing is the Orgasm Illuminator, a lightweight liquid that is applied effortlessly onto the face for a radiant glow. Gold flecks and the sought-after peachy-pink shimmer diffuse light to give your skin a mega advantage when you go nude and are looking to enhance. This illuminator gives a great all-over fresh faced look, but can also be applied strategically as a highlighter or mixed in with your existing foundation to amp it up. You know what, don’t even stop with your face, bring it right down your chest to draw a little attention to the new low-cut tops we can start wearing in the springtime sunshine. It’s one of those multi-use products we grow to know and love and use the hell out of. Bound to be put on the growing list of consumer cult favourites.

By Becca Shrimpton

You’re counting down the days to spring, but are you ready to shed those winter layers and look the seasonal part? It’s time to think fresh, using products that brighten and uplift, with playful colours and super sweet scents.

1. Milani Nail Lacquer in Tropical Fiesta
A pop of bright on your fingertips is way more fun than last season’s nude.

2. Covergirl Lipslicks Lipgloss
Sheer colour and soft lips are always on hand with this classic non-glossy lipgloss.

3. Benefit Posie Tint
Look pretty with a light coat of the perfect pink on your apples.

4. Gosh Trio Eye Shadow in Ocean Drive and Sunset
Bring major attention to your eyes with bold colours inspired by the beach

5. Korres Lipsaver Roll
Get rid of chapped winter lips with yummy pomegranate, guava, and mango butters.

6. Stila Illuminating Finishing Powder
Maintain a glow with illuminating powder that will fully shimmer in the sun.

7. C.O. Bigelow Body Splash in Lemon & Orange Blossom
Refresh your body with a citrus-fresh mist that’s totally luscious.

8. Signature Collection Triple Moisture Body Cream Sweet Pea
You’ll have ridiculously soft skin with the coveted light sweet pea scent.

9. Covergirl Cheekers Bronzer in Golden TanS
Sun kissed skin is an essential pretty much always, and this little bronzer does a big job

by Zoe Shapiro
No one likes to receive the random soap products assortment gift- it says, ‘Hey, I don’t know you too well but everyone loves bath stuff/I question your hygiene level.’ That's why we believe in indulging for yourself, and there's no where better than Body Shop. I appreciate their consumer ethos and anti-animal testing stance, and I’m fairly devoted to their skin care line. It’s effective but not harsh and totally affordable until I enter into a Crème de la Mer financial bracket. AKA never. When I went to restock my Seaweed cleansetonemoisturize, I got the new flavour spiel from a peppy employee. I had time to kill before Alice in Wonderland, so I did some sampling.

Spring is citrusy, ladies; the Sweet Lemon line is the newest scent. The Lip Butter tasted like icing I should be licking off my lips, and I sprung for the Sweet Lemon Body Lotion and Shower Gel. They’ve been mainstays since, providing and all sorts of lemon lotion-y and zesty bathroom goodness. Ch-check ‘em out next time you hit the ‘Shop. If we will spring to arrive girls, it might just happen....