My Beauty Travel Essentials

Summertime is travel time and there are certain beauty products I can't leave home without...

DentaBurst™ Freshening Teeth Cleaners - This is a great alternative to carrying around a toothbrush and toothpaste in your purse. Traveling or not, I always keep these in my purse because I have a paranoia about having bad breath. I absolutely love these disposable teeth cleaners because they make my mouth feel fresh and clean as if I've just brushed my teeth. Very good for those dinners with a ceasar salad! No more bad breath paranoia for me ;)

Skinsational Emergency Blemish Treatment - Whenever I travel, I tend to breakout because of trips to places with hot weather (like Vegas) and my face sweats like crazy. Makeup, sweat, and dirt aren't a great combination in case you didn't know! I just zap those blemishes with this anti-bacterial treatment that contains Vitamin C, centella, and green tea extracts.

Kenzo RYOKO Eau de Toilette - I love these little travel-friendly fragrance pebbles that were designed by Karim Rashid. The little pebble fits into the palm of your hand and the scent is very refreshing! I have the light blue one: "L'eau par Kenzo pour femme". To me it smells like cucumber and watermelon....yum ;) The Kenzo RYOKO collection is only available through the fall.

Lavilin Deodorant Cream - When I'm traveling sometimes I forget to put on deodorant. However, with this Lavilin deodorant cream that keeps me odor free up to 7 days, I don't have to worry anymore! I was a bit skeptical at first - an alcohol and aluminum-free herbal deodorant that can last 7 days?? Well, I tried it and yes, it does work! Even through the showers and summer heat it works. All you need is a little bit...

Happy 25th Anniversary, Shu Uemura!

On this day back in 1928, a Japanese makeup artist by the name of Shu Uemura was born. Destined for greatness, he was the only male student at the Tokyo Beauty Academy and launched his first cosmetic product in 1960. He went on to open up his first boutique store in Tokyo in 1983. And as the old cliche goes, "And the rest is history..."

This year we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Shu Uemura brand and the summer 2008 collection is aptly named HANA-BI which means "fireworks". The collection includes 100% natural origin fragrances consisting of Despea water and unique color palettes that bring out the essence of each fragrance. Mr. Uemura himself commissioned Tokyo industrial designer, Gweneal Nicholas, to design the packaging for the collection.

I'll be trying out the eyeshadows in this collection, so stay tuned for a review!

Sarah Jessica Parker All Over the Place

If you're a Sarah Jessica Parker fan, you probably already know about her "Bitten" line for Steve & Barry's. Well, her latest collection is out. Not too long ago I visited the Steve & Barry's here in downtown San Diego and I have to say that I was a bit impressed with the Bitten line considering the very low price points.

Like many actresses, SJP is capitalizing on her popularity. Amidst all the buzz around the Sex & The City movie, she celebrated the launch of her new perfume, "Covet", at the Champs-Elysees Sephora in Paris, France. Yeah, Sarah Jessica Parker is definitely milking the milk. I ain't mad at her though. I'd probably do the same thing :)

At the launch of "Covet" she signed pictures and perfume bottles for her fans...


By the way, remember to enter the Sex & The City giveaway!

The Multi-Talented John Varvatos Creates a Fragrance For Her

Detroit-born fashion designer John Varvatos recently launched a fragrance for women and I'm absolutely lovin' it! Some of you long-time readers already know that I'm not much of a perfume wearer, but the more I explore and "broaden my horizons", the more I'm enjoying discovering new fragrances that match my personality...subtle and playful, yet able to make an impact.

John Varvatos' new fragrance for women is a symphony of floral and fruity notes that brings out feelings of femininity and elegance. It's one of those fragrances that makes people take one step closer to you in order to capture more of that goodness. I know I couldn't stop smelling my wrists all day ;)

The multi-talented Varvatos not only designs menswear and creates fragrances for men and women, he also has lines in skincare and fashion accessories. Since the sun is beaming out here in California nowadays, I thought I'd check out these John Varvatos Aviator Sunglasses as well...

Chasin' The Winter Blues Away With Roxy Perfume

We're getting into somewhat chilly weather here in California and I've been fighting off this nasty cough and cold. What better way to lift up those spirits and chase those winter blues away with this nice floral and fruity scent by Roxy Perfume...

It's a very light perfume that's perfect for natural beauties ;) I especially like the shower gel that gives you a head-to-toe scent.

Most of us know Roxy by their surfer-inspired, casual clothing, but now the company is venturing into the smell-good department which isn't anything new in the fashion industry. Chanel has been in the game for years as well as Calvin Klein, and Gucci, just to name a few. They even have a Roxy Parfum blog where you can play games, watch videos, or even get yummy Roxy recipes!

Perfumes, Perfumes, Perfumes, Oh My!

Ok, I'll admit that I've become a perfume whore. I've said before that I don't really wear perfume, but now when I find myself in any store that sells perfume, I tend to gravitate to all those pretty bottles to discover a new fruity scent to start my own perfume orchard.

The other day I was in a department store when a lady walked up to me to show me Sean John's Unforgivable Woman fragrance. She said that "Everybody" loves it. Well, it's not really for me ;)

I would love to check out "Heiress" by Paris Hilton because it's supposed to be floral and fruity. I've smelled her new scent, "Can Can" and fell in love with it. As my boyfriend said, "Now there's a positive for Paris Hilton!" In some crazy, twisted way I do admire Paris. She's the celebrity many of us love to hate, but you have to realize that she's human just like the rest of us. A human with billions of dollars. *sigh*

Anyways, what perfumes do you love?

Related Posts:

• For Perfume Enthusiasts
• For Those of You Who Like Sweet Perfume
  

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The Beauty of Mariah Carey

I seem to have some critical blood flowing through me today because as I browsed through Glamour I could not stop analyzing each and every ad. I voiced my opinions about an Elie Tahari ad over at TheRunwayScoop and now I can't seem to stop thinking about this ad for Mariah Carey's perfume.
I understand the marketing team wanted to evoke a certain mood from this ad, but was it really necessary to show her almost naked body? I can appreciate it from an artistic point of view. Yes, the woman's body is beautiful and all...But we see enough of it in the media that and somehow that artistic element is lost.

Perhaps I'm just being way too analytical today...

That said, I do love Mariah Carey's music. My all time favorite is the self-titled album she released back in the early 90's. Actually, I love all her old-school albums and many of her latest singles. However, I have to say that Mariah Carey may have gotten caught up in the music industry "standards" of how women should dress and look like. I loved Mariah's style back in the days when she first started out. However, that's not to say that people don't change. I certainly am not wearing the same things I wore back in the 90's!

You can find Mariah Carey's new perfume over at her website: mariahcareybeauty.com

Baby Phat Golden Goddess...Luxurious!

I’ve known women who buy perfume simply for the design of the bottle and when I was in the store the other day the Baby Phat Golden Goddess perfume bottle caught my fancy. Glamorous. Gorgeous. I took a whiff and mmmm - luxurious! It actually smells good. I can’t describe the scent - only to say that it’s not overwhelmingly strong. Ya’ know, some perfumes are so strong that you need a rhinoplasty nose job just to get rid of the scent!

I read this review over at FabSugar and learned that Baby Phat Golden Goddess has champagne, chocolate and caramel gourmand notes in it. Well, no wonder I love it so much ;)

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For Perfume Enthusiasts!

I was reading eBeautyDaily today and had to share the news about this new perfume called Absolument Absinthe by Le Parfum d’Interdits. It’s funny because my boyfriend used to always joke around that he was going to invent a perfume made out of cannabis, so I find it interesting that a company would come out with this type of scent. Divine!

The beauty of this particular perfume is that male or female can wear it and the scent changes depending on your body chemistry. It contains these ingredients:

absinthe, cannabis, black tea, bergamot, Iranian galbanum, lily of the valley, lotus flower, jasmine, ylang-ylang, nutmeg, Ceylon cardamom, sandalwood, and musks

Oh, and speaking of perfume, I’ve been meaning to tell y’all about a perfume blog called PerfumeCritic.com - for the perfume enthusiasts!