Top Rated Nail Polishes

Top-Rated Nail Polishes

Find a sexy summer shade from this list of the 10 best nail polishes

This is a TotalBeauty.com nails article Total Beauty readers' reviews make up this list of top-rated lacquers that'll prettify your nails. See list

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Celebrate Summer Giveaway winner!

Thanks everyone for entering my Celebrate Summer giveaway and for checking out my blog! For those who entered, I hope that you will get to do those great things during the summer. I'll have another giveaway soon, so stay tuned for more details!

So.. for the winner of this year's Celebrate Summer giveaway...
CONGRATULATIONS to IMM!
Please email me your address and I will forward it on! :)




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NYC Shecky's Girls Night Out Recap -Spring 2010

I was invited to attend the NYC Shecky's Girls Night Out event at 82 Mercer last week. I have been a regular at their events for the past 2 years (attended their Fall Girls Night Out and Holiday Night Out just 7 months ago), so I was excited to go again this Spring! This was a new venue for me in Soho and it was fantastic! There were 3 large rooms with so many great jewelry & fashion vendors. Luckily I got there by 5:30pm right before a huge line started to form around 6pm. It was packed already inside so I'm not surprised they had to control the crowd. Check out some of the bling-bling that I saw!



Of course, while shopping or browsing these great vendors, everyone was enjoying drinks at the bars from the main sponsors:

In addition to the regular Beer Tasting event, they had something new from Lean Cuisine. We got the chance to sample their Garlic Chicken in their refridgerator/frozen section. So yummy! They set up this photo opp with the Lean Cuisine right before entering to get your sample and dine in their mini cafeteria.



While enjoying my snack, I got to sit and really look at my over-stuffed Goodie Bag. LOOK AT ALL THIS! This time is by far one of the best bags I have gotten at Shecky's!

Some of the brands that you probably recognize are: Colgate, Rembrandt, Febreeze Home Collection, Band-Aid, Goody, Venus shaver, Suave Naturals, Jergens, Body Shop, Lisa Gardner book, Aveeno, Softlips, Lady Speed Stick, Dr. Scholls and more!

I'm excited to try a lot of the new products, especially the Febreeze Home Collection Diffuser and Scented Lamp! I don't normally use these at home, but I'm looking forward to trying the diffuser for my bathroom and the lamp for my living room. I also liked there were a few products that will great for travel- shaver, lotion, shampoo/conditioner from Aveeno!

Don't miss the Shecky's Girls Night Out at a city near you. If it's NYC, you'll have to wait until the Fall.. just a few months away!

Which products caught your eye? ;)

A special thank you to Karen from Shecky's for inviting me to the event! :)


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Sephora Sun Safety Kit

For the past couple of years I have seen Sephora selling their Sun Safety Kit. A friend of mine got this last year and raved about thisgreat deal. For $25 you get more than 10 skin-care trial-sized products with SPF all in a cute reusable makeup bag. Best of all, all the net proceeds will go to The Skin Care Foundation. It is so important to protect your skin from the UV rays and prevent skin cancer.

This Kit contains the following items:
- 0.14 oz Murad Essential-C Eye Cream SPF 15
- 0.23 oz DDF Ultra-Lite Oil-Free Moisturizing Dew UV Moisturizer SPF 15
- 0.10 oz Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm SPF 25 in Lemon and Chamomile
- 0.25 oz Peter Thomas Roth Max Sheer All Day Defense Lotion SPF 30
- 0.16 oz Kate Somerville Protect SPF 55 Serum Sunscreen
- 0.27 oz Clarins Delectable Self Tanning Mousse SPF 15
- 0.16 oz Cover FX BritePrep FX Brightening Foundation Primer & Photo-Aging Defense SPF 50
- 0.34 oz Bliss Best of Skintentions Daily Moisturizer SPF 15
- 0.23 oz Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Cream SPF 60 PA+++
- 0.25 oz Ole Henriksen Herbal Day Cream SPF 15
- 0.25 oz Smashbox Photo Finish UVA/UVB SPF 15
- 0.02 oz Bare Escentuals BareMinerals Multi-tasking Face SPF 20 in Summer Bisque
- Pink Sephora makeup bag
- 2 x single-use UVSunSense UV monitoring bracelets

The annual Sephora Sun Safety Kit is available at Sephora until end of June or while supplies last.

Please note that if you have sensitive skin, you should do a skin-test of these products before normal application. I can't use many SPF products but I can only use products with Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide only. :)


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JetBlue & Ocean Spray raid NYC

Yesterday during my lunch hour, I literally ran into an Ocean Spray Blueberry bottle sitting in the middle of the street- 33rd Street and Broadway in NYC, to be exact.

Have you seen anything like this?? I took this picture standing 3 feet away from this huge bottle. If only it was full... :) Several feet away from this ginormous inflatable bottle, were JetBlue attendants handing out samples of the drink.

The New Ocean Spray Blueberry Juice Cocktail tasted pretty good actually! Here at Greeley Park, suitcases full of drinks were coming out from behind the sign and what you see here simulated the airport carousel- when you get your luggage. Cute idea!





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Mid-June update

This JUNE has been a bit hectic going to various beauty events such as CozyWallet.com's Night of Glam & the SassyCityChick's Fashion Bash. I also attended a media event to learn about upcoming Holiday gifts (yes- the Holiday that will be coming up in 5 months!) I'm looking forward to sharing the great products I learned and discovered. (stay tuned!)

The rest of June will be even more fun with a few more coming up this month, including Shecky's Girls Night Out this week. (I'll recap everything I see and love so you won't miss a thing!)

Also, this Sunday, June 20th marks two special occasions. First, it's Father's Day (need gift ideas for your Dad?) and I found some great gift ideas depending on what kind of Dad yours is. If he's the outdoors kind of guy, Surf-vival has some great SPF natural products. There's also C.O. Bigelow cologne that smells incredible and will make a great gift!

Secondly, it is the end of my second Blog giveaway! Called Celebrate Summer, the winner will receive the entire line of the Softlips PURE 100% Natural line (read review here) and a Certain Dri anti-perspirant. Both are fantastic and essential for the summer!



Hope you're all having a great June! Till next time! :)

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How-to: Determine your Summer Fragrance

Puttin' on the Spritz

See what summer scent best suits you

This is a TotalBeauty.com perfume article Take this quiz to see what trail of fragrance you should be leaving behind as temperatures rise. Take quiz

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CozyWallet.com's Night of Glam at NYC Bloomingdales

CozyWallet.com, is one of my new fave sites. It contains steals and deals of beauty and fashion products to keep your wallet cozy (ie: saving $$!) Earlier in June, CozyWallet.com coordinated an event with Bare Escentuals and Bumble & Bumble at NYC's Bloomingdales. These two brands were on-site to give makeup and hair consultations. The area was a bit small though, about 15 people max could sit down in two tables. The staff were friendly though and mini goody bags were given out with samples of Bare Escentual's moisturizer and mineral foundation & a Bumble & Bumble headband. I would say it was a quick event though because there wasn't much to do. Most people left after 20 minutes.

The Bare Escentuals products

A volunteer getting her face made up with Bare Escentuals. I was sitting in the back, so you can see it was a pretty small area. Each table sat about 6-8 ladies, and there were only 2 tables.

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Sassy City Chicks- Fashion Bash in NYC

Earlier this month, I went to the Fashion Bash by Sassy City Chicks in New York City. It's a similar "Girls Night Out" themed event with several fashion, jewelry and accessories vendors where you can check them out and shop! Also included are free drinks (alcoholic and non!) and if you got the VIP goody bag ticket, a little bag of treats. The goody bag last year and this year contained Popchips! and lingerie from Frederick's. In addition, this year I got Pixi lip silk, Colgate's Wisps and Revlon's Falsies.



The event was pretty spacious, compared to last year's, but I wasn't too interested in many of the vendors. It didn't seem like a lot of people were shopping though, only browsing! Enjoy the pictures.

The Fashion Bash takes place in other cities across the US for the rest of the year, so if you missed this, no worries! They will be at San Diego, LA, and Vegas this Fall!

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Four Minute Makeup Looks

Four-Minute Makeup Looks

Total Beauty editors take one for the team to put these quickie looks to the test and get their mug shots, er, photos taken

This is a TotalBeauty.com celebrity makeup article Celeb makeup artist created six four-minute makeup looks -- can they realistically be done? Our editors prove it. See looks

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Everyday Minerals- Colllections Spring/Summer

In the past couple of months, Everyday Minerals have come out with several collections (ie: value sets, assortment of their products in a gift set). There are several that I have come close to getting, but I turn around to see so many products sitting on my vanity that I still need to use and I don't check out. :(

Even though EDM is very different than where it was a year ago, there is still something about it that makes me want to check out what new products they have! They all contain at least 10 items for about $34 (except for the Utopia Blooms which is $29) so everything is a great deal.

The Josh Flagg Million Dollar Makeup Kit (PROS: new eye shadow colours- all in FULL SIZE CONS: Don't like the All-smiles blush and not sure about all the shadow colors)

Utopia Blooms- 25 Eyeshadow Kit (PROS: 25 different samples of eye shadows CONS: I have about half of them already)

On The Reef, Coral Collection- (PROS: I don't have any of the colours and they contain great neutral shades CONS: none :) )

Naked Natural Collection- (PROS: Contains their new blush/bronze combo CONS: Have some of the colors already)

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Softlips PURE 100% Natural line

Looking for soft, luscious lips this summer? Get it naturally with Softlips! Best known for their lip care products in skinny tubes, Softlips have come out with their PURE 100% Natural line- including flavored lip balms, lip tinted balms, lip tinted glosses, a lip butter and a lip polish! With their variety of products and flavors, there is something that you can definitely use to get your best summer lips yet!

With every beauty routine, you need to start off with a clean slate. Use their Lip Polish ($6 USD), to slough off dead skin cells, made with organic coconut flakes (smells yummy!) and sugar to get your lips super soft. I haven't tried a lip scrub before but I think this is necessary to keep them healthy looking and keeping your lipsticks look smooth without any flakiness. Tip: Use once a week for smooth lips! To win all these products mentioned, enter the Celebrate Summer giveaway until June 20, 2010!

To get sun protection naturally, you have to try their tinted lip glosses or lip tints balms($4-5 USD). They come in three colours- Coral Charm, Natural Honesty, and Shell Pink. So depending if you like gloss for shine or tints for the balm-effect, they will both give you the sun protection you need from Iron Oxides, great natural colour to show off your sexy, natural pout, and the non-stickiness goo they many other companies' glosses feel.

The gloss and tints do not contain any synthetic ingredients that are harmful to your health,( so no parabens or artificial colours!), because it's literally 100% Natural. The natural moisturizers made my lips felt moisturized with the perfect shine for the summer!

If you're looking for more Sun Protection for your lips, check out the SPF20 lip balms. (These are contained in the original skinny tubes.) They come in several great flavors such as Cherry, Vanilla, Strawberry, Raspberry with Green Tea extract, new Mint and new Wildberry.

The Softlips PURE lip conditioners are probably the most popular since they have great flavors with the new formula of their original lip conditioners. I have fallen in love with these (carry them in all my purses/bags and even keep one by my nightstand!) These lip conditioners contain organic oils, beeswax, shea butter and vitamin E that are USDA-certified organic so I know even if I lick my lips, it's ok!

If you're looking for a lightly flavored lip balm to moisturize, try their Softlips Lip Conditioners- in new flavors such as Peppermint, Acai Berry, Papaya and Chai Tea! One of the first ones I opened up (which is why it is missing) is the Pomegranate flavor! Smells light and fruity!

To win all these products mentioned, enter the Celebrate Summer giveaway until June 20, 2010!



(Disclaimer: I received this product from this company's PR agency to test, try and share my thoughts with my readers.)

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Review: Bliss Fat Girl Scrub

Another sample from the Beauty.com Summer Stock-up event, the Bliss Fat Girl Scrub is an exfoliator made especially for cellulite-prone areas (*ahem, like thighs!) If you have dimples or believe you have dimples, this ultra-scrub with help exfoliate your skin and circulate blood around these areas.

This isn't meant to completely remove cellulite but with regular use, it may help fade away the on the surface dead skin cells. Also, it doesn't hurt to massage your skin because after two applications, I felt my skin noticeably smoother! Note, if you have sensitive skin you shouldn't use this- may be too harsh on your skin. The scent is also really amazing- a bit strong but if you can handle the citrusy/pepperminty scent then this is great.

Bliss has great exfoliating products, including Body Scrub, Sugar Scrub and their Mammoth Minty Scrub Soap!! Check more Bliss products at beauty.com!



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Review: Jurlique Citrus Purifying Mist

At the Beauty.com Summer Stock-Up event in NYC, I scooped up the Jurlique Citrus Purifying Mist. Packaged in a crisp white box with its signature floral stem to symbolize simplicity and purity, the Citrus Purifying Mist is a summer must-have!

A fan of citrus, I was looking for something that could keep my face feeling clean and fresh during the summer heat. We all know how it can get sweaty and when that happens, I'm prone to "sweat zits." To combat this, I needed something that was clarifying as well as refreshing! This mist is exactly what I needed- it's made to rebalance oily skin with its formula- combination of witch hazel with tangerine and lemon essential oils.

It's available at Beauty.com, sister company to Drugstore.com and other retailers that sell Jurlique Products.

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How-to: Pick Your Eyeshadow Shade

What Eyeshadow Shade Will Enhance Your Eye Color?

This quiz has the answer

This is a TotalBeauty.com make up article Celeb makeup guru Carol Shaw helped us create this quiz so that you can find the sexiest eyeshadow to compliment your peepers. Take the quiz

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Celebrate Summer- Solstice in Times Square 2010

For the past two years, I have been trying to go to the Solstice in Times Square- the public yoga workout right in the heart of New York City- Times Square!

This year, it takes place on Monday, June 21st. Hurrah! In the past they provided yoga mats, but this year, you'll have to bring your own. Participants will get a Solstice gift bag while supplies last and take part in an exhilarating workout.

There are five time slots open, and already waiting lists for the 7:30 AM (Bravo to them for waking up so early) and 6 PM. So hurry and sign up now at: http://solsticetimessquare2010.eventbrite.com/

This free yoga-fest is a can't miss event for fitness enthusiasts!
Join NYC and Celebrate Summer!




(Disclaimer: I received this product from this company's PR agency to test, try and share my thoughts with my readers.)(Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliate link.)Check out more blogs @ TotalBeauty.com