6 things i learned in LA.

picture: amber, daneen, and me, taken by erika.


1. live blogging is hard! i apologize for not updating throughout the weekend. it was so jam-packed with activity that i barely had time to use the restroom, let alone blog about it.

2. this blush is why i'm having the best week ever. it's whipped texture makes the skin glow, glow, glow.

3. male beauty bloggers can be straight (and awesome!). to clarify, paul does the tech side and his girlfriend actually writes the content for beyond beauty basics.

4. there are magical sprinkles you can use on your food that will activate your sense of smell to make you less hungry. miracle? i think so. more on this later.

5. i went in the skin aging box! and i'm happy to report i learned that i currently have no wrinkles (though there was a bit of a scare because a piece of my hair was stuck to my face and the skincare analysis initially interpreted it as wrinklus massivus). the main aging predicted for my skin in 10 years is increased freckles, which i think are kinda cute.

6. i'm in the running to win a trip to paris! and you are can help make that happen (don't you want me to live blog from paris?!). so please keep reviewing your fav and least fav products on totalbeauty.com.

and, omfg! don't forget the season finale of gossip girl is tonight.

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total beauty rocks earth day.

i'm a little late in telling you about this, but i don't think it makes it any less exciting. my partner-in-blogging totalbeauty.com is hosting an eco-beauty contest in honor of earth day and beyond, wherein one lucky winner will win a 2008 saturn vue hybrid car filled with luxury green beauty products. other amazing prizes (like conflict-free diamonds!!) abound for runners-up.

all you have to do is write honest reviews on their site of the products you've tried out, so other pretties can benefit from your prowess. and just keep reviewin', until june 5th when the contest comes to a close. the more you review, the more chances you have, so rush to totalbeauty.com. and please, don't forget to thank me when you have your new hybrid car.

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my date with ted gibson.

ok, so it wasn't so much a date, as a total beauty organized informal interview, but it was beyond fabulous. in the cut-throat world of fashion and beauty, ted gibson is the most genuine and good-hearted person and it shines through in everything he says and does.

me and the girls sat down with ted at his salon and enjoyed prosecco and chocolate-covered strawberries. ted dished about the upcoming product releases from his eponymous product line, his childhood in texas, and his hands-on mentorship of the stylists in the salon. he is working on some sort of terrific new dry shampoo that i'm already all excited for. see the current offerings in his beautifully packaged and heavenly-scented product line here.

picture shows: anne, ted gibson, erika, risi-leanne, amber and me.

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total beauty nyc beauty weekend contest.

total beauty is kinda amazing (and by that i mean very amazing). they've helped me get backstage at fashion week and now they're trying to help you and your two best friends have a beauty weekend in my city, new york, including a makeover and $1000 in beauty products!

all you have to do is write 3 reviews on their website of products you've tried. every 3 reviews will give you another entry into the contest. so get writing, beauties. see details here.

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nyc socialite?

one of the best things about fashion week is that many of my beauty blogger friends from all over the country travel to nyc and we get to catch up (on products).

in addition to the runway shows and backstage interviews there have been back-to-back social events. total beauty and aveda sponsored a dinner for the total beauty i-correspondents friday night at KOI (however, i did not take any pictures there because i looked like a drowned rat from the crazy downpour that evening).


before heading over to MAC's indochine event erika, julia, daneen, amber and i attended the launch event for melissa walker's new book violet by design and christopher kane's juicy tubes at the lancome boutique. while there i also had the fabulous leandro bare do my makeup (hence my much improved look in the above picture). if you ever at the nyc lancome boutique - please have him do your makeup. at indochine i met some new blogging friends - dina, henna, and tamar.

daneen and i posed for a picture with one of mac's key artists, victor c. he attended the dinner after working backstage all day and sweetly entertained dozens of blogger's makeup trick questions.

and finally just this morning md skincare showed off their newest products over breakfast at alice's teacup (above is a picture of connie and i from this event). i have already practically used up the powerful sun protection lip balm sample they gave me!

and somehow i also managed to vote today (yay super tuesday!). and now i'm relaxing with an eggplant parm hero on my couch.

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backstage at THREEAsFOUR.

MAC's gordon espinet created the look for this season's THREEAsFOUR runway show, which took place saturday evening. i went backstage and spoke to gordon about the look. he wanted the girls to have a radiant, healthy look - "like they drink milk everyday", but combined with a rock star glam, which he achieved with shocking blue lashes.

their flushed cheeks were achieved with a new rosy mineralized blush. MAC is tweaking the formula based on the runway shows and the finished product should be available to the public in the fall (i will definitely be letting you know when this comes out!).

the amazing blue lashes were painted that color with fluidline in royal wink (a MAC pro color).

the unofficial shoe of fashion week? i saw my friend heather from MAC backstage and we were both wearing seychelle's "with a twist" shoes. i have seriously been wearing them all week because they are so cute and comfortable.


makeup loves me would like to give the biggest thank you ever to total beauty for making me an i-correspondent and helping me obtain backstage access. i could not have brought you this coverage without them!

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spaceNK/total beauty event.

i went to space NK apothocary for the total beauty web editor event earlier this week and had a fabulous time. space NK is an artful and soothing store located in soho. it carries all your old favorites (nars and laura mercier) and all of your soon-to-be new favorites (face boutique and philip b). their staff is attentive and they even have a spa space (which i'm a sucker for).


while i was there i got to do all my favorite things: shop for makeup and catch up with some of my favorite online editors. celebrity makeup artist and founder of the beauty blog network, elke, helped me with my red lipstick purchase. her tip? press your lips quickly against a tissue (not a full blot) to see how your red will wear. without food or drink that is what the color will look like in two hours. two of the best and prettiest editors (and two of my favorites) erika and julia were in attendance. i also got to meet daneen and antonia, which was a pleasure because they are both such clever writers. i also got to meet ben of we love beauty and annie from blogdorf goodman who have their own special spins on beauty writing. it was truly a fantastic evening!

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welcome total beauties!

first off, if you've been referred to makeup loves me by total beauty, i'm happy to have you - welcome!

if you are one of my regular readers and your wondering what is this total beauty? the answer is that it's a new beauty advice site which launched today! before launching the fab site had already been featured in allure (december issue, page 68!) and wwd (wednesday, december 5th!). they've selected makeup loves me for their blogs we heart section. and, well, i heart them back!

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