Fabulous Over Forty – Where Beauty Is Ageless

I hope that you’ve been enjoying hearing about the Cosmetic Trend Show. It really is a great show that Nordstrom puts on and I highly recommend that if they have one of these shows in your area – be sure to attend!

The final segment of the show was Black, Smoky Eyes, and smokin they were!

Laura Mercier, Lancôme, Dior, Smashbox and Yves St. Laurent were the beauty lines featured in this segment.

Laura Mercier highlighted the Tuxedo palette. This is a quad palette that has white and black shades in matte and shimmery textures. Lovely. When doing a smoky eye it’s important to keep the lips and cheeks neutral, at the risk of looking clown-like if you don’t follow that rule. The model featured here, her look would be great for a casual, but fun party night out.

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If you haven’t read part one – do so before reading this post.

To continue on with the show (no pun intended) I want to share with your a few other looks from the Cosmetic Trend Show. The second cosmetic theme in the show is Winter Berry Lips. 

Here’s a look at the clothing for that theme the day before the show.  Beautiful purple, wine, burgundy shades and velvet and satin textures. I LOVE these color variations!

Some of the beauty lines that participated in this theme were Estée Lauder, Philosophy, and Chanel.   Shiseido was on the schedule, but did not appear in the show for some reason.

Along with the holiday makeup looks and collections, each of the lines feature a product from their whole line that is either new or a best seller as well.   For Estée Lauder it was their new Turbo Lash mascara.  I have not tried this before, but with Lancome and their version and now Prescriptives coming out with their version of vibrating, battery operated mascara, I am becoming less afraid and more curious.

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I remember when I was younger going to the mall and stopping by Crabtree and Evelyn stores.   I could spend an endless amount of time checking out all the luxurious scents in lotions, potions and candles etc.   But for some reason, over time I stopped doing that, possibly because the older I get the more sensitive I am to scent and too many in one space can send me into a sneezing fit beyond all fits.  It’s really quite embarassing, but also makes it difficult for me to use scented products, which I do love, if I can test them ALONE without 40 other scents mixing in.

So enough of my jabbering.   I’ve been using this Crabtree and Evelyn Conditioning Body Lotion for several weeks now.   It’s part of their Aromatherapy Distillations line and the Conditioning lotion has a nice fresh lemon and coriander scent to it.   It’s probably too refreshing of a scent to put on right before bed.   It’s more of a “wake me up” scent, or “you smell great getting out of  the shower” scent, without being overpowering.   In fact, one afternoon when I put it on and walked by hubby he wondered what I had on because I smelled really nice.  Hmmm!

The lotion is a nice creamy texture, and not too thick, not greasy or pasty at all.  Just a nice texture, and yes, moisturizing on the skin as well.    I’d consider this a lower end luxury priced  lotion with a price of $19.50.

If you want to see what others think of this lotion – check out Total Beauty – where consumers like you and me can write our opinions on product, so it’s completely unbiased.

I had the great opportunity to attend the Nordstrom Cosmetic Trend Show recently.  Not only did I attend as an audience member, I was able to do a few pre-show interviews and meet with some of the people that put the show together.

If you have not attended one of these shows in the past, I highly recommend that you do in the future if you get the opportunity.  Not only are they a lot of fun and the excitement contagious, you really can learn a lot about makeup, the collections or specific product that the various beauty lines carry.  Afterwards the experts are around to answer any questions you might have and offer free makeup applications and advice.  But one bit of advice – make an appointment beforehand and beware of the MOB of women – all clamoring to get a little more beautiful!

So let me start off with a little pre-show previews.  The day before the show I got to meet with Erica, who works with Julianne in organizing the whole event.   Here’s what a little backstage setup looks like.

There were three racks of clothing, accessories and shoes all organized by the three segments of the show.   They were categorized by:  Bright Metallic Textures, Smoky Eyes and Winter Berry Lips.

Once the theme is determined – which is taken by the lead of what the cosmetic companies are showing for the holidays – then it’s off to find the clothing in the store that will work with the cosmetics.    It’s really just the opposite of the designer runway shows, because this is mainly about cosmetics (and skincare).

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I am stuck in a hair rut and hope 2009 and these hairstyles will bring me new inspiration for the new year. How about you?

Will these celebrity styles inspire you to go short?

What’s our favorite look of 2008? A cropped hair cut. Check out these celebrities’ hair cuts and maybe you’ll be tempted to chop it all off in 2009. View styles