Fabulous Over Forty – Where Beauty Is Ageless

The great people at Apothica are offering one reader of Fab Over Forty a $25 gift certificate for a purchase of their choice at Apothica.com!  (Or one of their other sites SkinCareRx.com and SkinBotanica.com)   How fabulous is that!

Apothica carries so many beauty lines that I’ve talked about at Fab Over Forty through the years.  From makeup, to fragrance, skin care, hair care and so much more!   One of the lines they carry is Smashbox Cosmetics.  I have several Smashbox products, from the primer to some brushes, lips and they even have that great Fall 2010 palette called Masquerade Eye Palette that I mentioned a week ago about one of the Purple Pride items for fall.   Check out the site for the amazing selection of beauty brands. 

Here’s how you can enter to win – there are a few ways to increase your chances!

• Enter your name in the comments and tell me what you would buy if you won the gift certificate.  Click above to see all the brands and items they carry
• Contest Ends Sept. 12th at 11:59 PM CST

Extra ways to up your chances of winning:

• Go to Apothica’s Facebook page and “Like” them
• Follow them on Twitter
• Mention this post on Twitter by using @faboverforty so I know you tweeted
• Sign up for their newsletter at the bottom of their page

Good Luck!

Happy weekend everyone!   What big plans do you have as the summer is winding down?   I’m spending my first weekend all summer as an empty nester and I’ve yet to decide what to do with my time.  Maybe nothing, and enjoy the last of the lazy days of summer!    In the meantime, enjoy some of the best in beauty and fashion around the web.

Whether it’s back-to-school time or you just want to save big on clothes, check out The Budget Fashionista to see how you can get a big discount on your purchases at Gap, Old Navy and more.  But hurry, the sale ends August 29th!

Charlestongirl of Best Things in Beauty is a lover of all things Bobbi Brown.  Last week she was fortunate enough to attend a Bobbi Brown Master Class.  She’s sharing the latest beauty tips she learned and see the newest in Bobbi products, too!

Tragedy struck the fashion world this spring with the news of Alexander McQueen’s death.  Butter London nail polish pays homage to him with their new shade All Hail McQueen.  Gaia from The Non-Blonde shares her thoughts on this honorary shade.   

Are you ready for the Emmy’s this weekend?  Anne from BeautyXposé is giving us easy to use at-home tips on how to get a gorgeous white smile, just like the ones we’ll see on the Emmy’s red carpet. 

Do you want to make your pores and fine lines disappear?  We all want that flawless face before applying makeup and Kelly from Gouldylox Reviews shares with us a Jouer product that gives her that flawless look. 

We love products that give us a flawless face, but sometimes we need to learn how to use the products to get the look we want.  Makeup artist Victoria Stiles will be doing ”Flawless Faces Web Series”.  See Makeup Artist Backstage to learn about the series.

The economy may be putting us in a grey mood, but Sabrina from The Beauty Look Book shows us all things beautiful in grey.  From nail polish to handbags and everything in between, there’s a grey you may fall in love with!

Sadly, there have been times when we’ve all overdone it in the sun.   Carla from Product Girl tested a Caudalie product for her sunburn.   Did she get the relief she needed?

What are some of the hot color trends this fall?  Purple is one of them, and I share with you some of my favorite purple beauty products.  Could there be a purple in your future?   And don’t forget to sign up for my Perricone giveaway!

Image from Fishing Lanier

I spoke earlier about Alex Sanchez and the Lancome team doing the makeup for the Macy’s Glamorama show in Minneapolis.   Today I have some backstage photos of them all hard at work.   Glamorama is a fashion show times 12 and throw in a little music by Eric Hutchinson and Macy Gray and some very talented dancers and you have an amazing show that benefits the Children’s Cancer Research Fund.   Each of the 12 designers featured is like one show in itself with stage changes for every show, hair changes and a few makeup changes too.   It is really quite the production and I’m in total awe of everyone!   The photos were taken when the Lancome team had already been hard at work for over 10 hours!

Lancome makeup from the new Fall Collection French Coquettes.

 Alex with one of the models.

Alex applying makeup to Laura Schara – the Fashion Director for Glamorama

Alex and Laura Schara

Program rundown

All the artists busy at work!

Shannon and one of the models

Look at the amazing artistry on her eyes!    For one of the dance sets, the dancers were dressed in white from head to toe.   The Lancome team had to put plastic bags over them, then apply the tape cut-outs to their faces (you can see the tape shapes hanging from some of the mirrors) and then apply makeup to their eyes.  Wow!

Alex working his magic on one of the models and her finished makeup look.

 Sue, one of the Lancome artists showing me the difference between having some false eyelashes and not having them.  Can you guess which eye has them?! 

Alex applying makeup to Emma Laehn the 2010 Ambassador for Macy’s Glamorama.  The show that evening began with a video of Emma and her family discussing the discovery, treatment and survival of Emma’s cancer.   She was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma at only 2½ years of age.   She now is an active 13 year old living cancer-free.    I don’t think there was a dry eye in the theatre listening to Emma and her family’s incredible story.   

Emma and Alex

Thanks to Lancome, Macy’s and Alex and his team for allowing me backstage! 

From new collections to classics – and some jazzy technology thrown in – we’ve got you covered this week! It’s always exciting when fall makeup collections arrive at the stores, so we have been busy bloggers.

Gaia and Charlestongirl swatched Armani Beauty’s latest Night Viper Collection for Fall 2010. This collection has been a hot ticket of reader requests! Gaia has lots of great photos of the three new Rouge D’Armani lipstick shades at The Non-Blonde. Is one in your future? Charlestongirl swatched the collection at Saks with Loyd Cassler, her Armani buddy. You can see the new eye shadows, cheeks, and mascara at Best Things in Beauty.

This week The Budget Fashionista shares with us Target’s latest in designer must-have accessories

Kelly discovered the “fabulousness” of Tarte’s Beauty in a Box: Bronze Smokey Eye collection. It looks so good on her! Check out this must-have Sephora set at Gouldylox Reviews.

There’s a hand sanitizer ingredient warning that you must read. Pamela has the 911 at Beauty Xposé!

Don’t we all love lavender? Kristen at Beauty Addict suggested five de-stressors you might enjoy after a long work week.

Is “greige” the new taupe? See what Amy thinks at Café Makeup. Then vote!

Find out at Beauty Info Zone Blog how Jane Iredale helped Marcia reinvent her life.

Lianne showed us the amazing NARS Fall Collection featuring Daphne Guinness, model and NARS muse, at The Makeup Girl.

Use your mobile phone for everything? Now you can shop at Sephora in a new app! Find out why Amber at Beauty Junkies Unite may be one of the first (and best) mobile customers.

As the days get noticeably shorter, you’ll have more time for beauty surfing! We hope you enjoy these great features as we kick off the last official month of summer.

Fabulous Fall Beauty - Lancome French Coquettes

The Fall makeup collections get me so excited for my favorite time of year!   And don’t Daria Werbowy (left) and Elettra Wiedemann (right) look gorgeous!  These colors have me begging for Fall to hurry up and get here, especially the look on Daria, love it! 

I saw bits and pieces of this collection at my local Nordstrom a few weeks ago – some pieces they were still awaiting to arrive, like the blush/highlighter and sparkling eye shadows and a few lip colors.  Other pieces were already flying off the shelves like the trio nail polishes and quad shadows.    From the pieces I saw, I loved the eye shadow quad and the nail color trio – I could see me wearing those often.    But I’ve heard the sparkling shadows are incredible, and the Plum Glimmer Artliner is one I definitely must try! 

Once I’ve seen the whole collection I’ll give you a better review.   But in the meantime, check out all the colors on Lancome.com and the fabulous tutorials on how to get Daria and Elettra’s looks. 

It was another exciting week in beauty blogging land – so many fabulous stories! Here are our recommendations for your weekend reading.

You are going to laugh out loud when you read Kelly’s Argan Oil, Poop and Goats: Things I Learned on Tuesday at Gouldylox Reviews.

Charlestongirl had an endorphin rush when she finally swatched the first of her new Guerlain eye palettes for fall. Find out why she loves Champs-Élysées at Best Things in Beauty.

Do you have a difficult time finding wide width shoes?   Check out The Budget Fashionista for the best sources for your shoe needs.

Find out how Gaia found true love with Tela Organic Shampoo and Conditioner at The Non-Blonde.

Like orange? You’ll want to read Chelsea’s fashion-forward and economical ways to stand out in orange this summer at BeautyXposé.

Just in time for this weekend’s heat wave, Cindy shared with use her top picks for great lightweight summer foundations at Prime Beauty.

Laurie got her hands on NARS new Douceur Blush. Check out Product Girl to see why most of us need it!

You have to read Shimmer Spray for Grown Ups at Beauty Info Zone Blog and find out how Lisa found her summer glow with Hampton Sun’s Serious Shimmer Cooling Spray.

Hope you have a beauty-full weekend!