A little fashionably late to the party!

Toronto held its L'Oreal Fashion Week (March 17th-22th) last week, which finished on Saturday. Although Spring does not feel like its arrived here yet, the fashion industry is always seasons ahead. Therefore, its a little unnerving to view Fall's collection when all I feel like doing is shedding all the extra layers of clothing and begin wearing Spring clothing. But like any fashionista one must always be prepared for future seasons.

http://www.lorealfashionweek.ca/

Featured at L'Oreal's Fashion week is one of my favourite Canadian outterwear and leather goods company, Rudsak. Established in 1994 by Evik Asatoorian, Rudsak has has a somewhat quiet start, atleast in the mainstream market. However, recently with its launch of stores in shopping centres such as; Sherway Gardens, two new opening's in Promenade Mall and Bayview Village, Rudsak will be a must stop store for outterwear and leather accesories.

"The goal at RUDSAK is to offer our customers modern, streamlined fashion with a timeless approach to dressing', says Evik. 'We are not in the business of dictating looks, but rather enhancing one’s own unique sense of style."

One of my must-buy's for Fall is the above coat in grey (not black)...loving it!

images from L'Oreal Fashion Week, George Pimental Photograpy www.wireimages.com

Photo team: George Pimental, Arthur Mola, Leonard Adam, Talia Shipman, Jazz Dang, Deryck Lewis, Edgar Moreno

http://www.rudsak.com/

An honorable mention to the Heart & Stroke Foundation's, The Heart Truth. A campaign to raise awarness of the risk of heart & stroke in women. L'oreal's Fashion week brought awarness to this campaign by showcasing a fashion show.

http://www.thehearttruth.ca/

Canadian Fashion Designers were asked to design and create a Red Dress, which would serve to capture each models indivisual style. Models were picked from the entertainment fields such as television, film, and music. Models included: Jeanne Beker, Robin Kay, Sandie Rinaldo, and many more.

Credits to George Pimental Photograpy

Japanese Inspired for Spring

While on a recent trip to Japan I picked up a few haircare, skincare, & makeup products. One brand which you must check out is Shiseido which has some amazing asian exclusive products (which can be found at Asian stores within North America) however the prices in Japan are much lower. Some must have's are:

Japan #1 selling Shampoo-Shiesiedo Tsabuki line
http://www.shiseido.co.jp/tsubaki/index.htm
The white bottles have been recently introduced. This line is for dry hair whereas the original red bottles are for normal hair.


Another favorite & top-seller is Majolica Majorca Mascara. I got the one for fuller lashes & I'm loving this mascara! (see pic)

Another brand to try is DHC, a must to try when in Japan (you can buy this line online & is found in stores world-wide, mostly in Asian stores). One of the most popular items is the DHC Deep Cleansing Oil.

But like any skincare products we all react differently so trial & error are sometimes the only research we can do. Thus far, I've been using the "Oil Cleansing Method" (which at a later date I'll get into) for the last year 1/2. I've also made my own which I will post the recipe at a later date. In the past my faves have been my own recipe & ShuUemura's.

I also picked up some cloth masks (in the red box) which feel fantastic & are inexpensive! And the 2001 Shampoo is for thinning hair & that's a gift. And of course a little souvenir!

P.S-I can't believe I forgot to add the Sofina Perfect UV SPF 50+ Lucent sunscreen. A must in anyone's anti-aging skincare routine. More suitable for oily-combination skin (so I'm saving this one for the hotter months).

WinterWonder Products

Although I like Winter, mostly because of the fashion of layering & my love of scarves. Enough snow already! So I live in Canada & snow is a factor of living here. However, this Winter has hit record breaking snowfalls. And there's just no more room to put it all! That being said a girl has to do what a girl has to do to beat the harsh Winter climate when it comes to her makeup & skincare. Here are some of my favourite Winter items:

Haircare

Garnier Ultra Suave Shampoo with Cherry Extract (adds shine)...not available in North America

http://www.garnier.pt/_pt/_pt/our_products/products_range1.aspx?tpcode=OUR_PRODUCTS^PRD_HAIRCARE^ULTRA_DOUX^ULTRA_DOUX_DISCOVER

(the Cherry version is not there...it is a new product. The Vanilla version 2in1 is also good & for dry hair)

L'Oreal Nature Therapy Mega Moisture Nurturing Creme (for very dry chemically processed hair) this is a good protein treatment

www.lorealtechnique.com/megas_03.shtml

Vatika Enriched Coconut Hair Oil

http://www.vatikahairoil.com/EN/Products/Personal_Care/Hair_Care/vatika/hairoil/default.asp

Revlon Professional Equave 2-phase Hydro-nutritive Conditioner Spray

http://www.ukhairdressers.com/store/details.asp?ID=RevEquaveHNConditioner

Skincare

Shu Uemura Skin Purifier Cleansing beauty oil premium A/1

http://www.shuuemura-usa.com/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=1060

Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Sunblock (an SPF is always important regardless of season...its the best for anti-aging)

http://www.neutrogena.ca/en/product_details.asp?id=115

Nivea Moisturizer (the one made in Germany...its made different elsewhere even though its the same package & there are reviews that its just as good as Creme de la Mer...for reviews check out makeupalley.com)

http://www.smallflower.com/nivea/nivea.html?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=nivea&utm_campaign=CPC

Differin Cream

http://www.differin.com/AboutDifferin/Default.aspx

Makeup

The only thing that changes for me in the winter in terms of makeup is my foundation therefore my other makeup staples stay the same & I won't list them here (at a later date I'll post all my faves).

Chanel Vitalumiere Foundation

http://www.chanel.com/fb/um.php?la=en-ca&lo=ca&re=chanelcom&ws-action=http://um.chanel.com/mprod.php?chsetdefgnav%3d7%26chsetdefgnavdiv%3d13%26landing%3dm%26branding%3dfmu%26sub%3dfoun%26la%3den-ca%26lo%3dca%26re%3dchanelcom~~~G!0ADB4B7ECD43!5kW0r37g%252brwd%252bKllvg%3d%3d~general~~~@http://syndicator.chanel.com.edgesuite.net/chanel/chanel-um

All Around Fave (has more than one use)

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant

http://learnmore.elizabetharden.com/eighthour/index.php

I'd love to hear about some of your Winter faves...so let me know in the comment section.

Thanks & hope you like these as much as I do.

P.S-For reference I have Combination skin which tends to get dehydrated in Winter.