Beauty Parler

July 23, 2010

Paco Rabanne launches new women's fragrance, Lady Million

Brilliant, independent, a stunning femme fatale, creative and rebellious, she responds to the excess of her male counterpart with unbelievable glamour spiced up with something beyond reality. Sums up the Lady Million Woman, Paco Rabanne has created a new women's fragrance to be released in Canada this September. The bottle is diamond shaped, according to Rabanne the diamond synonymous with desire and passion was the logical choice. The scent is fresh, floral and woody, with orange at the heart of the fragrance and notes of neroli, jasmine, honey and patchouli its the perfect scent for autumn. Thanks to my lovely fragrance insiders I wore Lady million the other day and received tons of compliments. Model Dree Hemingway is the chosen femme fatale in the Lady Million ads and commercial, that's one hot little black dress!

Available in Canada September 2010 at all fine department stores and drug stores.

(images & PR release info: pacorabanne & devonconsulting)

A tinted moisturizer made with soya and bran oil, yup, it does exist and LUSH has created it. LUSH has created LUSH Colour Supplements, a customized tinted base that you mix with your favourite facial moisturizer. On their own they can also be used as an under-eye concealer or dabbed on blemishes. I actually find it fun to mix up the Colour Supplements, you can also use a darker shade as a contour colour (TIP, best to use a foundation or stippling brush for contour or for a flawless finish use brush to apply your customized tinted moisturizer). Easy to use, develop the coverage you want, and no mineral oils in the Colour Supplements.

Charlotte Matheson, LUSH make-up artist, suggests using foundations formulated with vegetable oil and not mineral oil, “The new Colour Supplements are made with soya oil and bran oil which are light and fine vegetable oils that will carry the pigment into the skin without congesting it in any way. They also have a fresh rose petal infusion base, which soothes and softens the skin.” (LUSH.com)

Four shades to choose from:
Light Pink lightest shade for fair of face and rosy of the cheek complexions. This is good for all-purpose colour.
Light Yellow A natural rose petal base in a paler shade to match ivory skin tones (with a slight yellow undertone). It is helpful to cancel out uneven redness in skin.
Dark Yellow A natural rose petal base with a deeper shade for olive as well as light Asian skinned beauties.
Dark Pink darkest colour for those with dark skin or for anyone with a tan – it has a very deep red undertone.
For reference: I use the Light Yellow as concealer, Light Pink as an eye lid base for eyeshadow, and Dark Yellow as my base. The LUSH Colour Supplements will give a light coverage, great for everyday not be used as a full-coverage foundation. Think of it as a healthy looking skin tint for your face, a sheer tinted moisturizer, perfect for these hot, humid Summer days.
For more info visit LUSH or in-store, retail price for the Colour Supplements $13.95 cdn
(disclaimer: non-paid review & no further financial compensation will be received)

Relax put on a couple of eye pads {Reviva Labs Collagen-Fibre Eye Pad Kit review}

Browsing my local health food stores the brand Reviva Labs had always stood out but I never tried it because I've never heard or read any reviews. However, the opportunity to try out the Reviva Labs Collagen-Fibre Eye Pad Kit came up and since I'd never used a product similar I decided to give it a go...these eye pads get my seal of approval! There's no promises of permanently erasing your eye wrinkles, removing puffiness, or dark circles but the two latter factors are dramatically reduced. As for wrinkles, thankfully I don't have deep eye wrinkles (yet, I'm only in my early 30's) so I can't properly review however I noticed immediately my eye area felt and looked much more relaxed, like after a vacation! In my line of work, flight attendant, I don't always get adequate beauty sleep thus any help I can get to look more relaxed is welcomed. So, how does this product work?
-100% pure freeze dried Collagen-Fibre eye pads (infused with Myoxinol, hibiscus flower extract which relaxes facial wrinkles) are placed under eyes.
-under eye area is pre-moistened with the Skin Energizing Gel (which I like to use on its own too)
-the Collagen Pads are moistened with water
-leave on for 15-20 minutes & throw out
That's me sans makeup with the eye pads on! Go figure I finally post a pic of me & all you see is my eye(s)...

Leave on for 15-20 minutes

As you can see in the pic I do have dark circles but its actually an improvement, the puffiness is reduced. The kit comes with 4 sets of two eye pads of which I'm already finished so I'm going to purchase more as I love this product.

For more info & where to purchase visit Reviva Labs

Have any of you heard about Reviva Labs? How about similar eye pad products? Do share.

(Images: revivalabs.com Disclaimer: although product was received for review no financial compensation will be received, review is based on my personal experience & not influenced to review favourably)

Below the Neck {La Senza's Fall 2010 Bra Collection}

Ladies..today lets look below the neck, more specifically cleavage. I swear these bras will make your puppies into doggies, ok I'm not a large breasted woman and these new bras from La Senza's Fall 2010 collection will boost your cup size atleast two sizes. For me that's great as I don't have much and sometimes certain outfits need that extra oomph factor.

The pretty green shade bra is the Perfectly Me™ Lightly Lined Bra, can be worn 3 ways; classic, by criss-crossing the back, and halter style. That style has no increase in cup size effect, good for under a t-shirt.
The Perfectly Me™ Push Up bra (pink shade) can be worn 3 ways; classic, criss-cross, and halter. Comes with removable push up.

Beyond Cleavage By La Senza™ Continuous Wire & Beyond Cleavage By La Senza™ Lace will increase your cup size two sizes thanks to integrated gel padding, can be worn 3 ways; classic, criss-cross, and halter.

La Senza's Fall 2010 Collection can be found in-stores July 2010.

Do you have a favourite va-va voom factor bra?
(images: La Senza)

Grandma always know's best...how many times have we been told by our Grandmothers old World "wives tales" or "our own little beauty secrets" and as simple as these secrets were they actually worked. Well, esthetician and salon owner Raisa Ruder thankfully listened to her Babushka 's(Ukrainian for Grandmother) beauty secrets. Alongside, Susan Campos (she blogs too) who specializes in Green beauty, fell in love with Ruder's babushka's beauty secrets and the two decided to emerge their ideas and write a beauty book, Babushka's Beauty Secrets: Old World tips for a Glamorous New You. The best part is is that all the ingredients are in your kitchen so with a little time you too can whip up your own beauty recipes and have great skin. The beauty recipes are easy to follow and easy to make, a few ingredients I've had to go out and purchase but for the most part it was just a matter of using left-over items. Which in fact was Ruder's babushka's motto, never let anything go to waste. Babushka actually created her own little beauty salon in her house back in the Ukraine, she was the Julia Child of creating natural skincare recipes, and was a skincare "rock star" in her village. One of my favourite tips is to use milk as a toner (actually works & skin looks great)...how inexpensive is that?!
Babushka's Top 5 Ingredients:

potatoes
vodka-also good as a girls night spa event drink:)
milk
olive oil
eggs

Without giving away anymore beauty secrets you'll have to get your own copy...and guess what 3 lucky readers will! To enter simply follow these rules:
1-Only residents of Canada & the U.S are eligible
2-No P.O Boxes, sorry
3-if your not already please "follow my blog" (for an extra entry & let me know)
4-deadline: August 1st
Goodluck!!
For more info on where to purchase Babushka's Beauty Secrets visit online
Share your own family's beauty secrets, would love to read about it!

My boyfriend's aunt's beauty tip:
1-wash hands with lemon juice & sugar for soft hands
2-use the oil from the tuna can on your face as a moisturizer (umm I haven't tried that one yet)

WINNERS!
(1) Emily
(2) Ella Pretty
(3) WindyCindy
CONGRATS & email me your address:-)

What's in your box? {Pandora's Makeup Box}

Canadian makeup brand alert! I love featuring my fellow Canadian beauty brands and next up is Pandora’s® Makeup Box, developed by professional makeup artist and owner of Kirsch Cosmetic Studio, Susan Kirsch. Not only is the makeup amazing quality but the packaging is bright and cheerful and its gets better, eco-friendly too! I've already made a list of a few items I want to purchase; eye lid primer, the bronzer, and a blush. Two items that made me fall in love were;

Pandora's® Travel Brushes-cute, little, quality brushes on-the-go! You know I love my beauty travel-friendly items & these go with me everywhere. Comes in a pleather pink case & has a removable zipper pouch for other travel friendly items.

Pandora's® Lipgloss in Guava (new shade)- a pigmented non-sticky, moisturizing lipgloss with a hint of spearmint. Goes on smooth & the Guava shade is a beautiful pink/guava shade. Been using this non-stop.
Overall, I'm impressed with the few items I have & can't wait to try more. Available online at Pandora's Makeup Box, in-store at Murale, and Kirsch Cosmetic Studio.
And for my readers you get 10% off by entering BParler10

With the popularity of the Twilight movie sagas and television shows such as True Blood and the Vampire Diaries its no surprise that vampire inspired jewelry is becoming a trend. Online jewlery store Demitasse has released a collection of vampire inspired jewelry The Vampire Chronicles and I admit I'm loving the Demi Bullet necklace. I haven't ordered it yet but will soon and lucky for you and I Demitasse Jewelry is offering beautyparler.ca readers a coupon code of 20% off of The Vampire Chronicles collection. Just enter code "vampy" in part two of checkout under shipping and coupons.
More info: Demitasse Jewelry

(images via Demitasse)

What do you think of vampire inspired jewelry?

So far this month I've experienced three different time zones am exhausted but wanted to share with you a couple of beauty hauls...I have lots of blogging catch-up to do! Let me get straight to the point:

Beauty haul #1 is from my vacation from Portugal. Spent the last days of June & first few days of July there while there was a heat wave...hot, sweaty, and World Cup soccer watching fever going on. With the heat wave my skin felt gross, purchased:

Nivea Visage Oxygen Power skincare-cleanser, day & night moisturizers

I've never seen this line in North America, here we have the Aqua line which has similar packaging. Loving this line! Why? Cleanser doesn't strip skin, skin feels clean and makeup comes right off. The moisturizers are also moisturizing enough without leaving skin feeling heavy or oily.

L'Oreal Age Perfect toner-I don't always use a toner but because my t-zone gets oilier in the Summer I like this extra step, skin feels refreshed & takes off any left-over sunblock lotion.

Beauty haul #2 is from Hong Kong, got back yesterday. Most of these products are Japanese skincare lines (which I love & repeat purchases).

My HG shampoo & conditioner is Shiseido's Tsubaki line (the red line) however this time I purchased the new Head Spa collection. Loving this better than the original Tsubaki in the red bottles or even the white bottles. In total there are three different versions of the Shiseido Tsubaki Collection (correct me if I'm wrong).

FANCL Washing Powder (got the kit with the facial sponge), this cleanser is for my travel skincare kit. A powder cleanser that foams & washes away makeup & doesn't strip skin. Powder is perfect for carry-on luggage, makes more room for other liquids!

Liese Smooth Hair Cocktail (1st time purchase)-smells amazing! This is a leave-in hair smoothing spray, I think its a heat thermal protectant spray. I can't read the bottle but from the pictures that's what it looks like its for.

Nestle chocolate for the plane ride!

Gransenbon Gran Brush powder blush in shade 04, a peachy/pink blush. A subtle shade that gives a hint of colour to cheeks.

Fasio lipstick in PK831. beautiful nude shimmer shade. More like a tinted lipbalm!

Fasio Hyper-Stay Curl/Volume mascara-love the blackness of the shade but this non-waterproof mascara is a pain to take-off. Does not wash off easy, not even with an oil cleanser.

My Scheming Pearl Extract Mask-I love cloth masks! Instant facial satisfaction & easy to discard!

(photo image: top pic via Vogue.com June'07 photographed by Mario Testino)

Have any of you been away lately? Beauty purchases?

never too late for June faves!

june beauty picks by beautyparler on Polyvore.com

I'm back! And I already feel like I need another vacation...travelling to visit family and attending a wedding is tiring but nonetheless its such an amazing feeling to see family and enjoy a few days on the beach. Here are my favourite June beauty picks, a few of the items will be followed by detailed reviews...come back to read all about it.

What were your June beauty faves? And how is everyone?