Location Is Everything.

Here is my new digital dominion:

http://glamourist.blogspot.com/

Latest Post:

Springtime Makeup and a Winters Tale. 

Epic Runway Hair and the Teasing Comb Encounter!

Today was an early day for me: up at 6.30, leave a comfy human heater in bed, and be out by 7.30 clinging desperately to my coffee.  Today was training day in the salon, and they needed models for the Runway Your Way: Updo Edition!

Naturally, I was first to sign up.  My look was a pretty-not-prim hybrid of the Modern Rock and Urban Luxe

My job?  Sit there, shut up, try to look pretty under fluorescent lighting, and read a magazine while Shannon (of keratin fame) curled and teased and pinned.  Then us seasoned retail employees walked an imaginary runway to show off our new wigs.

Pardon the picture quality, and the shower-tile background.  At least I cropped out the chipped ceiling.

Et voila!  My hair actually touched the roof of my trusty Honda, necessitating a full lowering of the seat.  It's fabulous; I love it.  Nothin' like some haughtier-than-thou hair to get a gal through three senior-level classes in one day.  Bring it on: I'll strut right over it.

With Love to Dean+Davis.

Last night at work we had a sneak preview of the Smashbox Holiday 2009 collection, and I am so excited.  (Especially since it's not even up on their website yet -- unleash the privileged-moi complex!)  There's plenty to look forward to, including an expansion in their HALO technology, lots of pink, and a charitable cause.

Their new foundation guide is the coolest.  Just a few clicks gives you a customised foundation recommendation!

Some of my personal favourites are:

1. Photo Finish Foundation Primer
Fixes everything.  Oil = Gone.  Dryness/Flakes = Gone.  Comes in colour-correcting shades as well.  (Jaundice = GONE!)  If you're skeptical, only prime half your face, then apply foundation all over.  You will convert.

2. HALO Powder (in Fair)
A year's supply of grind-as-you-please powder with an anti-aging peptide and gorgeous finish.  And gold.  Um, hello?!

3. Lip Enhancing Gloss (in Fame)
My favourite.  I slather it on a constant basis.  It's the perfect pink for me: bright, but not Barbie.  Sophisticated, yet girly.  Those with warmer tones may wish to consider her fraternal twin sister shade Debut.

4. Jet Set Waterproof Eyeliner (in Midnight Black)
The essential liner.  Sooty pigments make their mark.  Perfect for lining above the lower lashes.  (Survives water fights, too.)  Apply Midnight Black for the ultimate seductive stare, or Midnight Purple to complement any eye colour.

Do you use Smashbox?  What are some of your favourites?  And do you agree with their selections for you in the fabulous foundation guide?!

'Hair! Like Jesus Wore It! Hallelujiah! I Adore It!' - Hair, 1979

I had a keratin treatment done on Thursday and I am so excited to report the results!  What a keratin treatment does is infuse your strands with the keratin protein, which is found naturally in hair.  This eliminates up to 95% of frizz and curl for an average of 3-5 months.  It's like a demi-permanent dye, but instead of colour you get gloriously soft strands.

I arrived an hour before the salon opened, at 9A on the dot.  Shannon, my stylist, already had the bowl prepped and ready.  We clarified three times so the keratin could really penetrate, and then got down to work.  My hair was basted in teeny-tiny sections with the conditioning cocktail, then wrapped up in a shower cap to marinate for twenty minutes.  Then we blew it dry (no rinsing allowed!) and flatironed the stuff deeeeep into my cuticle.  The whole process actually took four hours, and I missed two classes completely by accident!  My hair looked sleek, like somebody had attacked me with a comb and some military-issue shine serum.

Then came the waiting.  After a keratin treatment, you're not allowed to get your hair wet, make a ponytail, use bobby pins, sunglasses, or even tuck it behind your ears for three solid days!  Should you dare to defy the keratin gods you must blowdry 100% and flatiron the offended sections.  It was tough, I won't lie.  My hair was sleek on the first day, sleek-and-flat by the second.  Out of follicular paranoia I refused to wash my face, neck, and chest with anything but Neutrogena towelettes and took a lot of baths.  Rain on the second day resulted in walking around with an umbrella down to my shoulders and running into stationary objects.  (When it comes to hair, I am nothing if not determined and willing to go the distance.)  After the third day, you come in for a complimentary shampoo, style, and 'dusting.'  (Which means your damaged ends are horrendously obvious and must be severed from the rest of your soft 'n' sexy mane.)  It looked great, but the real test, of course, would come in my own shower, with my newly-necessary sulfate-free shampoo.

Holy.  Shining.  Tresses.  Batman.  My hair looks good great!  I blew it dry with just a teeeeeeny bit of volumizer at the crown, and WOW!  It's like all my hair crimes made it through the appeals court!  Just a stubborn flippy patch on my bangs will require a flatiron due to my shoddy blowout technique.

Would I do it again?  Absolutely.  The second treatment will last even longer: 5-7 months, depending on how much you wash your hair.  It is cost-prohibitive ($250 to start), but depending on your hair and personal lifestyle (hate flatirons, coarse hair, et cetera), could be a very worthwhile investment.

Currently Lusting...

Ooh la-la!

If there's one brand known for over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek Beverly-Hills-hyphenated-excess, it's Too Faced.  We just got their Holiday 2009 collection in where I work, and it's 'hawt.'

Will you start a Glamour Revolution?

Would you just be happy to be Queen for a Day?

Or are you merely French and Fabulous, politics be damned?!

How would you wear these colours?  Would you pair a smoky eye with a pale pink lip, or would you scour every last grain of glitter and decoupage your eyelids?!

A bientot!