Review: KoyVoca Highlighter

September 21, 2017September 19, 2017 Mstldelano1 Comment

As I mentioned previously, I went a little overboard (in a good way) while shopping for beauty products. At the same time that I purchased the Nicolet Beauty lip catnips, I purchased a new highlighter from KoyVoca. Like I’ve mentioned before, I love supporting indie beauty brands, and KoyVoca is another small business that specializes in cosmetics that flatter demographics that are traditionally ignored (primarily women of color).

For the record, I generally avoid highlighters. I don’t want to look like every other 20-something on Instagram. And since I have oilier skin, my pores tend to look larger and many products can amplify skin texture. Highlighters are some of the top offenders when it comes to putting the spotlight on textured skin.

But, in the interest of keeping a more modern look, I looked for a highlighter. I didn’t want a very warm, golden product, because I have cool/neutral undertones and warm tones tend to be unflattering on me. So this product needed to have neutral undertones, preferably cool ones, but I didn’t want it to make me look like a corpse (a pretty common occurrence with cool-toned products).

This highlighter had to come correct, or I would never use it again.

I took a chance on $1,000,000,000 (Billion Dollar) Babe.

I’m officially a highlighter convert.

This shade is the perfect neutral: warm enough to make my skin look alive, but cool enough that I don’t look sallow when wearing it. It looks amazing on the skin, too: it doesn’t make my pores look enormous.

Don’t let the swatch fool you: it is far more neutral than the camera is capturing. Here’s another view of the product in different lighting (it captures the cool tones a little better).

I’ve worn this product on my cheekbones, nose bridge, brow bone, and inner corner. I got so many compliments on my “glow”! I really loved how it looks on the skin. So, I ordered some more stuff from KoyVoca, including the face powders, foundations and another highlighter.

Aside from the actual product performance, I was pleased with KoyVoca. The product arrived quickly and were well packaged. I found the prices were extremely reasonable, as well.

Are you all enjoying the highlighter trend? Tell me about the highlighters you enjoy in the comments below!

Fine and Rare Wine Auction at Sotheby’s

September 17, 2017September 15, 2017 MstldelanoLeave a comment

As a wannabe sommelier, I love to learn all that I can about wine. So, on a hunch, I decided to look up wine auctions. Lo and behold, Sotheby’s London will be auctioning fine and rare wines on September 20, 2017.

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(This 62+ year old The Dalmore, The 12 Pointer, is expected to command more than $66,000 USD at auction. Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s.)

I’d never heard of many of the brands, but I was in awe of the prices that some of these wines were expected to fetch. Some lots were expected to go for upwards of $66,000 USD. I’ll never cease to marvel at the concept of wine as a collectible asset!

Even more interesting was the wine catalogue: it’s more than 100 pages long and very informative. I enjoyed reading about the flavors of the wines; the descriptions are superb. If you can’t use these terms to describe some of the wines you’re drinking, then it may be time to try some different wines!

This event sounds like the perfect place for wine connoisseurs and anyone that loves luxury. Again, it will be held on September 20, 2017, at 10:30 BST, at Sotheby’s London (34-35 New Bond Street, London W1S 2RT UK). However, you don’t have to attend to bid. You may complete the absentee bid form, or register online to bid electronically.

Do you collect wine? Have you ever attended a wine auction? Please comment and let me know!

beauty · luxury

Review: Nicolet Beauty Lip Catnips

September 16, 2017September 15, 2017 Mstldelano2 Comments

During my beauty binge a few weeks ago, I came across Nicolet Beauty. I was intrigued by the line, because they offer vegan lip products in both glamorous and unusual shades. They offer both lipsticks and lip glosses. But that’s not the only thing that lured me in.

Look at the container. LOOK. AT. IT.

Nicolet Beauty sells “lip catnips” (intensely pigmented lip gloss) in both the standard lip gloss tubs, but they are also offering a few of their shades in these limited edition special containers. Now tell me: wouldn’t you just LOVE to have these on your vanity?

I ordered two of these limited edition glosses in the shades “Florence” and “Norino” (there are two other shades, as well: Delphia and Zona). The website describes “Florence” as a “Metallic Berry lip gloss”, while “Norino” is described as a “Rose Gold metallic lip gloss”. I found both of these descriptions accurate, and the pigment was intense and true to what is shown on the website.

(Florence on the left, Norino on the right)

I. Loved. These. Catnips! The coverage is gorgeous and these smell like cupcakes! I’m a bit more partial to “Norino”, mainly because this is the one that I’ve worn more frequently. I have gotten compliments on the rose gold shade when I wore it. I anticipate that “Florence” will be an absolute hit this winter (I usually go a little deeper on my lip shades during the cooler months, so this one will be a perfect change from “Norino”).

(Florence and Norino in their pots)

Now, a few disclaimers are in order. These are both shimmery shades, so if you love your mattes, this isn’t for you. Also, while the website lists these as lip glosses, the website also cautions that these are highly pigmented. So these colors apply like a lip gloss but have coverage and finish like a lipstick. These do not apply as sheers and, since they don’t dry down to a matte finish, they blend well with lip liners (you don’t have to rush and blend because the lip catnip doesn’t dry completely).

Since these are glosses, you can expect that these will remain a little “tacky” and retain their sheen throughout the day. Funny enough, I found that the colors looked a tad shinier when unmanipulated, and took on a more matte look when I pressed my lips together. If you want a shinier look, you will have to layer a clear gloss over the lip catnips, or just remember not to press your lips together too much.

The unexpected surprise of this order was the fact that I got the glam lip brush along with the catnips. I can’t promise you that everyone receives a lip brush (it wasn’t mentioned on the website) but I was delighted to see this coordinating accessory in my package.

Oh yes, about the package: it arrived quickly (within a week) so I was pleased. These glosses are ordinarily $16, but as of September 15, 2017, these are on sale for $12 each. This is a great way to get some affordable luxury in your life!

That’s my review of Nicolet Beauty. I hope that the company continues to produces these luxuriously packaged items, because they are unique and help me to quickly tap into my inner glam.

What do you think of Nicolet Beauty? Let me know in the comments below!

life curation · luxury

Luxury Indulgences As Self-Care

September 10, 2017September 6, 2017 MstldelanoLeave a comment

Part of my metamorphosis includes a good deal of reflection. After all, how do you know where you want to go if you aren’t honest about where you’ve been? And, if where you’ve been is a place that you don’t want to return, wouldn’t it be wise to know HOW you got there, and WHAT you found uncomfortable about your journey?

During one of my reflection sessions, I realized that I had denied myself certain luxuries. On the surface, the reason for denying myself these luxuries was simple: I didn’t have the money.

But was that REALLY true? Or was it something else: something deeper, something that wasn’t linked to the “external” (like monetary abundance)?

Of course, denying myself the luxuries had nothing to do with my income. I looked at my salary then, and there was enough “money” coming in. The decision to avoid certain purchases had everything to do with my self-esteem. Yes, my self-esteem was “in the basement”, as I like to put it (I have a post about how I boosted my self-esteem coming soon). I felt awful about myself because of some missteps that I made in my journey.

But as my self-esteem improved, I started examining my daily self care. What I saw horrified me: I had been treating myself worst that anyone else ever could have! And I looked squarely at how much I was investing in myself, and I saw how much I’d fallen off of my former routine.

My first order of business was buying the most expensive pair of shoes that I could comfortably justify in my mind. I found a gorgeous pair of Diane Von Furstenberg high heeled pumps, in tan suede. I was giddy about my purchase, and, as I mentioned previously, these shoes were more costly than any others I’d ever bought before.

clipartlibrary

(image courtesy of Clipart Library)

I wore them four times over a three year period.

Don’t worry, I’ll wear them again. But the “juice” I got from the purchase was the feeling of buying such a luxurious pair of shoes. And while I understand “retail therapy”, this was something more significant than shopping “for a high”.

The shoes signal that I’M WORTH IT.

I’m worth being surrounded by beauty, luxury, and good things. I’m worthy of being treated well, looking good, and living a high quality life. The shoes are an emblem representing the “switch” from low self-esteem to restored esteem. It’s almost like a sigil: these shoes had a nearly magical effect on my life.

Even though they’ve only been worn four times.

I don’t have to purchase luxury shoes every time I need to engage in self-care. Luxury comes in so many forms: perfectly prepared and pleasingly presented meals, soaking in intoxicatingly perfumed baths, sleeping on clean, sumptuous sheets, taking long walks on crisp days … All luxury. After all, luxury is, at its heart, intense indulgent, and indulgence is about GENEROSITY. In this case, it’s about being generous with YOURSELF. And you deserve it. You deserve it more than you could ever know …

Do you all have any “go-to” luxury indulgences? Please let me know in the comments below!

luxury · travel

Review of The Fairfax at Embassy Row

September 5, 2017September 4, 2017 MstldelanoLeave a comment

I’m feeling so much better! A weekend of rest and care really did the trick. Now that I’m back to my normal self, I can finally post this review of my stay at The Fairfax at Embassy Row Hotel, in Washington, DC.

A few weeks ago, I stayed in DC to attend an event hosted by the Embassy of Kenya. Since I don’t live in DC or in any of the surrounding cities, I booked a room at The Fairfax for convenience. Also, I was overdue for a luxe experience, and since The Fairfax is a five-star hotel, I thought I’d be in for a treat.

I arrived the afternoon before my event and I was struck by the beauty of the lobby. I was greeted by the reception desk staff but it was not quite the warm, welcoming experience that I had at other hotels (the staff I encountered when I checked out, however, was far more affable). I received my room key and instructed on the location of the elevator, but that was it. Normally, especially with four- or five-star hotels, the desk staff that checks in guests tends to offer a bit of a concierge flavor: you can expect them to make you aware of any amenities as well as give you one or two local attractions or points of interest. I didn’t receive any of that. I also factored in whether there were other guests waiting to be checked in after me, but no, that wasn’t the case, either. The staff when I checked in was just mediocre: not spectacular but not awful, either.

I arrived at my room and I found it charming. The bathroom was beautifully designed and the rest of the room was classically appointed. It didn’t strike me as particularly luxurious, but it was lovely and tasteful.

I wanted to try the toiletries provided by the hotel, but the smell was overpowering. The scent of the soap, shampoo and conditioner was “Warm Oak” and it smelled like a high quality men’s cologne. I wish the hotel had opted for unscented or more neutral-scented toiletries for the rooms (to be fair, the hotel may offer unscented/neutral-scented toiletries, but I didn’t inquire about the availability).

The shower was heavenly, and the bed was comfortable. The Fairfax at Embassy Row also provided some very handy USB charging ports (I wish more hotels would make this standard in all rooms). However, you will need to bring your hot spot with you, unless you want to pay $12.95 for daily wireless internet usage. I’m still amazed that two- and three-star hotels offer free WiFi fairly consistently, but more luxurious hotels almost always charge for such a basic service within the rooms. However, public WiFi is available in the lobby, restaurant and lounge.

I took the Metro to The Fairfax, so I have no experience with the valet service. I also didn’t dine in The Capital Room restaurant or The Fairfax Grille and Lounge. My experience was pretty much all about the lobby, the elevator, and the room!

I checked out the morning after I attended the embassy event and, as I briefly mentioned, the reception staff that checked me out of my room was delightful. Checking out was easy and uncomplicated.

Would I stay at The Fairfax at Embassy Row again? Sure, especially since it is so close to the embassies. I don’t know that I would recommend it highly to anyone seeking a truly luxe experience; perhaps I missed the details that made this hotel qualify as a Five-Star location (per the Five Star Alliance).

Have any of you stayed at The Fairfax at Embassy Row? Did you all feel the “five-star”-ness of the hotel? If there was something I missed, let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear from you all!

art · luxury

My Time With Yves

August 31, 2017August 27, 2017 Mstldelano5 Comments

I would love to give you a bunch of captions, but this was an exhibit that had to be EXPERIENCED. Writing about it just doesn’t do it justice.

Yves St. Laurent “The Perfection of Style” was a perfectly balanced exhibition. Gorgeous outfits, lots of his personal notes, video clips, and great biographical information. I’ll post some of my favorite photos from the exhibit, but be warned: photos really can’t capture the genius that was YSL. Enjoy!

luxury

Review: Kimberly New York “Dimple” Perfume

August 30, 2017September 24, 2017 MstldelanoLeave a comment

I scoured the Internet to find some indie perfumes to try. I love beautiful scents and I was eager for a fragrance that would be unusual but have some staying power.

Enter Kimberly New York perfumes. The scents have adorable names – Artsy, Bubble, Dimples, and Poetry – and my interest was piqued.

Fortuitously enough, the perfumer had a sale on the scent “Dimple”, so I purchased the full sized “Dimple” perfume, as well as the “Spring Street” 4-vial set, which had trial amounts of all four fragrances.

While I did purchase only one full sized perfume, I had a chance to wear them all, so I will review the entire line, but give my most in-depth opinions about “Dimple”.

Here is “Dimple” ‘s description, straight from the Kimberly New York website:

SEXY. EDIBLE. WARM.

Dark chocolate almond biscotti, and mint chips snuggle sweetly. “Dimple” is as alluring as a heartfelt smile.

Notes:
top – mint
middle – sprinkled sugar cookie
base – dark chocolate

I can comfortably state that I smelled all of these essences in the perfume. The chocolate base reminded me a bit of Thierry Mugler’s “Angel”, but the mint top note was a refreshing spin. Honestly, when I first sniffed Dimple, I immediately thought of my favorite ice cream, Mint Chocolate Chip.

I wore it and LOVED it. I asked a few men what they thought of the smell, and they gave it a thumbs up, too!

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Here are some of my takeaways from this line:

Pros: This line ships SUPER fast. I had my products within 3 business days. The products were affordable ($15 for the vial set, and $45 [regular price] for the full-sized fragrances). Also, the perfume bottle and promotional inserts/materials were attractive.

Cons: You can’t accurately gauge the sillage of some of the fragrances using the “Spring Street” vial set. These are eau de parfums, but when I wore “Artsy”, I noticed that I could barely smell it on my skin. I applied nearly half of the vial initially, and then I had to reapply every two hours (normal reapplication for eau de parfums is about 4 hours). Funny enough, I wore “Bubble” and the sillage seemed more accurate (only used about 1/3 of the bottle, and I could smell it with ease).

In addition, you MUST reapply during the day. I’ll admit: wearing more luxurious fragrances spoiled me a bit LOL! I don’t have to reapply my higher-end perfumes very often. But these needed to be reapplied every 4 hours, or the scent would be lost. That’s not a “con”, per se, but just something to note.

Overall opinion? I’d definitely order again, and I’m looking forward to trying all of the fragrances. And when I do, I’ll be sure to review them!

luxury

Christie’s to Auction Audrey Hepburn Memorabilia

August 29, 2017August 27, 2017 MstldelanoLeave a comment

Vintage cinema fans, time to rejoice! Christie’s (the prestigious auction house) will be auctioning off clothing and personal items owned by Audrey Hepburn. The bids are estimated to start as low as $130 for some items, while other items are expected to fetch over $100,000.

(image courtesy of Movie Gazette Online)

The auction will occur both live and online. The live auction will occur on September 27, 2017, at 8 King Street, St. James’s, in London. The online auction will start on September 19 and end on October 3, 2017.

If you want to see the collection before the auction, you can visit the exhibition while it tours. The tours are as follows (information courtesy of the Christie’s website):

Tour dates

Hong Kong
Viewing Dates: 1 – 8 September
The LANDMARK Atrium, 15 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong

Los Angeles
Viewing dates: 11 – 14 September
Christie’s LA, 336 North Camden Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210

The auction catalog can also be purchased for $25: Audrey Hepburn Collection Auction Catalog.

I enjoyed reading Christie’s touching biography of Audrey. You can check it out here.

I plan on checking out the online auction and seeing if I can find something that I simply must have. Do any of you plan to attend the touring exhibition, or the live auction? Or are you planning on purchasing an item via the online auction? Please let me know in the comments!

luxury

Vintage Car Fever

August 24, 2017August 24, 2017 Mstldelano2 Comments

Ever since I was a little girl, I loved classic cars. While I know precious little about cars, I do know an attractive vehicle when I see it.

I first saw the 1965 Sunbeam Tiger while watching reruns of the television show “Get Smart”. Between the slick 1960s fashions, easy-to-process humor (everyone in the family could enjoy the show), and the “high tech” gadgets (the Cone of Silence, the shoe phone, and many, many more), it’s no wonder it was one of my favorite TV shows of all time.

But what I really loved most of all were the gorgeous cars driven by Maxwell Smart (the lead character on “Get Smart”). Here’s a Sunbeam Tiger similar to what Maxwell drove in the opening credits of the show:

sportscarshopsunbeamtiger1965

Do you have a favorite vintage car? Can you remember where you first saw the car, or what makes it so special to you?

(image courtesy of sportscarshop.com)

luxury

Luxury WINS!

August 17, 2017August 16, 2017 MstldelanoLeave a comment

I was intrigued when I saw the headline, “Costco Owes Tiffany More Than $19 Million, Judge Rules” on my phone yesterday. After all, I didn’t realize that Tiffany & Co. had a lawsuit against Costco. I was curious: why would Costco owe Tiffany & Co. money?

tiffanybox

As it turns out, Costco sold “Tiffany” rings, and didn’t make the distinction that the rings did not originate with Tiffany & Co. Costco’s argument was that the term “Tiffany” was generic enough that any copyright/trademark issues were nonexistent.

A court of law, however, disagreed with Costco’s stance. Judge Laura Taylor Swain determined that, “Costco’s upper management, in their testimony at trial and in their actions in the years prior to the trial, displayed at best a cavalier attitude toward Costco’s use of the Tiffany name”. Judge Swain didn’t appreciate how Costco’s stance was blatant disregard for Tiffany’s trademark and branding.

Further, Tiffany & Co. responded after Judge Swain ruled. The company issued a statement, saying, “Judge Swain’s decision validates the strength of the Tiffany trademark and the value of our brand, and most importantly, sends a clear and powerful message to Costco and others who infringe the Tiffany mark”.

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I always look for the larger lesson when things like this occur. Namely, how can I benefit from this story?

I’m not a megabrand like Tiffany & Co., but this story just emphasizes the importance of maintaining an excellent public “brand”. Our image is key to our reputation, and it affects the opportunities available to us. Let us all keep our “brands” consistent with values like excellence, quality, and prestige. No matter who we are, let’s be the BEST that we can be, always. Our brand depends on it!

(Photo courtesy of Tiffany & Co. – of course!)