Tag: luxury

beauty

The Ordinary Available At Sephora.com

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Christmas came early, darlings! The Ordinary is now at Sephora.com, so now you can buy these inexpensive-yet-luxurious products while racking up Sephora points.

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Quick warning for you: Sephora isn’t stocking The Ordinary’s entire line. Currently, only 18 products are available, though these are some of the most potent and popular products. The Ordinary’s foundations are not included with those 18 products, so if you like their color cosmetics, you will still have to go through the Deciem website.

One new thing that is available through Sephora is The No-Brainer Set, which has three of The Ordinary’s popular products: The Ordinary’s Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA, Granactive Retinoid 2% Emulsion, and “Buffet”. The set is $29, which is less than the cost of buying each of these products separately.

I’m pleased to say that Sephora has maintained the low prices that The Ordinary is known for, and I’ve already placed my first order! Check it out, and see if your favorites from The Ordinary are now available through Sephora!

luxury · wine

Adventures in Enology: Wine School, Round 2

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A few months ago, I mentioned an awesome FREE Wine Tasting class on Coursera. If you missed out on the course previously, I have good news for you: the course reopened this week! I’m re-registering for it, since I only completed about 50% of it during the last session. This time, I’m determined to complete it!

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(photo courtesy of All Free Downloads)

Though the course is free, it requires the purchase of wine, glasses and food for the exercises. I’m so committed to completing the course this time that I’ve already ordered some of the items that will be needed in the upcoming weeks. I hope you all join me in taking this free Wine Tasting course. Of course, if you aren’t interested in learning more about wine, you can always check out the many other free courses available on Coursera.

luxury · style

Affordable Cashmere? Yes Please!

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Happy Monday, friends! It’s feeling more and more like winter with each passing day. As much as I hate to let summer go, I realized that I needed to put away my lightweight blouses and bring out my cozy sweaters and scarves. I must admit, I was excited to bring out my cashmere sweaters: I love the colors (deep raspberry and lime green) and feel of my sweaters. Not to mention, using Dryel has kept them looking incredible.

 (This is great for keeping your cashmere in tiptop shape)

I’ve had these sweaters since last year, when I decided it was time to invest in some nicer wardrobe pieces. I found a great place for getting cashmere for less than $50 a sweater (feel free to double check the prices: I was hard pressed to find cashmere sweaters in the $70 range). I purchased my sweaters from Stein Mart, which had lots of different colors and cuts, starting at less than $40 per sweater. If you have an eBates account, you can even get cashback on your purchase, bringing your cost down even more.

(Boatneck and v-neck are just two of the necklines offered in Stein Mart’s cashmere sweaters)

This season has different shades from last year, but there is still a good variety to choose from. If I wasn’t saving my coins, I’d definitely buy a couple more sweaters: the prices are spectacular! You can check out the sweaters here. If you know any other places that have affordable cashmere, let me know in the comments below!

luxury · style

Dreaming of Jewelry

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I wanted a light and fun post because I’m still enjoying the remnants of snow from yesterday. Here are some of my favorite Instagram accounts that feature all sorts of glamorous jewelry:

Champagne Gem: All manner of gorgeous jewelry, especially diamonds. Check out this 110-ct. diamond featured on their Instagram page:

Christie’s Jewels: Heirloom quality jewelry offered by Christie’s, the famous auction house. Here’s a link to one of my favorite pieces that was recently featured on their Instagram page:

Frank Everett: SVP of Sotheby’s Luxury Division, connoisseur of all things expensive and swoonworthy. The sapphire bracelet recently shown on Frank’s page is the kind of thing art deco dreams are made of:

Josh Levkoff Jewelry: Custom made jewelry with flawless stones and timeless settings. What more could you want?

beauty

Review: Dr. Gross Alpha Beta Ultra Gentle Daily Peel

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Hey friends! I’m in the midst of a very  busy – but fun – week, so I wanted to make a quick post about a product that I absolutely adore.

I started using Dr. Gross products last year, when I got serious about improving and perfecting my skin. The salesperson at my local Sephora directed me to the brand’s Alpha Beta Ultra Gentle Daily Peel for sensitive skin, since I was experiencing a bout of sensitivity and I was unsure how my skin would react to the product.

The price of the product – $88 for a 30 day supply – was not for the faint of heart, but desperate times call for desperate measures and believe me, I was DESPERATE. I held out hope that the product would improve my skin’s texture and clarity.

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The description of the product on Sephora’s website is as follows:

A daily peel in pre-soaked pads that contains three gentle acids, anti-agers, and soothing botanicals to exfoliate and nourish sensitive skin and combat the three most common signs of aging.

Lactic acid, mandelic acid, and willow bark extract all work together to exfoliate the skin, refine the texture and clear the pores gently. The product is easy to use: each peel consists of two wipes, conveniently attached in a connected dual-pouch configuration. You gently wipe your face with Wipe 1, until the wipe feels dry to the touch. Then you wait for two minutes, and follow up with wiping your face with Wipe 2. Wipe 1 is the exfoliating chemicals, and Wipe 2 neutralizes the chemicals (so you don’t accidentally burn your skin).

But the question is, how well did it work?

Well, Dr. Gross didn’t disappoint. After 30 days, my skin look transformed! In fact, my skin was looking better after one week, and continued use just made it look even better. By the time I got through the box, I was running to Sephora to get another one! I noticed that some of my scars were starting to fade, and my pores looked smaller. I looked like I may have even gotten a professional chemical peel!

I wish I had taken photos: the difference was noticeable. The results were so good, I plan to purchase another box and start up on another round of exfoliation: I’d like to ring in the new year with my skin looking extra flawless!

I have an upcoming post, describing how I’m winterproofing my skin. I have some other product recommendations that I think you all will enjoy. I’ll talk to you all soon!

art · luxury

Classical Art Sale at Sotheby’s London

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Sotheby’s is having an Old Masters Sale on December 7th, and I must admit, I would love to own one of these incredible works. After attending the Drawing Salon at the National Gallery of Art, I discovered a new level of appreciation for classical works. As a result, I am always interested in the Old Masters and all manner of classical art.

I love all art with Black faces, especially classic art. So I was delighted to see this one, even if the Black woman depicted is a servant. I’m amused that the Princess of Zanzibar (an archipelago of Tanzania, an African country) is a European woman. I would think that the princess of any African country or region would be a woman of color, but I digress.

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(Portrait of The Princess of Zanzibar with an African Attendant by Walter Frier)
During the drawing salon that I attended, we studied the significance of the Madonna paintings. So I’m partial to any rendition of the Virgin and Child.
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(Virgin and Child with a Pear by the Workshop of Joos van Cleve)
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(The Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist by Antonio del Ceraiuolo)
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(Madonna and Child by School of Bruges, second half of the 16th Century)
These paintings are expected to fetch between 10,000 and 90,000 GBP (approximately $13,000 and $121,000 USD). It’ll be interesting to see how well these sell in a couple of days!
The sale will be held at Sotheby’s London. Oh how I’d love to be there when this sale occurs!
style

I Finally Found the Perfect Earring

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I’m an August baby, and it’s taken me a long time to learn to love my birthstone. For years, I hated peridot, the bright green, “semi” precious gemstone assigned to my month.

But something changed when I became an adult. I realized how beautiful this bright green is, and how unusual it is to see people wearing it. I loved the uniqueness, so I started liking – and eventually loving – peridot.

So I started my hunt for the perfect peridot earring. I already have peridot rings and necklaces, but I don’t wear those items daily. However, I do wear earrings every day, so it only made sense that I would want a pair in peridot.

Finding my dream earring, however, proved to be a challenge.

I was pretty specific: I wanted peridot hoop earrings, similar to diamond hoops. I wanted a medium-to-large hoop, with lots of tiny peridot outlining the outer edge, preferably in the “inside out” style (where the inside of the hoop is also lined with gemstones). I wanted them in silver or white gold, and under $150.

I initially looked for earrings on Amazon, because Amazon has everything (normally). But, after looking high and low through their offerings, I realized my dream earrings weren’t there. I then took my search to Google. And I found a picture with my dream earrings, clicked on it, and was led to the godsend that it Overstock.

Here is the pair I selected:

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(photo courtesy of Overstock)

This beautiful pair of earrings was less than $30. I’m so excited! They should arrive in the next couple of weeks: I can’t wait to share them with you all!

beauty

Review: Yours True Lovely Waist Beads

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Full disclosure: I’m fascinated with anything that connects me to my feminine energy. I’m so into it, I regularly cross the lines of “woo-woo”. Yes, I get a bit geeky about it.

Crystals, aromatherapy, belly dancing, multi-step beauty routines – you name it. All of it is done for the sake of fortifying my feminine energy, because I find that this world tends to deplete that energy constantly.

As part of my continual journey into the wide world of femininity, I researched waist beads. A common accessory in many African countries, waist beads are worn under the clothes to help shape the body, help women stay in touch with their femininity, and even to seduce lovers (I found all of this info here).

Uhm, I want body shaping, contact with my femininity and the magical powers of seduction. So I bought some beads.

I ordered from Yours TrueLovely on Instagram. The owner of this handcrafted jewelry company is Alexis. I didn’t find her store randomly; I actually met Alexis a little less than 30 years ago – our moms used to work together and were pregnant with us at the same time LOL! Coincidentally (or maybe not so coincidentally) she began offering waist beads right around the time that I started researching them. So I placed my order and waited patiently.

She produces such high quality pieces, and the beads were ready in no time. Here are some photos of the finished product:

 

My waist bead is pale pink and gold. I ordered it a little larger than my natural waist size, because I misread the measuring tape (it’s been a while since I measured myself). When I order my next waist chain, I’ll make sure it’s smaller, so I can wear it under my clothes and it will have a snug fit on my natural waist. Here’s a closeup of the jewelry:

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If you want to tap into your feminine essence, I highly recommend that you contact Alexis for your own customized waist beads. You’ll love it!

beauty

Review: Life of a Bombshell Brush Set

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Happy Tuesday, beloveds! I’ve got another beauty review for you all.

I bought these rose gold makeup brushes back when I did my big beauty haul in August. These came from Life of a Bombshell, the company responsible for my Bronze Bombshell palette (I’ll be reviewing that soon!). My order arrived quickly and I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of the products I received.

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I selected these brushes because I love anything in rose gold. The set has ten brushes and, while I didn’t get a guide naming the function for each brush, I’m comfortable outlining the brush types based on my own experiences with certain brush shapes and sizes. Here’s what I *think* these brushes are for (from left to right):

  • Large powder brush
  • Concealer brush
  • Blending brush
  • Angled liner brush
  • Contour brush
  • Eyeliner brush
  • Crease brush
  • Highlighter brush
  • Flat eyeshadow brush
  • Blush brush

Closeup of the blush brush

 

But, being “pretty” doesn’t matter if the brushes don’t perform well. The real test is how well the brushes work when using them to apply makeup.

So, how did these brushes work?

I was VERY impressed with how well these brushes worked! These picked up product and applied with ease. The brushes are soft and the bristles are tightly packed, allowing for an even application. The bristles didn’t shed during product application and they didn’t absorb too much of my liquid products (a bit of a problem when using sponges and other absorbent tools).

These brushes also cleaned easily. I used baby shampoo and hand soap for cleansing. Even when the brushes were brown, black and pink from my foundation, eyeshadow and blush, I easily got the bristles back to white and pink again.

The set was $19, and I feel it was well worth the price! I plan to get another set as backup brushes. If you’re so inclined, check them out!

 

style

Tracee Ellis Ross’s New Clothing Line

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During one of my marathon chat sessions with a friend, I found out that one of my favorite actresses, Tracee Ellis Ross, is coming out out with her first fashion line. Tracee has been one of my favorite actresses for many years: I love her sweet, silly but fiercely loyal personality. She seems just as delightful offscreen as she does in front of the camera. That kind of genuine demeanor quickly endeared her to me.

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She is collaborating with JCPenney to offer some limited edition statement piece that are bold, unique, and distinctly Tracee. Funny enough, I like the pieces but I’m still undecided about whether I will purchase any of them. I love how Tracee is styled for the red carpet and her day-to-day life, but I’m not sure how I feel about the pieces in her line. Each item looks well-suited for her taste, but not like the fashions I usually gravitate toward.

But then again, who knows? Maybe the pieces are the kind that “come alive” when you actually put them on your body. The Glorious dress (see the photo below) is my most likely purchase, especially if it looks good on my body. I do like the colors and pattern, so I may give it a try.

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The pieces will be available starting November 12, so check them out and see if there’s anything that interests you. If you like Tracee’s quirky but cute style, you may find your next favorite signature piece within her line.