François Nars at Nordstrom in San Francisco Shopping Centre

I was unfortunately out of town this last weekend, when François Nars, none other than the founder of Nars Cosmetics, made a a special personal appearance at Nordstrom San Francisco Centre this past Saturday.He was signing copies of his books X-Ray and Makeup Your Mind as well as the limited-edition NARS Loves San Francisco Set. X-Ray (1999), the wildly successful photography book and collector’s item, Makeup Your Mind (2001), the ultimate instructional makeup manual featuring the world's most recognizable models and the NARS Loves San Francisco Set.

It contains an assortment of four classic products resurrected from the archives by François Nars specifically for the women of San Francisco and re-named after iconic names in the city. I will be purchasing this set immediately!!!

NARS Modern Love Eyeshadow Palette

What if one eyeshadow compact could provide every shade necessary to fashion the perfect neutral look, eye-defining liner, or sexy smoky effect? Sounds too good to be true huh?!This seemingly impossible pursuit is now a reachable reality with the new NARS Modern Love Palette. Open the signature soft-touch black compact, complete with an oversize mirror, to reveal an array of uber-wearable shades that look natural on every skin tone. Yipee!

NARS used top-ranking shadows, in hues ranging from matte black to shimmering browns to ethereal metallic’s. Each shade was chosen for its ability to complement the others, so you can mix and match for an endless number of subtle or dramatic looks. The resulting palette can be used effortlessly to create various day-to-night looks, with six shadows to accent the lashline, lid, crease and browbone. The Modern Love Palette unleashes your inner artist. I think I am in love!

Shades:
* Alhambra (top left) Metallic Rose Mist
* Jezebel (top middle) Shimmering Sable
* India Song (top right) Shimmering Walnut
* Tokyo (bottom left) Soft Silver-White
* Habanera (bottom middle) Sparkling Charcoal-Plum
* Pandora (bottom right) Matte Black

It will be available in May 2009 exclusively at Nordstrom and sold for $50.

NARS Love Set for Valentine's Day

NARS has put their sexy named products to good use in their offering for V day this year. This great simple Love Set contains some greats:

• Pillow Talk Lip Gloss: a unique, semi-sheer formulation provides serious shine and imparts a warm azalea pink hue. Can be worn alone or atop any lipstick for a perfectly sexy pout.
• Sex Machine Velvet Matte Lip Pencil: combining the convenience of a pencil with the application of a lipstick, this rich, pink-mauve lip pencil provides a matte, creamy finish that will last for hours.
• Orgasm Blush: this cult classic makes cheeks blush a perfect pinky-peach flush and subtly highlights with accents of golden shimmer.

Go pick one up for yourself or someone else, who needs a little love and possibly sex in their lives. $49 at Sephora.

Love Lovely!

NARS Spring 2009 Collection

NARS has come up with some great new products to add to your spring looks this year. What better to offset the spring runway’s preponderance of exotic prints, slinky jumpsuits, and bold patterns crammed with oversize blooms, than a beauty look that is both strong and sophisticated.

“My inspiration for spring was a very sexy woman,” explains François Nars, Founder and Creative Director of NARS Cosmetics. same time.”

A striking matte brick-red eyeshadow, made infinitely more wearable in combination with a pearly white shadow or simple black liner, is tempered by a sweet, baby pink glossy lip; while eyes painted in pastel hues of dusty rose, sage and lilac are a fitting match for a statement-making berry lip. And everything should be paired with the only cheek for spring: sparkling and sculpted.Blush Duo in Hungry Heart - Star Product of the collection

François Nars has always considered blush a critical beauty building block. It’s a belief passed down from his mother, who refers to it as the most important part of her daily makeup ritual. With that in mind, Nars created the Blush Duo, made with smooth, superfine micronized powders for supreme blendability, and infused with radiance reflecting pigments. Plus a bit of glitter, or as Nars calls it, “jewelry for the face.” I love that!

The double compact opens to reveal one highlighting and one sculpting shade, allowing you to literally shape your desired look. Hungry Heart, which pairs a gold-flecked light pink with a shimmering golden ivory, can be used alone—the pink blended into the apples of the cheeks, and the ivory as a highlighter along the cheekbone—or atop a richer shade of NARS blush for a seriously sculpted look.

NEW!! NARS Duo Concealer - $30

Since the skin on your face is not created equal, one shade of concealer isn't enough. This new palette features two complementary shades that can be blended together or used individually. Creamy and crease-resistant, the Duo Concealer is lightweight but still able to provide smooth, opaque coverage to cover up skin redness, imperfections, and under-eye shadows.

Shades: Vanilla/Honey - Fair complexions, Custard/Ginger- Light to medium complexions, Praline/Toffee - Medium to dark complexions

NARS Duo Eyeshadow - $32, New Shades: Egea - Frosted sage and smoky lilac, Hula Hula - Strawberry with gold particles and hazelnut with gold glitter particles

NARS Single Eyeshadow - $22, New Shades: Baby Girl - Cotton candy with golden undertones and gold particles, Grenadines - Matte garnet, Night Sun - Bright marigold with gold particles

NARS Multiple Duo - $45, New Shade: Orgasm/South Beach - Peachy pink and apricot with shimmer

NARS Multiple Bronzer - $37, New Shade: Cap Vert - Medium to dark complexions with red undertones

NARS Lip Gloss - $24, New Shade: Sweet Revenge - Sheer pink grapefruit

NARS Lipstick - $24, New Shade: Shrinagar - Metallic raspberry

Color Lovley!

Safer Sex with NARS the Multiple Orgasm and amfAR

This Saturday I volunteered at gala benefiting amfAR, one of the world’s leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and the advocacy of sound AIDS-related public policy. Actor B.D. Wong hosted the event (you'd recognize him from Law and Order: SVU) and designer Kenneth Cole (amfAR's Chairman of the Board) presented two awards of courage. One to former director of the department of public health in San Francisco Dr. Mervyn Silverman, for his leadership in AIDS prevention. And one to fashion icon and AIDS activist Dita Von Teese. She is even more stunning in person than you would imagine and yet very modest and soft spoken. What a doll! It was a wonderful evening and I felt very fortunate to be able to attend. Although I couldn't afford any of the auction items myself, the evening raised nearly $400,000. It was really amazing to see people opening their pocketbooks wide, especially during our current economic situation.

NARS Cosmetics is also doing their part to contribute to the cause. Their Safer Multiple Orgasm Set is available only at Sephora. It contains the very popular Orgasm blush in cream stick form and two NARS branded condoms! Talk about making safe sex sexy! It is a such a fun idea from a company that has used sex to sell thier products and now they are using it support a great cause. A portion of the proceeds will go to amfAR! Love it!

Protect Lovely!

NARS Video: A Beautiful Cheek

NARS cosmetics is certainly known for their exceptional products that are at the highest level of artistry and professionalism in makeup. They have recently come out with a few instructional videos to demonstrate how to use their products to achieve stellar looks. Here is one on how to create a beautiful flushed, contoured cheek:






Watch Lovely!

Striptease Lipgloss by NARS is HOT!!!

Nars has a knack for naming their shades scandalous phrases that evoke sex and glamour. Anyone who has done any beauty reading online or in magazines has heard of Orgasm blush. The have done it again with the lip gloss called Striptease. It is a super sexy nude gloss that lasts and lasts! They call it a "candlelight nude" which I love. It will be absolutely perfect to pair with a dark, smokey eye. SO HOT... can you tell I'm excited?!

Lip Lovely!

NARS Bronzer Blush Duo in Laguna and Orgasm

My personal secret to perfectly glowing summer skin is in this simple to-the-point compact. NARS Bronzer Blush Duo in Laguna and Orgasm gives me just the right amount of color and helps me not look like I live in cold, foggy San Francisco (it was 58 today... some summer we are having!). But I don't look over tanned like some so-cal beach babe either. I'd like to think of it as a healthy touch of sun without the cancer. After I apply my powder foundation and concealer, I take a big soft brush and buff on the Laguna bronzer all over my face, concentrating on the apples of my cheeks, my nose and forehead, where the sun hits first. I blend everything quite well, especially down my neck, and then take the same soft brush and get a bit of the Orgasm blush. I apply this right below the apples of my cheeks backwards. The result is slightly sculpted, bright and very sunny!

Bronze AND Blush Lovely!

Nail Polish by NARS: Hot for Summer

I don't know about where you all live, but it was HOT in the city of San Francisco today. It supposedly got up to 90 today, unheard for this time of year. Or any time of year for that matter! I was actually thankful that I had to be in my air conditioned office most of the day and that I can wear open toed sandals to work. I got a pedicure last week and picked out a nice raspberry color but now I want something hotter for this HOT weather. Well, NARS cosmetics has just the thing! Their new color Schiap is a true shocking pink, perfect for HOT summer toes. Their formula is long wearing a flexable so it will last at least a week if you're careful. It is even quite sexy on your finger nails. For $16, its worth a shot. Just remember to bring in your own polish when you go get them done, so you can do your own touch ups.

Hot Pink Lovely!

Bright Pink Cheeks From NARS for Spring

Bored of my usual rosy blushes and golden bronzers, I headed over to the NARS display at Sephora to find something new. I love my Orgasm blush, but I wanted something fun and different. NARS has a huge selection of powder blushes and they all have great texture and pigment. They may be on the expensive side (25$ each) but they last forever and the compact is so sleek and chic. I ended up getting Crazed, a raspberry red with a shimmer. It is incredibly bright, so I just dust on a little on the apples of my cheeks. It's a fun look but not for everyday, though it is definitely in tune with the spring trend toward vibrant colors. Everyone needs a little brightness in their life, why not start with your blush?!

Pink Lovely!

Bonus Time! Sephora Here I Come!

Although dull at times, working in finance does have its perks: Holiday Bonus time! After receiving my check today (of which the government took almost half! sniff, sniff), I heading over to Union Square. I had to go pick up tights to wear with my cute cocktail dress tonight at our company holiday party cause its so darn cold in SF right now. Once they were purchased, of course, I beelined over to Sephora to treat myself on a job well done this year:I got NARS's Night Series Mini Palette($55), something I have been lusting after for months! It's quite pricey, but definitely a must have for my eyeshadow collection. All the colors are so shimmery and fun, perfect for creating holiday looks. I don't usually wear green eyeshadow, but I am going to experience with some new color combos and it will be fabulous, I just know it.I also picked up a small bottle of Smashbox's famed Photo Finish Foundation Primer($15.50). Everyone raves about this so much, I knew I had to try it. Not quite ready to invest in the full size, this one is perfect for me to test it out. I have used products with silicone in them, so I know how lovely they make your skin feel. I have a feeling this is going to be a winner!I also got a new brush ($9) for my gel eyeliners. It is actually a Sephora Professional lip brush, but I am going to use it for my MAC Fluidline tonight, since I forgot the brush I usually use at home. The brush is stiff enough for eyeliner and just becuase it says its for lips, doesn't mean you can't use it on your eyes. Think outside the box, ladies.

Of course I am a Sephora Insider, so with my purchase, they gave me a free sample of Frederic Fekkai Glossing Sheer Shine Mist(full size $22.50). Maybe that will liven up my hair this afternoon before the party. Hope so!

Shop Lovely!

Holiday Shopping goodness

After Halloween, the stores will fill up with holiday gift ideas for the christmas season. In fact they already started, as I noted after my recent visit to Nordstrom. Retailers waste no time putting out sets of products with cute packaging perfect for those people in your life who may or may not need new makeup! Here are a few gift ideas I've scoped out already online:

Sephora's Fashion Week Live Set: This set includes a Stila Lip Glaze in Brown Sugar, Make Up For Ever Diamond Shadow in Diamond Black 307, Smashbox Mini Travel Photo Finish Foundation Primer in Original, Smashbox O-GLOW, Dior Diorshow Mascara in Black 090, Sephora Blush Me! Mono in Abricot Plaisir 6, all in a chic black sequined Sephora Brand clutch. All great products for the person on your list who wants to keep up with the latest trends on the runway. $79

NARS 9941 Artist Palette: A sleek, mirrored black compact with a wide variety of products to achieve quintessential looks ranging from the classic daytime neutral to chic evening glamour. It includes four shades of eye shadows, two shades of The Multiple, and four different lipsticks. Perfect for the girl on your list who needs a little push out of her makeup box to try something new and fun. $60

Best of Stila Gift of Glamour: A set of Stila's best selling products, perfect for creating glamorous looks for the holidays. The set includes a limited-edition Lip Glaze in Fruit Cake (golden rose), two eye shadows in Kitten and Barefoot Contessa, Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer SPF 15 in Shade 01, and Multi-Effect Mascara in Black. Perfect for a die-hard Stila fan or someone who's never heard of Stila, its just so cute! Be thoughtful of skin tone as the tinted moisturizer only comes in one color. $60

Gift Lovely!

Just a Quick Word

This is going to be a quick post today cuz I actually have a lot of work to do...yuck! Anyways, thought I would just list a few things I'm eying right now, but trying to hold off on, say, until my next cc bill cycle:

MAC's Antiquitease hit stores today. I am lusting after the Mineralize Eye Shadow duo in Family Silver and the Fluidline in Uppity.

NARS Night Series Mini Palette, a limited edition available at Sephora. Such a grat combo of colors to create the perfect evening looks! mmmm

Philosophy's Hope in A Jar. I bought the mini jar on a whim in line at Sephora (those bins by the check out always get me!) and now I think I'm in love. Its rare for a face cream not to sting or irritate my skin, espically when I'm using Retin-A from my dermatologist, but Hope in a Jar is great and has a nice light scent.

Browse Lovely!

I finally did it...

Recently my will power has been extremely weak. I have been unable to resist an urge to run down to Sephora on my lunch, and drop wads of cash on products that catch my eye during my morning perusing of beauty blogs.

A few friends of mine have raved about NARS blush in Orgasm, but I was sceptical because they all have such different skin tones. How could one blush look good on both dark and light skinned ladies?! But the instance I saw it on display (they actually had three different testers out at Sephora...yeah!), I knew I had to have it! The subtle yet charming shimmer looked amazing, and it gives me that natural flush without looking like I'm wearing blush.

I ended up getting the Bronzer-Blush Duo in Laguna-Orgasm because I didn't have a pressed bronzer so I figured it was a good investment. I almost love the bronzer even more. I got a nice tan on my Labor day vacay, but not on my face (I always wear 30), so the bronzer adds a nice healthy glow without the cancer risk. Its a bit pricey but I have a feeling its going to last me a long time... and the packaging is amazing! Love the matte black compact, huge mirror, and giant NARS lettering. Fabulous!

Shop Lovely!