A new femme fragrance by Lancôme will be launched in September 2012, and who better to front La Vie est Belle (life is beautiful) than the beautiful actress Julia Roberts.  The face of the new fragrance, and their mascara ambassadress, says during the press launch of the perfume that, “The perfume smells so good, which is the only reason I agreed to it. I believe in smelling good, and as my husband said, ‘people will think this is what you smell like’… It is a small-town girl’s dream to be in a place like this. Thank you all for being part of it”.

It opens on notes of blackcurrant and pear leading to a heart of iris, jasmine and orange blossom before trailing off with tonka bean, vanilla, praline and patchouli.  The perfume was formulated by perfumers Dominique Ropion and Olivier Polge.

Nails are a big to do this season, and when you are showing off your nails, it's not just the nail that matters; caring for your cuticles is important too.  Many people have different ways of caring for their cuticles, one of the most common ways we know are to just push them and cut away. However, what you may not know is that this is one of the worst things you can do for caring for your cuticles.  You should never bite, push, cut or peel your cuticles.  Rather than ridding them, treat them to be healthy and beautiful, because after all they are part of your nails.

First start with an exfoliating hand & cuticle treatment cream, like Philosophy's Time on Your Hands .  This hand and cuticle cream heals sun damaged hands, dry cuticles and works incredibly fast to reveal it's desirable effect.  It leaves hands and cuticles incredible smooth. 

If for some reason you prefer not to use Philosophy products, there are plenty of other cream brands you can use, like Clinique.  Clinique, we know, is one of everyones most favorite skin care line and we can totally get why! This Clinique Deep Comfort Hand and Cuticle cream is long lasting and will keep your cuticles and hands hydrated for 12 hours, talk about great quality!

Now before you go ahead and call us hypocrites, we still are sticking to our word to not push back and trim your cuticles, HOWEVER, if you use a cuticle nipper, like the Tweezerman one we have, to use to cut a hangnail, we're all for it! Anything to keep your  nails healthy and clean, we're all for it, but to push back and trim away those cuticles, no, no, no.

Lastly, a personal fave of ours, the Dr. Hauschka nail oil pen! This handy dandy pen is awesome; it comes with a felt tip applicator, so it's perfect to throw it in a bag and go.  This oil is perfect for a simple and easy daily treatment to strengthen and clarify nails, promote healthier growth and softer cuticles, as well as enhances keratin to strenghten soft or brittle nails. That what we're talking about! Beautiful, strong, healthy nails for all year long!

For some, wearing makeup is a mood booster in itself, but brands like Physicians Formula and Jesse Girl are bumping it up a notch.  Beauty brands are now putting "feel-good" ingredients in their products that are said to make you happy and enables the body to respond to your mood.

For example, a product that may include the ingredient euphoryl may claim to promote "a feeling of happiness by mimicking the effect of endorphins".  Feedback from the moodboosting hopefuls? Very little actually, and not much information was released up to date about whether or not these products with this specific ingredient would boost the mood of the makeup wearer. 

What's your take on the mood boosting makeup?

Did you know that looking into the puckering pout from one decade to another can tell one about the economic and financial status of the American society and many other factors, like emphasis on particular body parts and the celebs of the time.  Let's take a glimpse back and see how the color and shape of a woman'slips could be so telling of the times!

The 20's -- Prohibition & Rebellion
The Trend: Lip colors include black and garnet red and the shape is a matte-finished, heart shaped mouth.
The Telling: It's the Roaring 20's and women are going out to dance, drink, and push the envelope more than ever before. 
The 30's-- Economic Depression
The Trend: Silky/Glossy Reddish brown lip colors, Mouth drawn outward with square edges
The Telling: During the Great Depression, women emphasize sternness with the square edges around their mouth. The 30's is full of glamourous women who are thrifty, austere, but not afraid to determine their own fate.
The 40's-- Wartime
The Trend: Lip color is brilliantly glossy vermillion, a full mouth shape with symmetrical curves
The Telling: The lip symbolizes strength, disguising sorrow.  While men were at war, women were forced to fill their roles, giving them a new sense of identity and responsibility.
The 50's-- Post War Period
The Trend: Lip colors are bright reds and pinks. The shape is a voloptuous mouth with lip liner extending beyond the natural shape.
The Telling: Embracing their sexuality and feminity, while revealing their newfound independence, the lip shape is significant in being relective of this period of reconstruction.
The 60's --Flower Power & Rebellion
The Trend: Lip colors are beige, like baby pink and silver white and the shape is a full, large lip pout
The Telling: The period of hippies in the '60s is full of exploration of outer space, sexual revolution, Woodstock and the anti-war movement. Lipstick is applied, but discreetly for the rejection of conventional beauty, prosperity, and consumption.
The 70's -Disco Rules
The Trend: Glittering crimson or burgundy red with an outlined, shiny mouth shape.  
The Telling: It's time for women to break out and explore their boundaries! Women are not afraid to become single mothers of fight for their rights...to party!(and their social and political rights too)
The 80's -- Emancipation
The Trend: Lip colors are dark black with metallic effects and the lip shape is a wide mouth, representing the provocative punky look.
The Telling: Punk music was the first anti-beauty movement.  Women and men alike play with reversing gender foles, for example the transvestite chic of boy George or the fashion of Vivienne Westwood.
The 90's--Individualism
The Trend: Brown lip color undergoes a revival, with both dark and bright lip colors
The Telling: In the 90's, fashion and beauty trends were evolving on a daily basis, so anything goes!
The Decades Ahead
According to Li Edelkoort, history will continue to repeat itself. She predicts that, for now, generous, whitish beige lips will reflect our nurturing desire to live at a sustainable, slower pace. “Thinner lips will take us into the 2020’s,” she says. “Eventually, perfect red lips with harmonized proportions between the eyes, lips, and body will balance our beauty in the new era of post-recession and reconstruction.”

Illustrations & Text: Beautypress.com

Go natural and get nude! Take it down a notch from the neon brights and sun kissed color, for an au natural, nudey look.

First, take down the full face of makeup look with a tinted moisturizer.  In general, during the summer months, you want to keep off caking on the foundation and powder and stick to a moisturizer with SPF, that is light with some coverage.  Feel free to dust some powder for shine free, matte skin, but remember to keep it light and only in areas that are necessary.

Forget the foxy eye shadows and liners for a night and go with a nude, natural, earthy toned shadow with gold flecks or shimmer. This will create a natural look that will bring out your eyes. For the lip, steer clear of a bold red or fuchsia pink and go with a light lip liner, one you will barely see and shade in your entire lip (this is for a long lasting look).  Then apply a nude lip gloss for sheen brilliance!

There you have it, the perfect way to perfect the nude makeup look. When will you wear this up and coming look?

You may not believe it, but night skin care is very essential for anyone's beauty regimen. Not many people realize how important night skin care is, and how effective it can be. They don’t call it “beauty sleep” for nothing! Make sure you are getting your beauty sleep with these 5 fabulous night skin care products we can’t get enough of!

Clarins Multi Active Night Youth recover Comfort Cream This recovery comfort cream is fit for normal to dry skin and is really a great product! It smells great, it really moisturizes skin (but not overly) and it may just change your skin!   You’ll feel (and look) renewed and younger in the morning. If you’re looking for a hydrating moisturizer that will give your skin a glow, this comfort cream is the one for you! 

Guerlain’s Issima Midnight Star Reminiscent of Harry Potter, this nighttime treatment by Guerlain can be defined in one word only, magical.  The midnight star delivers an instant revitalizing effect and creates a beautiful, silky finish.  If you want to instantly improve your skins elasticity, this product is for YOU!

Lancome’s Absolue Nuit Ultimate BX Advanced Night Recovery and Replenishing Concentrate You sleep so that you can recover, but recover what exactly? With Lancome’s Absolue Nuit Ultimate BX Advanced Night Recovery and Replenishing Concentrate, you will help reinforce and replenish your skin’s night time recovery process with this simple serum.  The serum is great for regeneration at night and fortifies cell renewal, reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.  Feel comfortable and radiant in your skin with this fabulous skin care product. 

La Prarie’s Cellular Cream Platinum Rare Empower your skin with the most precious metal on earth, with platinum! Transform your skin with this Cellular Cream, with pure platinum that promises to ensure ageless performance, protect the skin’s DNA and replenish moisture for a soft, smooth skin look. This product will be your new best friend, and how fitting, it comes in a diamond shaped jar.  

Aveda Blue Oil Balancing Concentrate This roll on oil is convenient and a lifesaver for nights where you are tossing and turning and just can not get some sleep.  Roll it and rub it on, the refreshing aroma makes you feel so much better, it instantly de-stresses and relieves any tightness and has easily become a night time essential.  Make sure you have one of these in your night stand drawer, it will come in handy!

We’re pleasantly pleased with peachy scents, fragrant products, and a beauty product or two lately.  Sure, we’ve been loving the pastel hues and the usual neons and brights for spring and summer, but what ever happened to the in between, peach hue? We’re bringing it back and know you’ll be peachy keen on these lovely products once you finish this post through.

First let’s talk about this amazingly scented Peach Papaya scented candle.  Do we need to say anymore? NO need…but oh-my-god…amazing!

Pixi’s cheek crème blush duo compact in natural peach is perfect for year round for a natural peachy, clean look.  Depending on your skin color, there are two different peachy hues, perfect for that pale winter skin during the cold season and during the hot summer days, a brighter, more bronz-y glow hue.

Ever hear of the saying, you smell so good, I can just eat you up?! Well you’ll be hearing a lot of that once you use Parfums Claire Peach Musk bubbling bath and shower gel. Lather this yummy gel onto your skin for a peachy, clean smell.

Smelling good all day long is all about layering, layering is key. That’s why you should apply some Parfums Claire Peach Musk eau de parfum spray after your shower, that you just quenched your thirsty skin with Parfums Claire Peach Musk bubbling bath and shower gel. 

Save the dessert for last, try some delicious body lotion, Peaches & Cream by Hempz for a deep down, delicious conditioning treatment and a lovely lotion scent.

Some exciting news is stirring up within the fragrance industry.  Elizabeth Arden acquired the global fragrance licenses of Ed Hardy, True Religion, and BCBG Maz Azria from New Wave Fragrances LLC.

Arden also holds designer fragrances, including Juicy Couture, Alfred Sung, Geoffrey Beene, Kate Spade, Lucky Brand and Rocawear.

The company said it expects almost no impact on it's 2012 fiscal results, but what do you think? Will things sky rocket, hardly change, or hang a little low?

Beachy, wavy, tousled hair is THE perfect hairstyle option for those summer months where the heat is just unbearable.  Who needs to heat up a curling iron or straightening tool when you can just create gorgeous beach waves? Save some time (and your hair) by creating a sexy, wavy hair look with no heat at all!

There are a few ways of doing so, but all of them start with a styling cream in damp hair. Apply a small amount of product into your hand and rub together, scrunching and smoothing into your locks. Now that the 1^st step is done, choose your way of creating your look.

The first way you can do this, is to create a sock bun after your shower and applying styling product.  This will create gorgeous, voluminous waves in the morning or hours after your hair has dried.  To see how to get a sock bun look, check out our tutorial here.

Another option to getting a wavy hair look is to braid your hair.  Braid your hair, in a fishtail braid or a regular braid as your hair is damp.  Spray some holding spray in it as the braid is sitting and apply mousse product once you have taken the braided strands out. Remember not to apply too much product, you will lose the beachy wavy hair effect and it will be crispy and crunchy waves instead.

For a very natural, tousled wave look, separate your hair into 4 sections. Create a “messy bun” for each section; apply a gel spray or holding spray.  Again, let hair dry overnight or for a few hours and when hair is dry, apply some mousse to add volume and keep hold of the wave.

Do you love the beach wave hair look? How do YOU get your look perfected?  

With Essence marking it's 10th anniversary, they have proudly and excitingly announced they will be entering the fragrance market! Starting this month, Essence will launch six eaux de toilette for girls and young women, with a slogan, "Choose your mood -- It's just one spray away!". 

Scents include: Like a Walk in the Summer Rain, Like a Trip to New York, Like a Day in a Candy Shop, Like a First Day in Spring, Like a New Love and Like a Girls’ Night Out.  These scents were created by 5 perfumers from Robertet and the packaging of the bottles was designed by German based company, Sulzbach. 

“We did a lot of work to create unique Essence fragrances, as we do not want to smell like another brand or perfume. Our perfumers worked exclusively on the briefings we gave them — inspiration was our special concept, mood pictures and the target group itself — no other fragrances. Same for the design of bottle, cap and folding boxes: we have built our own molds for the flacons and caps to differ from the other fragrance brands in the market,” explains Christina Oster-Daum, co-founder and chief executive officer of Cosnova.