When I was little I was playing around in an aisle with my younger brother when accosted by a lady of a certain age who commented on hope cute the two brothers were. From then on I vowed never to resemble a boy and my bangs were born. They’ve covered my forehead for most of my life and are sort of the fame whores of the body— but I think Spring 2011 will be season I truly let my forehead come back out to play.

The bare forehead trend started with Tyra (doesn’t it always?). She went through the entire TK season of America’s Next Top Model while sporting a chic chignon, showing off her self proclaimed “five-head.”

Then, after watching the Cynthia Rowley Spring 2011 runway show and being utterly uplifted by the Garden of Eden-themed Spring 2011 Monique L’Huillier runway show, I realized how inspired I’d become by the sporting slicked back buns showing off all of the models’ beautiful faces.

Later, while looking at Spring 2011 shows ranging from Diane von Furstenberg to Alexander Wang to Wayne, I started to see more of a trend than just personal inspiration. Even Erin Fetherston whose models usually sport the designer’s signature blunt bangs had a slicked back, forehead-exposing look/.

I can’t wait to feel the sun warming my entire face, though I’ll surely be apply my fair share of sunscreen— safety first!

So braid, clip or brush those stray hairs back, and let your forehead shine— er, use a mattyifier, but definitely show it off.

Yes, I get to see new beauty releases months before they hit stores, but I also have realized how little I cared about makeup until now. I’m a changed beauty.

When I read the article “What Beauty Products Would You Splurge On,” on the Allure Beauty Reporter Blog, I started to think about how my beauty budget has changed in the past few months.

No longer do I simply shop the drugstore aisles with indifference, I’ve expanded my makeup cache to products that actually work no matter where they’re sold. I’m still religious to my cheapo eyeliner pencil and MAC has had my blush business for as long as I can remember, but when it comes to the rest of my face, let’s just say, my taste has greatly improved.

So, what would I splurge on, now? Mascara, fragrance, and lipstick.

Right now, my mascara is a Josie Maran GOGO Instant Natural Volume Argan Mascara ($22), which doesn’t come out until the fall. It volumizes wonderfully, but still looks natural and clump-free. For extra drama I use, Bourjois Volume Glamour Ultra Care Mascara ($15).

My fragrance is Marc Jacobs Lola, but I want to get Christian Dior Hypnotic Poison Eau de Toilette. I love fragrances with a little musk and vanilla. Do you know any scents I should try?

Last, but certainly not least, is everything that has to do with lips. When I want a bit of shine, I sport Dior Addict High Shine Lipstick ($26), while my go to red is Rimmel London Lasting Finish Intense Wear Lipstick in Temptation (under $5). My daily lip routine usually consists of applying a sheer layer of Tarte LipSurgence Natural Matte Lip Stain in Lively ($24) and swipe Jane Be Pure Mineral Lip Balm (under $5) on top.

Talk Back: What are your favorite beauty/makeup splurges?

MoroccanOil, for those of you living under a rock or in a town full of bald people, is a trendy hair oil made from the kernels of the Argan tree, endemic to Morocco. Argan oil has been used in Morocco and surrounding nations for hundreds of years, but we Westerns have just become hip to its super nourishing abilities.

Now products with Argan oil are popping up all over the place, but the first in my mind was MoroccanOil. At $37 per 3.4 oz bottle, the Oil Treatment is a tad pricey, but the results are magnificent.

My hair is not only naturally dry, but also chemically straightened and, most likely, slightly heat-damaged. So, after I wash my hair I apply a quarter-size puddle of the oil treatment to my hair, and even after blow drying it feels soft and looks shiny.

The oil absorbs into the hair instead of settling on top as not to weigh down your strands, leaving me with healthy locking locks.

MoroccanOil has a full line of products, including the Intense Curl Cream ($28) for your tendrils.

Here are other Argan Oil-rich products to try out:

Kiehl’s Suberbly Smoothing Collection, $18-$25
Josie Maran Argan Oil Hair Serum, $30
One ‘n Only Argan Oil Treatment, $10
Nick Chavez Beverly Hills Angel Drops with Argan Oil, $19
Rusk Deepshine Oil Protective Treatment, $24

A while ago, I tried a couple of great Bliss products, but they were sort of time consuming.

So, this weekend while rushing around like a mad woman, I decided to try Elizabeth Grant’s The Socializer pens.

The two, night and day pens are jam packed with de-bagging, anti-dark circle, eye-illuminating ingredients, most of which I won’t even attempt to describe. Just know they work.

On Friday, I went to the beach then the pool, had a barbecue, and watched the Yankees game well into the wee hours of the morning with my guy. Needless to say, the next morning my eyes felt beyond heavy. After dabbing a couple of clicks of The Socializer Bright Lights (AM) formula under my eyes, I looked as rested as a babe. To keep the facade up all day, I decided to put The Socializer Late Nights (PM) formula on after 12 or so hours and my eyes were as bright and bagless as they were that morning.

These pens are my new savior! I’m terrible a keeping a regimen, so these on-the-run, results-in-no-time magic pens are just peachy.

Editor’s Note: This product was obtained and tested as a sample at no cost or profit to Pink Rock Candy/Chelsea Rae Simmons.

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Some people, I won’t mention any names, desperately need sunscreen else they turn as red as steamed lobsters. Others don’t because they “never burn”, and others still may not “need” sunscreen, but still apply SPF for safety’s sake. I fall under the last category. My only problem with most sunscreens isn’t the viscosity or the potential to clog pores, it’s the smell.

I’m very driven by smell when it comes to many body products. I generally like smelling like foods: vanilla, cinnamon, citrus fruits, etc. Floral scents are much too frilly, so I steer clear. Much to my chagrin, most sunscreens come in one scent called Gross.

Check out these four great sunscreens to remedy this scent catastrophe:

• Sonya Dakar Daily Body Shield SPF 30, $59
• Kinesys Spray Sunscreen, Girl, SPF 30, Vanilla-Green Tea Scent, $19
• Alba Botanicals Aloe Vanilla SUNBLOCK Mineral SPF 30, $10
• Hawaiian Tropic Sunblock Ozone Oil Free Stick SPF 50+, $6

When I know I’m going to spend hours in the easy East Coast sun whether at the beach or watching my guy play baseball, I grab the Sonya Dakar Daily Body Shield. It’s lemony scent is fresh and not too over baring, while the lotion itself leaves no greasy residue.

On the other spectrum, if I was to lounge around in the searing tropical sun, I’d grab the Hawaiian Tropic sunblock stick. Not only is it SPF 50, because I promise all skin tones can burn, but it has a soft piña colada scent.

Talk Back: What are your favorite sunblocks, scented or otherwise?

For those who hadn’t realized, I’m black— shocking right— and as a “woman of color” putting anything sheer on my lips is an exercise in futility. You can imagine my surprise when I applied Jane. Be Pure Mineral Lip Balm for the first time and saw my lips rouge every so sweetly. Since then, I’ve been hooked!

The Be Pure Mineral Lip Balm not only is able to add a nice sheer tint to my darker colored lips, but it keeps them soft, provides natural SPF protection and smells delicious like coco butter.

I initially found this tube of Jane. miracle balm at the bottom of a tote full of makeup from years ago. Jane. and I have been involved, on various levels, since my sister introduced the two of us when I was an overactive sprout of 10 or 11. My sister wore makeup, so I used to sneak and wear makeup too.

Since then, Jane. and I have lost touch a bit. The only place near me to buy their products is at RiteAid, and let’s faces it, finding a RiteAid in the world of CVS, Walgreens and Duane Reade is a feat in itself. The only one I frequent is in at Grand Central Terminal, and those visits are generally geared toward grabbing a bag of chips before rushing to my location.

That being said, I’ve started a small collection in different colors and apply them regularly— I love them when creating a natural look for school.
If you, like me, have no idea where your nearest RiteAid is located, you can buy all Jane. products on their webstore.

Every other Sunday, I have mommy-daughter time at the nail salon. I usually get a $30 mani/pedi, while my mom gets the full shebang— she pays, so I try to keep it cheap. However, last Sunday, my darling mom insisted I try the OPI Axxium Soak-off Gel Lacquer System on both my figures and my toes.

Her reasoning, I’m very hard on my nails and tend to chip them within the first few days. The system, in her mind, will remedy this situation, but all I could think about was the cost, of which I’m still unsure.

So, I spent two hours getting layer after layer after layer of hot pink, Strawberry Margarita, gel lacquer applied to the nails on my figures and toes with a UV lamp drying cycle in between each layer. The process was quite obviously time consuming, and I couldn’t help feeling bad for the perfectionist nail technician who worked his butt off applying the coats. By the end of the process, I wasn’t sure whether I should have given him a hug or bought him a beer.

Despite the time it took, my nails look pretty and, hopefully, will last for about two weeks without a single chip— if I’m really good, I might even be able to stretch it to three weeks.

The OPI Axxium Soak-off Gel Lacquer System comes in its top selling colors including my favorites, Cajun Shrimp and Russian Navy.

It’s day three, and not a chip in sight, we’ll see what happens by day 10.

p.s. Danielle from The Style and Beauty Doctor tried it in February and it was a success!

At the age of 21, I have the under eye bags of a middle-age power bitch, and that is not— I’ll repeat that, NOT— acceptable.

The Cause:
“Fluid retention due to changes in weather (for example, hot, humid days), hormone levels or eating salty foods, sleeping flat on your back, not getting enough sleep, allergies or dermatitis, especially if puffiness is accompanied by redness and itching, [and/or] heredity,” are five causes of under eye puffiness according to MayoClinic.com.

The Fix:
There are a thousand and one ways to solve my little problem with unwanted eye luggage, I could try sleeping in an elevated position, but I would inevitable get no sleep because of the discomfort. I could change my college kid diet of fast food and green tea— for good measure— but, why would I want to do that? I could layer on tons of make-up in an effort to disguise them, but I’m a 1-2-3 make-up kind of girl, eyeliner, blush and lipstick. There are also the old-fashioned remedies of cold spoons, tea bags and cucumbers. I, however, am a modern power-bitch-in-the-making and would rather head to my local cosmetic store to get my hands on a quick fix— don’t judge me, it’s the American way— in the form of Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Eye Mask ($54).

The little de-puffing pads are soaked in “3 forms of glow-inducing oxygen, antioxidant vitamin C and puff pummeling cucumber extract.” Leave them on for 15 minutes and feel an odd cooling sensation, which, in my mind, means it’s working.

The Results:
After spending $86 on the eye mask and a tube of the Baggage Handler Eye Gel ($28) and 15 minutes processing time, I’m not fully de-puffed, some of my under eye luggage were definitely checked. My battle against the bag will be a continuous one, but I hate to lose, so bags beware!

p.s. In the picture, I’m only wearing a bit of blush, lipstick and eyeliner, and there was no retouching done— take that Vogue!

A little over a week ago, I received an email from Jackie Johnson from Some Notes on Napkins, telling me one of her clients, Folica.com, was hosting a contest called the Folica Style-Off.

In the contest, you have to create a video showing how you use your favorite Sedu product to create your favorite hairstyle, whether it’s going from straight to curly, curly to straight, down to up, etc. The winner will receive “$1000 cash, a selection of Sedu appliances and a feature on Folica.com that will be promoted to millions of viewers!”

The contest started on Feb. 8, 2010, but I was a little sidetracked by my sick brother and fashion week to post about it earlier. All video submissions should be emailed to contest@folica.com by Feb. 28, 2010, and should be no longer than seven minutes.

Check out the Contest Instructions & Inspirationation above.

Also, in the spirits of contests, not only was I given a dazzling Sedu Pro Ionic Ceramic Tourmaline Flat Iron (1 1/2″) so I can create my contest video— when I get a bit of time, I’ll put post about it— but, I also received a Sedu Revolution Pro Nano Ceramic Tourmaline 1 Inch Styling Set ($140) to give away to one lucky Pink Rock Candy reader. To enter, comment on this post between now and Sunday, Feb. 21, 2010. Make sure to provide an email address, if you comment using your twitter or facebook login. US residents only. After that, I will randomly choose a winner, good luck!

Evey now and then the Afro makes a tiny comeback. When Hollis first came on the scene, she was rocking a cute twisty ‘fro. Now, she has replaced the curls with long, straight weave— that is kind of bad, but that’s just my opinion. The void that Hollis left of a black model with some sort of curly “natural” hairstyle is being filled by the super cute Rose Cordero, and for now, most designers are accepting Rose’s small ‘fro, but how long will this continue?

If you’ve seen pictures of me, you obviously will see I’m not one for the natural look. My hair is relaxed and I straighten it once a week— it stays straight for the rest of the week—but I do appreciate the look of a well kept Afro on a girl.

I hope Rose keeps the Afro as her signature look, but I think she might end up like Hollis, with a weave or extensions, because it’s more marketable.

Since I got my bangs cut, I’ve had nothing but hair calamity— not because of the haircut, but because life happens. First my blow dryer broke while I was trying to dry my puppy’s fur. Then my mom sent my dad to buy another, and it was complete trash. Now all my problems are solved and then some.

I just bought a Vidal Sassoon: Answers blow dryer for normal to coarse hair. It does wonders for straightening my hair, but my hair has been really frizzy due to the humidity and amount of shampooing I’ve had to do because I enjoy visiting the pool and beach in my free time.

To solve this problem, I purchased this Cationic Hydration Interlink (CHI) spray called Keratin Mist. After having sprayed it on my damp hair, blowing it dry and flat ironing as usual, my hair is not only light, but it’s shiny and has very little frizz— it’s a bit rainy so I can’t complain.

CHI Keratin Mist and other CHI products can be purchased at most drug stores.

What are your beauty lusts?

I’ve been thinking about getting straight bangs for a very long time, and I’ve finally done it. I went to a salon a few miles away from me called Hopscotch— it’s right in front of the Greenwich train station. If you live in Connecticut, you should really go there. They were named the best hair salon in Connecticut by Elle, and they totally lived up to the hype.

I was a bit scared as Cai (pronounced K), my stylist, was cutting my bangs. Honestly, they looked a bit short, but that was only because my hair is naturally curly and shrinks when wet.

Dress: dELiA*s  •  Shoes: Franco Sarto from DSW, Sunglasses: Betsey Johnson

When all was said and done, I love my hair. It’s a bit too straight at the ends, but that will change as I play with it an sleep on it.

What do you think? Should I keep my bangs or let them grow out again?

From now until July 15th, 2009, not only can you shop the already discounted products, but by typing the promo code PINKROCKCANDY at checkout, you can get an extra 10% off your entire order.

Enjoy! ]]> http://pinkrockcandy.net/fashion/2009/06/04/10-off-at-beautyticketcom/feed/ 0 http://pinkrockcandy.net/fashion/2009/05/21/s-a-u-c-y/ http://pinkrockcandy.net/fashion/2009/05/21/s-a-u-c-y/#comments Thu, 21 May 2009 13:22:38 +0000 Chelsea Rae Simmons http://pinkrockcandy.net/fashion/?p=1029

I recently bought my first tube of red lipstick— “first” meaning not borrowed from my mom— and, I really think I’m falling for the look. I know makeup is supposed to lighten up with the summer, but I’m never one to do what I’m supposed to do. I think I’ll stick with this shade for awhile because it makes me feel saucy.

Tank, Necklace, Jeans – Forever21  •  Vest – H&M  •  Bracelets – Various, Lipstick – Rimmel “Temptation”

I don’t write much about beauty, but after reading about the proposal to ban Brazilian Bikini Waxing in New Jersey (NJ) on Allure.com, I had to speak up.

Why in the world would a state feel the need to create mandates against something like depilatories? Sure two women are complaining about botched waxes in the nether regions that led to their hospitalizations, but tons of people have been hospitalized due to overly hot coffee and the worst coffee distributors get is a lawsuit and a mandate to put ‘HOT!’ on the container.

I personally don’t think salons are publicizing how fun and painless Brazilian Bikini Waxes are, and one would think those receiving this beauty treatment know of the risks.

Of course there is the fact that “genital waxing” is technically illegal in NJ, according to The Philadelphia Daily News. That law however seems highly antiquated like laws about the illegality of having sexual relations with a porcupine in Florida and of cars being sold on Sunday in Michigan.

Sometimes governments really just need to but out of personal care issues. I say let those who want to inflict pain on the bits and pieces do so, and sue the shit out a salon if they send you to the hospital. Do Not write your local congressman.