Like a Kid in a Candy Store

So you know I went to the Neiman's beauty event last night and had a ball. (I know I posted that it starts today, but I got my dates wrong, and yesterday was the kickoff, mea culpa). Well, Neiman's pulled out all the stops for us. They were doing a Breakfast at Tiffany's theme party and had actors and actresses there dressed in character and free cocktails for shoppers of drinking age. The gift bag was great!!! There's a nice size bottle of Marc Jacobs perfume, a sample of Jo Malone French Lime and a coupon for a sample of their body creme, Freeze eye creme, and my favorite a coupon for a sample of La Mer Eye Cream. Those in the know can attest that La Mer does not give out "free" samples - you have to buy to try.

My favorite sample was the Fresh Rose Rejuvenating Face Mask. I love, love, love the scent of fresh roses in any beauty product, so I was destined to fall for this one. The mask went on so smooth and didn't leave my face feeling dry or tight after rinsing off. I will definitely go and get a full jar of this one for fall, especially since I need to replace my Brown Sugar Body Polish anyway (2006 Best of Sephora Best Body Scrub winner).

Moving on, one of my favorite things about shopping in Boston is the fact that Neiman's, Saks, Sephora, and C.O. Bigelow are all downtown and connected in the same mall. So, after leaving the beauty event with a bag full of goodies, I figured "when in Rome . . . " and hit up the other stores and had a full fledged fall beauty spree last night. My two best finds - brushes and brows.

Kevyn Aucoin Beauty

The more I blog on beauty, the more I realize just how far back my deep, deep infatuation (I refuse to call it an obsession) with beauty and fashion go. Making Faces and Face Forward were two of my favorite books as a kid, thanks to a mom with good taste in literature. I was just amazed by the way this makeup artist could transform people with cosmetics. Kevyn Aucoin actually made a young man look just like Linda Evangelista. I was so saddened by his passing.

But his greatness lives on in a great beauty company. My fav, and most expensive, purchase from last night is his large blush brush. So worth the price. The size of your brush can determine if your brightly colored blush just awakens your face and makes you look like you've just been giggling for 30 minutes or if you look like you just graduated from Bozo U. The larger and fluffier the brush, the more evenly you can dispense your blush for just that natural hint of color. This one is so perfect. Plus, the Kevyn Aucoin brush line has been voted Allure's Best by Allure Magazine (b.k.a. The Beauty Bible).


Anastasia Beverly Hills

Anastasia is the Queen of Eyebrows, literally. Oprah Winfrey flies her private plane from Chicago to Beverly Hills every other week just to have this guru personally shape her brows. For everyone else who isn't Oprah, Anastasia has her own line of brow powders, stencils, waxes, and brushes so you can get Anastasia quality brows at home on your own.

Anastasia Brow Ex-press has everything that you need for beautiful brows. The kit, shaped like a small book, comes with two brow powders (blonde or brunette), four stencils, a brush, sealing wax, and an under brow highlighter powder. The two brow powders let you mix and match to find the right shades for you and the wax seals your look so you won't walk past a mirror at 3 pm and realize that the brows you painted on at 9 am are gone. The stencils didn't quite work for me, but they will probably be really helpful for those who are still determining the best brow shape. My only word of caution, be sure to apply the powder with a light touch and mix the colors so that they are believable for your complexion and hair color. Too much or too dark brow powder will leave you looking like Helga from Hey Arnold!

Try it, love it, and don't forget to tell them that Ms. New Beauty sent you!