Wishing you a Valentines Day of pink and red, hearts, truffles, naughties, all things girly, and lots and lots of love.

On a recent trip away with girlfriends, one of my girls whipped out her lipstick and it was worn down in a way totally unlike my own. This brought fond memories of a Seventeen Magazine article (I think Seventeen, its been awhile) whizzing back to me which said the way you use your lipstick is reflective of your personality type.

Is there something to this? I'm not sure about that, they're probably not spending too much time researching it at UCLA. It is fun to look at and reminds me of being 12 years old and wishing I used lipstick enough to be a "type". Tweet or Facebook us photos of your odd-bird lipstick, we want to see! @fiorebeauty Happy Friday ladies!

Lots of us jump out of bed and start the day harried and rushing each morning. Others of us who work from home don't take the time to properly set ourselves up in the morning and spend the day with bedhead or are Mamas that are juggling brushing everyone elses teeth while lipstick is at the bottom of the priority list.

It's an extra effort when the day is just beginnning the morning is an important time for setting yourself up for the day you would like to have. A luxurious morning is a treat but watch what a good day will follow when you've had the time to have your coffee and choose your lipstick. Here are just a few items to bring some luxury into your mornings everyday.

Doie Lounge Robe - This robe is made of bamboo with silk accents so it hangs really nicely, ties so it always stays closed, and is gathered in the back in a way that makes your tush look scrumptious.


Reiko Kaneko Lip Tease Mug in Gold – What prettier way to drink your morning tea or coffee when you lips have yet to even be applied!


Kate Spade Cosmetic Case – A happy home in a ladylike pattern for your blushes, shadows, and the likes that never gets dirty starts you off calm and collected.


Tweezerman ProCurl Gold Lash Curler – This gorgeous gilded version makes lash curling much fancier. Bat those pretty lashes!


Kate Somerville Goatsmilk Body Lotion – Kate Somervilles Goatsmilk Face Lotion is amazing so to be able to take it one step further and indulge using it as body lotion is the ultimate luxury. Your skin will be super soothed and imcredibly soft.


Swissco Gold Tweezers – Your gold lash curler has to have a sister. Plucking your brows is boring so why not do it Daddy Warbucks style?


Josie Maran Argan Lip Treatment – A lovely natural lip balm, free of anything yucky like parabens or synthentic fragrances, that will get your lips pretty and perfect for the day ahead. It also comes in a glamorous little pot of its own so it gets bonus points for luxury on top of luxury:)

Chanel Poudre Universelle Compact – How can you not just feel like the ultimate lady of luxury applying your powder from a Chanel compact?


Pretty Perfume- Find a scent that makes you feel beautiful and it dosen't hurt if it's just as nice to look at as it is to smell. It should make all your senses happy.

photo by lou mora

With the New Year here it’s the perfect time to check in on your beauty habits. Here are seven suggestions for primping specific New Year resolutions to make sure that your 2012 is your prettiest year yet. Gotta love a fresh start!

1. Smooth Sailing in 2012- Are you exfoliating regularly? Exfoliation is key in giving you not only smooth skin, but hydrated, clear, glowing skin. Find a great exfoliator to use 2-3 times a week (old skool St. Ives Apricot Scrub doesn’t count, it does more damage than good so save it for your feet). There are two kinds of exfoliants: physical which has the granules you can feel (Fresh Soy Face Exfoliant) or chemical exfoliator which does it enzymatically (Kate Somerville ExfoliKate). To be extra thorough don’t scrub harder (this is your face you know, you only have one), just do it longer. Bonus Points: Alternate between a chemical and physical exfoliator for the best of the best exfoliation.

2. A pretty little schedule- You know all the things you need to do to make sure you’re looking and feeling pretty all the time but how easy time gets away from us during the year. Sit down now with your calendar and write down when you should be having your haircuts, color, waxing, facials, brows, tanning, etc. done and then schedule them accordingly. This will make sure that you don’t have those scraggly weeks that sneak up on you when you didn’t realize that you’re 2 months due for your haircut and no time to get in. If you need to reschedule, fine, but at least it’ll be on your radar.

3. Pearly white- Nothing shows off your gorgeous red lips like flashing a pearly white smile which is easy-peasy to tend to. Get yourself into the dentist (obvi) and then do a whitening treatment like the genius Go SMILE systems that get the job painlessly done at home in 7 days.

4. Love your skin like a lady- Buying proper skincare can feel like a splurge and it can be really confusing to tackle Sephora to find the right choices but when your skins in tip top shape come next November you’ll be happy that you spent the time and money. Make sure that you are using a wonderful eye cream, moisturizer, and sun block everyday (must be at least 30 SPF or more, there are plenty of great options). This doesn't mean you have to use one complete line. Just choose your products carefully and no using things because it was free from the hotel, this is your face. Deal?

5. Junk out- We hold on to our beauty products lots of time out of guilt. Enjoy some extra space and only have the good stuff on hand by getting rid of the things you don’t like or use. That hairspray whose fragrance you hate? Out. The free with purchase Lancôme lipstick in a you’ll-never-wear shade of mauve? Out. Last scraps of that melted lipstick? Nope. Be real, if you don’t use it or like it, don’t let it crowd your space. Don’t feel bad, just recycle and make more careful beauty purchases in the future. Have only things you like in 2012

6. Start your day out right- We start the day with our beauty regimen so make yours is user friendly and pretty, not stressful. Organize your beauty situation so that you can start the day nicely without digging and searching like the Tasmanian devil of morning primping routines. Buy a luxe makeup bag that has good organization (Kate Spade’s are the best and last forever), devote a pretty tray or drawer to your nicely placed products, or think of clever solutions for setting up your bathroom area more attractively and user friendly.

7. If you haven't already you have got to have your nails done with Shellac or Gelish, the gel/polish hybrid product that is light cured (and unfortunately only professionaly done so you can't do it yourself). It's glassine high-shine finish is unlike any polish out there and it lasts 2-3 weeks, no joke. Its a beauty miracle and every girl should be waking up with perfectly painted, lady-like digits day after day without fretting this year.

Thats right, its going to be one good lookin', feel-good year girls!

Happy New Year! We wish you a year full of health, happiness, success, and all the loveliness you can imagine.

illustration by Stefanie Astronaut

So its the holidays and time find the perfect little splurges for your favorite people. Here are the little treats I'm filling stockings with and of course hoping to find in my own! If you have to indulge yourself in a little special while you're out picking presents, what can you do? Thats part of the merry fun!

From clockwise:

Kate Spade Supercalifragilipstick - Beautiful to wear and couldnt be more glamorous to find in your stocking or your purse throughout the year.

Tory Burch Leopard Cosmetic Case in Robinson Leopard - Get it at Cusp or Bloomingdales.

Debroah Lippmann Polish in Candy Shop - You can get it at Nordstroms, Cusp, Neimans, or Amazon.

Laura Mercier Creme Brulee Body Wash- I love all the Creme Brulee line, its all a treat. It comes in a bubble bath (my fav), a body scrub, a body souffle ( which means a lighter body creme), and a body butter. All amazing. There is also a trio gift box which is really nice. You can get these at Bloomingdales, Sephora, or Nordstroms.

Korres Lip Butter Trio- These babies are delish and how fun to have a stash of different flavors and shades to put everywhere you can think of.

Anastasia Brow Wiz- Beautiful brows are a must and Anastasia is the queen of beautiful brows. This is a little gem and little gems belong in stockings. Let 2012 be the year of beautiful brows everywhere.

Physician Formula Happy Booster Blush in Natural - How cute is this little baby? It has hearts! You get it at the drugstore! It goes on with a little sheen! It makes people happy on Christmas morning or the 5th night of Hannukah! See, Im using all exclamations Im so happy about it!

Bumble and Bumble Pin Tin - A cute little tin with 4 different types of pins all in winter white that you won't dare to try to hide and instructions for different types of new style to try. Now thats just pintastastic! Oh, yes I did.

Emi Jay Hair Ties- These are lovely and nice to your hair and the fact that the patterns and colors are just cute as the dickens just makes them unbearable and extremely stocking worthy.

Bottega Louie Truffles- Now not even a little bit beauty related, this downtown restaurant and patisserie has the prettiest, tastiest treats that I feel like I'm in Wonka land for grown up ladies. Their chocolate bars, bon-bons, and truffles are all amazing, delicately made, and so delightfully wrapped that they make a very special gift.

Illamasqua Crystal Lashes - Fun lashes are a nice touch, perfect for some New Years glamour!

Happy Holidays you little Glamourpusses and enjoy all your preparations, its half the fun!

So Janel did this previous post about Urban Decay's NAKED palette, which she just adores. I have to say though that my heart is somewhere else when it comes to wham-baam-thank-you-ma'am amazing palettes. All due respect to Janel and her paramour but my my love is Stila's In The Light Palette and now let me count the ways. 1. ten beautiful shades of which four are matte which is really important. And its the right four that are matte, the perfect light beige for base, the light-ish/medium-ish perfectly neutral brown and then dark brown, and finally black. All the rest are Stila's gloriously amazing shimmers that we know and love them for. 2. The consistency of the shadows are perfection, soft and blendable like nobody's business. 3. The actual size of the individual shadows are nice so your brush can fully get in there, no minature-ness there. 4. The size of the palette is not awkward or overly adorned like alot of holiday palettes so it's doesn't make you want to have a morning tantrum when shuffling around your makeup bag.

With this baby you will truly have everything you need to do your peepers up right, it even comes with a waterproof smudgestick liner. Just add lash curler & mascara and wink away!

Its a great stocking stuffer, gift for your gals or sisters too (One for you, one for me,right? Thats how I know I'm picking good gifts, lol.).

Great job Stila!

I try to be good to myself, drink a lot of water, eat healthy, get plenty of beauty sleep but even with all that dark circles keep parking themselves under my eyeballs…Grrr! So I needed something to fake it till I make it! After little success with a handful of concealers I tried Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer (which it totally is). It’s the perfect light weight blend that covers like no bodies business but looks and feels natural. I hate those concealers that cover but make you look like an old lady at the same time and this doesn't. It’s water proof ( synchronized swimming anyone?) and highly concentrated so it'll last a long time.

My only complaint is that I wish it came in a tube/wand packaging for easier application purposes. Oh and maybe a body lotion, if it works this great under my eyes why stop there???

Who’s getting Naked?

Good News ladies! One of my beauty MUSTs is my NAKED Palette by Urban Decay. This little baby is not just my favorite but has a cult following, so many of our artists love it and its coveted in the beauty community but is always out-of-stock everywhere. The mirrored palette consists of 12 perfectly chosen shadows that are neutral enough to be universally flattering yet special with textures that go from shimmer to matte that can take you from ladies who lunch to cocktails. Whats more is that the Naked Palette is nice and compact so its the perfect travel necessity, tiny but you have it all. It comes with a travel Primer Potion and a eyeliner or shadow brush.

Well, the good news is that right this minute Sephora has them in stock!!! So jump on it if you want one, get one for a gift, but do it right now because I promise they will be gone. You will love getting NAKED in the morning, its fun:)

If theres one thing alone that will fake a non-existant manicure or let you cling on just a couple more days to a fading one, its our miracle worker, cuticle oil. It makes everything thats dry, crusty, and needs clipping invisible, dull polish look shiny again, and moisturizes brittle nails making them grow pretty. Seriously, night and day difference in 20 seconds.



The one tricky thing about cuticle oil though (and cuticle creme or anything else just dosen't compare) is that oil is hard to carry with you because the last thing you want is an oil spill. Well, Sally Hansen has this lovely little Nail Nutrition Green Tea + Soy Cuticle Oil and I love it. Its the size of a mascara or lip gloss and the tube locks so its totally safe to be toted around in your bag! The tiny brush applicator has a wispy end so it really gets to all your cuticles nooks and crannys with ease. Its all about the details, right? A drugstore purchase at $6, now we can wear our baubles and sparkles with that much more sass knowing that our manis are easily tended to!

This feature took place at LA's iconic Chateau Marmont and featured on 100 Layer Cake and was Mid-Century meets vintage Hollywood. And just wait until you feast your eyes on these dresses! My goodness!

For hair we went with a "soft sixties meets French babe" look. Our Phoebe did her magic with the makeup and says "The makeup was the accessory to these gorgeous dresses so I made sure to keep it classic and simple. The look is modern 60's with a strong lip, I chose a bold berry lip, but clean eyes. Its all about the liner and amazing lashes to bring out her dark eyes."













Photography: Christian Oth
Photo Styling: Lyndsay Hamilton Events
Florals: Lilla Bello
Fashion Styling: The Life Styled, Catherine Sheppard