Admittedly, I never used to understand the real hype behind Sephora and all of the ghastly expensive cosmetics housed within the retail chain. Until I decided to knock down the hurdles that stood in between me and my newly acquired $30 lip gloss (or glaze, as Stila likes to call it).

Strawberry Lip Glaze. Has a nice ring to it. Apologies if you’re a boy and you don’t understand the mental game it is to sift through and make a decision based on colour and naming (you’d be surprised at how influential a name of a beauty product can be). I took the plunge on this one after hearing all the raves about it. My favourite part? The click pen – nothing screams high tech like a turn-click packaging that eliminates waste of gloss (though I’m not sure it’s the most eco-friendly of dispensers). One thing I know is for certain though – the click pen should not be underestimated. My stained wool-cream scarf can attest to that.

> image from stila.com

I love my perfumes. Especially when the packaging is enough to make me marvel, which the DAISY Solid Fragrance Pendant has surely done. Although the fragrance itself is scarce within (it’s balm-like, and quite sparing) and the pin keeps coming loose, it’s presentation is more than enough to compensate.

Details:

 

Enter the world of Daisy: fresh and feminine, with a playful innocence. At the heart of Daisy is a floral with vintage edge—violet. Sophisticated with a touch of whimsy, violet captures the eclectic, vintage flavor of Marc Jacobs’ feminine, edgy designs. Always elegant, always enchanting—but not too serious—Daisy is a sparkling floral bouquet that is spirited, fresh, and wrapped in comfort and warmth. This Solid Perfume Necklace is classic yet youthful, containing a 0.02 oz solid perfume that you can apply anywhere, any time.

 

Strawberry, Violet Leaves, Ruby Red Grapefruit, Gardenia, Violet Petals, Jasmine Petals, Musk, Vanilla, White Woods.

 

Sounds luscious. See below for product shots (mm mmm.)

I walked through the MAC store at Yorkdale this weekend, and was taken aback—there’s all black everything (Jay’s been peppering my speech a little bit everyday as of late… you’ll have to forgive me).

The MAC Style Black collection has arrived and it is BAD!!! (ALL CAPS and 4 exclamation points BAD!!!). I have a thing for black makeup; although I wouldn’t wear some of it—like black lips, maybe not—but I wanted to just try on and play with everything.

You have to respect someone who can do it though, don’t you? Someone who can walk around with black gloss and just make it work. Who wants to be “simply beyond”, and completely dramatic, eccentric, and noticed. Just like a bald head—some can do it, others won’t.

This looks to be one of the many trends of F/W ‘09. Remember Alexander McQueen’s show earlier this year? Ugly. Beautiful.

There are the year-round staples like Nocturnelle nail lacquer, and eye liners, but the Style Black collection features complementary mineralized eye shadows, the Greasepaint Stick (a long wearing liner), and lip colours in a cream, matte, or gloss. You may also partake in a volcanic ash exfoliator with sugar crystals from Vanuatu or a volcanic thermal mask if you so desire.

As usual, the collection is only here for a limited time, so hurry to your nearest outlet MAC lovers. You know what to do: www.maccosmetics.ca

I was contacted by worldPRODUCTS and worldSALON’s PR superstar Natalie, about this eco-friendly salon-quality line. It’s becoming increasingly common for a salon to have their own private label products – I got a chance to try out worldPRODUCTs’ worldCLEAN, worldPROTECT, and worldBELIEVE. The packaging is slick, reusable, and the products are versatile (me likes). The only thing that I had a slight issue with was that I wasn’t sure how much to use, as they are fragrance free and don’t work to a lather like a regular mass merch hair product.

I’m thinking that hair styling is absolutely an art. Watch as Brian, owner of worldSALON and worldPRODUCTS from Toronto, transforms a gorgeous elite model’s hair, after the jump (he makes it look so easy).

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Why it’s Marc Jacobs again, back with an edgier older sister to the Daisy Fragrance. LOLA is described as a “modern free spirit with an irresistible attitude”. I’m absolutely taken by the packaging for the most part – a remarkable silhouette topped with layers of colourful and dramatic petals for the floral cap. Strikingly original I’d say.

Here it is straight from the MJ people:

Marc Jacobs designed LOLA as an electrifying, over-the-top bouquet exploding from the bottle. Twisting layers of fabric, he fashioned the sumptuous swirls of a lavish floral bouquet. The iconic high gloss cap shines with astonishing proportions and playful colours making it irresistible to touch.

As for the scent? See it as the next life stage for Daisy – LOLA is more daring and rich (in scent not…literally).

The Fragrance:

Lola sparkles with fruity topnotes of delectable bright pink peppercorn (!), seductive pear d’anjou and succulent ruby red.

Grapefruit. The ultra-feminine heart is highlighted by the lavish fuschia peony with soft touches of rose and geranium.

The base lingers on skin exuding a warm and seductive aura with enveloping notes of smooth vanilla, tonka bean, and creamy musk.

Thanks to COTY for sending the package my way – I think the zip folder with layers that mimic the fragrance bottle were just icing on the cake!