Nick Verreos Judges with Jeffrey Sebelia at the Donwtown L.A. Emerging Designers Competition

Emerging LA Designers get judged!The new Michael, Heidi, and Nina? Jeffrey Sebelia, Noni Tochterman and Nick Verreos

This week, I was invited to be one of the "esteemed" judges for the Downtown Los Angeles Fashion Week Emerging Designers Launch and Runway Show, a "Search for the Next Great LA Designer" contest which is being organized in conjunction with City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Program. Along with Leanna Lewis and Barbara Graff of the Downtown L.A. Fashion Week Committee, D.C.A. Olga Garay was on hand to welcome us to the "Judging Day". Leanna Lewis of Downtown LA Fashion Week

My co-judges included Project Runway Season 3 Winner Jeffrey Sebelia, Nony Tochterman of Petro Zillia (looking UBER fabulous, as always!), Louis Verdad, designer and red carpet host, Randolph Duke (a FIDM Alumn), and event designer and contestant from the new "Launch My Line" reality show, Vanessa Gonzalez. Hundreds of Southern California designers submitted their designs, portfolios and press kits and then they were narrowed down to about ten and then it was our job, as the Final Judges, to select our favorite "Top Three".Vanessa Gonzalez (far left), Randolph Duke and his pr agent, Diana Bianchini, enjoying the ceviche hors d'oeuvres at Provecho Restaurant

The Official Judging Day began with a DELICIOUS lunch at Provecho Restaurant in Downtown LA. We began with appetizers from the "Raw Bar" menu with such delights as halibut with black truffle (amazing!), spicy tuna tostadas, and marinated rock shrimp ceviche. In addition to this, we were also served shredded chicken, fish and al pastor beef soft tacos and Fideo con Queso with jalapenos (it's like a mac-and-cheese on Ecstasy!). And if that wasn't enough, we finished with the most incredible Churros! Note to self: Will have to come back to Provecho Restaurant and have dinner--and put in an extra hour on the tread mill!
Petro Zillia Harem: Designer and founder of Petro Zillia, Nony Tochterman strikes a pose (love her harem pants--she told me she has them in like ten colorways!)

After all that, we all needed a Siesta, but instead we had to get down to "business": We headed to the adjacent Remedy Lounge nightclub to begin our judging. Young "emerging" Ford models modeled the designer's clothes as we surveyed their portfolios and filled out our judges' scorecards. There were definitely some designers that got our attention and we scored them accordingly!
Gucci Love: Close up of Nony Tochterman's necklaces, which included a vintage Gucci perfume mini pendant (which I wanted to steal from her!)

The Emerging Designer Winners will show their collections during Downtown Los Angeles Fashion Week, which will take place at the Geffen Contemporary MOCA, Oct 13-15TH. I am looking forward to their shows and hope you can join us too. If you love fashion and want to support LA fashion designers, this will be a must-see event. Hope to see you there--and hope you liked who we chose!

Benefit Creaseless Cream eyeshadows

As soon as I saw Hele Says posting about these a while back and saying how much she loved them and used them everyday, given my love of cream shadows, I knew I had to check them out. So after browsing on Ebay I found these babies for a very reasonable price (I am still waiting for RSVP). They arrived in perfect condition and in their original boxes. I am so chuffed with what I got.

Left to Right: Birthday Suit, Tattle Tale, Strut and Skinny Jeans.

I love the design of the little glass jars with the birds on the lid...so pretty. There's a good amount of product there too given that you really don't need much. I can see already that Birthday Suit and Tattle Tale would make perfect bases for eyeshadow. Tattle Tale will also be perfect for the browbone as a highlight. Skinny Jeans will be gorgeous for a more smokey eye and Strut is a little dark for me to apply all over the lid so I will use this as a liner or to add a bit of definition to the outer corners of the eye when I'm using Skinny Jeans.

Left to Right: Skinny Jeans, Strut, Tattle Tale and Birthday Suit.

They feel really creamy to the touch and I would say that I prefer the texture of these to MAC Paint Pots as the consistency is a bit thinner and seems like they would be easier to blend.

I've seen loads of other shades I want to get so watch this space for more!

Urban Decay Get Baked Eyeshadow Palette

Hey girlies,

I hope you've all got something nice planned for this weekend. I'm heading out tonight for a meal and then drinks with a bunch of friends for Chris' birthday. Yah!

Alot of people have blogged about this palette already but I just have to post something on it coz it's absolutely gorgeous! I received this today. I bought it from www.lookfantastic.com for £15.00. As soon as I opened the packaging I knew I was going to love this...it has everything I wanted...a back up Sin Primer Potion, a 24/7 eye pencil in Bourbon which I've wanted for ages, gold and bronze coloured super pigmented eyeshadows and a flash of metallic teal eyeshadow...beautiful!

As you can see from the swatches below, the colours are just stunning, I especially look Baked and Half Baked...amazing. I love everything about this palette and the price of £15.00 was incredibly good value for what you get. I really like the chunky box and the design overall. Urban Decay is onto a huge winner here, I can see this becoming a favourite of mine and I know I will use it all the time! I can't stop raving about this palette!Left to right: Baked, Flipside, Half Baked, Twice Baked and Bourbon eyeliner.

Xen Tan Mousse Intense

I had promised you guys a review on the Xen Tan Mousse Intense that I bought recently so here it is. I am always on a quest for the best fake tan coz I love to have a golden glow all year round. I never go too dark as this can be ageing and takes away from the glowy look of your skin. I normally use St Tropez if I'm going out in town or have a special occasion like a ball or something. During the week I just keep my golden colour with Dove Summer Glow.I bought Xen Tan Mousse Intense for £16.50 from http://www.feelunique.com/ and this was the cheapest price I could find online for the 118ml bottle. This product had been recommended by Nic from Pixiwoo who is a self confessed self tanning addict so I had to check it out. I much prefer mousse formulas for self tanning as it dries alot quicker and the tint in the product tends to be alot less noticeable! On first pumping it out onto my glove covered hand, I noticed that the tint in the product is alot lighter than the St Tropez Mousse. This is great as it means less transfer onto your bed covers and staining which is also gross. I always apply my fake tan before going to bed as it gives it the best chance of developing without getting wet etc. You just wake up in the morning and wash it off...easy!

So...after being impressed by the colour of the product, I noticed that there was hardly any smell to it at all. It does claim to have a nice scent compared to other self tanners and I would whole heartedly agree. I didn't notice any usual biscuit kind of smell you get from other self tanners. I applied the product all over my body using gloves and the product dried within 1 minute, this really impressed me coz I hate waiting around for tan to dry...it was even faster than my usual favourite, St Tropez!

I woke up today and washed off the very slight tint and although the product has a name like Mousse Intense...the colour is actually quite light. I would say it's lighter than one application of St Tropez. BUT, you know something? I prefer it...because with St Tropez I only have the option of being really dark. But with this product, it gives you the option of whether you want a subtle medium glow or you can reapply another layer for a more intense bronzed look. I love that this product gives you an option as sometimes St Tropez can just be too dark for me at times when I want more colour than a gradual tanner can offer in one application but less than a darker tanner like St Tropez. I love this tanning product and I will definitely keep using it. I will be posting a FOTD tomorrow and you can then see what kind of colour it delivers. However, keep in mind that self tan works differently for everyone. I know people who get little or no colour at all from St Tropez. The best way to find out what works for you is to try some different brands for yourself. The good thing about Xen Tan is that the colour is buildable so if one application isn't enough for you, just get on and apply some more!

On a quick note, I just wanted to recommend a product that's great as a light moisturiser before you apply any self tanning product...

I was sent The Sanctuary Age Repair Hydrating Body Serum to test out and it's perfect to prep your skin gefore tanning. It really hydrates the skin but without leaving a sticky layer behind like some moisturisers do. You don't want anything too heavy coz otherwise the self tanner will take forever to dry. I will definitely be buying this when I run out as it's really improved the texture of the skin on my legs and arms. I love the smell of it too. Highly recommended!