My Lips, but Beauter (Yes, I'm not very good at word play)

We are all searching for that magic product that will give us our lips, but better. A product that looks flawless and mimics our natural lip colour while making our lips fuller, smoother and glossier. I think I have found that product for me.

The Weightless Lip Creme from Beaute in the colour Trace is described as a whisper-soft beiged pink. It is a little darker in life than in the photos - a beautiful,  creamy,  rosey pink, which is very similar to my natural lip colour. It is one of the most wearable colours I own and looks great with all makeup looks from smokey eyes to bare lids as it's light enough to look neutral, but dark enough to give some definition to the lips.

The WLC has the consistency of a light, yet creamy liquid lipstick with a glossy finish.  It almost feels like a balm on the lips as its texture is very smooth and there is no stickiness whatsoever. It is also very pigmented and lasts a decent amount of time. So pretty much the perfect lip product in my humble opinion- works like a glossy lipstick, but feels like a light balm.

The only potential downfall of the Beaute WLC is the price. The weightless lip creme weighs in at £22, but personally I think it is well worth it as the colour range is beautiful and the formula unique. The only product I can think of as a comparison are the YSL rouge volupte lipsticks (£21) as they too have good pigmentation with a similar sort of creamy finish, but wear off faster and are generally messy as they tend to melt off my lips. (The packaging gets me every time though)

Beaute can be found at http://www.cocobeau.co.uk

This product was sent to me for review purposes, but I am in love and will probably be ordering some more come pay day... I have my eye on Wanted, which looks like it would make the perfect nude :).

Have you ever tried Beaute?

Do you have your own 'my lips, but better' product? Do share! xxx

Good Times/Bad Times

GOOD TIMES

1) We picked up the wedding ring at the start of the week and it’s just perfect…platinum with diamonds…so beautiful. It compliments my engagement ring really well and it makes the whole thing feel so much more real! I can’t wait to be Mrs Murphy! Only 4 months to go! It’s weird because I was so busy planning the wedding for months and now everything has gone quiet. I sometimes get a bit nervous that I’m missing something or have forgotten to do a heap of stuff but people keep telling me that it’s normal for things to go a bit quiet at this stage.

And here it is worn with my engagement ring...
2) I only have 5 working days left at my current job and I’m now certain that I’m doing the right thing by moving on. I really needed a change and new challenges so I’m excited about the future. It’s a great feeling when you take charge of your life and make positive changes…it’s very empowering! I will really miss some of the people I work with but I’m hoping that, now we won’t see each other every day, we will make more of an effort to do things outside of work hours.

3) My fiancé, Chris, managed to survive his Stag weekend in Liverpool! He went away with 19 of his friends (half of them Irish) so it was a VERY rowdy affair. They had a brilliant time but Chris was mortified when they stripped him completely naked in the middle of a pub and forced him to wear a very small woman’s swimming costume! Needless to say they took a lot of pictures and videos of the whole event! I’m so glad that hen weekends are a whole lot more civilised!

4) Wolverine is settling in well and he has Chris well and truly wrapped around his little claws. The first thing Chris does when he wakes up is to go and check on Wolfey and make sure he is ok. He even bought him some fresh salad yesterday to chomp on (even though he can only eat a tiny amount of it). Every time he walks past the cage, he can’t help but pick Wolfey up. The latest thing is Chris saying “I think I’m his favourite”. It’s certainly brought out his paternal side! ha ha.

BAD TIMES

1) I woke up yesterday with an almighty spot on my chin and it’s REALLY sore. It’s almost like an insect bite and it’s all swollen, it actually hurts when I move my face. I have done the best I can to camouflage it and although you can hide the redness with concealer, you can’t hide the lump! I never normally get spots like that and it’s no fun. I will be trying the age old aspirin mask trick tonight to try and get rid of it because it feels like it’s just getting bigger!

2) We are still undecided on where to go for our honeymoon and I’m getting nervous since we don’t have a whole lot of time to organise it. I mean, a holiday is hard enough to plan at the best of times, but chuck a wedding into the mix and you’ve got yourself a stressful situation. The original plan was to go to Rome or the South of France for a week directly after the wedding and then go to New Zealand for our proper honeymoon in January/February 2011. But now we are thinking of going somewhere in the Caribbean instead of New Zealand. I’m just worried I will get bored if we go on a beach holiday, a couple of chill out days would be lovely but I can’t sit around for a whole week, I need activities to keep me occupied! Whatever we choose to go with, we need to get it sorted out soon rather than later, the longer we wait, the more expensive it will be. Any recommendations for destinations welcome!

Sandal Season Is Almost Here!

My absolute favorite time of the year is around the corner! I love sandals, skirts, bright colors and of course the weather that comes along with Summer! (and bbqs!)

I was internet-window-shopping and found these pretty sandals on Steve Madden. What do you think?

FOTD: Naomi Campbell On The Cover of Vogue Russia

Naomi Campbell appears in the Russian issue of Vogue Magazine. 

I just love the lipstick colors in both of these shots.

Nick Verreos Takes The PLUNGE at the Gen Art LA Fashion Alumni Celebration at the Hollywood Roosevelt

Well...Welcome To LA FASHIIIIOOOONNNN!!!!!!!!!!Purple Daze: Nick Verreos walks the carpet, Gen Art LA Fashion Alumni Celebration, Hollywood Roosevelt Tropicana

Last week, on March 16Th, my good friend--and Los Angeles Fashion DIVA--Jennifer Egan, Vice President of Gen Art National Development, Marketing and the company's "IT" girl---invited me to attend the Gen Art LA Fashion Alumni Celebration, held at the Tropicana Pool of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Pool Party: Jen Egan of Gen Art holds court at the Tropicana Pool, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel

The event/party was designed to give props to the LA fashion alumni who "have helped shape and influence the design community".
T-Zone: Jen Egan grabs Nick Verreos for a Clean & Clear "Prom" Interview, Hollywood Roosevelt Tropicana Pool

Jen was also holding court and doing some fun on-camera interviews for the party and the skincare company CLEAN & CLEAR, who were there promoting their CLEAN & CLEAR Skincare Makes Your Prom Beautiful from Start to Finish-Designer Dress Competition.
Prom Couple: Nick Verreos and Jen Egan of Gen Art, Hollywood Roosevelt Tropicana Pool

She just happened to grab me at one point--after I finally wheedled my little purple Top Shop-pants-wearing-butt into the party--to do one of those "prom interviews". Of course, I talked about how both guys and girls need to be matte-blotted both before and during their "prom fabulous" moments with some of their Oil Absorbing Sheets!
I was really excited to see my good friend--underwear and bathing suit KING--designer Andrew Christian (above) who was working his fitted gray shirt and skinny tie.
Wanted: Nick Verreos and Kit Scarbo, Hollywood Roosevelt Tropicana Pool

As I made it through the Hotel Roosevelt's Tropicana, it soon became evident that it was beginning to look like a Project Runway "Love fest" Reunion of sorts: Besides seeing Jeffrey Sebelia (Winner of Season 3) and Rami Kashou (Finalist from Season 4) briefly, I ran into Project Runway Season 4 Contestant, and Stylist to the Stars, the one and only Kit Scarbo. There aren't words enough I can write here on my blog to tell you how much I love me some Kit!
Color Blocked: Nick Verreos with Project Runway Season 7 Model Brandise Danesewich (left) and Designer Mila Hermanovski (center)

I also saw Season 7 Designer, Mila Hermanovski. The last time I saw Mila was many months ago when she stopped by my NIKOLAKI design studio (I had no idea that she was on this season's Project Runway) looking for gowns to fit on our good friend and client Carrie Ann Inaba--whom she was freelance styling at the time-- for last season's Dancing With The Stars show. She was there with her model, Brandise Danesewich, whom I happened to just see at the FIDM Debut 2010 Fashion Gala.
And speaking of models, I had a "Nick Model Orgasm" when I ran into Lifetime Network's "Models of The Runway Season 2", Alison Gingerich (left) and--one of my personal favorites-- AMAZONIAN Runway DIVA, 6 foot + tall Holly Ridings (right). Don't know what they were doing at the Gen Art Fashion Alumni Celebration party...but I didn't care! Look at the big ol' smile on my face. Nick HEARTS Models, Project Runway...and Gen Art!