Like a ship of the desert.

Don’t worry I didn’t watch Discovery channel too much and am not planning to talk about animals living in Sahara, but I am going to talk about one of the biggest trends of this season and loudest come backs - camel coat. I remember when I was a kid my mom had it, my dad had it, even my grandparents had it. Apparently it was an absolute must-have, solid symbol of status and style. And here we go – it comes again! Of course a little bit different. It got its modern twist that most certainly will differentiate you from the image of 90s. No shoulder pads and enormous lapels, more fitted shapes, more complicated cuts. Designers definitely went away from boxy “power” looks and insist on more luxurious and elegant forms. They also add visual interest using fur trim, embroidery and pleating. This decade women camel coat is very feminine, almost “girly”. More over nowadays camel coat transforms into short jackets, cute capes and all other forms of outerwear that you can only imagine.
And what’s even more exciting that you can bring this particular trend not only into your outerwear, but in any piece of your wardrobe. Cashmere cardigans, wool turtlenecks and sweater-dresses, pants and skirts in luxurious camel color are absolute must-haves of this season. Even shoes and bags changed their usual fall/winter black to warmer tan color. But make sure that your outfit is balanced, both in style and tone. One neutral piece is enough otherwise wearing “camel” all over, you can look like big bowl of porridge. If it’s a dress, pair it with bold accessories, edgy pattern (leopard, snake) boots and purse. Don’t afraid to add some color to spice up the look. My advice is also to try to mix different styles, walking away from usual classic perspective of the whole “camel” trend. For example, plain conservative sweater will look fantastic with denim pencil skirt and wide brown belt, bunch of golden bracelets and big earrings. Another opportunity to be more creative dressing in “camel” is to mix textures: silk blouse of jewel tones will bring visual interest to tan stretch riding pants not only because of the color, but also because of the contrast of shiny and matte finishes of the fabrics.

This trend really deserves all that love that it gets from fashionistas: it’s extremely versatile and comfortable. It is good for different occasions (office appropriate and perfect for casual), great for any age and so easy to put together. Plus it’s pretty much timeless, because years will pass before you’ll retire your “camel” attire.

Only sky is the limit!

Oh My God! How I love shoes! And how I love heels! Sometimes they are killing us, hurting so bad after several hours of walking and the only desire that we have is to throw them away along with our dying feet, but we still love these damn shoes! No wonder why – they make us taller, thinner and so much sexier! They spice up even very simple outfit and give us this great vibe of femininity that turns around tons of guys’ heads.
Maybe you remember when we were talking about “Fall List” – list of must-haves for this season – which included faux fur jacket (checked!), skinny cargo pants (checked!) and cheetah print shoes! And hallelujah – last item in the list is bought too! I know that I was so against peep-toe options, but of course I ended up exactly with such pair. Let me introduce you to my “Best Pair of Shoes” (how my husband calls them): “Betsey Johnson” leopard print pumps with mirror platform and heel (thanks to ideeli.com only $79 vs $200 regular price). Must admit they definitely require some practice in walking in them, but overall they are pretty comfortable, especially if using “Dr. Scholl’s” silicone inserts. And they are so hot! You will not believe but in a few hours I got at least 5-6 compliments from both men and women. The trick is to let them shine, to let them play a first role in your outfit otherwise they would lose their amazing effect. Try to pick settled colors and patterns for the rest of your ensemble, or at least separate bright top from them with pair of solid color pants or skirt. And of course leopard purse should be never seen together with them, we don’t need “animal overload”!
Another my great find is black “GUESS by Marciano” wedges with cool lace-up on the back. Who doesn’t need pair of nice black shoes? And these ones, being a little bit extreme and edgy, still have a great classic look. Plus wedge is very comfortable. Just give shoes like that couple of days to take a shape of your feet and pretty soon they’ll be as comfy as pair of slippers (maybe not that comfy, but definitely close!). Such shoes will work nicely with classic and even conservative dresses and suites for the day and at the same time will perfectly compliment any evening look.

Think that I’ll be never able to say “no” to high-heel shoes, moreover each time I pick them even higher. It’s almost like a scale: the more inches are in the heel the more pride and appeal you have wearing them. “High” means “hot”! So let’s never let “temperature“ go down!!!

Higher or lower?

High-waist pants were trying to squeeze into contemporary fashion already for several years, but can’t say that very successful. Though designers consistently insist to let them into our life and our closet must admit it’s a very risky move for the most of women population. Because high-waist pants are too tricky. Only few types of figures can easily handle them.
I remember, when two years ago denim company that I worked for produced its first high-waist jeans, all of us were so excited. They looked so cool: bold big buttons on the front, contrast stitching and nice washes, and seemed that they would shape you like a sculptor shaped his marble! But after first fittings all excitement was gone. On most of the girls they surprisingly were creating very boxy “teenager girl” look, they were hiding curves, but not defining the waist, they were completely ruining proportions of the body. The only lucky individuals that looked great in that jeans were stick-skinny ones that didn’t have a lot of curves at the first place and girls that had very strong hour-glass shape, simply because they could afford to lose some booty volume. And even they didn’t really stick to these pants because rise like this is the least comfortable. Maybe it’s a little bit crazy, but I personally have very hard time to wear high-waist pants – all my bottoms from the time when I was 9 had a middle or low rise, so no surprise that something so much higher almost suffocating me.
Another challenge that can be added to high-rise pants is their design and cut. Considering that such pants are very high-fashion, designers are not hesitated to make them even more high-fashion and in a lot of cases more difficult to wear. Weird cropped length, billions of pleats (that, btw, create huge amount of extra volume on hips), lose or even pleated waist line and bunch of other “creations” don’t make our shopping easier. But believe me even in all this “runway insanity” it’s very possible to find silhouette right for you.
So what should we do if we are not lucky ones with the body “naturally ready” for high-waist pants? Let’s trick everybody around and create one. Light-weight wide blouses (tucked-in!!!) will create a lot of volume on top that will make bottom slimmer, nice wide or skinny belt will accentuate your waist and create a great proportion, structured jacket will be perfect pair in this ensemble too creating hour-glass shape. Great pair of heels, nice bag and big jewelry will complete the whole look.

Yes, all people are different, all figures are different and not every single item in the store is going to work on, but a lot of things are in our own hands. Putting some thought into your look, some effort and time you can make even something very challenging and difficult to wear look fabulous on you! So give it a try, who knows maybe high-waist pants will be your favorite thing!

Be furry!

As we talked in earlier posts faux-fur jacket (below will call it FFJ) or vest is a “must have” this season, and if you still haven’t bought it, it is not going to be a problem. Pretty much every designer or brand offers their options of FFJ, assortment of colors, different textures and price range is extremely wide. The cheapest one I was able to find is on ideeli.com : $49 for really cute jacket in grey, brown or black (if you have tight budget, this would be your best bet). The high level of prices goes from $500 and way too far in a 4-digit numbers, so in my case I preferred to stay somewhere in the middle, which would be very comfortable for most of people. Love FFJ that “Express”, “Zara” and “Armani Exchange” offer: nice design, great quality and very affordable prices. My white long hair jacket that I got in “Zara” was $99.
But with all this variety and huge popularity of FFJ I have one concern – is everybody going to look the same? Who wants to be one in a million chickens from the same incubator??? Definitely not me! And not you! The only thing that we can do about is to customize our jacket a little bit. I am not talking about taking it to the tailor and changing thing completely (btw, that would be very challenging to do), but to add some unique twist, and here accessories will be our best friends. Big exaggerated broaches, belts, scarves may easily change focus of the whole outfit. Pick wide elastic or narrow with a lot of hardware belt to accentuate waist line (recommend contrast to your jacket colors), bulky with interesting textures and prints scarves and gloves to complete an ensemble. Wear pattern tights and bright shoes or boots, cool hats with embellishments and bunch of decorations. Such tricks will help to create stylish and unique look, without featuring one strong piece, like FFJ in our case, and even brown fur vest that you’ll see a lot on the streets this fall will look completely different on you. Don’t hesitate to experiment and try the craziest combinations, I guarantee you at least one of them will be fabulous!

Don’t be afraid to buy FFJ, don’t think it’s too much work to wear it, it’s fun, pretty and warm and you’ll definitely enjoy having it in your closet.

Who are you?

“What not to wear” on TLC and “How do I look?” on Style are among my favorite shows that I try to watch almost every day. The whole process of fashion transformation is extremely interesting, and proves again how important to look apart. And of course it’s impossible not to become a real fan of guys hosting these programs, even if you don’t agree with them sometimes. They are cool and fun and like an old friends share with you their hour every morning. And on Wednesday I was lucky to see Jeannie Mai from “How do I look?” not just on TV screen. She was a special guest at “Limited” event in Water Tower place. Goodie bags, small bites and wine along with 40% off any regular price merchandise attracted huge amount of people. Head of design of “Limited” and Jeannie were hosting runway show with last fall collection of the brand. And must say they have a lot of cute stuff, definitely good place to go shopping for office attire. But honestly I kind of got concerned with “Limited” price point.
Let’s be straight, “Limited” is not a “status label’, quality is pretty good, but closer to average. But pricing tends to be in a higher segment. And my statement is based not just on a few items, but pretty much on the whole assortment in the store. Dresses start at $79.90, among which nicest and the most trendy are about $118.00, like this strapless one. And ask to notice top is made of FAUX leather (btw, isn’t it annoying that name of the garment on the tag or online says “LEATHER” when it’s FAUX LEATHER which you can figure out only reading fabric description?!). Now let’s look, for example, at MICHAEL Michael Kors . He offers fabulous dresses, stylish, with great structure starting from $89.50. Love this Zipper Dress! Wearing it you will feel and look like you jumped from the cover of a magazine. And it’s $130.00. Personally I’d rather pay $12 more and get better quality and more fashion forward design. Other great examples are scarves: leopard scarf in Limited for $29.90 vs leopard scarf in “Zara “ for $15.99? I pick “Zara”. Similar quality, could be even better, twice cheaper. For me it is no brainer. The same story with everything else: belts in the same price range that in “Guess” (!!!), tights for $19, common!!! Why would you even think to buy tights for $19 when in Macy’s you can grab 2 for $20 from an enormous variety of “Hue” brand?!

I don’t want you to think that I don’t like “Limited”, it would be not true. It’s a good strong brand with big formed customer base, but I am not sure if they really are what they want to look like. “Limited” positions itself as an affordable label, but in reality their prices jump out of this category and the rest (quality, design or simply image) doesn’t. You can find better deals in Nordstrom or Bloomingdale’s. At the end of the day it’s up to you where to shop, just don’t be tricked by image of brand or store.

Smart Sale shopping.

Labor Day’s weekend is coming and everybody knows that it means SALES! So I slowed down and was trying not to buy way too much stuff, but still found couple of unbelievable deals that just couldn’t miss out. I was so excited about my previous purchases, especially about my new polka dot dress, that was just dreaming about wearing it, imagining myself in new sparkly shoes, nice jewelry and… Yes, there was no “and”, because unfortunately I didn’t own a suitable purse for such outfit. All my bags are way too big and the only clutch is silver, which is not bad, but definitely doesn’t go with all my evening attire. So my “list” got extended with a little black bag that I could pull out of my closet going to cocktail or nice dinner. Luckily “Betsey Johnson” store is having a great sale with an extra 40% off on already reduced merchandise (till Monday 09.06) and I could get a super cute evening bag of original price $118 only for $38 (with taxes). I loved the ruffles, loved the handle with little pearls all over, loved little leopard coin purse – it was definitely what I wanted! Done, one item is out of the list!
“Guess” store on Michigan Ave. is just couple blocks away from my house, so of course I am a very often visitor there and this weekend wasn’t an exclusion. They were also running additional 40% off on sale items among which I found a great denim skirt that as you know I was trying to buy already for a long time but couldn’t find anything that I liked. By the way, skirt was size 23 but it fit great though I usually wear 25. It is totally understandable because sometimes sizes run smaller or bigger, so don’t miss an opportunity when you see on sale all sizes except ones that you need, try some that are closest to your size, who knows maybe it will be just perfect. But again don’t compromise: if something doesn’t fit don’t buy even for $5, you don’t need to waist precious space in your closet for something that you are not going to wear and you definitely don’t need to put on something that doesn’t look good on you. “Damage” in “Guess” was minimal - $29 for $69 skirt!

Of course like all women I love shopping and of course I love shopping on sale, I am almost proud of myself when I could find a great deal. But I want to remind that everything that you buy you should buy only because you really love it but not because it was 50% off. Keep in mind that your ultimate goal is to be beautiful and to enjoy yourself how you look.

Where is my cigar?

I will start with the news that I finally got my dress that I ordered from ideeli.com while ago. It’s a fitted large polka dot dress with asymmetric boning on the top and you know I usually never buy things like this on-line: it’s not a T-Shirt, who knows how it fits. But I totally fell in love with it and couldn’t resist from getting it. And everything worked out just perfect – dress fits great and looks even nicer than on the web-site! I am actually extremely excited about it – it’s so comfortable and so versatile! Just imagine pairing it with a classic jacket and pair of great shoes – awesome outfit for office or lunch with a client, wear it with biker leather jacket and high heels – fantastic look for daytime errands or even going to the bar with friends. Or simply without any layering pieces this dress can look very different: very summery and light with white purse and white sandals or very sexy and dressy with black clutch and pair of shiny shoes. And again yesterday I bought another accessory that will look great with some outfit options of this dress. You will never guess what it is! It’s a hat – wool fedora!!! Yes, yes, yes, now I just need a cigar for the full picture… As you probably remember I mentioned in my previous post that I was going to go to BCBG event in the store on Damen. Must say it was just fantastic! Lots of champagne, hors d’oeuvres, fun music, goody bags and endless amount of fabulous clothes – what can be better than this?! Sound like women’s paradise and believe me it really was. So this is the place where I found my hat – it’s a big trend this season (to be honest it’s pretty much always in trend), it’s really easy to wear (goes with ton of stuff from jeans with sport coat to outfit with my polka dot dress with leather jacket), so why not to buy?! Price was very reasonable too: $38 for 100% wool. But can you imagine I was walking around it almost for two hours trying to decide if I really have enough charisma to wear it?! And then I said myself that it was ridiculous, that I liked it a lot and I just wanted it! And this is what I am telling you too– throw away this feeling when you like something so much but not sure if you can pull it off! Walk bravely on the runway of life and be proud to have your unique style, be proud to look different! The main goal of fashion is not to blend in everybody in the same pot, but give an opportunity to create something “yours”, something special.

Yesterday brought to me a lot satisfaction and not only because my dress was delivered and I had a great time at BCBG, but also because I could reject my insecurities. Follow your heart, buy what you really love and enjoy wearing it without any fear to pop in the crowd! This is actually should be your goal!

P.S. I want to thank again BCBG for hosting great event and helping in fundraising for “Dress For Succes” and I also want to say thanks to ideeli.com for providing great service and great quality of the product.

Do you want to be involved?

I’ve already told you about “Dress For Success” in my post “Fashion Salvation”: it’s a non-profit organization that helps low-income women to get a job, providing them with dress clothes, training for interviews and needed contacts. I actually was very impressed with “Fashion Salvation” event that was entirely organized by members of “Dress For Success” and decided to reach them and find out how I can contribute to this great deal. So couple weeks later I was already sitting on my first meeting. It’s so awesome how these women are dedicated to what they do – they have jobs and families themselves, but any time there is an opportunity to help, they help, spending their free time, using their resources, involving people they know. And it’s a lot of work! I haven’t realize how much they do considering that there is at least one event every month that they are responsible to put together, and this is not counting infinite amount of global events like annual “Bloomingdale’s” charity shopping for which they volunteer too. For example on 25th of this month there will be event at “BCBG” store on Damen with champagne and hors d’oeuvres during which percentage of every purchase will be donated to “Dress For Success”.
I also must say that for these women it’s not just a duty, they really love to be involved in their organization life, they all became good friends and enjoy to hang out together. It’s actually a lot of fun to be part of this team – you meet so many new people, you visit so many events and also know that doing all of this you help women that really need help. What can be better than doing something that you enjoy so much and at the same time realize that it has a great cause?!

BTW, last week I took a membership position that I share with another girl Katelind, so my main goal is to get interested in our organization as many people as I can. We want to grow so much! We really need a new member! And who knows maybe you’ll be the next one!

P.S. If you are interested to become a new member of “Dress For Success” or just want to find out more information, please e-mail me to elenza@bk.ru. I will be happy to answer any questions!

Always shining!

Have you ever had an accessory that was kind of difficult to wear, that seemed too festive or to complicated in color, but you totally loved and wanted to wear as much as possible? I bet almost every one of us can remember about something like this.
Couple month ago my husband and I went to Swarovski store not far from our house and I completely fell in love with one of their cuffs – all over turquoise with iridescent coating crystals looked so amazing. And guess what - my husband bought it for me for our first wedding anniversary! I was extremely happy and pleased but one scary idea crawled into my mind: “What am I going to wear it with???” I checked my closet and though I had 3 turquoise dresses only one was a good match for my new bracelet, the other two were completely clashing in style.So seemed, that just one dress and bright striped jacket were my only options. And that was no good. But later after thinking more carefully and looking through my wardrobe again I realized that I could wear my present as much as I want because I had plenty of options! I didn’t need any special occasion anymore and matchy-matchy outfit! Yes, this cuff is a great compliment to a nice dress and pair of high heels, but it is also an awesome addition to simple jeans-TS outfit! It makes trivial white tank and cut-off skirt shine and pair of shorts with spaghetti-strap top ( photo “Urban not casual” ) elegant and sophisticated. Of course, pairing such accessories like my bracelet with different clothes and other accessories, you should take in consideration color and, what even more important, style, and probably you’ll even have to try several looks before you’ll find successful one, but try to stay open-minded and pull combinations that you would never think before.

Every one of us has our favorite, our special piece, doesn’t matter if it’s a glitzy shoes or sparkly necklace, which we treat like a treasure, opening the box, looking at it and dreaming about wearing it again. But throw away your “fancy event” calendar and don’t wait anymore, enjoy your “treasure” as often as possible and make every day of your life shiny and special!

Urban not casual

Shorts became a symbol of summer, guys and girls wear them with a big pleasure with any chance. They are so comfortable and breathable, great alternative to pants and skirts! BUT, let’s not forget that we still live in the city and not in vacation destination! I am sick of bland outfits of shorts, boring faded T-Shirts and rubber flip-flops! We can do so much better!
Don’t understand me wrong – I love shorts myself and wear them very often especially on the weekends when my husband and I are just strolling around the city doing whatever. But even in this case we need to try to maintain cool urban look with a little bit of lux. We shouldn’t look like we got lost and are trying to find our beach. And this is really not difficult to achieve with putting just a little bit of thought in assembling your weekend outfit. At first, choosing shorts to wear make sure that you chose nice top featuring either great cut, color or some kind of detailing like beading, embroidery or sequins. I would say that pairing shorts with top with shine is the easiest way to jazz up your casual look. If you decide to go with bright but solid color then this would be a great opportunity to play with accessories! Pick fun edgy purse, for example, with animal print, this will add some glamour and totally change a mood of your appearance. And please don’t afraid to wear some bold big jewelry with a lot of sparkly rhinestones! Match it to your clothes or pick contrast colors – this will take you out of casualty. If talk about shoes I would like to notice that wearing shorts doesn’t automatically mean wearing flip-flops or flat sandals, you can also wear nice pair of open shoes on a little heal. Of course sky-high pumps would look ridiculous and very inappropriate, plus it will totally take away all comfort of the weekend wear.

It’s already August but we still have plenty of time to enjoy warm weather and pair of favorite shorts. Show everybody how to be comfortable looking cool, how to become an embodiment of urban fashion!

P.S. And don’t forget to put on your biggest sunglasses!!!

Do you match your interior?

All people like to make their house nice and cozy, invest a lot of money in it, buying beautiful furniture, expensive pictures, tons of little but important things like candles, vases, flowers and etc., but not that many of them think so carefully about their own look at home, and this is definitely what should be fixed.
Home clothes should be not only comfortable, but nice and clean. And that’s not difficult to accomplish, considering that in United States almost every single store offers some kind of lounge wear, or how we like to call it in mass “sweat suit”. But saying “sweat suit” I don’t mean old oversized fleece shirt with stretched out track pants!!! I mean something cute, with nice fit and good color. Victoria’s Secret , Juicy Couture , Aeropostale (for more budget outfit) – they all have great variety of velour or terry pants and jackets with prints, embroidery, rhinestones and all kinds of beautiful detailing. Women, don’t forget that the most important man for you is your partner, that your main goal is to amaze HIM with your beauty! And doesn’t matter that he is already your husband, never let him forget how pretty you are, even watching TV sitting on the coach on Thursday night, or cooking dinner in the kitchen. BTW, I strongly recommend to buy a cute apron for cooking at home, it will save your lounge wear from dangerous stains and will extend its life. My husband bought really awesome one for me this week, “Little Black Apron”, with lace hem on the bottom and waist band and string of pearls on the neckline. Who knew than guys actually pay attention to such things like apron?! But apparently they do.
But let’s be clear, home clothes is clothes FOR HOME! No matter how cute your “sweats” are, they should be worn only at home! You can throw on your hoodie to walk with your dog in the park by the house, but this would be the first and the last public place where it’s appropriate.
I really love my “pinky” (this is how I call my VS Pink sweat suit) and actually just ordered another one in red velour, love my zebra bathrobe and both of my house dresses. It is all very comfortable and looks good and you know what - I like the fact that my husband thinks that I look pretty at home and I ALSO LIKE TO FEEL PRETTY MYSELF!
Let’s all feel pretty!

It’s not a fruit, but delicious!

As I told you before in Russia I had several brands that I loved especially, which stores I was visiting quite often and pretty much never leaving empty-handed. One of them was Spanish brand MANGO . I really loved their assortment that allowed you to pick up something elegant but very trendy for office, something sexy and fun for night out and something interesting and cute for casual outfit. And absolutely every single thing had some nice special feature, either green pocket lining and stitches on dark denim skirt or juicy pink bow on a salad color sweater. And fits were great too! If you grab right size you pretty much knew that there would be no creasing and bunching up.

MANGO is a fast-fashion retailer, but I can’t say that it’s cheap like H&M for example. Average price of an outfit of a skirt with a jacket is probably somewhere from $100 to $250. But trust me it would be well-spend money. Product, doesn’t matter if it’s clothes, shoes, bags or accessories, is a very good quality – I have some pieces that I bought seven years ago and still wear them quite often. And by the way you would be never able to say that they are so old, look just perfect. Still can’t find better spaghetti strap tops then I bought in MANGO.

It’s really surprising that MANGO has only 12 stores in US, in California, New York,
Nevada and Puerto Rico, and honestly pretty sad for me. I am shocked that there is no one in Chicago, city of shopping paradise. But yesterday my husband sent me an article in Wall Street Journal about new collaboration of MANGO and J.C. Penney . Supposedly already on August 18th you could find exclusive MNG by MANGO in 77 of Penney’s stores. Number of stores carrying MNG will increase to 600 by fall of 2011, so pretty much in every second J.C. Penney you would be able to find MANGO product. I really loved atmosphere of MANGO stores with black walls, mirrors, crystal chandeliers and cool music and of course it’s pity that not a lot of us can enjoy it, but at least we’ll have an opportunity to enjoy their clothes.

I am very-very excited about these last news and hope that this new relationship is going to work out, because honestly there are quite a few moments in it that are kind of doubtful. But let’s give it a shot and let’s enjoy shopping!

Street fashion?

Last week my husband forwarded me an article in Wall Street Journal about one blog BeautifulStrangers.tv . The idea of the blog is really nice and quite interesting – to put fashion focus on regular people. One of the founders of Beautiful Strangers.tv 47-year-old former editor of beauty magazines Ms. Fedor says that celebrities with their numerous stylists and access to expensive designer clothes became our fashion icons but it’s pretty impossible to achieve similar look simply because of the lack of resources. Most people don’t have professional knowledge in fashion and definitely can’t afford to hire army of shoppers to fix this problem. So her idea is to proof that just random people on the streets can become our examples to follow to. If they can look that good, if they can put such outfit together, so most of us could do it too. So Ms. Fedor just goes on the streets of New York City and takes photographs of strangers that she thinks look good, then she publishes them on her blog along with short story about her “models” and detailed description of their outfits.
In my opinion this idea is absolutely could work but in this case I am not really sure. I have several problems with execution. I actually looked at the blog itself and was quite surprised that huge percentage of her “heroes” was models, dancers and etc. One video story was done on the back stage of “Rag & Bone” show!!! Models are not regular people! Even if a lot of them don’t have a ton of money to get expensive wardrobe they are still much more experienced in styling that “non-models”. Common, they see designers, stylists and make-up artist working, they are a part of this creative process, of course they look good, they have to look good! Who else if not them??? The whole idea of shooting in New York seems wrong… Would be much more interesting and much more fare to travel through US to different cities, even just big ones, and pick “beautiful strangers” over there. New York is too different from the rest of the country. It’s one of the fashion capitals of the world! It can’t go under the category of “average”, so as models…
And another thing… I know that people in United States are completely intolerant to smoking, and I agree it’s not a good habit, first of all for the smoker, but how can it effect definition of “stylish”?! When did “Uggs” and “gladiators” become the criteria of being out of style? I am myself not a big fan of either of them but truly believe that if somebody can create great edgy outfit with these pieces then this person is REALLY STYLISH! If “Uggs” work perfectly with some particular look then why not? One item is not a fashion. That’s why I really don’t understand why Ms. Fedor didn’t even take in consideration people with cigarettes or in gladiators, for example… Seems pretty narrow-minded.
And, by the way, celebrities don’t even look that good even with the help of their stylists, a lot of them don’t look good… Don’t copy anybody completely and try to create your own style. Magazines and fashion shows are great to get an idea of what trends are and how to wear them, but all of that should go through prism of your lifestyle, character and of course your physics. Tailor fashion to yourself and be unique in your one own way.

Fall list

Do you have your list already? No? That’s not good, now it is definitely time to make your “fall list” and already to start executing it. You are probably thinking what I am talking about, and I am talking about list of “must have” things for the following season that every fashionista should have in her closet.
I don’t recommend buying a whole new wardrobe for every new season, but to purchase just a few things that are very in trend is very important. And trust me you can pick pieces with a very classic feel that you could wear for a long time and still look very classy and stylish. Making your “fall list” you should consider your lifestyle, your character and of course what you already have. Why would you buy another cheetah shoes if you’ve already bought them last year?
I made my list about month ago and planning to accomplish it step by step, without any hurry. Maybe it will take another month, maybe even two, but I definitely want to find things that I’d really love and I could enjoy wearing for a while. Let’s see what I need to find.
1. Leopard print shoes. Yes, yes, I am probably the only woman on this planet that still doesn’t own a pair of leopard shoes! But I am working on it. I want a calf hair pair with a clear sharp colors, high heel, not peep toe (this is actually what make my shopping for cheetah shoes more challenging, 75% of them are peep toe) … At least I know exactly what I want.
2. Fur vest or jacket. And doesn’t matter if it’s going to be real fur or faux (but only good quality!). Fur makes an outfit so much more chic and more glamorous, gives very expensive look. Plus it’s very warm and comfortable, goes together with ton of different clothes, from jeans and classic pants to dresses and pencil skirts with chiffon blouses.
3. High patent leather boots on a little platform. Love high boots and love patent leather! They make legs look mile-long and very slim! I’ve already bought a great pair in Charles David’s , can’t wait to wear them!
4. And of course patent leather purse (that goes with my boots). Pick with bow for feminine look or with exposed zippers and studs for more modern one. I purchased fantastic Michael Kors tote that you can also transform into smaller bag. So convenient – two in one!

This is it for now, but my list will probably grow a bit. If I were you I would also look for full skirts, bright accessories, like bags, gloves and scarves, cargo pants or other items with a military feel and bomber jacket.

Great variety of trends is offered for fall/winter season, so without any doubts you can pick at least few of them to freshen up your wardrobe.

Your phone needs style too!

We’ve talked about accessories, how important they are and how we should wear them, not once, but never mentioned cell phones. Oh yes, nowadays phone is not just device that you use to communicate with people, it’s a very important accessory that you always have on you, it is also an indicator of your status and style. Today you will surprise nobody with iPhone and Blackberry any more, and here cool cases are coming on arena.
OMG, how many different cases and skins you can find in stores! Tons and tons and tons, but the most unique ones will be online. In February I found one fantastic web-site that will satisfy needs of any fashionista. Blingcase.com is really awesome, assortment is huge and prices are in a very wide range for a very different income levels. You can order very cute case for $7.95 or spend more money and get Swarovski Crystal case from them, it’s all up to you. But must say that even their cheapest options are very good quality, fit right and look very nice. As I already said amount of designs they offer is enormous, different colors, prints, materials, from very simple ones to very extravagant, and they get new stuff all the time. I tried to order “clothes” for my phone on another web-sites too, but must admit, was always coming back to Blingcase.com . I am really into this thing now. Having several cases I can just change them from time to time, depending on my mood or maybe my outfit. It’s a lot fun and phone is protected too, just don’t forget to use clear film for display. Such films are completely not noticeable on the phone, but save screen from scratches very well.

So go online and find something cool for you, I mean for you phone. Blingcase.com offers cases for phones of variety of brands from HTC to Samsung, it’s definitely paradise for Apple customers – you’ll see cases for iPhone, iPod and even iPad there. Shipping is always free for any order and must notice pretty fast too. And, BTW, they do markdowns up to 50% off quite often…

Delicious Lush

These days almost everybody is obsessed with natural, organic and handmade. I can’t say that it’s vital for me to eat, for example, organic or not organic strawberries, I believe that I will be okay eating the second type, but sometimes it is worth to pay some extra money for natural product.
Sure that you’ve heard about “Lush” and maybe even had a chance to try it. My first experience with this brand happened a year ago in Hawaii, where my husband and I just walked in to the Lush store simply because it was after 8:00 p.m. and everything else was already closed. At the same moment I felt like a kid in a candy store.
You could test everything right away, even things that you would never think to test, like soaps, bath bombs and shower bars. Buckets of water and paper towels were on each station so I could enjoy my experiments. Everything was so pretty, bright and smelled beautifully. Of course we left the store with glitter all over, smelling like cocoa and a few purchases that I was enjoying for a long time very much.
What I really loved about Lush is variety of their product and how actually different it is from traditional cosmetics market. Some stuff like solid shampoos and jelly shower gels that are selling by pieces you can find only there. Or massage bars that reduce fever or relax tired muscles. Really it is pretty amazing how many different things for completely different purposes they have. And isn’t it fun to buy face wash by ounces like cheese in grocery store, buy exactly how much you want, not more, not less?! I found several favorite products that I am never going to cheat on. Fresh “Oatfix” mask (literally fresh, in fridge lasts only for three weeks) is great, really does a fantastic job of soothing and calming my skin. Another item that I love is Honey Trap lip balm. Believe me, in my life I tried not one type of lip balm and I was absolutely amazed by this one. My lips tend to dry a lot, sometimes I couldn’t even put usual lipstick, because it showed off all of skin flakes, only gloss worked. But this thing totally saved me, I just put it before going to sleep and in the morning before doing make-up and I completely forgot that I’ve ever had any problems with my lips. Plus texture is wonderful, not oily or sticky. But I think my most favorites are glitter bars – “glitterbug” and “shimmy shimmy”. I use both of them, first one with iridescent sparkles for nights out, second one with light golden shimmer I use on daily basis – it gives you nice very settled glow. They smell delicious and moisturize your skin. And, BTW, you can use them on both body and hair.

If you’ve never been to “Lush” store you definitely should go, it will be nice fun experience, take your time and try everything! See you there!

P.S. Don't forget to grab a catalog and ask about new samples!

Denim unlimited.

Several days ago I was asked a question what my favorite clothing item was and without any hesitation I answered jeans. No seriously, what else??? They are so awesome - comfortable and cool, super stylish and appropriate pretty much everywhere. They started sneaking in even to offices on “Casual Fridays”, people wear them to restaurants, bars, clubs and even theatres. Everybody owns a pair of jeans, guy, working on the gas station and famous celebrity, 60 years old lady and little kid in kindergarten. Even “Huggies” made limited edition jean diapers. What can I say else but the whole brand empires were built on them. And all because EVERYBODY WANTS TO WEAR JEANS.
So how many pairs should average person have? What washes and styles they should be? Of course these factors really depend on personal feeling of fashion, life style, character and physic. But there are still a few points that everybody should follow. First, everybody has to have at least one pretty basic pair of denim pants with less or more plain wash and no additional details like distressing or bright decoration. Such pair would be perfect to go to work on casual days, really your colleagues don’t need to see your bare knees through the holes. Another thing is that you definitely should have couple of different washes - dark and lighter one that will be great for hot summers. But understand me right, you can wear dark pair on summer too, no problem, but bleached pair should stay in the closet for the whole cold period. Plus usually very light denim is also made very thin, so at least if you don’t want to freeze yourself stay away from it when it’s close to 30°F outside.
If you know all of that and actually execute it you can consider yourself as a perfect denim customer. From this point you can just have fun with the rest of your jean wardrobe. I would say GO CRAZY. Denim designers offer a lot of really flashy and extravagant stuff this season, be brave and try as much as you can. Love jeans with “paint and dirt” all over, they definitely attract a lot of attention. The main rule is not to forget your confidence at home going outside in such pants. Sequins and rhinestones look on denim fenomenal, especially on the pockets. Which lady wouldn’t like to add to her booty some extra glam and sparkle?! Oh, and jeans with shiny coating – pure rock’n’roll! Spice up your outfit with cool TS or blouse and a lot of accessories – and you look like a real rock-star!

Let’s see how many pairs I have… Okay, I found 11: Don’t know if it’s too many or not enough, and doesn’t matter, because anyway if I find another cool pair I would buy it!

Mysterious nature of denim dress

What do you imagine when you hear “denim dress”? Something cool and trendy or old fashioned and forgotten in the basement for many years? Do you think it’s stylish or isn’t even close to such category? It’s all reasonable questions and we’ll try to figure out what this mysterious creature “denim dress” is.
I remember when I was 8 my mom bought for me wonderful “Lee” dress on the black market. It cost almost a half of her pay check and for me it was super big deal. With very wide pleated skirt in which twirl was awesome and nice belt this thing was definitely a statement. I felt that I was the most stylish girl in the class. But I was growing and my lovely dress wasn’t, so one day I just had to say “good bye” to it. From that same moment I had a dream in my heart to get another cool denim dress that everybody would admire. But what a surprise many years passed and I still didn’t own one. Even considering that situation in Russia changed dramatically, tons of boutiques and stores opened (really, city where I lived is super fashion forward) I just couldn’t buy it. So apparently the problem was not in the lack of resources but in the lack of denim dresses in trends. But as we know fashion has its own cycle like everything in life, and finally ITS TIME CAME! It’s a very big boom for denim dresses already for couple of years and it is not decreasing, I would say just a bit transforming. With each season designers give us new washes, silhouettes, finishes, strongly representing latest trends in this garment. You can buy one that you especially like without any fear that it will disappear from the runways next year, denim dress took nice and strong position for a while. It’s not just extremely convenient (it’s great for weekends and casual Fridays in the office), but very flattering. Having a very good structure denim dress gives you a perfect very lean shape. Wear it with bold jewelry, cool boots and purse and you’ll feel fantastic like I did showing off my “Lee” at school. Thanks God there is no need to sneak to black market, because almost every brand gives you an option. Don’t miss stores like “Guess” with their sexy and brave styles, Bloomingdales , Neiman Marcus , Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom with great variety from different designers, Macy’s is also a great place to find a cool one.

I found my perfect denim dress, by Black Orchid brand in one of the local boutiques in my hometown in Russia. I like to wear it with ensemble of red jewelry, red purse and red shoes that I switch to high wedge red boots when it’s cold. It’s super awesome and definitely was worth to wait for! BTW, every time I wear it I get ton of compliments! Maybe yours will be so successful too???

Welcome on board, Daily Deal Chicago!

How do you imagine successful people? Think most of you would agree with me if I describe them as well-dressed, with good haircut, nice manicure, dining in fancy places and in general having very “social” life style. And an interesting thing is the more successful you look the more successful you actually are. So seems that to reach some heights in your life you need at first look like you are already there.
But how? For all of that you need money, that’s why all successful people do that – they simply can afford it. But even if you are simply still too young or just didn’t catch your luck yet you still can live pretty full life. In one of my posts we already discussed how convenient some web-sites are, where you can buy designer high quality clothes, shoes and accessories with unbelievable up to 80% discount. And 80% off is not a limit! For example, on last ideeli.com Red Sale I’ve seen items like Emilio Pucci $1500 skirt for not more than $50!!! Pretty crazy but it’s true. So seems that it’s clear enough how to get expensive look for very little money. The next question is how to have fabulous and interesting life not spending almost your whole paycheck? Super easy too! For example, my husband and I, though we don’t suffer from the lack of money, use such web-sites like Groupon , Living Social and Restaurant.com all the time. We safe a ton buying dining gift certificates, tickets to shows and different tours with 50-70% off. There is no catch, everything is very clear – you get nice discount, business that offers it gets huge volume of new customers. Everybody get what they want. And obviously the more of such web-sites are in internet the more offers for you to choose from! And here good news come - new web-site Daily Deal Chicago Daily Deal Chicago starts its work on August 1st. It promises a lot of great deals from bars and restaurants to spas and sport studios, theatres. Just subscribe for daily e-mail and every morning you will get the freshest deal in the city automatically. Who knows maybe it will be for some place that you’ve always wanted to go to, or maybe that you’ve never heard before but would become your favorite spot since then! BTW, right now they run special $100 Apple Gift Card Giveaway, so don’t wait and enter for chance to win. I am already subscribed for Daily Deal Chicago e-mails and can’t wait it to start its work. And of course have my fingers crossed to win a gift card!!!

At the end of the day why should you pay more if you can pay less???

Dress your feet right!

A lot of people sacrifice their style for comfort and a lot of people sacrifice their comfort for style. And it’s definitely shouldn’t be exactly like that. Main goal is to find golden middle in both style and comfort and try to stay in it.
Don’t you think that woman in a classic suit looks ridiculous in pair of running shoes? But the same you can say about lady in heels on the picnic in woods? The first one would say that she just walks a lot, feet hurt and etc., the second one would explain her choice “just want to look good”. But not sure that both their outfits work well for them. In first case woman totally loses her professional look that she is trying to achieve with expensive suit by wearing totally wrong footwear. Why did she even bother to spend ton of money on dress clothes??? Nobody says that she should wear only sky-high pumps! Pick nice flats or even small elegant heels and your feet will feel nice and comfortable all day long and the whole outfit will come together, and maybe career too. In second case woman completely screws her comfort and fun in her high heels. No playing volleyball with friends… Volleyball! What am I talking about?! Pretty much even no walking! And, BTW, she totally screws not just her fun but her shoes too (imagine that poor “guys” with mud and grass on the heels and bunch of scratches from dry branches). Plus it looks so silly. Why don’t just wear a pair of cute sneakers that will look nice with pair of jeans or leggings? I definitely against wearing running shoes on daily basis, the best place to show them off is in the gym, but sometimes in our casual life pair of cute Pumas or Adidas are extremely handy. Even super fashionistas can find nice pair. Sport companies work with famous designers very closely, creating really pretty footwear. Today you don’t have to be Missy Elliot to be able to buy golden or even decorated with rhinestones and sequins sneakers. Just make effort and go to the store and find the pair of great shoes just for you! Plus if you need any advice or maybe somebody’s second opinion go on-line – there is unbelievable amount of information. Use whatever you want – professional critic’s articles with their pretty strict point of view or reviews of normal people like you, in which they tell how comfortable and durable shoes that they bought are. It’s very convenient to use store web-sites (like if you plan to do purchase in Nordstrom go on-line and check if somebody bought the same item and left any reviews) or special web-sites with expert opinions (great “sneakers resource” http://www.myairshoes.com/ ).

Never-ever, even for a second, forget how important to balance comfort and style and how important to look appropriate for situation that you are in. Enjoy your “balanced” life and get the best of it!

Bling-bling post

Different people have different attitude to accessories. Some don’t wear them at all, some wear way too many. Some people like to match them with each other, some match with the clothes and some don’t match at all. And, no doubts, there is plenty of freedom in how you can wear your accessories, but definitely you need to use this freedom correctly.
How to pick right accessory for an outfit? The main parameters are style, color and how you want to look. Putting different accessories you can completely change the look of the same outfit. They help tremendously either to dress it up or dress it down. It’s very convenient to use this tool in situation like going out to dinner after work. Just wear simple black dress with a jacket or cardigan to office and don’t forget to throw some bold jewelry, like long sparkly earrings and big cuff, in your purse. And when it’s time to go out just put them on. Easy but very dramatic transformation that let you look great in two completely different atmospheres. The same if you use contrasting colors in accessories and clothes. Look at the picture of me in the park. Red beads on the neck (I have it, you just can see...), red bracelet and earrings and cute sequin pouch on the tote are contrasting with the whole white-blue theme of the outfit and make it much brighter and more festive (but don’t go too festive, for example, wearing red rhinestones, FOLLOW THE STYLE OF CLOTHES). And imagine this outfit for example with blue necklace and white bag – still not too bad, but definitely much more boring.
Try to avoid blending your accessories into your clothes. But must notice, that both skirt and shirt are pretty neutral. And this is exactly what gives you an opportunity to go more colorful with jewelry. But in case of busy or big print it doesn’t always work. You easily could go in “too much going on”. Like on my second picture there is a big neon print on my dress and clearly it should be a center of attention. That’s why I picked simple plastic set in the exact yellow color that just compliments the dress. It all worked together pretty well without giving a feel “all over the place”.
As for matching accessories with each other, it’s all up to you. Personally I really like to do that a lot. Mixing textures is a lot of fun and you can actually get an idea how to do it right just looking at what designers combine in one piece of jewelry. Wood and gold, leather and silver and even silver and gold are very classic variations. Try to experiment and you’ll discover a lot of interesting looks.
Keep in mind that too much jewelry is not good, you don’t need to look like you put everything that you could find in your jewelry box on yourself. Long earrings never work with big necklace, and big necklace doesn’t work with massive cuff. If you go heavy with something try to stay moderate with the rest of your accessories, otherwise they will be overpowering and look like and knight armor suit.

It’s almost weekend, but you still have time to find some cool bling-bling for Friday night out!

Closet Transformers

Yesterday my husband and I while brushing our teeth before going to bed were talking about how to dress age appropriate. A lot of people don’t really sense what and how they should wear to stay true to their age, spirit and character. Some of them never understood that, putting on “grandpa” double pleated pants being only 25 years old, some of them stuck in their youth refusing to give up concert T-Shirt and oversized shorts with huge pockets. But at the end of the day we are changing through our life and our fashion feel should too.
I definitely don’t think that after thirty all fun and funk in clothing is over, absolutely opposite! You just need to understand where the thin border between dressing “too young” and “just young” is and try to stay on the right side. Important thing is that we don’t age dramatically in one day or a week or even a year, and our style shouldn’t too. There is no need to put your whole wardrobe in the basement after 30th birthday party. You need to incorporate more sophisticated classic pieces in it, mixing them with old ones. Such method will be very painless for your nerves and definitely valet. This is how it works. Let’s take white T-Shirt with quite moderate black skull print on the side and pair of distressed jeans. Sounds pretty young, but still not too much (because print is not over-the-top), pretty good for a casual look for a guy in his middle 30s. Let’s add nice black cashmere cardigan and we are going about ten years further. Another good example: light pink skinny jeans. Pair them with TS and bright striped belt – very young look, with white tank, white linen jacket and even handkerchief – super stylish outfit for mid age man. Of course there are pieces that would be very hard and absolutely unnecessarily to transform into another stage of your life. Mickey Mouse and Hello Kitty are definitely should move to your nieces’ and nephews’ closets. Ask to notice that I don’t even mention oversized clothes that usually is associated with young generation, and only with one reason – IT’S NOT COOL FOR ANY AGE! Times of that style are gone! Dress your body in your real size, don’t cover it with a bunch of excess fabric.
Getting a bit older is really not that scary and pity, it’s very interesting and exciting. More goals are achieved, more opportunities are open. It’s awesome to feel successful, and this is what you should show in your look, a little bit of chic and luxury. Remember that you still can look young even being already passed your 20s quite a few years ago, but sophisticated and stylish, like my husband! He is 36 and is rocking this fashion world!

No morning horrors anymore!

Who gets up in the morning and literally gets scared with the look in the mirror? Who can’t find eyes on the face after supposedly “beauty sleep”? Few months ago I would say “I, it’s all about me!” And I am sure I would be not the only one. Puffiness, bags under the eyes were really killing me in the mornings. I had only one desire – to run out of bed as fast as I could so my husband wouldn’t see me so “pretty”! I could sit with cold compresses on my eyes for hours and still would look like I was drinking vodka all night long before. Thanks God, it’s over now, because I found a perfect solution.
So everybody knows that there are plenty of things that cause puffiness. Of course it can be one of the symptoms of allergies or different skin disorders, but usually everything is much more trivial. Interrupted sleep, diet or just normal aging can be reasons of puffiness, I don’t even mention what is going on with the face after party night or (that’s a sad example) crying. Seems everything is an enemy of our eyes beauty! So is there any way to wake up at least with a decent face??? As I’ve already mentioned there was! Very easy, very affordable and super effective! It’s just an eye cream. Or think I shouldn’t say “just” an eye cream, it’s THE CREAM! Let me introduce to you Mario Badescu Hyaluronic Eye Cream . Hyaluronic acid in this cream formula locks natural moisture of your skin, preventing puffiness after sleeping. I’ve been using it for a couple of months already and still can’t believe how awesome this thing is. Having very sensitive skin pretty often I face lots of problems finding right product that wouldn’t give me any type of irritation. With this cream I literally forgot that I’ve ever had issues like that. And you know what – I wake up every day with fresh and nice looking face, I don’t need to wear sunglasses to walk with my dog in the mornings anymore, because I LOOK GOOD, not like monster from horror movies! Really recommend this cream to every woman.

I must say that I started to use more and more Mario Badescu products and none of them were disappointing, moreover my skin loves them. Everything has very nice textures, no overpowering fragrances and works extremely well. I love the fact that this brand offers great variety of solutions for all skin types, including problem skin with acne and even rosacea . And if you have sensitive skin this is a perfect choice for you. Don’t be confused by not flashy packaging or very moderate price, Mario Badescu makes premium beauty product that I strongly advice at least to try.

Today going to Nordstrom to get some Hand Cream with Vitamin E by Mario Badescu – it got great reviews, can’t wait to try it myself!

I am a girl and I want a skirt!

What’s the problem you would say, but believe there was one, because I wanted denim skirt. I was searching for it everywhere for several weeks in the row, but couldn’t find. Even denim brands reduced their skirt assortment to maximum one style of primitive cut-off, the rest of the merchandise is cut-off shorts and of course jeans.
So what skirts should we wear? The latest trends are very feminine and sexy. Minis in different types of fabric from silk to twill and in different shapes from tight to flowy ruffles are extremely in style right now. Of course it’s summer time, when else you can show off your nice legs?! Just make sure that skin of your legs looks silky and glowy, use some moisturizing lotion and even with a little bit of shimmer and you will look like celebrity on the Red Carpet.
But it’s almost a middle of July and all of the stores already put Fall/Winter collections on their shelves. And skirts in the following season are breathtaking! Materials are fantastic – beautiful wools, rich tweeds, nice satins, a lot of leather and even fur! Yes, I would say that leather and fur are the biggest players in the second part of the year. And all of that is combined with lace, sequins and great detailing like buckles, ruching and exposed zippers. One of the best silhouettes are very fitted pencil skirts up to the knee and straight ones again up to the knee or even above, but minis are not gone too, they are upgraded for cold season by using earlier mentioned fabrics.
Another popular thing is pleats! Full pleated skirt should be in the closet of each girl/woman for the following season. So as you can see everything is very lady-like, but with a feel of power and strength. Such skirts definitely show off beautiful curves without exposing anything extra. They give you professional but at the same time very feminine look. Wear them with light wovens, cashmere cardigans and sheer silk blouses. High heel shoes or high boots will complete the look. Fur skirts look very playful and young – great choice for party or fun night out in the club.

But what about denim skirts? You probably will be able to find a few in the stores, but maybe it’s better to wait until they will be on the peak again? I personally stop searching and going to enjoy what’s in trend right now!

M.A.C. - my perfect make-up!

I’ve had my favorite cosmetics brands for many years, but when I came over to U.S. realized that I would have to figure out something new, because assortment on the market is completely different.

Must admit, first few tries pretty much failed – either I absolutely haven’t liked the product, or it was okay but extremely pricy. And I don’t mind to pay extra money, but only if I love things that I pay for. After several months of searching and testing I finally found what was perfect for me. It was M.A.C.!

M.A.C. is not really represented to Russian customers, so as you understand I’ve never used it before. But still can’t believe now why I wasn’t willing to try it from the very beginning of my cosmetics experience??? Anyway my first purchase was Plush Lash Mascara that totally blew me away. Black is very dark and rich, formula gives you nice length and volume, no clumps and smudging, and I what I also absolutely love is that lashes stay soft and flexible even with 2-3 coats of mascara. It totally survived heat and humidity in Mexico, and haven’t run all over my face even after waves crushed on it.
Another product that I adore is baked eye shadows. I loved to use such eye shadows in Italian brand Pupa (but you can’t buy it here, in U.S.), so I tried to find an alternative to them and could do it only in M.A.C. I recommend everybody to buy Mineralized Eye Shadow - they are silky, sparkly, last all day long and come in great variety of colors. Basic collection goes in two complimenting each other colors, but right now there is limited edition line of Mineralized Eye Shadow Trio (it’s on my shopping list now). Shades are absolutely amazing in wide assortment for every eye color and skin tone.

I love M.A.C. lipsticks for great quality and beautiful palette, seriously I think, it’s crazy (in a good sense) in how many colors (from classic red to candy pink and pure silver) and how many textures (frost, glaze, satin, cremesheen, matte, luster and etc.) lipsticks are.
Their face products are awesome too. Really like Studio Tech Foundation after which you don’t have to use powder, it already gives you matte finish. Face looks very fresh, healthy and absolutely natural. Skin feels soft and moisturized. Easy and quick application.
M.A.C. is really fantastic – quality is great, assortment is huge and it’s really affordable. And they make new stuff all the time! I am not talking only about new formulas and brand new products (though there plenty of them every month). Limited edition collections, that come out very often, give you opportunity to keep up with the latest trends in make-up and be stylish. This company works with celebrities, like Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper, and fashion designers, like Alice + Olivia (one of the newest M.A.C. lines) to create a great product for their customers.

I really-really love M.A.C. and just couldn’t not to share it with you! Old customers – enjoy, new customers – discover (and enjoy too)!!!