Nicolita & Unigue Vintage: 2 new sites for you!

Spring is in the air, it's warm outside, and I'm going to Las Vegas this weekend, so it got me thinking about swimsuits and fun dresses. Browsing around on the web like I do, I came across a couple websites that I really liked and I thought I would share them with you!

Nicolita
http://mynicolita.zoovy.com/

NICOLITA'S designer, Nicole Di Rocco, established NICOLITA Swimwear in 2003. Di Rocco's designs focus on conservative sexy and curve conscious styles. It's obvious her inspirations stem from her family's cultural Cuban roots. Nicole creates each bikini collection that is reminiscent of Cuba's 1940's era, by blending vintage glamour with modern day silhouettes. The NICOLITA line includes handbags, bikinis and accessories and are produced in Los Angeles.








Unique Vintage
http://www.unique-vintage.com/

This site focuses mostly on many types of dresses. You can find a flapper dress, a prom dress, a wedding dress, and a cute summery dress all on the same site! It kinda seems corny, but once you browse through, you can find some adorable stuff at decent prices. I was really impressed with their swimsuits and retro dresses.

H&M Is Coming to Ventura!

I remember when Ventura was a town people stopped at for gas on their way to Santa Barbara. Now this sleepy little beach town is a hustle and bustle on the weekends (and even during the week) with out of towners and locals. Downtown has a movie theatre, quite a few great restaurants, a pizza spot that's open after hours, an American Apparel, an Urban Outfitters, and now our mall is starting to shape up to a top spot! It started with an opening of a large Forever 21 (which, after all the new remodels, has turned into a small store...but it still works for me), there's a Coach store, and Aldo (which I love), and soon a Sephora and an H&M! Thousand Oaks and Santa Barbara don't even have an H&M!!! Woo Hoo for Ventura!

Sephora opens in May and there is no set date for H&M yet, but it's taking over like 3 or more stores, so it's going to be HUGE! Good-bye Abercrombie, hello great shopping for Courtney!

For those of you that aren't familiar with H&M...The first store was opened in Sweden (gotta love those Swedes for Ikea too), today H&M operates in 37 countries and has 74,000 employees in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Canada, and the US. H&M was in New York forever and just in the last few years opened it's first West Coast store in Pasadena and in the Beverly Center. Now there are stores popping up in all major areas INCLUDING little ol' Ventura!

H&M offers great fashion (and quality) at reasonable prices, not just for women, but for teens, men, and children as well. It's fab shopping for the whole famn damily! If you can't wait until the store opens, you can always hit up the two story store at the Topanga Mall (the closest to us). That's were I have been doing my H&M shopping since it opened.

Gaga Envy

envy [ˈɛnvɪ]
n pl -vies
1. a feeling of grudging or somewhat admiring discontent aroused by the possessions, achievements, or qualities of another
2. the desire to have for oneself something possessed by another; covetousness
3. an object of envy

I don't envy very many people (maybe 4), I was taught to be happy with what I'm given. BUT, I feel that when it comes to glamorous women that have the means to wear anything they want...I envy...ohhhhh, I ENVY!!!!

So in honor of the weekend, I thought I'd do a fun fashion post. This is all LADY GAGA!!! Now, some of you will exit now, but really...if you like her or you don't...you should watch these videos simply to see the fashion they are full of. Her, head to toe, is the epitome of creativity and fashion brilliance. She has a fucking AWESOME voice too!!!

SO...here we go!

Beautiful Eyebrows

Growing up I had thick dark brows that were the envy of all the women in my family. My grandmother would scold me for "coloring them in" and making them so dark, until she finally realized that they were naturally that dark. My mother encouraged me to make my one brow into two brows, that was a leap into teen hood for me. ha ha! My aunt would tell me about how thick and beautiful her brows were until she went crazy tweezing them, and now she has just remnants of what used to be, that she has to fill in with a pencil. At around age 16, one of my fashion forward goth girlfriends told me that my brows were hideously bushy and then gave me the run down on maintaining a gorgeous brow (despite the fact that she had 4 hairs total and the rest was pencil). Since then I have been a slave to balanced beautiful brows. Working in the fashion and beauty industry, my Esthetician friends always wanted to know who did my brows. The answer was always "me!" because after years of obsessing, I never let anyone else touch them. Bad brows have become a pet peeve of mine. I can not understand how people walk out of the house with lines drawn on, or brows shaped like sperm, or just nasty un-groomed caterpillars! Here are some guidelines for those of you that fall into those categories, and also for those of you that just want to learn a little more.

Here are some step by step tips for finding the right eyebrows shape.

Step 1
Use a straight edged object (a pencil or orange stick works well) and hold it vertically along the side of your nose so it reaches up to where your eyebrow starts (1.) The place where the pencil meets your eyebrow is where it should naturally start.

Step 2
Use the pencil again, look straight ahead and line up the pencil with the center of your pupil. The place where the pencil meets your eyebrow is where your arch should naturally start (2.).

Step 3
Hold the pencil at a diagonal from the outer corner of your eye to the corner of your nose so it extends up over your eyebrow. The place where the pencil meets your eyebrow is where your brow should end naturally (3).

Step 4
Repeat the steps for your other eye.

How To Tweeze Eyebrows Step By Step

The best time to tweeze eyebrows is after a hot bath since your pores will be wide open.
Make sure you have enough light to see every hair and exactly what you’re doing and you don’t end up taking out a hair you didn’t want to. A magnifying mirror is great for being able to zone in on every little hair.

Step 1 - Brush the eyebrows up and away to show the natural shape.
Step 2 - Use your fingers to hold the area above the eyebrow taut.
Step 3 - Using the tweezers, grip the hair as close to the root as possible.
Step 4 - Pull it out in the direction in which the hair grows with one swift motion.
Step 5 - Tweeze the hairs moving back and forth between the brows to make sure they stay balanced.
Step 6 - Wipe the area with a little toner on a cotton ball to close your pores.

Simple Tips For Eyebrow Tweezing

1. Use smooth fast movements to remove the hair (less pain for you).
2. Numb the area with ice or skin numbing cream.
3. Only remove one hair at a time for the least amount of pain.
4. Use white eyeliner pencil to mark the hairs you want to remove.
5. Unless yours are very bushy, never pluck eyebrows from the top.

Eyebrow Grooming Step by Step
Well kept eyebrows make you look gorgeous without any makeup at all! They give your face structure and make it look more balanced. Properly arched and groomed eyebrows open up your eyes making them look bright and youthful. Here are the two eyebrow grooming steps to take yours from bushy to breathtaking.

Step 1
Use a brow brush to smooth them out by brushing upwards and outwards.
If you do it that way it gives your eyebrow the most natural flow. Using a brow brush also gets extra powder and foundation out of your brow hairs.

Step 2
After you’ve brushed them properly you can set them by using a clear brow gel or clear mascara.
That will help you to control the hairs and keep them from going where ever they please.

Simple Tips For Eyebrow Grooming
After you’ve combed the brows up and out you might notice some of the hairs stick out further than they should. A quick and easy solution for this is to trim your brows with a brow trimming scissor.
Take the brow scissor and holding it horizontally carefully snip the extra length from the top of your brows.
Finish it off by brushing through your brows one more time then set your brows with a gel to make the hairs lie down completely.

EXAMPLES OF GREAT BROWS:

EXAMPLES OF HORRIBLE BROWS:

SOME GREAT BROW PRODUCTS I RECOMMEND:

BENEFIT BROW ZING $30 www.sephora.com

BENEFIT SHE LAQ $30 www.sephora.com

TWEEZERMAN TWEEZERS $20 www.sephora.com

ANASTASIA BROW KIT $75 www.sephora.com

M.A.C BROW LINE www.maccosmetics.com

Good luck and happy tweezing!!!!

No Heel Is Ever Too High

I walked into work today and a gal pal took a look at my new high heels and asked,

"how do you walk in those?!", I simply replied, "It's easy!"

I have been wearing high heels since I was a wee girl running around the house in my mothers platforms. Even through my "tomboy" phase, I already had the heels I wanted my mom to save for me, "when I get older". I believe my love for high heels and thick soles is a subconscious desire for height. I come from a long line of 'short fashionistas', I was the tallest girl, and I was never tall enough to me. Growing up, I loved gazing at photos of my favorite models Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangalista, and Christy Turlington ....they are so not short! I'd open the pages of my Vogue magazines and dream about having long beautiful legs.

Today people tell me I'm tall, could it be because I wear jeans that elongate my legs, and no heel is ever too high?

I love high heels, stacked heels, platform heels, stiletto heels, hooker heels ... but not the discomfort that comes with them. If they're comfortable, they're most likely ugly. I make sacrifices, we all make sacrifices for what we love, even if it's a size too big. Ha!

Here's a short video of some of the greatest models, but not so great on their heels.

TARINA TARANTINO at Sephora

Celebrities, fashion stylists, and girls across the world know Tarina Tarantino—the "Queen of Irreverent Luxury"—as the accessory designer who makes everything she touches pink and sparkly. This hot pink-haired former makeup artist now shares her passion for self-expression and playfulness with a complete cosmetics collection, available at Sephora. Inspired by her retro-yet-modern jewelry line, Tarina developed products with high-quality, color-rich formulas and luxuriously Tarantino packaging. Although you won't find Hello Kitty or Barbie here, TARINA TARANTINO will take girls of all ages on a fantastical journey, where they can express their own personal style and reveal their inner sparkle.

Tarina has brought four different color line options, a perfume and body sparkle, makeup brushes, and four gorgeous color collections. Don't forget her super cute bracelet and hair clip to complete your experience.

http://www.sephora.com/
http://www.ttbeauty.com/

A Place Called TOPSHOP

There's a little fashion spot, started in the UK (and now in NYC) that has some wonderful finds for less called Topshop. Some of you may have heard of it, and for those of you that haven't, I have put together this post. Unfortunately, my So Cal gals, you can't rush out and visit the Topshop, as it isn't on the West Coast, but there is a website that you can view and purchase from. I know, I know...it's nothing like walking into a shop and smelling the fragrances, gazing at all the colors and touching all the fabrics, but be patient, good things come to those who wait ... we have H&M everywhere now remember?

Here are a few pieces that I grabbed from the website, that I thought I'd share with you.

Mary Rose Dress by Motel $78


Knitted Paris Jumper $70

Cropped Swing Trench Coat $135

Heart Print Shorts $60

Hawaiian Ruffle Playsuit $55

Crop and Highwaist Pant Bikini $60

Addison Wedge Ankle Boot $160

Leather Covered Stud Belt $70

Medium Merino Holdall $170

Two Tone Corslette $65

Filigree Bangle Set $32

Now go buy your own... http://us.topshop.com/