Mango Spring/Summer 2009: Barcelona

The Spanish brand Mango presented its Spring/Summer 2009 Collection in Barcelona named “An Enchanted Garden.” The collection was inspired by “nature and modern landscape” as well as influenced by a strong Japanese touch on the shapes and prints of the garments. Brazilian model Camila Alves came down the runway, and it was her first appearance after the birth of her cute son from boyfriend Matthew McConaughey. The Enchanted Garden featured bright colors and prints, silk and chiffon softness, large flower accessories and exotic oriental flare. Watch out for these pieces to come out in stores next year and prepare for a bright, hot summer!

Limited Edition Heidi Klum Collection at Victoria’s Secret

One of Victoria’s Secret favorite angles, supermodel Heidi Klum has released a limited edition beauty line exclusively at the lingerie brand. The Very Sexy beauty make-up collection features five products and it is available at their website. Heidi paired up with Victoria’s Secret make-up artist Linda Hay to create the beauty line. The Heidi Klum Collection Blush ($22) offers a combination of three sparkly colors to deliver a pearl luminous appeal on your cheeks. The Silky Eye Shadow Quad ($20) features four silky powder eye shadows for a long lasting and crease-proof look. The Glitter Liquid Liner ($10) is my favorite as it is the perfect way to add some emerald and gold sparkle to your eyes. The Perfect Lipstick ($10) helps to hydrate and condition your lips with Vitamin E, Coconut Oil, and Tiare Flower and the Lip Gloss ($10) provides the desired shine whether you wear it alone or on top on your lipstick. The products are beautifully presented with Heidi’s signature and a little heart in pink and come in very soft colors for a romantic and natural feel.

Victoria’s Secret “Holiday Edition” Lingerie

The holidays are coming and lingerie’s hottest brand, Victoria’s Secret released its sparkling Holiday Season glam collection. Naturally, most pieces are in passionate red and seductive black, but palette of purple, pink and soft ivory is also present. The Edition features the season’s hottest lace as well as sexy satin, ruffles, gold metallic embroidery and crystallized with Swarovski and softened with ribbons. The styles are various starting from the high waist garters and corsets to the balconet bras and mini v-strings. Here are some of my favourites but you can glance at all the Holiday Editions on their website here.

Chanel Holiday 2008 Make-Up!

The holidays are coming soon (Thank God,) and what better way to get into the spirit than to glitter with hot make-up! Knowing Chanel’s love of gold for this season, following its exclusive Facettes D’Or Autumn 2008, the Limited Edition Holiday 2008 collection continues the sparkling gold fever. It also features touches of beige, bronze and rouge for a warmer, winter holiday feel. The look is about combining neutral beige and brown eyes, with pink-gold or rouge lips, while the face and cheeks sparkle with gold and shimmering pink highlights.

The Levres Scintillantes Glossimer, priced at $26 comes in both shades Red Shine with shimmer and Gold Shine with the pink-gold shimmer. The Gold Highlighting Powder, priced at $75 can be used for the face and body.

For the nails, we have the hot Le Vernis which comes in Perle Rosee, a warm beige-pink and the Haute Chocolat, which is a chocolate gold color. Both are priced at $20 each. The eye shadows comes in many shades and combinations like the pale gold Riviera of the Ombre D’Eau Fluid Iridescent Eyeshadow priced at $32 and the Brun-Lame featuring the dark brown and soft brown sparkle of La Ligne De Chanel Professional Eyeliner Duo at $45. For a complete list of the new collection, go to the website.

Shu Uemura Holiday Bright Make-Up Collection

Shu Uemura’s latest collection for the coming holidays is a rich palette of bright colors. Photographer Mika Ninagawa along with the artistic brand have created a fantastic collaboration of make-up. Delicious colors for the eyes, lips and nails combined with the unique packaging bring the warm artistic nature of the Tokyo photographer. This collection is sure to be a highlight for the fun holiday season and it is already available on their website. Featured below are two of the beauty products. The first one is the eye color palette “Adorned Marguerite” for a sweet and innocent look, featuring seven pressed eye shadows and one easy to spread cream liner in colors such as soft pink, blue, yellow and romantic violet. It is priced at $65. The second item is the mini gloss trio set called the “Delicious Rose.” It features a vinyl cosmetic pouch decorated with a photograph  of Mika Ninagawa. The mini glosses come in candy orange, candy pink and red and the price for this cute trio set is $40.

Rigby & Peller With Pink Lingerie For Breast Cancer Awareness

As we all know, October is the international Breast Cancer Awareness international month. Lingerie giants Rigby & Peller have launched a limited edition collection Alondra with special pink designs for this month in support of this important cause. 10% of the October sales from the Alondra range will be donated in aid of the Breast Cancer Haven charity. The desirable collection is suitable for all occasions and features a full range of sizes as well as the bras are available in full cup, plunge or balcony styles. Alondra is delicately crafted from soft mesh tulle with Art Deco inspired organic embroidery and it is luxuriously adorned with ribbon and crystal trim. The pale pink color is especially designed for Breast Cancer month. Prices range from £64.95 for the bras and £38.95 for the bikini brief. You can visit their website to take a look at the beautiful pieces. Rigby & Peller hope to raise and donate £3,000 for the Breast Cancer Haven charity, which you can visit here and learn more about it.

Cleopatra’s Soft Secret: Milk Baths

Throughout history, it has been widely written that Cleopatra bathed herself in milk baths almost every day. The Queen of Nile had the most radiant, soft and young skin and for this, she was known worldwide for her beauty. Today, Cleopatra is still the glowing icon that many women look up to for beauty tips. Even if it means digging in Egyptian BC history. Milk baths however haven’t just been used by Cleopatra. Elizabeth I of England and Elisabeth of Bavaria both have acclaimed the beautifying secret of bathing in milk.

Milk baths utilize lactic acid which dissolves the proteins holding together the dead skin cells and thus, exfoliates the skin. The rejuvenating baths help to exfoliate, soften and smooth the skin, accelerate the skin cell renewal and moisturize and relieve stress. What is crucial though is the use of fresh milk!

Making a milk bath at home is not a hard task and most importantly, it is a misconception that one needs to fill up the entire bathtub with fresh milk. You only need to pour a couple of cups of fresh milk into the tub as the warm water is filling. In general, two to three cups of milk is enough but you may use as much as you want. You may also use milk powder if you would like. For the honey, you may add one or two teaspoons to add fragrance and nutrients to the water. You can also add sea salts, which I love to do, and any other oils you like. You can also add petals and flowers in the tub for that extra sensual luxury and romantic appeal. Definitely worthy of a Queen!

Some people say that the milk baths leave their skin way too oily. You can use fat free milk instead. The oily skin just means that your skin got very moisturized which is a great thing because it cleansed better and you do not need to apply additional moisturizer after your bath.

As an alternative, you can always buy milk powder or milk bath products from beauty stores. Just make sure it is organic and fresh! You may find milk baths in many delicious flavours such as strawberries, vanilla, lavender and the yummy chocolate. I should also note that cleaning your bathtub is a bit inconvenient after your milk bath, but your baby soft skin is certainly worth it!