Jan Arnold: Co-Founder of CND

Last Monday (May 24^th) I had the opportunity to get my nails done the Shellac way with my co-worker, Jenna.  Excited for a mid-day mani and a trip to Beverly Hills we were on our way to learn about the first Hybrid Nail Polish. We were greeted by Co-Founder Jan Arnold along with three CND representatives. We were briefed by a 45 minute video about Shellac’s conception and scientific background. By the end of the presentation Jenna and I were a bit skeptical but extremely excited to put Shellac to the test. They have chosen 12 colors to launch with but the great thing about those 12 colors is that you can mix and match them to create a different look. I went with the Iced Cappuccino mixed with Negligee which created a pinkish nude color that would compliment any outfit I wore this past weekend (I had yet to pick a dress for a wedding I went to). Jenna opted for the Cream Puff to show off her white and bright nails for her Memorial Day Lake weekend.

Shellac has UV3 technology that combines the ease of polish with the permanence of gels. They describe it as an Easy On-Easy Off application. You get a long lasting (14-days) manicure in 30 minutes. You can walk right out the door when your manicurist is done. They even had us rummage through our purses to prove to us that they wouldn’t mess up! It has been day over a week now and my nails still have the shine they did when I walked out the door last Monday. No chips, scratches or dents.

I have never been more impressed with a product in my life.  My friend’s nail polish kept chipping throughout the weekend and she had to keep reapplying and allowing for dry time; while I tried everything under the sun and my nail polish wouldn’t budge. To top it off, the “Easy-Off” application they speak of makes it all worth your while, they have pre saturated acetone remover wraps that are applied directly to your nail (protecting your nail beds). Leave them wrapped for 10 minutes and slide them right off. No mess, no filing or drilling, no dying of your nail beds and you are on your way.

I am hooked and can’t wait to try out a brighter color with my next Shellac treatment. Only downfall is it is an in salon treatment only. Find the nearest Shellac Salon and pamper yourself!

-Jehan

If you’re in California, you can check out the fashion and fun in Santa Barbara and Westlake Village. Time to Check In!

You can find Shop the Closet Stores here on Foursquare:

http://foursquare.com/venue/1209679

http://foursquare.com/venue/1209640

Rule 1:  Less is More

If a man is able figure out everything about you just by checking your profile, then you are royally screwed.  Oftentimes there’s something, even minor, that can send us running the other way.  Maybe you have an obsession with Zach Effron, enjoy dressing your cat in people clothes, or you for some unknown reason love eating your own lipstick, any little thing can send a guy running for the hills.  So if it’s not necessary, cut it out of your profile.  This pertains to dating status, political views, groups, favorite shows, books ,etc.  Remember EVERYTHING is important.

Rule 2: Remove Your Photos

I did this myself, and immediately saw an impact. I’m not really sure what this says about my general attractiveness, but thinking positively, I realized that controlling which photos you share with your friends is incredibly vital to your dating life.  As the saying goes, “A photo is worth a thousand words,” and this is oh so true…now what do you think 352 photos say about you?  In my opinion, too much! Photos are the easiest way to spot patterns, and patterns are bad.  To give you an example I dated a girl who could never seem take a normal photo.  She was always looking off camera, looking aloof, or trying to look sexy by doing her best impression of Snookie from the Jersey Shore.  After discovering this pattern of hers, I guido fist pumped myself out of that “Situation” pretty quickly.  I mean seriously, who wants to date a Kissy-Face Bandit or a No-Smilin’-Nancy?  So my advice is to choose the best photos you have and cut out the rest.  I easily did this by just blocking everyone from seeing all of my photos except for my profile pictures.  Do it, trust me.

Flickr User: Zawezome

Rule 3: Don’t Take Tests

Those retarded little “How well do you know me,” and “What Spice Girl Are You” tests are a BIG turnoff.  In fact they oftentimes reveal facts about you that we shouldn’t know.  No joke, I lost interest in this girl (who was 25 mind you) who essentially admitted to being a pedophile by answering “Nick Jonas” (who was 16 at the time), to the question “Who is your current celebrity crush?” These tests are a waste of time and INCREDIBLY harmful to your image.

Rule 4: Keep Your Relationship Status Empty

This one is kind of a runoff of Rule 1 but it’s so important that I felt the need to reiterate.  Now, I’m not advocating cheating on your lover, but there are a lot of fish in the sea and you might miss out on some nibbles if he sees that you’re currently in a situation that’s “Complicated.”  I’m not a fan of those who keep looking around for something better while they’re currently in happy relationships, but this point is really trying to get you to ask yourself “Who really cares?” It’s a question that you should ask yourself before every post because 9 times out of 10, the answer is “No one,” except your mom, who you shouldn’t be friends with in the first place.

Rule 5: Control Your Addiction

Facebook can be highly addictive, and without even knowing it, it can eat up a lot of your time.  You have to accept the fact that social media sites are just a way of bragging about yourself to your “friends” without sounding like the self-absorbed snatchdazzle that you really are.  If you’re highly active on your own wall with status updates, random photo postings of all the awesome things you do, and deep quotes/song lyrics, it indicates that you’re either really into yourself, or you have nothing better to do other than to play on Facebook…To me it says, “I’m incredibly vapid and actually do nothing of real value with my time.”

Ultimately the entire point of this post is to remind you that it’s the discovery process that keeps us guys chasing after you.  Just like everything else, we like what we can’t have and can’t figure out.  We love a good Scooby-Do-like mystery when it comes to finding a parter. If all we have to do to solve the case is take a look at your Facebook profile, then we’ll quickly move on.  Facebooking, Tweeting, Buzzing, and sharing your life online can be your worst enemy, but if you’re smart it can be your biggest ally in helping your dating life.  Less is more ladies…not only with your makeup, but also with your facebook profile.  Use it to your advantage.  If worst comes to worst, you can always commit social suicide (www.suicidemachine.org).

This look is probably the easiest to translate into real life.  Anne Hathaway’s character, the White Queen has a very pale, sweet but dark look.  Her makeup was done by veteran and master makeup artist Valli O’Reily and inspired by Victorian culture and icons. The one thing that stands out the most are her blood red lips. You can translate this beauty trend into an everyday look but just complementing that one feature: your lips. The easy way to get those dark, voluptuous lips, are to use a dark red lip liner. 3 Custom Color Specialists’ Marry Me Lip liner set in Cool does the trick. It comes with a lip and cheek stain which is perfect for long lasting color, a lip liner and a lip gloss so you’re getting an added bonus by buying all three. To apply the look, you can either use just the lip liner or just the lip and cheek stain. If you’d like a glossy look, you can go with a combination of all three or just use the gloss. Using the lip liner, line the edges of your lips starting from the middle. Color in those lips! You can also use a fatter lip pencil like Fusion Beauty’s LipFusion Lip Plumping Pencil in Nude to get that perfect plum red.

Beauty Tip: If you’re worried about feathering, you can use an anti-feathering lip penc il. It also helps keep the color and you can draw outside of your lip line if you prefer.

To finish the look, you can choose to line your eyelid with a thin line using a black eyeliner. Follow up with mascara and some powder and VIOLA! you’re all set to go! You’ll definitely be turning heads with a gorgeous dark pout. Take that Red Queen, how many people will you have mimicking your blue eye shadow?

Whenever I have a question I, like most people, ask the all-knowing, all-powerful Google.  When I prompted this great wizard with “Ugg Boots are” it suggested that I finish that statement with “retarded,” “hideous,” “expensive,” or “horrible.”  I couldn’t agree with you more Mr. Google.  You see, girls wear Ugg boots because they think they’re fashionable, and I would agree with them, if they were a clown.

Now I know the Ugg hating train rolled out of the station a long time ago, but apparently it hadn’t reached its destination!  I mean, seriously, why are people still wearing these things?!? Even my guy neighbor scooped a pair for himself, and this is totally unacceptable.

Let me put one thing to rest here…claiming that you’re wearing these things because “they’re comfortable” is not an excuse when you wear them out to the club.  I happen to find my full-body wetsuit extremely comfortable, I really like the support it gives me, but you don’t see me out on the dance floor grinding and Jersey Shore fist-pumping in it!

Honestly, when my friends and I see a girl in Uggs, besides throwing up a little in our mouths, we usually make fun of her mercilessly. Ladies, you’re delusional if you think you look good in these monstrosities. What happened to stilettos and pumps?  I’ll allow you to wear them inside the “comfort” of your own home, but that’s about as far as they should go. So please stop, you’re taking us back a notch on the evolutionary chart and we only just want to see you look your best anyway.

SECOND ROUND

Here’s who’s playing this year in Superbowl XLIV:

Sunday February 7th

Kronos hair care has been kind enough to offer some freebies for a giveaway in celebration of glow’s Beauty Bowl. We’ll be giving away 5 surprise products from Kronos to 5 lucky people who pick the correct winner of the game.

Comment below and tell us your picks to enter to win!

**5 winners will be chosen at random. Post a comment and tell us which team will win each game on glow’s Beauty Bowl Giveaway to be eligible to win. Giveaway starts on 2/2/10 and ends 2/7/10 at 2:59pm PST. Winners will be announced during the time of 2/8/10 – 2/12/10**

We’ve gotten so excited about the holiday time and we have some very exciting news. RAW Natural Beauty has teamed up with YouTube star Stevie Ryan to make RAW’s first ever youtube video. RAW has made this hilarious video in hopes to spread awareness of safe cosmetics to the mainstream internet. We don’t just think it’s clever and funny but an important issue and are more than happy to announce it’s debut starring Stevie Ryan.

In celebration of the video, RAW and glow.com are giving away a hefty basket of RAW Natural Beauty products worth over $300 to one lucky winner.

How to enter: Post a comment on the RAW video on Stevie Ryan’s page on YouTube and mention glow in your comment.

RAW – Natural Beauty – GLOW.com

Did you know that the average woman eats 7 pounds of lipstick over the course of her lifetime? YouTube sensation and viral video veteran Stevie Ryan stars in a promo that extols the virtues of naturalmakeup.  Stevie Ryan has over 50,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel and has starred in a popular Superbowl Cheetos commercial.

**1 winner will be chosen at random. Post a comment on the video on YouTube and include in the text glow to be eligible to win. Giveaway starts 12/14/09 and ends 12/16/09 at 11:59pm PST. Winners will be announced during the time of 12/17/09 – 12/19/09. RAW Natural Beauty and glow.com are not affiliated with YouTube.**

How do you enter? Post a comment on this blog post of what you do to relieve stress during this time of year. For me, it’s taking the time to enjoy the gorgeous Christmas tree i put up while sipping on some hot cocoa.

We can’t wait to hear your answers and can’t wait to give these aromatic candles away! Plus if you aren’t too keen on it, they make great gifts .

This candle will calm senses while relieving stress with scents of lavender, green tea, rosemary, eucalyptus and sandalwood. These soothing fragrances will leave the room smelling fresh and aromatic. The soy-based formula features a lead-free wick for a safe, clean burn.

**5 winners will be chosen at random. Post a comment on how you de-stress during the holidays on glow’s blog post holiday giveaway to be eligible to win. Giveaway starts on 12/8/09 and ends 12/16/09 at 11:59pm PST. Winners will be announced during the time of 12/17/09 – 12/19/09**

Say hello and kiss kiss to Lauren, who is our resident Gossip Girl and fashionista. Her style ranges from Uptown sophisticate to downtown bohemian.  Though she doesn’t always play nice, she always plays pretty.

If there’s an event going on, chances are that Courtney will be there among the fabulous. As our PR woman, she’s got the dish and the guest list on the latest and hottest in beauty and fashion events.

Michelle isn’t just a pretty face – she knows how to get one too. This spa, wellness and anti-aging expert has never met a skincare dilemma she couldn’t fix.

If it isn’t natural, Christina won’t be wearing, doing or supporting it. This eco-conscious  green goddess knows the best beauty, food, fashion and lifestyle options for the earth-lovers in all of us.

Hollywood knows how to party (and look good doing it!) and so does Marissa. She gives an insider look at what the hottest stars are doing and wearing and how you can get their looks too.

All of us have a little rocker in us; some more than others, like Jehan, our indie rock princess, who uncovers the edgier things in life.  She marches to the beat of her own drum, but somehow makes the rest of us want to find that beat too.

I’m always dying to know what “he” thinks – what’s a guy think of this outfit or this makeup or this hairstyle? Well Jason‘s the every-man and he’s going to let us know!

She’s the girl you all get along with – the guy’s gal, who can play with the boys, but look hotter than most of the girls. Jenna will let us know what the guy’s girl can wear to hang, but still look sexy.

He’s fierce. He’s fabulous. He’s Cartier. (Or she’s Cartier.) This living legend doesn’t hold back when it comes to tips: he doesn’t think any of us should go a day without fabulosity.

If you’re like me, there can never be enough information about hair. Jaq is our hair pro, who offers tips on the latest and greatest styles, products, hair trends and news so that you have locks that make people say wow.

Sure, being on-trend is great, but there are way too many fabulous looks from the past to ignore. Taryn is the retro expert, who makes sure vintage is never stodgy or passé – she has a knack for bringing the past to the present flawlessly.

And lastly, is me: a career girl at heart. I take pride in looking polished from head to toe – and that includes once the PC is shut down and I go from conservative flats to stilettos and red lipstick.

And there you have it: the group that will keep you amused and glowing every day. Check back often and leave us comments – we love to read feedback!

flickr user: mellychan

OK, maybe these are not the most unique Halloween costumes, but if you’re in a pinch and need a last minute costume, here are a few easy ideas to execute.  All you need is a little makeup and about 15 minutes.

Vampires:  If you haven’t already jumped on the Twilight band wagon, now is a good time to go as your favorite Twilight character this Halloween.  To get the look, start by applying a foundation or powder that is lighter than your natural complexion – the cakier, the better! Next, play up those eyes with black eyeshadow and eyeliner. Finish the look with DuWop’s – Twilight Lip Venom.  Fangs will earn you extra credit!

A Baby:  Put your hair in pigtails and draw on freckles using a brown eyeliner pencil. Throw on footed pajamas or a long nightgown and you’re good to go.  Don’t forget to carry a baby doll, baby bottle or pacifier.

Housewife:  Put your hair up in curlers, slather an inexpensive mask all over your face and wear your most comfy robe and slippers. Super cute and super comfortable!

A Cat: Draw a black nose and whiskers on your face using black eyeliner. Wear a tight black long-sleeve shirt and black leggings or jeans. Most Halloween stores have inexpensive ears you can purchase. Or, you can always make some using a black head band and construction paper.  Grrrr..baby!

Check out PopSugar.com for 10 girl powered costume ideas.

If you have an easy Halloween idea, please share.