Beauty Junkies Can Now Get Their Fix at...Sears!?

Yes, you read that right. The retail store that’s most widely recognized as a haven for home appliances and garden tools is now getting a “makeover” of sorts just in time for the back-to-school season.

Us beauty addicts will now be able to acquire some of our fav. cosmetics, fragrances, skin care and organic products from what used to be one of the most boring stores at the mall. No offense Sears! I’m a beauty junkie! I remember the days when I was begrudgingly dragged along to the store to get the oil changed on our car and then painfully had to follow my dad around as he mercilessly (ok I exaggerate) spent hours meandering around the electronics and power tools departments. There was nothing shiny, colorful or sparkly in sight! There was, however, a plethora of shower curtains, linen sets, screw drivers and washing machines! It was pure torture for this eight year old future beauty buff and I'd written the store off until now. It's better late than never!

While Sears Beauty will be available to everyone online at www.sears.com, only 13 select retail mall locations (such as Chicago, New York and Los Angeles) will have Sears Beauty in their actual stores, as of right now. What we can expect is a mixture of prestige (typically found in department stores) and mass (sold in drugstores) brands. Some of my favorite lines include Calvin Klein, L'Oreal, Maybelline, Cover Girl and Elizabeth Arden.Grand opening festivities will take place August 29th through the 30th and September 5th and 6th and feature complimentary makeovers, gifts, samples and an opportunity to win some fun beauty booty. I don't know about you, but I love hearing the words ‘sample’ and ‘makeover’ especially when coupled with ‘complimentary’.

While Sears still has a long way to go to rival any of the other department store beauty counters (e.g. I could easily live my entire life from here on out in the beauty department at Nordstroms), incorporating some real products and cosmetics to their repertoire is really getting into the spirit of that whole “softer side of Sears” thing they'd talked about doing before. What I'd really like to see are the rows and rows of washing machines and lawn mowers replaced by shelves of gleaming skin firming creams and eye shadow pots. That would be my perfect universe, but hey I’ll gladly settle for some lip gloss and nail polish!So in honor of the new products available here are a few of my favorites:I'm loving Sally Hansen’s Insta-Dri Fast Dry Nail Color ($5.00) in Blazing Blue and Uptempo Plum, both rich jeweled tones that are perfect for the Fall. I also love L’Oreal Sheer Juicy Lip Gloss in Raspberry Smash (shade 310, $8.50). The shades are bright and vibrant and the gloss smells yummy.

So the next time you’re at the mall and walk by Sears, pop in rather than walking past it (as usual) and see what beauty offerings they have in store for you!

Power Tools!

Clean your beauty-basics regularly to maximize effectiveness & longevity

Oils from your hair frequently build up on your hairbrush. Wash the bristles with a gentle shampoo every month to get rid of sticky strand excess.


Swissco Pro Large Oval Mixed Nylon & Boar Bristle Hairbrush
$8.99 by Swissco at drugstore.com
Hair and product residue lead to clogged ventilation and an overheated hairdryer. Unscrew the blow dryer's cover to clean out and dust off the filter. Use a toothbrush to reach every nook and cranny.

Revlon Tourmaline Ionic Ceramic Travel Hair Dryer
$24.99 by Revlon at Ulta


Wash your makeup brushes every month and snip any frayed ends sparingly. Use manicure scissors to cut the bristles evenly, so your blush goes on streak-free.

Bobbi Brown The Basic Brush Collection$175.00 by Bobbi Brown at Neiman Marcus

Nail Scissors, Curved by Pfeilring

$36.00 by Pfeilring at SmallflowerWhen tweezers dull, they lose their precision and need to be replaced. Instead, invest in a pair by Tweezerman (tweezerman.com) and send them in for unlimited free sharpening. Pointy pluckers make tweezing more accurate.

 

Tweezerman Slant Tweezer
$20.00 by Tweezerman at Skin Store

Teen Queen Glamour Uncovered!

These young ones are my “Choice” for their stand out appearances at my nine year old cousin’s favorite awards show!

Last week was the 2009 Teen Choice Awards. While the show can err on the side of corny from time to time it always brings a star-studded turn out of heartthrobs, starlets and A-listers. The slime induced younger sibling of awards shows calls for a much more casual, family-friendly wardrobe from our young fashionistas. Hair and makeup tend to be more polished, pretty, and girl-next-door. Lil’ Kim pasties and purple wigs are banned and sent away for the little one’s rebellious older sister, MTV’s Video Music Awards. This year the looks were especially demure yet decidedly sophisticated and fresh. Here are a few of my favorite looks:

Amanda Bynes

Amanda Bynes looked gorgeous with her Lauren Conrad-waves, soft pink, glossy lips and subtle silvery shadow that encased her va-va voom lashes and liner.

Emma Roberts

Julia’s niece looked like age-appropriate perfection. Winged-out cat eyes and a neutral color palette for the rest of her face let her sleek side bang ponytail and amazing bib necklace-dress do the talking.

Ashley Tisdale

I love Ashley Tisdale’s dark to light chestnut locks with hints of honey dangling delicately around face. The High School Musical bad-girl looks so much better as a brunette as it allows her to experiment with a much more flattering color palette. Her tan skin and chestnut eyes compliment the aubergine-navy smokey eye makeup and nude-pink lip shade she’s sporting perfectly.

Lea Michele 

Lea Michele, the Glee star and nominee for Choice Female Breakout TV Star, looked like a Grecian Goddess with her dark chocolate, romantic waves and bronzed glow. Her hair was the definite winner in this look but her subtle yet totally glamourous makeup was the perfect balance to her cascading waves and beautiful cannery yellow dress.

Keke Palmer

While most looks on the grassy green carpet played up the eyes and toned down the lips, one actress chose to go against the grain and it paid off. Nickelodeon star, Keke Palmer, sported a crimson pout, coppery brown shadow, a dash of coal liner, and a deep peachy blush. The emphasis on her lips complimented her sparkly shrug, slicked hair and megawatt smile. Although the teen’s look was less subtle than most, she still managed to look young, fashion forward and the ever important age-appropriate.


While most stars shined with their perfectly coiffed tresses and airbrushed mugs, some missed the mark on this occasion. Here are a few ladies that needed a little less styling and a little more au natural finesse:

Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez’s makeup looks ethereal and beautiful but her overly done hairstyle and matronly dress make her look unnecessarily old and well beyond her just turned seventeen years. It’s ever so important, especially at shows like this, to dress and look your age! Selena, enjoy being a fabulous teenager and don’t try to look or act any older than you are. Sage advice from such a wise twenty-something, right!? :)


Kim Kardashian and Audrina Patridge look gorgeous as always but their newly flaxen haired dye jobs and highlights take away from that exotic, dark haired mystique that separate them from all the other Hollywood blondes. They’ll look stunning no matter what but in our opinion they need to stop trying to look like everyone else in Tinseltown and start loving their signature looks just as much as we do!



Finally, here’s our worst look of the night. Kat Von D’s new stringy and straight blond (what we hope is a wig) ‘do is a mess. The color is ashy and looks horrible against her skin tone. Her eye makeup and lipstick shade looks clown-like and ages her. While this would have been a great opportunity to promote her Sephora-exclusive makeup line she seems to have missed the boat completely. We miss her usual rocker-chic mixed with pinup girl glamour. No matter how heavily rimmed with liner her eyes were, she somehow always managed to rock a scarlet pout with casual perfection. Kat we love your standard dark locks, dark eyes, and dark lips! Heck, I even dressed up as you for Halloween! We really hope this is a phase and you go back to being “you” really soon! Till then, we’re very sorry but you get a big frowney face from us! :(


Please note the Kat Von D “too cool for school” cool-chick snarl I’m trying desperately to embody!



Here’s the Kat we love! We know you’ll be back soon enough!