Own The Look | Vanessa Simmons Gets Boho-Chic In A Maxi Skirt!

Vanessa Simmons recently walked the red carpet as the host of VH1's Save The Music Event for the Give Back Hollywood Foundation. She looked stunning in a summery Bohemian inspired outfit. She wore a beautifully pleated and layered green, black and nude maxi skirt, paired with a nude crop top. I'm not sure of the designer for this skirt just yet but it's absolutely adorable and really works for her! She also accessorized with a gold bangle with a ring attachment.   

To add the icing on the cake she rocked her hair in a cute, flowy layered look and pulled it back with a loose braid. I'm definitely a fan of messy aka "bed head hair", hair that's not too "perfect". I really love this look on her! 

Check out a few affordable pleated & layered maxi skirts below.

Lucca Couture Mary Kate Cream Lace Maxi Skirt | $81 | www.lulus.com

Irish Moorlands Pleated Green Maxi Skirt | $41 | www.lulus.com

Tearose Pleated maxi Skirt | $34 | www.missselfridge.com

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Strange Invisible Perfumes | Introduces "Limited Edition" Astrological Fragrances

Strange Invisible Perfumes is thrilled to announce a brand new limited edition fragrance collection inspired by the cosmos. The Limited Edition Astrological Collection will consist of twelve botanical fragrances representing each zodiac sign. Beginning late August 2011, each zodiac sign will be launched with its opposing sign on the astrological wheel. Drawing inspiration from her fascination with the cosmos, Perfumer and Founder Alexandra Balahoutis was compelled to convey the complexity of astrology through the art of botanical perfumery.

 “I see the constellations of the zodiac as a palette of twelve mysterious essences. Like botanical essences, their content is complex and elusive. They somehow power aspects of our personalities and influence our lives certainly, yet without explanation.” – Alexandra Balahoutis, Perfumer and Founder

 In a manner akin to working closely with an individual to create a custom blend, Alexandra developed recipes that reflect her unusually nuanced interpretation of the zodiac. Having consulted world-renowned aromatherapist and author Mindy Green, the perfumer selected ingredients that echo, honor and balance the essences of each governing constellation. The result is a dozen dynamic fragrances that are equally chic, cosmic and compelling.

 “We all have more than one sign. I think there is an overt and fascinating correlation between the layers of constellations within a person’s natal chart and the defining layers of a perfume composition. This is why I encourage people to wear the astrological perfume they most admire, rather than feeling limited to their sun sign. They can be layered as well. Interpreting the essences of each astrological symbol through botanical essences has been more fun than anyone should ever have at work.” – Alexandra Balahoutis, Perfumer and Founder

 The first pair to release from this limited edition collection will be Virgo, Alexandra’s own sign, and the opposing Pisces. Virgo features notes of neroli, baked earth, sandalwood, palo santo, rose, jasmine sambac, and temple mandarin; Pisces features frankincense, lime, angelica, jasmine, ylang ylang, cedarwood, kewda, bay leaf, and black pepper. Libra and Aries will be introduced in September, followed by Scorpio and Taurus in October, Sagittarius and Gemini in November, Capricorn and Cancer in December, and Aquarius and Leo in January. Fragrances will be available as eaux de parfum in 1.7 fl. oz. custom engraved bottles hand-painted with sterling silver and will all sell for $275.

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OPI Celebrates Disney's "The Muppets" with Holiday Lacquers Inspired by New Film

This holiday season, OPI pays homage to America’s favorite Muppet friends as they hit the big screen in Disney’s The Muppets.  With an all-star cast including Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Kermit, Miss Piggy and the entire Muppet crew, the family comedy opens in theaters nationwide on November 23, 2011. 

Inspired by the film’s namesake lively and colorful characters, OPI launches twelve limited-edition Nail Lacquers for Holiday 2011. “OPI is so excited to work with Disney to celebrate this long-awaited movie release,” said Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director.  “Not only do The Muppets characters inspire fun, bright and joyful colors, the fashionable Miss Piggy lends her name to three high-shine pink-based hues, ranging from bold red flecked with silver to a multi-dimensional strawberry shade.”

This line features six shimmery reds and neutrals, as well as six glitter-packed shades, including:

Animal-istic
This wild bright red cannot be tamed!

Meep-Meep-Meep
Missing out on this fuchsia would make you weep, weep, weep!

Wocka Wocka!
The popular deep berry makes everything fun and merry!

Pepe’s Purple Passion
This deep, decadent shade is the best purple ever, okay!

Designer, de Better! 

And this light metallic bronze is ready for the runway.

Warm & Fozzie
A feel-good shade of metallic copper.

Rainbow Connection
The rainbow glitter of your dreams.

Excuse Moi!
Ahem! This pink glitter has something to say!

Gone Gonzo!
The aqua-blue glitter is taking over the world!

Fresh Frog of Bel Air
A glitter that prefers the greener things in life.

Divine Swine
The finest, most fabulous magenta glitter ever.

Gettin’ Miss Piggy With It!
Red glittery fun for everyone!

Lacquer packed with micas and sparkle gives a 3-dimensional textured look that makes nails look like jewelry. With shades ranging from textured glitters in rainbow, red, green and blue to softer shimmers in copper and bronze metallic hues, these twelve colors provide the perfect accessory for the holiday season.

As with all OPI nail lacquers, these shades inspired by Disney’s The Muppets contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde, and feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide^™ Brush for the ultimate in application.

This limited edition promotion will be available beginning November 2011 at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA, for  $8.50 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each Nail Lacquer.

For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!

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Own The Look | Basketball Wives Stars Rock Herve Leger For Season 3 Reunion

Alright so if you're a reality show feign like me then you know that tonight is part 2 of the Basketball Wives Season 3 Reunion show. If we look a little beyond the cattiness, the claws and the drink throwing then you'll notice that these ladies do know how to transform when it comes to style. I was a little surprised to see that 3 of the ladies wore Herve Leger dresses for the reunion, well not so much surprised to see the bobbsey twins Ev' & Jen as I was to see Royce rocking the same designer. Despite some of Royce's infamous outfit choices during the season, girly still knows how to bring it when the time is right! Check out each of their dresses below and the hefty price tags.

 Evelyn 

Silver Bridgette Foil-Printed Bandage Corset Dress | Fall 2011

I thought this dress was gorgeous! But you definitely must have the right assets and frame to be able to pull it off. As always, Evelyn served! 

 Royce 

 Two-Tone Strapless Bandage Dress | 2011

I actually loved Royce's dress the most. It was really complimentary to her tiny frame and I love the two toned colors. I like that she keeps in simple and doesn't go over the top. I kinda hated her hair for the reunion though, looks like they may have added a few pieces but those Shirley Temple curls are not the biz! :o(

 Jennifer  

Peach Blush Caroline Fringe Dress | Resort 2011 

Jen, ehh....I loved the coral shade of this dress but I'm really not feeling the fringe although she pulls the look off quite well. Idk something about her always reads "copycat" to me :-/ And I think the earrings are a tad too much. 

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MAC | Bloggers Obsessions "All Of My Purple Life" & "Hocus Pocus" Review

Alright so I know that I'm hella late with this post and if you're just now hearing about this collection then so are you ;o) A couple of months ago MAC introduced the Bloggers Obsessions Collection, where they chose nine popular beauty bloggers to help create the collection. Among the 9 ladies were Afrobella and Lianne, the two AA bloggers chosen to represent the collection. I decided to purchase both of their products. I'm really loving how well both shades coordinate with each other. Check out my look below. 

All Of My Purple Life Lipglass 

Hocus Pocus Eyeshadow

Uh, you kinda have to excuse my brow highlight in this pic, I toned it down after I saw the pic. I'm still learning ;o) 

Glow:  I'll start with Hocus Pocus, I've gotta admit that I was a little skeptical about purchasing this shade at first because some of the photos and swatches I saw weren't very appealing. But I'm so glad I went against my instincts and got it because a lot of the photos on the internet don't give it much justice. It's a really pretty smokey gray and to my surprise it's shimmery too. I knew that I was going to buy All Of My Purple Life from the moment I laid eyes on it. It's a really rich plummy/purple and very flattering to my skin-tone. It also has a bit of shimmer in it.

Glare: OK, so the only downer for me is that All Of My Purple life doesn't really look....well, "purple". Well at least not as purple as it does in the promo pics.  It's more of a plummy shade on my lips, which I still ADORE! But if you visit Afrobella's Tumblr she has pics of different women wearing the shade and it's amazing yet beautiful how this shade looks different on every woman. I have darker lips so that may be why it reads plummy and not purple on me. It's still a great color though!

Would I Recommend It? Uh hell yeah! And if you haven't gotten it by now then you just may be out of luck because the entire collection is limited edition and will be gone by the end of this month. 

Overall Glam: Honestly I wish that I could've purchased the entire collection but I'm a girl on a budget so that wasn't really an option for me. I really love and appreciate that MAC did this collection for bloggers, although only a selected few were able to participate in the making of these products I feel like it gave all beauty bloggers a voice and it's very inspiring.

Product(s) in this post were purchased by me. 

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Shakira Introduces Second Fragrance " S by Shakira Eau Florale "

We are thrilled to announce the newest women’s fragrance from international pop sensation Shakira, S by Shakira Eau Florale.

 The second fragrance from the sexy songstress, S by Shakira Eau Florale is a contemporary floral fragrance that introduces us to a new sensuality through an exploration of Shakira's most feminine and delicate side. The scent is a floral explosion that lingers on the skin to create an expression of youthful joy, optimism and vitality.

S by Shakira Eau Florale responds to Shakira’s request for a “very simple fragrance, with few accords and few notes, but which together manage to say a lot.” Notes of Juniper and Heliotrope Flower, bergamot and cassis combine with sweet wild berries, and musky vanilla to create this romantic floral. “After working on S by Shakira with the perfumer, I became interested in the possibilities of expressing emotions through scents.” Says Shakira “It’s similar to the process you go through when writing a melody: certain chord combinations inspire different feelings in the listener….You could say that S by Shakira Eau Florale reflects my more delicate and feminine side. It could be for a different moment, or a different mood. Perhaps, for when you’re feeling romantic!’

 S by Shakira Eau Florale launches September 2011 in the following sizes: 0.5 oz ($17.00), 1.0 oz ($28.00), and 1.7 oz ($35.00) and is available at key specialty retailers, fine chain drug stores and mass retailers (i.e. Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Kohl’s and Sears).

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Dr.'s Remedy Gets HOT with Sizzling Summer Shades | Review + Swatches

Can you believe how fast this summer is moving along? Geesh it's almost over, seems like it just began!  One thing I've noticed all summer is that there are so many vibrant and beautiful nail polishes! I was recently introduced to a nail lacquer brand called Dr.'s Remedy. They are a line of doctor inspired cosmetics that's dedicated to using clean, hypo-allergenic ingredients. Enriched with naturally occurring anti-fungal ingredients like tea tree oil and vitamins C and E. The polish is also free from harsh toxins and promote healthier stronger nails. Dr.'s Remedy is the first ever nail polish on the market approved by the American Podiatric Medical Association. ( How cool is that?)  

Check out the shades from Dr.'s Remedy Summer 2011 Collection below:

Bold Baby Blue

An aqua-meets-turquoise take on every boy's favorite color

Tranquil Tangerine

A bold, but wonderfully-wearable, slice of juicy delight

Nurture Nude Pink

A delicate, damsel-in-distress barely-there beautiful

Lovely Lavender

A pale purple with matte depth and charm

Glee Gold

A shimmer-infused coin of perfection

Glow: OK, so this collection consists of 2 cremes and 3 shimmers. I actually like all of the colors, my favorites are Tranquil Tangerine and Nurture Nude Pink. I'm a little bombed that my camera didn't really pick up the true color of this pink, its a little bit more vibrant than the photo allows but it's still really subtle ans super pretty! I also really love the chrome/metallic finish of Bold Baby Blue and Glee Gold.

Glare: No cons!

Would I Recommend It? I definitely would! It actually wore well too, the polish lasted for about 4 goods days chip and peel free!

Overall Glam: It's a small yet gravitating collection. I love that that these polishes in general are very "safety" conscious and contain none harmful ingredients, that's definitely a plus!

* Dr's Remedy Enriched Nail Polish is currently available and retails for $17 each. To purchase or to learn more please visit www.remedynails.com . You can also check them out on Facebook!

Product(s) in this post were provided for post consideration. Read our disclosure policy here. 

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Kelly Rowland Announced As Spokesmodel for Sean Combs New Fragrance "Empress"

Beauty, Power, and Confidence define the new fragrance for women, EMPRESS, and Rowland epitomizes these qualities

Sean “Diddy” Combs announces the launch of EMPRESS, the female counterpart to the award winning men’s cologne I Am King and the second women’s offering in his highly successful fragrance collection. Made for the modern woman – this fragrance represents female royalty and feminine strength. EMPRESS is a woman’s secret weapon allowing her to rule over her domain. She is more powerful than a king; she is EMPRESS.

“EMPRESS expresses the power of beauty and power of all women. While there are many ladies out there who embody the essence of my new women’s fragrance, I think Kelly Rowland is a perfect example of a modern day Empress. With her incredible talent and beauty, she will help me spread the word about my newest signature fragrance. I am excited to have her on board with me as I launch what I believe is the most powerful fragrance ever,” says Combs.

The announcement falls on the heels of Rowland’s highly anticipated new album drop, “Here I Am,” that features the #1 hit single, “Motivation.” This coming October, Rowland heightens her international fame status as one of the judges on Simon Cowell’s UK version of the X-factor. Kelly has also been tapped to star in author Stephen King’s “Bag of Bones,” for a Sony Pictures Television mini-series with actor Pierce Brosnan, premiering later this year on A&E.

Representing the modern day Empress, Rowland will make personal appearances in both retail and media settings speaking on behalf of Empress and Combs himself. She will be engaged via social and online networking to spread the message of female empowerment and the power of beauty to her fans and fans of the Sean John women’s fragrance brand alike. Mutually inspired by their affinity for fashion, unparalleled sense of social grace and international style icon status, Combs and Rowland are true complements to each other for the launch of this fragrance. “I decided to be an Empress Ambassador because I stand behind the notion of what the fragrance represents,” says Rowland. “We are starting a movement with Empress! Every woman is beautiful, powerful in her own right.”

“I’ve been fortunate to have been inspired by many Empresses throughout my life, and thought it was only fitting that the message of my new women’s fragrance be delivered by a true Empress herself, and Kelly is just the woman to help me do it,” added Combs.

A crisp fruity floral, notes of Empress include a fresh blend of Key Lime Pie, Mandarin Imperial, Starfruit and Imperial French Berry, as well as warm caramel and comforting vanilla. The fragrance is designed to inspire the Empress in every woman. Sean John Fragrances debuts the power scent for women August 2011, at Macy’s department stores nationwide.

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