Makeup Review: Beauty For Real

I attended The Make Up Show in NYC this past May and learned about a new cosmetic company called Beauty For Real. So far, they only sell lip glosses, lip pencils, and mascara on their product line but I am about to review their new lip glosses. The innovative product features a mirror on the side and LED light that provides easy convenience for applying the lip gloss! I can just click on the button located on the top of the cap to apply the lip gloss in dark rooms (like a lounge or movie theatre!). The formula for the lip gloss is also quite natural. It is loaded with antioxidants, anti-aging ingredients and minty flavors that tingle on my lips for minutes after application.

The cosmetic salesperson, Stephanie, was kind enough to select a shade for me. I normally wear peach or coral colors on my skintone but I am always happy to put myself in the hands of a professional and allowing them to choose my best coloring. And needless to say, I was not disappointed. Stephanie chose the shade Fireworks for me. And I love it! I think all the shades would fit a variety of skintones, so it is just a matter of selecting your favorite color. The picture above was taken at the display center at The Make Up Show. I will be reviewing other favorite products from the show in future blogs so stay tuned!

Shecky's Girls Night Out in NYC

I went to the Shecky's Girls Night Out on June 17th at 82 Mercer NYC. This is probably my third or fourth time attending this event, and I was disappointed during the last event in December. Probably because most of the vendors were selling ho-hum products. However, last week's event was quite a surprise and made me wish that I purchased a real ticket in order to get the goody bag! (Instead, I attended the event as a guest of a press so I only received a free admission ticket, sans goody bag).

This year, there was a variety of different vendors and sponsors for the event ranging from Veet, Maybelline, Febreze, and Lean Cuisinehttp://www.leancuisine.com/Index/Index.aspx. The majority of the vendors were jewelry sellers/designers and the trend appears to be big chunky jewelry pieces. Rings were a stand-out item and it seemed as if if the designers decided that the larger the ring, the better! All the colors were vibrant and sparkly. Here is a picture of a seller with rings that caught my attention. The second picture are accompany earrings with the rings.

The most surprising sponsor of the Shecky's event for me is Lean Cuisine. They offered coupons and samples of their new product, Garlic Chicken Pasta in steamable pouches. Since I was hungry (it was close to dinner time), I was more than happy to sample their food. Maybe it was the hunger, but the garlic chicken was extremely tasty! I would definitely purchase their products the next time we shop at Target or Walgreens. The product will be sold at other national stores in the future.

Stay tuned for my next post on another review of my favorite jewelry designer - Sara G. Strauss. One of my all-time favorite earrings were made by her and of course, I had to see her again to purchase another pair of earrings. And yes, I found another cute whimsical pair of earrings! Yea!! In the meantime, I encourage you to follow her on facebook to hear about her adventures of preparing for the Emmy's!

Restaurant Review: Patsy's Pizzeria

Location: Greenwich Village at 67 University
(212) 533-3500

We were a large group of 7 that went to Patsy's on a Friday evening. We originally hoped to eat at Otto's Pizzeria owned by Mario Batali but there would be at least a 90 minute wait. So we were left to find an alternate restaurant that served pizza. Even without reservations at Patsy's, we still received a table within minutes. This was quite surprising considering how many patrons were in the restaurant already at 8:30pm. The number of tables were populated by mostly groups of 4 so we felt lucky to get a table that quickly. However, our luck stopped there.

Among us, there were mixed reviews with the food that we ordered. Since we were so hungry, we ordered 2 large pizzas (one white pizza with mozzarella and one tomato pizza with prosciutto and mushroom), 2 family sized pasta dishes (pappardelle alla toscana and spinach ravioli with pomodoro sauce) and a cesear salad. The food came fairly quickly starting with the cesear salad. The pasta dishes also came next and we were really full from just the pasta dishes. The spinach ravioli would have tasted better a creamy sauce instead of the tomato sauce. But the pappardelle dish was really delicious! I think it was a favorite at the table. Next came the pizzas....the white pizza was the preferred pizza among the two. It was a simple thin crust pizza with a chewy crust. The tomato pizza with prosciutto and mushroom was sadly disappointing. The sauce was overwhelming and soaked the entire pizza that it made it difficult to fold and eat. Personally I am disappointed when I am forced to eat a slice of pizza with a fork and knife. Also the prosciutto was not cured or smoked....it tasted like pieces of deli ham that were thrown on top of the pizza pie.

Overall, the service was satisfactory and the food came to our table fairly quickly. However, there is only a small chance that we would come back to this restaurant since the food was only average (aka, nothing spectacular and definitely not worth taking pictures for!) So, next time we hang out as a group, I will make reservations at Otto's Pizzeria instead!

The Cloisters Museum

The Cloisters is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art that is features art and architecture from medievel Europe. The museum is nested inside Fort Tryon park which has beautiful views of the Hudson river. For those interested in exploring different parts of NYC, I would definitely recommend a trip up to the Cloisters. It is quite far uptown (but easily accessible via M4 bus or A train).  In fact I hardly remember the last time I traveled up to 190th Street on the West Side. While we visited the museum during the warmer weekends in March, I am looking forward to visiting again in the spring when the trees and grass are green! Perfect for picnicing and avoiding the Central Park crowds!

Here is a view of the Cloisters as we were approaching up the hill. The heavy wooden doors and stone staircases fit into the medievel theme. Everything reminded me of a monastery until I saw the group of people sunbathing in various stages of dress on the lawn...

And here are some of my favorite parts of the museum with the beautiful arches:

My favorite room in the Cloisters is the unicorn room featuring wall to wall tapestries of magical unicorns. I think I could just sit in this room for a long time. My second favorite room is the Throne Room (no picture available) where it featured many expensive and exquisite jewels.

Prettycity Event at Salon Ziba

I attended a pretty awesome prettycity beauty event last night at Salon Ziba! For those in the know, prettycity is a website that recommends products, services and places for all things beauty! And the event featured a joint collaboration with Salon Ziba in which guests can sign up to receive a night of pampering salon treatments!

I received the invitation for the event through a friend but it was actually advertised through a popular women's magazine. The 200 guest slots were filled up pretty quickly but luckily a few of my friends were able to sign up right away! I expected a lot of people to attend but I think the event coordinators were very good at controlling the size of the crowd. While I arrived 15 minutes after the event time started, there were only 20 guests in front of me.

As I entered the salon, I was impressed with the size of the salon and the organized sections for food, drinks and salon treatments. The sales and marketing employees were very welcoming and friendly. However the make-up artists looked bored and uninviting. But that was the only negative part of the evening. I found the other staff members quite cordial and open with sharing their professional advice on hair and nails.

The salon treatments were performed gratis by the professional staff members which included make-up application, dry hair styling and manicures. In addition, we were treated to Sweet Sunshine cupcakes and cookies, and apple/soju drinks (yum!).

Here are three different styles of hairstyles that were done on my friends:

The first is a fairly extensive up-do that can be worn to weddings and other fancy events! I was fairly impressed with the amount of time spent by the hairdresser on her hair.

Here are some large beautiful curls that were done with a straightening iron!

And lastly, here are some small gentle waves created with a large barrel curling iron.

Stay tuned for pictures of the products in the swag bag!!

The Orchid Show

The weather is now a bit warmer in NYC but the flowers and trees have still yet to bloom. However why wait to enjoy the beautiful blossoms of the spring when you can enjoy it now at the New York Botanical Garden? Earlier this month, I went to the Bronx to visit the NYBG's newest exhibit: The Orchid Show - Cuba in Flowers.

While the rest of the garden was cold and dreary, the main event was clearly inside the greenhouse. We walked in and was immediately greeted by the sweet floral scent of orchids. The air was warm and the crowds of people made the room even hotter. But this was clearly not a problem for the visitors, since we were all entranced by all the different colored orchids.

Take out your cameras, people! Sadly, I only have a point-n-shoot camera but there were many professional cameras and lenses that day.

I don't know the names of all the flowers, but the last picture is my favorite flower. The yellow and burgundy red contrast is amazing. And the shape of the flower makes it look like a sundress! Can you just image a woman rocking it out in this outfit? From afar, it looks like dancing ladies!!

Here are some tips for those that wish to go to the NYBG: Bring your own food/snacks! There is a cafe open but we did not go inside to purchase anything. Instead, many visitors brought their own food and sat in the open chairs and tables. I can imagine it is a lovely place for a picnic! And make sure you purchase a ticket that will get you to ride the tram! It is a 20 minute tour ride of the entire garden. You can hop on and off the tram or simply sit through the entire ride to enjoy the scenery.

There are many new exhibitis and upcoming sections to the garden that will open later this year and in 2011. I look forward to going back in the spring time!