Category Archives: Beauty and Style

Spring Style Mixer: Affordable Women’s Fashion from DownEast Basics

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Recently, I was invited to attend the Spring Style Mixer for Downeast Basics, a clothing store at the Irvine Spectrum. The mixer gathered together a select group of bloggers for an evening of shopping. I had never visited the shop but I had friends who were raving about the place so I checked it out. Social media shopping mixers are always neat because looking at women’s fashion and shopping amongst friends is always fun.

Bloggers Shopping at Downeast Basics

Shelby of ocmomblog.com and I with Kara Noel of elislids.com photobombing in the background.

DownEast was founded in 1991, and is a privately held company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.  It is a lot like other fast-fashion stores with affordable clothing, that offer a mix of trendy items and clasic staples. According to a DownEast Basics representative, their ideal customer is “any woman who appreciates boutique style designs but wants it on a bargain basement budget!”

Hair Accessories at Downeast Basics

Kara Noel and I try out some hair accessories.

Of course, bargain prices don’t mean poor quality. In fact, I was impressed by the quality of the clothing. I was told that they get in new styles on a monthly basis to keep their inventory fresh.  They have some basic items that I thought were awesome (Hello, wonder t-shirt line – it’s got spandex much like spanx, a friend to women like me who need the extra help, if you know what I mean.)

Wonder Tees and more at DownEast Basics

Wonder Tees and more at DownEast Basics in Irvine

Swimsuit

Swimsuit for DownEast Basics Spring 2013 Collection. Photo courtesy of DownEast Basics.

Finally, you gotta love a store that connects with its customers via social media. Let me say, DE is all over it. They are on www.facebook.com/DownEastBasics, www.twitter.com/DownEastBasics, Pinterest: @DownEastBasics and Instagram: @DownEastBasics. You can also shop online at DownEast Basics online.

They are holding a Spring Styles Contest on Pinterest that ends on March 5th. One lucky winner will win a $500 shopping spree.

Pin It to Win It with DownEast Basics

Pin It to Win It with DownEast Basics

 

Leur Lab Integrated Aesthetics Opens in Newport Beach

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Consider this part one of two posts as I just had to share with you the Grand Opening Invite to Leur Lab Integrated Aesthetics in Newport Beach. So it’s a medi-spa but don’t call it that. I checked the place out during a soft launch and it really is more spa than medi, more glossy boutique hotel, than skin clinic.  What it is is a place where you can get your facials and more – it offers skin rejuvenation and age management solutions.

Here is a little Instagram collage I made from my first visit:

Leur Lab | Instagram Collage

Here’s an invitation just for you:

 Next time: I promise to report on Vampire Facials and other things.

Billabong’s 6th Annual Design For Humanity to Benefit Chipotle Cultivate Foundation

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I don’t remember much about the Grammy Awards on tv this year, but I do remember this commercial that featured Willie Nelson covering a Coldplay song. The song accompanied a very moving animated farm video. It was a Chipotle ad and itunes downloads of the song benefited the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation.

Last June 21st, Billabong and the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation hosted an intimate farm to table dinner at The Ecology Center, in San Juan Capistrano, CA. The dinner was the kick off for the Annual Deign for Humanity. The Design for Humanity 2012 Fashion, Art and Music event on July 25, 2012 will benefit the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation,an organization dedicated to creating a sustainable, healthful and equitable future

Guests enjoyed a pre-dinner reception and live performance from Donavan Frankenreiter inside The Ecology Center’s exhibits, followed by a sit down dinner prepared by Chef Paul Buchanan of Primal Alchemy catering. Each dish highlighted local bounty such as avocados from musician Jason Mraz’s farm; Eureka lemons and herbs from pro-skateboarder Bob Burnquist’s farm; Tangelos and Navel oranges from Murray Farms; Weiser Family Farms heirloom potatoes; mussels from Carlsbad Aquafarm; Tamai Farms roasted chilies; and greens from Kenter Canyon Farms, among others. Speakers at the event included Evan Marks, The Ecology Center founder; Candy Harris, Billabong Brand Director; and Chris Arnold, director of communication at Chipotle Mexican Grill and secretary of the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation.

Photo credit: Gina Turpel

Chipotle’s Chris Arnold said: “We are honored that the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation has been selected as this year’s beneficiary. Our partnership with Billabong, and their Design for Humanity fundraising efforts, support the foundation’s mission to reach and educate younger generations about food matters, and generate additional support for family farmers and their communities.”

Billabong, the active lifestyle brand, presents the Design for Humanity event every year. It is a massive fashion, music and art party on the backlot of Paramount Studios in Hollywood featuring multiple concert stages, DJ dance parties, a runway fashion show featuring one of a kind Billabong looks, organic food trucks, a custom art gallery and silent auction, a VIP street and much more. Proceeds from the silent auction and 100% of the ticket sales will benefit The Cultivate Foundation.

Shop Till You Drop – new discount fashion stores court social media influencers

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I am a self-confessed non-shopper. I can only shop with a purpose – need a black shirt? I’ll head for the black shirts. So it was a pleasant surprise when I was invited to two shopping events recently. I may not find comfort in retail therapy but I appreciate fashion and a good bargain.

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The first event I attended was the preview for the Nordstrom Rack at the Outlets in Orange. It turned out to be a social media gathering with friends, bloggers and fashionistas. Thumping DJ music set the mood, complete with hors d’ouevres and drinks. I  wrote about it on Storify. http://storify.com/marciemarketing/nordstrom-rack-orange-rocks

Original instagram photo by Kristin Ausk

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The second event I attended  was a pre-grand opening event at the new Stein Mart in The Market Place, Irvine. One of the cool things about the event was that there was a charity angle! Tickets to the pre-grand opening were sold at $5 each. Guests received a $5 coupon as well as 20% off any item during the event. (At Stein Mart, that goes a long way!)  All proceeds from the ticket sales benefited these local charities: Families Forward, Woman Sage, United Cerebral Palsy of Orange County and Goodwill of Orange County.

Take a look at my Storify Post on the Stein Mart Event here.

What these two events had in common were music and refreshments! Could this be the next trend in shopping?  Having a party atmosphere, start-up money to get you shopping (because you know you will always spend MORE ), and friends to hang out with definitely made shopping for this non-shopper, a truly fun experience worth repeating.

 

 

RitualCleanse

Ritual Cleanse

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My first mistake was going to two parties while on the cleanse. While I never had the urge to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes nor did I have this overwhelming hunger, the party food was very tempting. But you see, the #world knew I was on a cleanse so how was I going to cheat? That’s what you get when you announce to the world via Twitter that you are going on a cleanse.

Social Media makes you accountable. Post a status update about that new diet and your friends (or at least facebook friends) are sure to check up on you. Tweet a question or an idea and someone will call you on it. Cleansing was one of those things.. @terararestephens had talked about it then @cindywang and @thebigdebowski and I started chatting. Finally @ritualcleanse heard the chatter (or rather read it on twitter) and invited me to try a juice cleanse. Because I am a bit of a wimp, I only did it for 2 days.

Ritual Cleanse followed our Twitter Conversation and connected with me. Not long after, I picked up my 12 bottles of freshly pressed 100% organic juices packed in a snazzy green insulated bag and was good to go.

Since I had never done a cleanse before, one of the owners, Marra, suggested I do a “Seasonal Cleanse” which is still 6 juices like the Classic Cleanse but one Classic “Green” juice is replaced with a specially formulated blend that captures the best seasonal produce in a fresh new flavor. Lucky for me, pomegranate was in season. Yum!

I was never hungry on the cleanse and I didn’t go to the bathroom nearly half as much as I feared. The juices were, in fact, really tasty. On that first day however, I got really grumpy around dinner time. I figured it was the lack of caffeine. After drinking the last juice of the day, I was fine. The second day was easier.

For me, @RitualCleanse jump-started my new attitude towards health – that week I was to begin with my fitness trainer @lafitness

In the end, I didn’t lose weight (come on it was just two days) and my hair didn’t suddenly get all shiny as some had claimed but I did stop craving coffee -which was a most unexpected and happy side effect.

Would I go on a cleanse again? Yeah! Maybe we can do it together… Ritual Cleanse has a group discount program. Hmmm.

Hair

Hair Today Gone Tomorrow

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I went out and done did it. Cut 12 inches off my hair. Okay so it was months ago but I’m only posting now. It seemed more than a hair cut then- it felt to me like a major change. It wasn’t the first time I’d had short hair but this felt different – it was liberating.

Over the last year, I was living frugally and my usual $50 hair cuts were the last thing on my mind. You see, I liked making a day of going to the salon and getting my hair washed, cut and colored – so the cost was upwards of $50. I tried a cheaper place one time and the hair dye absolutely burnt my scalp. So to save money and maybe because I was just a wee bit lazy, I let my hair grow and grow. Finally when I got tired of tying it up in a ponytail and the greys had grown way out, I decided to cut it all off. What’s more, I had decided to give it up for a good cause — Locks of Love.

To find THE person to do the honors of chopping it all off for charity, I tweeted and posted on Facebook. A handful of salons and hairdressers had offered to do it so it was great that I had choices. It turns out, cutting hair for Locks of Love is something many salons do in fact — they cut your hair for free when you donate the locks to charity. I ended up choosing Armando – whom I was Facebook friends with even if we hadn’t met. I think we connected because I had seen some of the charitable cut-a-thons his salon had sponsored and we exchanged a few messages. Also, I had often driven by his salon on PCH. (You can’t miss it – it’s next to the Ferrari dealership.)

I went to Armando A Joshua Christopher Salon and met Armando for the first time. He cut my hair, I left happy. I vowed to return but I need to save up to afford his mad styling skillzzz. I haven’t cut my hair since. One day, Armando, some day — I’ll be back!