Just Hit My Desk: Delicious Molton Brown Holiday

The best ever holiday hand wash - frankincense and allspice. More sweet and spicy than frankincense. Love the hand lotion and candle too.

Going in my bag to go home with me ASAP! Coming soon to bluemercury stores!

A Day In The Life

* Read "The Most Lucrative Form of Flattery" by Alix Strauss

Bumble Hair Party!

I gave the kids the new Bumble and bumble spraychalks on a lazy sunny Saturday afternoon. They sprayed, played and did each other’s hair. With fun results!

Cobalt (blue) was the favorite, mint (green) the coolest and blush (red) was the most fun. Lavender was best on the blonder hair.

Much better than sitting on the iPad ... and more creative, too!

Darphin Miracle Eye Creams: The Story Continues

Darphin, one of my favorite Paris-based brands, has ALWAYS been known for their eye creams. We have carried Darphin at bluemercury for 14 years now.


I will always remember their first eye cream: Arovita Eye and Lip Contour Gel, which was glorious for my early thirties fine lines (back in 2000). Then came Stimulskin Plus Eye Contour Cream, one of the top selling eye creams of all time at bluemercury. Like a suction cup for the under-eye area, it instantly firms and hydrates.


Now, two more great eye products come to us from Paris. First, Darphin’s Eye Sorbet Mask is instantly moisturizing, with Japanese green tea and natural cucumber. I love slathering this mask on first thing in the morning when I get up, before I go check email and start to think about getting out the door.

Darphin’s Stimulskin Plus Divine Eye Cream also just hit my desk. A deeply hydrating treatment for fine lines and circles, this is pure luxury in a pump. Definitely for those nights when you need heavy-duty overnight reconstructive treatment for fine lines and dark circles (for me that seems to be more frequent than it used to be!).

The Darphin legacy continues...

Back To School Time-Saving Beauty To-Do List

1. Convince your kids to wear sunscreen to school and on the weekends during September. My kids love the texture of SkinCeuticals Sheer Physical UV Defense SPF 50 ($34 SHOP NOW) and will put it on their faces by themselves. It is really thin, so it’s easy for them to do, but has superior protection because the micronized titanium dioxide makes it a sun block rather than a sunscreen.

2. Quickly fix dull skin. I hate the way my skin feels in the fall. As the weather changes I immediately go pale, which only emphasizes my sun spots. I keep m-61 Power Cleanse ($34 SHOP NOW), a glycolic facial cleanser, in the shower and wash my face while I condition my hair. It exfoliates dry patches, revealing new skin. When I get out of the shower – after I’m dry – I quickly apply m-61 Vitablast C ($92 SHOP NOW), which contains brightening vitamin c and gallic acid (found in blueberries). I finish with a hydrating cream, like La Mer's The Moisturizing Soft Cream ($155 SHOP NOW). My skin glows after.

3. Run to a weeknight event without redoing your makeup. September seems to be full of weeknight events and I do not have time to reapply makeup. I use NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base ($24 SHOP NOW) on my eyelids under shadow to keep my makeup looking fresh until I get home at 10pm.

4. Speed up an at-home blow dry. I am in love with Oribe's Smooth Style Serum ($49 SHOP NOW). A small, pea-size dab on wet hair before blow drying saves me about 10 minutes of drying time and my hair looks straight and hydrated.

5. Get out the door on a Saturday morning in 5 minutes flat. SkinCeuticals Sheer Physical UV Defense SPF 50 ($34 SHOP NOW) quickly evens out my skin tone. I follow with Trish McEvoy’s High Volume Mascara ($31 SHOP NOW) and NARS The Multiple ($39 SHOP NOW) in Orgasm or South Beach applied with fingertips on my cheeks and lips, and I am done and presentable (sort of)!

6. Look like you got sleep. I always find the first weeks of school to be exhausting. Use bronzer and blush to transition to more pale skin without looking ghostly. Swipe bronzer over a warm peach blush to warm up pale skin. I love Bobbi Brown's Bronzing Powder ($38 SHOP NOW) in Medium over Laura Mercier's Second Skin Cheek Colour ($25 SHOP NOW) in Orange Blossom.

7. Have fun reconnecting with friends you haven't seen all summer at a cocktail party. I love all the fall cocktail parties and always feel better if I pick up a new, deeper-colored lipstick. This fall the berries, plums and scarlets are dramatic and festive. My old stand-by is NARS Sheer Lipstick ($26 SHOP NOW) in Fast Ride, but I am definitely going to Bluemercury Bethesda to pick up a new color for fall. Maybe one of Chanel's new Rouge Allure Lipsticks (* available at select Bluemercury locations).

A Visit to Bobbi's Studio

Stopped by Bobbi's studio in Montclair, New Jersey. It is all Bobbi - old apothecary wood fixtures with white marble. Gorgeous.

One of her lead makeup artists was teaching a group how to choose the best Bobbi bronzer for a client. (I love her Bronzing Powder in Medium).

I must say, I was scoping out her Navy and Nude Eye Palette and Navy Nail Polish.


Everyone knows I am a navy junkie, and not just for eyeliner. (My kids tease me and say I only wear blue and black. After which I remind them that I do wear some white and some grey!).

Labor Day weekend, I am so applying the navy polish to my toes for fall. I love Bobbi!!!

5 Things I Love Right Now For Summer

1. Brandy Melville Boutiques. A Malibu vibe but clothes are so affordable and it is all one size fits all! I picked up a beach-ready dress, a tank top, a skirt, a necklace and 2 bracelets for my daughters for $107. Apparently Italian based!

2. Trish McEvoy Glaze Eye Shadow White Peach ($16)
Summer is the only time I can wear shimmer. This shadow is perfect for those hot summer evenings out when you feel like wearing all white.

3. M-61 Power Glow Peel (10-day $28 | 30-day $62)
My new 1 minute 1 step peel for glowing, radiant skin.

4. NARS The Multiple in South Beach ($39)
I am all about BB cream, eyeliner, and mascara only right now. I use the Multiple for a pop of bronzy-peach color for lips and cheeks.

5. SF Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum
Barry and I went to the Giants/Mets game at AT&T Park – this pitcher exudes calmness and expertise, and has fun at what he does. All things I strive for...