IMATS LA Tips + Tricks

Posted on July 5, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Here are some tips & tricks to help you navigate the show next time it’s in town.

  1. Arrive Early!  – As soon as we found out that IMATS tickets sold out for Saturday, my fellow beauty junkies and I knew we had to get there early.  We kept hearing about giant lines, 3 hour wait times and beauty brands running out of product and we did not want to go through that.  The show starts at 8:30 a.m. and we arrived at 7:00 a.m.  That was plenty of time to make sure we made it in with the first wave of people.
  2. Research! – We wanted to take full advantage of the show discounts so we made sure to research all the product lines were interested in beforehand.  We wanted to hit up as many booths as we could and instead of wasting time swatching or hemming and hawing over colors and products at the show – we knew exactly what we wanted when we got in.  This turned out great!  For example, the Make Up Forever booth gets completely crazy – we heard stories of people waiting 3-4 hours just to get to the booth.  As soon as I got to the booth, they handed me a giant pamphlet listing all of the products.  I went through the list ticking off everything that I wanted and gave it back to the sales girl to prep my order. – total time: 30 minutes.  Also – the salespeople are SUPER busy so they don’t have time to match you to a foundation or help you find the perfect lipstick.  You need to know what you want.  This is hard though with brands that aren’t readily available through traditional retailers, so be prepared to spend more time at those booths.
  3. Double Check! – I cannot tell you how many times we walked away from a booth only to find out that they messed up our order, either with the wrong color, wrong product or missing a product altogether.  Every booth is absolute chaos and people are moving at warp speed so I can see how mistakes are made.  Take a couple of extra minutes to go through your products to make sure everything is right.  There’s nothing worse than going home with the wrong product.

Here’s what I ended up going home with:

Make Up Forever – Discount 20% (40% off if Pro).  This is where they FORGOT my HD Foundation which was something I really needed.  Sads.

  1. Mat Bronze 40
  2. Rouge Artist Natural Lipstick 28N –they actually gave me the wrong color in this.
  3. Aqua Lip Waterproff Linter in 18C

MAC – Discount 20% (40% if Pro).  This is where they forgot an eye shadow.

  1. Brush Cleaner
  2. 266 Angled Brush

Stila – Discount 40% – they also had awesome deals on if you bough bulk products i.e. all four eye shadow palettes for $80.

  1. Lil Diamond eye shadow
  2. Smoke Smudge Crayon
  3. Bronze Smudge Pot

Bobbi Brown – Discount 40% off – this line carried by Naime’s.

  1. Blush Brush
  2. Eye Sweep Brush
  3. Angled Eye Shadow Brush
  4. Peony Sheer Blush
  5. Forest Eye Shadow
  6. Warm Natural Creamy Concealer
  7. Medium to Dark Bisque Tinted Eye Brightener

Laura Mercier – Discount 40% – line carried by Naime’s

  1. Black Karat Baked Eye Colour
  2. Amethyst Cavier Eye Stick Colour
  3. Smoke Cavier Eye Stick Colour
  4. Khaki Cavier Eye Stick Colour
  5. Cocoa Cavier Eye Stick Colour
  6. Finishing Brush
  7. Transculent Loose Setting Powder
  8. Lush Nectarine Blush
  9. Lotus Pink Blush

Sigma Beauty -15% Discount

1. F84 – they only had one left (I wanted 3) and sold out of a lot of sets by the time we got there!)

Our Collective IMATS Haul

I focused my purchases on the brands that carried the biggest discounts.  All in all it was a great experience and next year I will definitely stick around longer to see all the demonstrations and YouTube beauty gurus.  The next IMATS is in January and it’s a must for any beauty addict!

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What’s in My Bag: Ms. J’s Colossal Bag of… Bags!

Posted on June 9, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Being a working mom of two kids under 4 requires a ton of prep and a good solid bag. Ms. J gave us a sneak peek of what she brings to the office and for the kiddies in her bag of bags! She sent in this photo, and my jaw dropped.

Check it.

What's in my bag - Ms. J

Let’s take a look at the list:

  1. Small brown Gucci has my camera inside.
  2. Small Longchamp (it’s the Korean Air Duty Free edition) has my kindle fire, wallet, pen, hair bows, hair clips, Tokidoki lip gloss, vaseline lip gloss, EOS chapstick, fruit pouch for Baby E, emergency tampon, fruit snack, Lactaid, and
  3. small Gucci cosmetic pouch I use as a wallet.
  4. inside the Louis Vuitton Neverfull  is a bunch of stamps, stamp pads, paper punches, and projects I’m working on during my lunch breaks

Ultimate bag lady? Quite possibly. But! We’ve got a few more FFABs who are revealing their bags. So stay tuned and find out who our Ultimate Bag Lady is!

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What’s In My Bag – Ms. V’s J Crew Bag of Goodies

Posted on May 21, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Some of us have giant handbags we carry around. We’re moms, we’re not moms, we’re working professionals, we’re SAHMs. Whatever the case, we carry a ton of stuff. Well, some of us.

Ms. V took a pic of the contents of her handbag and we all said “Whoa.”

What's in my Bag - Ms. V

Let’s go over the contents, shall we?

1. J. Crew suede leopard tote
2. Sunglasses (Ray-Ban large aviators)
3. Spare glasses in cherry blossom case (gifted)
4. Blue Tusk business card holder.
5. Orange Abus studded card holder for my other misc cards (grocery store cards, library cards, old student id card from PCC for when I want to pass as a student, etc)
6. Several sharpies
7. Tape measure
8. Black rolled up sock for when I want to do an impromptu sock bun
9. hair clip
10. Rebecca Minkoff studded iPhone case
11. Hello Kitty case for headphones.
12. Old iTouch
13. Two Cuties
14. Gucci make-up bag (gifted)
15. Gucci wallet from last year’s annual sale
16. Rebecca Minkoff “splurge” pouch with iPhone adapter and charger
17. Fruit snack from Target
18. Cinnamon gum

But wait, there’s more! We asked Ms. V to open up her makeup bag because it looked like it was bulging with goodies. It was.

What's in My Makeup Bag - Ms. V

Contents! (And her comments)

1. MAC pressed power compact
2. Clean&Clear oil control film. Must have this on me at all times or else I’m one big greaseball.
3. Goody spin pin
4. Various hair clips/tie
5. Safety pin, just in case
6. Aveeno lotion sample
7. Eye drops
8. Retractable brush
9. Nars lip pencil in Bahama
10. Lip Buxom in Dolly
11. Prestige eyeliner in charcoal (very old)
12. Maybelline color tattoo eyeshadow in Tough as Taupe and Bad to the Bronze. New favorites!!
13. MAC blush in Fleur Power
14. Solid perfume from Anthropologie in spiced orange.
15. Dental floss
16. Revlon lip butters in raspberry pie and pink truffle
17. MAC lipstick in Del Rio. A total favorite that I wear 90% of the time.
18. Burt’s Bees lip balm

And there you have it! Stay tuned for another What’s In My Bag post coming soon!

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Louis Vuitton Monogram St. Cloud

Posted on May 10, 2012 by | Leave a comment

I finally got the chance to talk about my latest purchase.  I was actually holding out to purchase the LV Saumur.  However, the $1200 price tag is a bit hard to swallow.  I ended up perusing the Fashionphile website and I found a pre-loved LV monogram St. Cloud.  I’m not an expert on LV so I only know the styles that are currently on their website.  I certainly didn’t know about the St. Cloud until I started looking and researching about it.  It turns out that it’s a popular design and people I’ve talked to who has it say that they loved it.  I’m a big fan of crossbody bags so this was definitely a plus for me.  Also, I’ve pared down my items so I don’t carry too many things when I go to work.  The smallish size is perfect.  Here are a couple of pictures:

I tried taking pictures with me holding it but it’s a little challenging to do it.  The picture seems to come out blurry and dark.  All in all, I really love it.  It fits my daily essentials perfectly.  I usually bring my sunglasses, small wallet, ipod classic and my earbuds.  Everything else, I put in my longchamp short handle tote.  This is one purchase that was definitely worth it.

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It’s the small details that count.. J Crew’s 1035 Suiting

Posted on March 27, 2012 by | 1 Comment

I’m a softie outside of work.. I putz around in ballerina flats mismatched against my favorite military inspired jackets, while carrying a FFABulous handbag.

At work, it’s a different story for me.  By my own wants and desires, I must have an impeccable sharp suit — in my favorite shade of gray or charcoal — matched to the perfect shoes and accessories.  A guy once told me that men don’t have much alternatives when it comes to office attire — that it was only cufflinks and ties to add originality in a sea of charcoal gray.  For sure, women have more options.

But despite how many options I have for suits — I have never ventured far from J. Crew.  I used to be a Banana girl, but let’s not go there.  The constant 30-40% off sales, and “OH WAIT, you get an extra 10% because it’s Tuesday!” sales, speaks TONS on the quality of their suiting.  You get what you pay for.  J Crew has been a reliable favorite.  I still have a favorite from six years ago and it’s one of my most complimented ones.

Which leads me to their 1035 suiting.  I was able to nab their 1035 Jacket and matching Trouser made in wool gabardine  (lost out on the skirt, dammit!).  The color is a beautiful, FFABulous, dark heather flannel (smooth darkish gray with darker textures).  LOVE the fit — fits like it’s custom-tailored, with nice crisp lines, and with still the no nonsense look I love. 

There isn’t a liner in the pants, a big surprise for me — seamless underoos took care of any lines showing.  But no itch surprisingly for someone who is sensitive to anything scratchy. The wool in these pants are super smooth — it’s already through mid day and they don’t have any wrinkles either.  Jacket is fitted and shapes nicely and is perfectly tailored down the back.  I ordered the same color in their Super 120s fabric — not a perfect match, but I’m sure I can get away with the slight color tone difference.  I like to spruce up my work look with long station necklaces or fabulous pendants; along with interesting tops.

I got a great deal as part of their 30% off already reduced items.. and another 6% back using eBates.com.  What more can a girl ask for?

And the best part of today — I found a tiny pocket that I could sneak my stylus pen into and another lined pocket using their satin/ribbon like fabric.

FFABoo!

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