Simplify.

Simplify Your Life

One of my major goals for 2017 is to streamline my life a little more. To simplify.

Last year I read Maria Kondo's life changing book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

and prompted by a subsequent flood in my house started massively clearing the clutter, cleaning out closets, donating boxes of stuff that we no longer needed, consigning car loads of clothes.

It's amazing how peaceful home feels when you have pared everything down!

Part of simplifying my life has been going back to using a regular day planner. I still keep an electronic calendar on my phone, but there is something soothing about opening a calendar book and seeing my week and my month clearly. Sometimes going old school is cool.

I got this day planner at Barnes and Noble. 

My favorite minimalists on Instagram have been sporting these Daniel Wellington watches. I normally wear heavier, chunkier sports watches, but was so drawn to the chic simplicity of this watch. I pair it with silver bracelets, and it really looks quite sleek.

My makeup obsession at the moment is super gleaming cheeks, feathered eyebrows, a good coat of mascara, and a power lip. My favorite lipstick is Tarte's new Lip Paint in Fly. It is the perfect red-crimson a la Miss Sloane. I think it is far more interesting than a plain red, and the undertones fire up the skin and make it look gorgeous.

I still am an avid coffee drinker, but have scaled back to one cup per day. The rest of the day I drink tea from Teavana. 

When I first moved to America from London I got terribly homesick. I adored living in sunny LA and had no interest in moving back to dreary, rainy old London, but still I ached for a few things British. 

I bought this tea cup in between shoots one day in an antique store on Magnolia in Burbank. It sat idle for a while, but now it serves me Teavana tea all day long. I found some of my Teavana canisters that I had completely forgotten about, and they still had tea in them, which although only a year or so old, I would have thought would have gone stale.

My favorites are Opus Rouge, Citrus lavender sage, and Maharajah Chai Oolong.

I've been making the teas in a French press coffee maker, but I think I'm going to invest in the Breville tea maker or maybe  the Blomus Modern Hot Tea Maker  

Sometimes the simple things in life bring you the most joy.  

  

The Absolute Perfect Red-crimson Lip

Ever since I saw Jessica Chastain’s amazing lip color in Miss Sloane I have been obsessed with finding the ultimate red-crimson lipstick.

I have searched high and low for a color even close to the Miss Sloane lip, but everything I found was too something. Too red (and not all of us can pull off red lips every day) or not blue enough, or too dull, too dark, too pinky, or too lifeless.

On shoots I will just mix up the color I want or need, but in my daily life I need to have a lipstick I can grab and go.

I got super lucky a couple of weeks back when Tarte

sent me a box of makeup to use on my Luca Magazine Spring 2017shoots. The box contained the entire collection of lip paints, and in there was the absolute perfect red-crimson. For me this is the color of the season, and let me tell you why.

Red is great, but it can be overwhelming. For those of us who aren’t supermodels red isn’t always a win, and isn’t always the perfect shade. Sometimes it just feels too much. Sometimes a red lip feels like too much work.

Red can cross the line between projecting confidence and projecting sex-bomberage. One of the reasons I loved Jessica Chastain’s lip in Miss Sloane was that it at all times made you feel that she was in charge, she was powerful, she was strong, but at the same time it eluded the overtly sexy connotations of a traditional red.

Red-crimson is still a sexy color. It’s just a little more manageable. And it’s also a little unpredictable. It goes with so much more in your closet than a regular red does.

 

It looks quite pinky here, but Fly is actually deeper and less pink.
(see Jessica Chastain picture above)

It makes your teeth and the whites of your eyes look sparkling white. It compliments cool skin tones exquisitely, and it leaves your lips looking a little bitten, which is quite alluring!

For spring/summer 2017 bold lips are a major makeup trend. Red-crimson gives you a power lip, but it is a power lip that fires up the gorgeous tones in your skin, looks stunning with a tan, and once again – it goes with verything!

The Tarte red-crimson is in their new Lip Paint collection so it has a matte finish and lasts all day. The color is Fly.

Tarte cosmetics are available at Ulta, Sephora, and on the Tarte website.

The Best Selling Lipstick Shades

Do you follow Rachel Zoe and The Zoe Report?

For the most part she is my favorite reason to open my inbox each day. 

The Zoe Report is always filled with fantastic info, from wardrobe styling to beauty to travel.

 And don't even get me started on the Rachel Zoe Box Of Style - I always get sooooo excited for it to arrive. 




So far each time the Box of Style has come out I have been overseas and I have to wait to get home and open it, but I get so geeked out over it that I have made it into an event. Because let's face it, if you are an average girl like me, how often do you get to open a luxe box of individually wrapped presents, super chic statements for the new season ahead? ( try 4 times per year!)
You can subscribe to the Box of Style here

Anyway, The Zoe Report posted this cool story for National Lipstick Day. They polled the biggest beauty brands from MAC to Charlotte Tilbury to find out their best selling lipstick shades.
It's time to stock up on your lipsticks ladies, and here are the best sellers to choose from:

From MAC 

MAC Lipstick in Ruby Woo $17
MAC Lipstick in Velvet Teddy $17
MAC Lipstick in Diva $17
MAC Lipstick in Whirl $17
Available online at Nordstrom.com

From Nars

Audacious Lipstick in Dominique $32
Semi Matte Lipstick in VIP Red $28
Sheer Lipstick in Dolce Vita $28
Satin Lipstick in Rosecliff $28
Available at Nordstrom.com

From Charlotte Tilbury

Hot Lips in Secret Salma $32
Hot Lips in Kim K.W. $32
Matte Revolution in Bond Girl $32
Matte Revolution in Walk Of Shame $32
Available online at CharlotteTilbury.com

Anastasia Beverly Hills

Liquid Lipstick in Vamp $20
Liquid Lipstick in Vintage $20
Liquid Lipstick in American Doll $20
Liquid Lipstick in Pure Hollywood $20
Available at AnastasiaBeverlyHills.com

Marc Jacobs Beauty

Le Marc Lip Cream Lipstick in J'Adore $30
Le Marc Lip Cream Lipstick in Slow Burn $30
Le Marc Lip Cream Lipstick in Infamous $30
Le Marc Lip Cream Lipstick in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang $30
Available online at MarcJacobsBeauty.com

From Tarte

Tarteist Creamy Lip Paint in Mauve $20
Tarteist Creamy Lip Paint in Namaste Nude $20
Tarteist Creamy Lip Paint in Frenemy Burgundy $20
Tarteist Creamy Lip Paint in Bae Red $20
Available online at TarteCosmetics.com

The Zoe Report has some other brands on their list too. Check them out here