Mischo Beauty: Zoya's "Layla" Nail Polish & Bikini Brunch at the Hotel Gansevoort

I mentioned on Twitter this morning that I refreshed my manicure/pedicure using Zoya's "Layla" (which I happened to win by following Zoya on Twitter!) and a few of you requested photos. You can see the color on my nails in the photo above, which was taken this afternoon while I was having brunch at the Hotel Gansevoort.

Zoya describes the nail color as a "hot bright deep pink cream", and I must tell you that I've been receiving compliments all week!

I enjoyed brunch, and the view of the city was amazing. I also toured the Gansevoort Exhale Spa (which I recommended to everyone about a year ago) and I can't wait to try the services.

Oh, and while I was in the Meatpacking District, I also toured Edris Salon (which I've also recommended several times. You might remember my mentioning, in the past, that Edris is Creative Director for hair for Tracy Reese every Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

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Mischo Beauty Still Loves Sam Fine

I'm sure you all know how much I love Sam Fine (he's been my "Makeup Artist of the Month" for just about every month- *smile* and see left-hand column) by now! Well, he recently released an instructional DVD called FINE: The Basics of Beauty. I can not wait to see the DVD- hopefully, it will be released soon! But, in the meantime, you're invited to check out Essence Magazine's coverage of the launch party which was held at the Warren-Tricomi Salon at The Plaza.

Now, if we could only get him to update his fabulous blog....*sigh*...

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Mischo Beauty Loves Serge Lutens Parfum

I love when I discover something that absolutely takes my breath away- and that's what happened when I recently sampled Nuit De Cellophane and Datura Noir by Serge Lutens.

The Datura Noir is formulated from the black datura, a night blooming tropical flower, and I'd best describe it as a sweet floral with a slight hint of musk. As soon as I smelled it on my skin, I knew I had to have it! But, I'm equally in love with the Nuit De Cellophane, which is more of a fruity floral with top notes of jasmine, osmanthus and lily.

And lucky for me, there was a gift with purchase which included a Felix Ray makeup bag filled with deluxe size samples.

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Mischo Beauty Giveaway: L’Oréal Paris Limited-Edition Colour Riche Lipcolour

You might remember L'Oreal Paris celebrating their 100th anniversary a few weeks ago, and in continuing the celebration, they've recently released a limited-edition Colour Riche Lipcolour. It's their best selling lip collection since 1983 and this edition's lid is covered with Swarovski crystals.

The lipstick is available in Mica, True Red (pictured above) and Tropical Coral. So here's how you can win! Leave a comment letting me know your color of choice and the name of a L'Oreal spokesmodel. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and unfortunately, I can no longer accept "Anonymous" comments. A winner will be chosen at random and announced on Monday, July 13th.

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Mischo Beauty: "Gettin' Hitched with The Carlton Hotel" Media Event

I had the opportunity to attend a media wedding event at The Carlton Hotel this evening, and of course I was naturally drawn to the "beauty" aspect of the event! The beauty superstars of the evening for me were- Molton Brown and Oasis Day Spa on Park Avenue.

Molton Brown's hand/arm treatment was A-MA-ZING! Christiena (pictured above) performed the treatment using their newly launched Desert Bloom Intensive Hand Cream. I instantly fell in love with the scent of the hand cream and was pleased with how it revived my dry hands, cuticles and nails.

This was my first visit to The Carlton Hotel and the hotel's lobby of vaulted ceilings, marbled floors, floor-to-ceiling suede paneled walls and elegant chandeliers took my breath away! Now for those of you getting married, the hotel is currently offering the "Gettin' More while Gettin' Hitched" special savings for a limited time only.

I know how important healthy skin is for everyone, especially a bride-to-be, and I must share with you the fact that I had a very thorough Dermalogica Face Mapping skin analysis consultation with Shatelle, an esthetician from Oasis Day Spa.

Shatelle was attentive, asked questions and listened as I explained my skincare concerns. She then provided me with a prescribed skincare regimen which was basically identical to my current skincare routine. I highly recommend her!

Honeymoons Galore presented a variety of honeymoon accommodations...

And last, but not least, the Benefit Cosmetics' brow gurus were on-hand for complimentary brow makeovers. Brides-to-be may visit the Bloomingdale's 59th Street and Bloomingdale's Soho locations for a complimentary "makeup rehearsal".

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Mischo Beauty: Q-Tips Vanity Packs

Q-tips recently released a set of Vanity Packs, a collection of four 285 count packs, in four designs (love the colors!). Now I've used Q-tips all of my life, but never really paid close attention to them until I learned Mally Roncal was a celebrity makeup expert for the brand (remember my trip to CVS last year?). And of course you all already know how much I love Mally!

Anyway, I decided to share with you again the beauty tip I learned after reading an interview with Mally in WWD BeautyBiz: "Use Q-tips whenever possible. In a perfect world, if we were all kajillionaires, we could use our Kevyn Aucoin brush once and throw it away, but we can't. Q-tips get the makeup on and off and you can just ditch them".

Simple and easy- no overthinking required!

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Mischo Beauty: CND Spring/Summer 2009

I'm not sure if you all remember my visiting the Creative Nail Design Studio during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2009. Well, as a follow-up, I was finally able to get my hands on a few shades from the Spring/Summer 2009 collection-beginning top row left: Wildfire, Decadence, Nail Noir, Bisou De Lulu, Moonlight & Roses, French Pink and Ice Cappuccino.

I'll admit that I'm partial to the "reds", with my favorite being Wildfire. But, the designer favorite nail color/look was CND's Cocoa ("opaque flesh tone shade used to elongate hands and match clean faces") , which was seen at Giambattista Valli, Nina Ricci, Araks, Max Azria, Jason Wu and Thakoon to list a few...

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"Summer Skincare Protection" on SheBreathes

The one aspect of skincare I'm most passionate about is protection from the sun! I'm discussing sunscreen/sunblock protection alternatives over on SheBreathes.com and you're invited to check it out. Please email me with questions! Enjoy.

**Khuraira "Lady Obama" Lipstick Winners**: Comment #1: Lisa Kay, Comment #16: LuckyStar, Comment #19: Anonymous, Comment #24: Angelisa & Comment #29: Amee.

**Kerastase Soleil Collection**: Comment #1: Amber

Please email your shipping information to me! Thanks to everyone for entering!

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Mischo Beauty: Sweet Beauty Organic Chocolate Spa Treatments

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a fan of "chocolate" body products/treatments, but I wanted to make you all aware of the Sweet Beauty collection of products because they're made with organic, fair trade chocolate- instead of chocolate by-products; and the line was founded/created by an esthetician (like myself!), Lisa Francoise, whose passion for skincare led her to obtain a Cidesco Diploma (the world's most prestigious qualification in the field of Esthetics).

The Sweet Beauty line includes sugar scrubs, lip balms, milk baths, body creams, facial scrubs, facial masques and hand & body soaps. Visit www.sweetbeautyspa.com to learn more.

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Mischo Beauty: Qtica Smart Spa Cherry Bing Collection

If you're in need of a "pick-me-up" then I suggest checking out Qtica Smart Spa's new collection of Cherry Bing bath and body products. Qtica is most widely known for their assortment of nail treatments, but most recently launched the Smart Spa collection of products, meant to be used not only for manicures/pedicures, but all over the body as well.

The Cherry Bing scent smells amazingly good - and I think it's perfect for summer. The products I tried were the Sugar Scrub, Shower Gel and Luxury Lotion. The stand-out product for me was the Sugar Scrub (you all probably remember that I'm an exfoliant addict) because I loved how gentle it felt on my skin, and also the fact that it left it soft and smooth- along with the amazing scent!

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Mischo Beauty Remembers Michael Jackson (1958 – 2009)

I'm saddened as I write this, almost speechless. We've lost an icon, a legend. Michael Jackson's music brings to mind so many happy memories from my childhood- my Dad taking me to a tiny little record store in Fort Wayne, Indiana to purchase the Thriller album; watching Michael do the "moonwalk" on Motown 25 with my Girl Scout troop and rewinding it over, and over, and over again; my Mom waking me up to watch the premiere of the Thriller video on a show called Friday Night Videos (I begged her to do it!); and the memories go on and on...

I find happiness in knowing that his music will live on forever and ever, and I pray that his soul has found peace.

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Mischo Beauty Pick: For the Love of

For those of you who may not know, "For the Love of" is an organic luxury bath and body product company located in Washington, DC. All of the products are organic, mainly vegan and handcrafted by Kristina Libby, who left her corporate job to pursue her passion of creating organic beauty products.

I love learning about stories such as Kristina's (she's doing what I'm working to achieve) and so I could not wait to try her products! I'm currently using the Luxury Summer Orange Blossom Body Scrub (loving the fragrance!) - great for the heels, knees and elbows; and the Black Amber Honey Homemade Soap, which surprisingly has a very nice lather.

Feel free to view the entire collection of "For the Love of" products here!

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Mischo Beauty Pick: Sebastian Professional Drench Shampoo & Conditioner

Recently, I've received a few emails with regards to product suggestions for relaxed hair. And in response to those emails, I've decided to revisit Sebastian's Drench Shampoo & Conditioner. I mentioned having used both in the salon on clients and I've also used them on myself.

The products are recommended for dry/frizzy hair and, based on my experience with them, are great on both relaxed, natural, color-treated hair- and on extensions and weaves. Now if "dry/frizzy" isn't your hair type/issue, then visit www.sebastianprofessional.com for additional product offerings.

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Mischo Beauty: The Beyonce "I AM.." World Tour

I was invited to attend Beyonce's Washington, DC show held at the Verizon Center on June 24th and I was beyond impressed!

It was my first time seeing her live and not only did she perform for 2 1/2 hours with no intermission, but she sounded amazing and I loved her energy.

I had a great seat and was able to get a very good look at her costumes, hair, makeup and yes- she was wearing Minx nails! Loved it!!

Oh and I almost forgot to mention that the Obama daughters were also at the concert, and from what I was able to see, thoroughly enjoying themselves! I loved the show and am even inspired to step-up my workout schedule after seeing Beyonce so fit!

A huge thank you to L'Oreal Paris for this amazing opportunity!

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Mischo Beauty: Tarte Cosmetics EyeQuatic Waterproof Summer Essentials Set

It's clearly no secret that I'm a fan of Tarte Cosmetics, and love their Cheek Stain. And so I wanted to make sure you all knew about their newly launched eyeQuatic Waterproof Summer Essentials Set. It includes three "mermaid-inspired" (Tanzanite, Turquoise & Citrine) "Lock & Roll" creaseless cream and powder shadow duos, a deluxe sample size "Lights, Camera, Splashes!" waterproof mascara and a limited edition head scarf.

Be sure to check out the ladies of Tarte, on their new YouTube channel, as they demonstrate how to use "Lock & Roll", along with a few other products in an effort to achieve a quick and effortless eye look!

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