A Smashing Deal!

I know that many of you are hooked on the Smashbox Photo Finish (foundation primer) after receiving it in past goodie bags. I LOVE the way it smooths my skin and readies it for my foundation.

I'm sure you'll be happy to know that ULTA has a great offer for you. Free gift with $35 Smashbox purchase!
The offer is only valid online.

An ULTA.com Exclusive! Receive a FREE travel-size Smashbox Celebrity Fusion Soft Light with any $35 Smashbox purchase! A $28 value. Plus, free shipping for orders over $65! See site for details.

Have a great New Year's Eve and be safe fashionistas!

Bottom of the Grapevine

Why do I seem to hear everything last? It's not like we still use pony express to get news to the Midwest. Geez.
So I hear that Natalie Portman is starting a shoe line. Ok. Have fun with that.
Do you think these stars really design the stuff their selling under their names?
Seriously...how can all these acclaimed actresses/singers really have the time to learn about fabrics, design and construction and come up with their own designs? Or learn all about scents and oils and the like, then come up with their own perfumes?
Unlikely.
It's great that these stars have loads of cash to do whatever whim strikes them...but I'd sure like to hear/see more from the fabulous locals starting their lines from the ground up. Wouldn't you?
Haute Market is on a mission to find and interview these faboo people and bring them to you!

Stand Up

I'll make this short and sweet because this is supposed to be my vacation week. However I have to go out and do a bit of work, make a few stops. I'm sure I'll run into some of you faboo fashionistas...so I'll say this:
"just because grandma gave you a Christmas sweater with a reindeer on it, and the nose actually lights up...does NOT mean you ever have to wear it....Please."
;)

Happy day!

The Day After

For many of you this day is, unfortunately, another day at the office. For those lucky enough to not be at work, it may be a huge shopping day with all the after-Christmas sales. I'm not one to barge out the door at 5am to hit the sales. I am in no need for leftover decor, sweaters with holiday scenes depicted on them, and picked over toys. If I do any shopping today it will either be a quick jaunt to check out the shoe sale or online at a few of my faves.

Today is a holiday for us and another day at home! If you live with and/or are married to someone from Great Britain, Australia, the Netherlands, or a few other far away lands, you may have the benefit of celebrating Boxing Day. I'd venture to guess that most Americans have no idea this exists, let alone what it's for. Even my English hubby wasn't sure of it's reason or origin.

Boxing Day is not recognized for cleaning and packing up remains of the tornado that hit our living room, nor is it a day for duking it out with relatives who have gotten on your nerves these last few days.

The holiday was originally called St. Stephen's Day and was a day for giving to those of lesser social standing. For example, the lord of the manor would box some money or a liquor and hand out the gifts to his serfs. It was a day to give gifts to tradespeople much like we, of future generations, give a gift to the delivery person or the mailman, or like us, tip even better when we're dining out. Not to suggest that we/I feel these people are of lesser social standing...it's just a way to give random kindness to those who make our lives easier.

For my hubby it meant another day of Christmas and gifts as they went to one grandparent's house on Christmas and the other on Boxing Day. For us it's just another day at home and lots of playing with toys, eating left overs and, yes, boxing up the remains.

However you spend this day, think about going back to the old tradition and handing out a bit of random kindness and generosity. The day will be brighter for that person, and you as well.
Cheers!

Happy Holidays!

Enjoy the holiday everyone! I'm giving myself some vacation time to hang with my kids who usually have to "wait just one more minute" while I spend time with Haute Market. I may even bake cookies today! Never fear, is pre-prepared dough - no one will be poisoned on Christmas Eve.
Merry Christmas to all!

Last Minute Gifts

We have some great sponsors for our events and many of them offer gift certificates. If you (or your hubby) are still searching for the right gift, you have opportunity for salvation!
A massage from Massage Envy would be a treat for anyone on your list.
I've tried laser hair removal at Aestheticare and love it! What a great gift that would make.
Xiphium Salon is in their new location and are expanding the services they offer. A gift certificate for a new make up look would be fun!

Check out our Event page for links to our current sponsors. Past sponsors and vendors can be found by searching our Archive pages.

Hurry up....just a few shopping days left!

Season of Giving

Do you know what's really fashionable? Giving. Sometimes giving even when there isn't a lot to give means the most. The unselfish act of sharing what little you might have in order to brighten the day of another person.

Yesterday I was so excited to drop off goodie bags for the resident ladies at SafeHome. This is the second year I've done it and I know it makes some smiles happen.
Thanks to some shopping party left overs and huge product donations from Initial Design and jennyLou Boutique, I left 20 goodie bags packed with jewelry, body products, hand bags and more.
You can help SafeHome any time of year by donating products from their wish list.

Another in need of some Christmas spirit is a local 13 yr. old boy named Cody English. Cody fought cancer once, successfully. But 3 months later he received devastating news. The cancer is back with a vengeance. Cody is fighting very hard but I'm sure every little bit helps. You can visit Cody's web site and send him a note, mail a card, or even a little gift.

There are loads of ways to give and help this season. You don't have to send a huge check to someone. A quick card in the mail to someone who needs a pick-me-up is generous!

Happy holidays everyone!

No Whining! Just Wine...

A quick post about another fave wine. I'm definitely swimming in reds this winter. The bolder the better. Tonight it was Alexander Valley Vinyards' Cabernet Sauvingnon, 2005.
Yum. Fruity, juicy and so tasty.
According to the winemaker, the long growing season of this vintage (due to wetter and cooler than normal) allowed the fruit to stay on the vines a bit longer and develop more flavor. If you have the nose for it, you'll notice the cassis and possibly a hint of cocoa.

A great hostess gift for a red wine lover indeed! (hint hint girlfriends)

Country: United States
Region: California
District: Sonoma County
Type: Red
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2005

Hair Follow-up

I found a great video that shows the hair-curling technique I blogged about yesterday. Video Link.
The difference is that I start the curl at the root and wrap tight for bouncier curl. I also don't do so much messing with the hair so that the curls stay locked. Check out the video and you'll see what I mean.

The curl stick, shown here, by TIGI, is one example of the special tools you can use for making curls. I stick with the regular curling irons and it works just fine for me.

Practice makes perfect. Try a few times and you'll see how easy it is to have great curls for holiday parties.

Holiday Hair: Do's & Don'ts

Special occasions call for special looks. Haute Market fashionistas are here to help you pull off a fab new look.
Whether you want to go sleek and classy, or full and sexy, it's all "in" this holiday season.

Hair Do: do practice a new look before the day of the party. It's one thing to show up to the office party with a totally new look, it's another for the look to be one people stare at in horror.

Hair Don't: don't try something too drastic that is permanent. The answer to having curl is not a last minute perm. Try different techniques and different curling irons. If the look is something you love, talk to your stylist about making it more permanent.

Vilma, owner of Xiphium Salon, taught me a technique that I love and have been doing for each Haute Market party and other special occasions. It gives me loads of long curly q's, but does take me a while to pull off since I have so much hair.

There is a special new curling iron to use for this technique, I don't have it yet so I use a regular one. Start with a small section of hair to curl, instead of clamping the iron down on the end and rolling up, you start at the root area. Clamp down at the top, then use your free hand to wind the remaining hair around the iron. Hold it there with your finger tips, being careful not to burn yourself. Let go and gently pull the curl down and it should spiral for you.

I start by sectioning my hair and holding it back with clips or scrunchies. Then I start with the lower section in back and work up. Like I said, it takes some time since you are curling every bit of hair, but it's worth it. Usually my hair is still curly the next morning and I can get away with running my fingers thru and shaking it out a bit.

This is just one of many ways to get some curl. Experiment and enjoy!

Check out Xiphim and our other event sponsors here: Events Page

Party Time - You Ready?

Are you ready for the holiday parties this weekend? I'm getting there...but need one more day of "me time" to get some things accomplished.
I'm so thrilled that my two little monsters are in mom's day out two mornings a week! With the big brother in school too, I'm on my own for 6 whole hours a week and it's liberating!!!
For the first time in years I had my nails done. I have gone to two nail techs this month at Oliver's Salon on 119th & Metcalf and they are both great!
If you can't afford or bother with the upkeep of having fakes, at least do some at-home remedies to keep your nails in shape and looking their best.

For a very quick treatment, if nothing else is available, I've been known to grab the olive oil out of the pantry and dab a bit on my cuticles. It softens them so I can push them back and trim if needed.
A great tool to have on hand is the four sided file-buffer. It's very inexpensive and a simple nail saver. File the rough edges, shape and then buff for a shine. Great in a pinch or when you just can't get out very often for a manicure, like myself.

Our friends at jennyLou Spa just sent out an e-newsletter with a fabulous sale! The body butter is GREAT for dry hands and cuticles too!
Here are the fabulous coupons:

Choose your gift!
1) Buy 3 get one free Body Butter, code: FREEB
or
2) Free foot file with purchase of Peppermint Foot Cream, code: FREEFILE
or
3) 25% off product orders over $75, code: 25SALE

You must add the freebie item to your shopping cart. Once you apply the code at check out, the discount will be applied!
One coupon code per customer per order. Offers cannot be mixed. No cash value. Discounts not valid on gift certificate purchases. Valid with online orders only.
AND...buy today, it ships tomorrow. Today only for these sales and priority processing, Friday, Dec. 14th.
Enjoy!

Finding Liberty

A great thing about having an event at the Wine Bar (see last week's event), is the fact that it's inside the Lukas Superstore. So I stocked up on a few of my favorite sips before setting up for the December party.
After all...I had to be on TV a few days later and that makes me nervous enough to lose my dinner. So like the lush that I am (or attempt to be) I have a glass of Cabernet to ease my woes.

One of my faves is Liberty School Cabernet, 2005.

I find it just a bit fruity but what I would describe as slightly strong at first to my taste buds ( I think a true wine snob would say it's "forward" or maybe "full-finished", I forget). Not something I drink on it's own very often. At least some tasty bread along with it. More preferably with a thick slice of steak.

A great treat to bring as a hostess gift. Stop by Two Chic Blvd's Girl's Night Out shopping event tonight and pick up a great wine bag for the perfect packaging.

Lip Smack

Is that crackling sound I hear the ice-covered trees out my window or your crusty dry lips? ICK! I'm here to save you my pets. Today is another list of my favorite things, starring lips!
First of all, surely you know to hydrate from within..yes? Drink loads of water. It's like the fountain of youth for your skin.

I'll tell you a few of the things I do to keep my smackers ready to pucker.
When my lips are a bit flaky I go to a lip mask by Mary Kay. The satin lips lip mask has a gentle exfoliating ingredient. It says to apply gently, but I give my lips a bit of a scrub.
Then I have a clean palette for applying lip sticks.

Upon that clean palette I like to apply lip stain by Urban Decay. I only discovered the glories of lip stain last week when my Urban Decay order came in. I have the Illegal color and love it!
I have a terrible time getting lip color to stay on. I think my lips still have the light pink stain on them that I applied yesterday!


When I'm out and about and have a dry lip emergency, I have two products I turn to:
Lano Lip lip balm and lip balm by BOBE - beyond ordinary bath essentials.
Both are great but made of different ingredients so if one doesn't work for you, the other surely will. Usually I have the Lano Lip and my son has the Bobe in his backpack. Bobe has contributed to our goodie bags several times so many of you have probably experienced it's soothing qualities.

So pucker up girls because you never know where that mistletoe will turn up!

Lash Bash

I love using fake lashes for a special event. It's especially fantastic for photos and/or tv. The extra oomph it gives eyes can be a stunning look. But it's obviously not for every day. Mascara, however, I use almost every day. It's a staple in my make up bag for sure.

Today I bring you the scoop, and my humble opinion, on five mascaras I've tried in the last week to help you make your lashes beautiful, in less time, this holiday season.



Maybelline's Great Lash mascara has been an old favorite of mine. However now that I've been experimenting, I'm not so taken with it. I found, that for my lashes, the brush pieces are too far apart, giving me clumps and that the mascara isn't going on very well. Not giving me much length or volume.

Avon Astonishing Lengths - I think it's on sale for $2.99 for a reason. The brush pieces are too thick, as in there is so much brush per section that it can't separate my lashes. The space between the sections would be good otherwise. So it went on messy, clumpy and left me frustrated.

Revlon Lash Fantasy® Waterproof Primer & Mascara, primer/mascara combo seemed like something fun to try. The primer part was easy and seemed to give a good first coat to my lashes. The next step, the mascara, wasn't as impressive. It didn't give me precise separation like it claims.

Rimmel Lash Maxxx has been my favorite lately. I love the unique applicator giving me fantastic lash separation and great length and color. My only complaint is that it dries so quickly that I have to get it right the first time because a second coat can get clumpy. The fact that I get good results overall makes it my fave.

My other fave is my old MaryKay waterproof mascara, but it's the old version and I haven't tried the updated model. I'm speaking of the one that was pink with the gold lid. The brush was a bit too long for me, but the coverage was very easy. It didn't lengthen quite as much as the Rimmel, but again, the benefits outweigh that one thing. I can do this one in the car, while the Rimmel really needs a steadier hand.
In the end, my fave is Rimmel Lash Maxxx because when it counts, this one gives me the best result.

I hope this helps your holiday party preparations. Look for more tips and reviews this week!

Winter Woes

Cold weather got you down? Holiday commitments have you in a bind?
Oh get over it and enjoy yourselves!!!
Good grief. This is the time of year when you can layer together all those great pieces and wear your faboo clothes to super parties!
Need some help?
These last few weeks of 2007 I'll be concentrating on bringing you tips for make up application and reports on some great products. Plus advice for dressing to WOW them.
Not before I share with you some great footage of the fashion show with Tm Gunn last week. :)
So stay tuned for more about the Gunn, lash out report mascara and so much more!
Happy Monday!

Fashion Royalty

Yesterday was a whirlwind of TV interviewing and celebrity chasing.
The TV spot at FOX4 went so well and Laura Thornquist is an absolute hoot! She's definitely Haute Market fashionista material. What you can't see behind that big desk is that she has some great taste in foot wear!

I was more nervous than ever because I was told that Tim Gunn was to be in studio that day too! I missed him at the station but I chased him down later at Dillards for the Liz Claiborne fashion show. I was so befuddled with stars in my eyes that I didn't even think to have the person next to me take our photo together. But I did get a great one later of an old college buddy of mine, who is of course a Haute Market goer. She and her mom were tickled pink to be having a photo opp with the fashion guru himself.

More news and some video will be coming next week. Right now I'm still trying to preserve the Tim-essence on my hand that he shook. :)

The Haute Hangover Strikes Again

Are you feeling it? It's nothing to do with alcohol...it's just the exhaustion after being at such a fun shopping party.
It was so wonderful to see so many faces I recognized of my repeat guests, but also all the new faces. So many Haute Market virgins were in the room last night. It was such a treat to see you all and have a smaller event so that I could work the room and visit with so many of you.
Thank you for coming!
And OH MY...the shopping frenzy was a blast! I even had time to shop this time. I hope those of you who made it to the event last night had an enjoyable time and that you'll be back for more. Many of you walked out with arms loaded full of clothes, gifts, and more! :)

The Wine Bar did a fantastic job with the food display and Chef Terry always cooks up amazing treats for us. Mouthwatering meatballs, delightful desserts...yum! Thank you guys!!

I hope you all have wonderful holidays and that you'll be back to party with us in February for the next event. 2008 will be a wonderful year!

Cheers! Jennifer

Concert Hangover?

I know some of you gals have it. Which of you is dragging your booty out of bed with ears still ringing? Miss Hannah Montana blazed into Kansas City last night, which may have been a treat to see, but it's the thousands of screaming little girls that I could do without. No earplugs big enough, no Valium strong enough.
Ugh...I cannot imagine the fashion and hair woe's some of you may have had to deal with as your darling little girl turned to crazed concertess.

If you were at the concert last night, share some details!
My boys want to know how the Jonas Brothers were (my three monsters do a great impression).

Now that Miss Montana is heading out of town, what will the radio stations talk about? I swear if I heard about it one more time!
Who knew that just when we thought we were rid of Billy Ray, he'd be back. Thank goodness he spawned a child with talent.

Pretty Printz

As usual, I went to the shoe store for a pair of shoes, came out with 4. Now I find reasons to wear my cute new shoes so everyone can see.

One of the things I bought that you won't see is like a secret little treasure just for me....me and my feet anyway. Treasure your feet with the Printz foam inserts. I thought I loved the Steppies that Apara contributed to the October goodie bags...I think I love the Printz even more!
They are a bit more thin than the Steppies. Great for when I'm barely squeezing my feet into a pair of must-have's.
Plus the Printz come in several different girly prints: zebra, blue camo, tiger and more! Hence, the name. (unfortunately no graphics yet to show you)

Apara saved the shoe day once again, and the balls of my feet for my ultra-high heeled shoes.

Three-inch high heels have you down? Apara picks you up and puts your feet at ease. Can you tell that I love these things? I swear this is not a paid advert! You don't know how many shoes I have that I never wear because I'd have to sit or else be crippled with pain. Now...nothing some ibuprofen and some Printz can't handle!
I bought mine at DSW. You can also purchase online at Cosmeticmall.com.