The Most Amazing Pair Of Boots Ever Made By Mankind..

.. are Hussein Chalayan's, shared yesterday by Jane, from Sea of Shoes.

**love**

Pretty On The Outside

If there is one fact that will forever mark 2010 for me is that this is the year I officially started using anti-aging facial moisturizer. While most ads and people say that you should really start using anti-wrinkle creams at 25, I held on for a couple of years.

I am pretty lucky with my skin and hair, and never needed to go to the dermatologist for acne treatments or anything serious. While that's a good thing, it also means I have no clue of what products are good for my skin type - from sunscreen to foundation. To make matters worse, I also decided not to go tanning ever again (sorry, Snooki), and absolutely rely on make-up to look, uh, normal during these winter months.

Beauty blogs and websites have been helpful and I'm learning as I go. My top favorite is Dia de Beaute, which is written in Portuguese. Victoria, the girl behind the blog, is a down-to-earth make-up addict that not only is on top of cool beauty trends, but translates them in a very realistic way, making it all sound real easy.

As usual, I will go ahead and post an awesome video in a language some of you may not understand, but again - it's a make-up tutorial video.. follow the images :)

Here, Victoria shows us how to make a SUPER QUICK messy black eye style. I personally think this rocks, and have already tried it myself. The main message to be translated here is: try not to make it look even, or "right". It's a punk-rock look, almost :)



On the downside, I have yet to find an English-spoken blog to help me with beauty/skin issues. Boston, is there anyone out there?

As far as make-up goes, I feel more confident about my own skills. For our NYE party, I ended up canceling my MAC appointment and loved the result I achieved by myself, in front of the mirror. If I wasn't camera-shy I would risk some tutorials here and there. Who knows, one day?

Thanks to many Sephora gift cards and many, many awesome tips from bloggers out there, I was able to go beauty-shopping and have a few cool products to recommend:

After months of using concealer to give my lips a nude look, I finally decided to go traditional and got myself Revlon's Nude Attitude. I had never tried the brand before and loved it! Thank you, CVS!

Every single make-up artist, on and offline, swears by Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer Potion. I was happy to find out that the product now comes in a different color - Sin, a champagne shimmer. The sales associate recommended wearing it even when I'm not planning on applying any eyeshadow at all, just to guarantee that glow on my lids. <3


Okay, so this was a NYE purchase. It's not like I go to work with fake eyelashes on, but it's also true that I would if people wouldn't think I'm weird. I heart big lashes, just like Dolly, and my grandma Juanita :) These are from Sephora, and come with the infamous glue.
Urban Decay's Big Fatty Mascara has been my favorite for two years now, so I had to go back for some more. I do still love and support Maybelline, though. Despite their low prices, there are no other mascaras like theirs in the market. With the exception of the Big Fatty one. Which also makes fake lashes look AMAZING.
My first red lipstick, or at least the first real one. I'm still not 100% adjusted to how high maintenance red lips can be, but I sure am in love with it. I am glad I bought Viva Glam I instead of MAC's Russian Red, which I considered for a few seconds. The darker tone matches my olive skin and isn't that bold. Or is it?

This is also a first. MAC's Humid eyeshadow, a shimmery green, now lies in my make-up bag and have yet to make its debut on my eyelids. I need to go all out and NOT top it with smoky black eyeshadow, to honor its (green) purposes.


Changing lanes. Like I said before, I never had to really take care of my hair's health. Pantene always worked for me, and all was well. Until I decided to allow a Brazilian hairstylist dye the bottom of my locks a lighter color. All hell broke loose, and I learned what frizzy, dried hair meant. Then someone introduced me to Mr. Paul Mitchell, and his conditioner. Christmas miracle right here! LOVE. IT.
Is this blog speaking nail polish again? YES, YES WE ARE!

My latest purchases in the Sephora by OPI world (because that Christmas wishlist post totally worked and I got TONS of it):

I embarked head first on the glittery trend and got both Worth My Weight, the gold one above, and 212 Sephora, a mix of all glittery colors on a black polish.



* until my next dermatologist appointment (in a MONTH! gee, thanks Dr.), I've been relying on a 25-SPF anti-aging Neutrogena facial moisturizer, which is good, but sometimes makes my skin feel a bit too sensitive around the eyes. Ugh, help!

"Everybody Was Well Dressed, And Everybody Was A Mess"

So it's Christmas Eve and the whole family is getting together. Your grandparents, uncles, aunts, godmother and such. But you cannot wait to see that older cousin, the cool one, the cute guy who's funny and charming, but never really takes you seriously. After all, you're the little girl. You waited the entire year for that night, where you can just be around his jokes and feel important for being in his presence. He is awesomeness in person.

Cheesy reference? That's exactly how it felt when Julian Casablancas finally entered the super packed (obviously sold-out) Paradise room last night. I'm willing to bet most people in the audience were at the Strokes last concert in '06 Boston. We all welcomed the last member of the band in his solo performance turn. Sure it was fun to see Albert Hammond Jr., Nickel Eye and Little Joy come around town in the past few years, but hey. Julian is Julian.

Wearing the same black leather vest he sported to David Letterman just the other night, the guy was in a great mood. At one point, he commented on how familiar he was with the venue, and its odd central pillar. Then he realized it was better to keep on with the setlist.

Not a surprise, the two most popular songs were "11th Dimension" and "Out Of The Blue", which you can watch here:






Overall, not only Julian's solo album but his live performance reminded me a LOT of the Strokes' shows, minus a thousand people in the crowd. Despite what some blogs claim, his sound hasn't changed much, since I believe the Strokes were always centered on the the singer's essence. But it has grown, and it is more polished. It really helps that he has a badass band to back him up, just like in the old days.

Julian left a surprise for the end, and presented I'll Try Anything Once as a "cover song he would like to play". Sweet. I did make a video of it, but decided not to publish it since emotion took over and I sang along to every word of it. And I CANNOT SING. Ugh, sad. (For the record, I wasn't the only one. Half of that place screamed over the chorus, okay? - exclusive message for all my YouTube subscribers, who usually complain about my singing skills).

Little fun facts:

- in one of the videos you can spot a fan that, after sneaking onstage, tried a little 5-second dance before the roadie/bouncer made him stage dive. Too funny.

- The Paradise was extremely dark for Julian's performance. Reason why the photos and videos are awfully grainy. I had to boost the light manually, and the result was this:

Nevertheless, Julian Casablancas live kicks ass. Worth buying tickets in advance, not being able to grab a beer at the bar and feeling squeezed into a jam-packed venue. He is just starting his tour and I believe will play a couple of shows in NYC this upcoming weekend. So, if you have the chance, RUN FOR IT.

Need not mention that the post above was written by a die-hard Strokes fan. It's not like I don't believe the guy represents an entire generation and all that stuff.

First show of 2010: not too bad <3

Open Up

Animal Collective e o vídeo mais foda que eu vi nos últimos anos

one. more. day.

"yes I know I'm going to hell in a leather jacket" - Mr. Julian Casablancas

(which, along with Ms. Karen O, seems to channel Joey Ramone when wearing one onstage)

Happy Hollidays from Faith no More

Esse é o "cartão" meigo de Fim de Ano que o site do Faith No More mandou para os fãs.

E os boatos da semana são que eles vão tocar no Coachella e fazer tour com o Soundgarden!

Aah Chanel...

A campanha já saiu há uns meses, mas cada vez que eu deparo com uns desses anúncios em alguma revista gringa eu não canso de olhar

1- como a Lily Allen ficou linda

2- as bolsas de S-O-N-H-O.