I have a recent obsession with coffee table fashion and beauty books. Maybe it’s because I’ve never had a coffee table (and always wanted one), or because they are so pretty to display. In preparation for the condo that will soon be mine, I have been stocking up my collection as of late.
I read Lauren Conrad Style by Laguna Beach and The Hills star Lauren Conrad last year and was excited to hear that she was coming out with a beauty book in the end of 2012. I quickly put it on my holiday wish list and on the first night of Hanukkah was “surprised” (well, not really, I ordered it with my brother’s debit card) to receive it.
Lauren Conrad Beauty is a touch larger than her style book and focuses on skin care, makeup, hair, etc. It’s basically anything you would find in a typical beauty book. Now because we all don’t have pale ivory skin (well, I do), and gorgeous long blonde hair, she has a tons of photos of models with different skin types and hair types to accommodate anyone.
Now if I were to choose between the style book and the beauty book, I would go hands down for the style one. Lauren Conrad is a style icon to young girls, and aside from her winged liner and goddess braid, she’s not really the first person who screams “beauty” to me. In Lauren Conrad Style there was a brief section on hair and makeup and she said that she doesn’t wear eyeshadow. She says this again in her beauty book, with the exception of skin-coloured eyeshadow so her liner stays set. That’s fine, eyeshadow isn’t for everyone, however, if you are coming out with a book about beauty, someone who just wears winged eyeliner, blush, foundation, mascara, and the occasional red lip, maybe shouldn’t be suited to authoring a whole book about cosmetic products and how to apply them.
There are some other interesting chapters in here like nails (in case you didn’t know how to paint them), beauty through the ages (pictures of LC dressed up as women in different decades), skin care (use a Clarisonic), party hair (how to use a curling iron), and more. This book doesn’t really present anything new or different and some of the photos and descriptions are quite obvious. With that being said, however, I did enjoy the section on what to avoid in terms of bad ingredients.
I’m rather indifferent when I think about what I thought about the book as a whole. Lauren doesn’t give readers anything new or revolutionary in this, much like her style book, however, I found Style more interesting to get through. I finished Lauren Conrad Style in a couple of days, whereas Beauty took me close to a month because I just couldn’t get that into it.
Unless you are a hardcore Lauren Conrad fan or love these kind of girly coffee table books, you would be better off just perusing beauty blogs and YouTube videos. Lauren constantly references her glam squad who taught her everything she knows, so it’s basically just her reiterating tips and tricks she learned along the way. Her makeup artist and hairstylist could have come out with a way better book, however, it wouldn’t have the star power (and money-making machine) that Lauren’s name has.
Finally, I know that Lauren Conrad did start up The Beauty Department, however, how many posts are directly from her? Last time I checked, I see a lot of posts from Kristen Ess, her hairstylist, and Amy Nadine, her makeup artist… Just putting that out there..
Have you read Lauren Conrad Beauty? What were your thoughts?
Like what you read? Check out these related posts:
Since the weather is getting warmer where I am (rare for January), I thought I would post another NOTD, again from the upcoming spring/summer OPI Euro Centrale collection.
Vant To Bite My Neck is a dark purple shade, more-so perfect for fall and winter (so you can totally rock it now). To be honest, this collection reminds be of Essie’s Leading Lady collection, in that some of the colours are very season appropriate, but then there are some unexpected ones thrown in the mix as well, like this one. For example, when I think of spring shades, I think of baby pinks, lilac purples, seafoam greens, not deep eggplant purples.
This colour, which is beautiful by the way, is one of those deep purple cremes that OPI does so well. It’s not quite nearly as dark as their famed Lincoln Park After Dark and not as burgundy as William Tell Me About OPI (from their 2010 Swiss Collection). It’s deep, but not so deep that you can’t tell that it’s purple.
To add a little flair to my mani, I painted Polka.com, the only glitter from the collection, on my ring finger as an accent nail. I absolutely love this glitter because it’s comprised on blue and purple glitter, which is quite sheer on its own, but paired with either Vant To Bite My Neck or OPI… Eurso Euro, a dark blue creme, also from this collection (blog post coming soon), it just really spices up the colour. You could also pair this shade over a French manicure or nude polish (like OPI My Vampire is Buff, also from the collection, or Essie’s Sand Tropez).
I used OPI’s Nail Envy as my base coat and Poshe Top Coat over top for a high-glossy finish. I used two coats of Vant To Bite My Neck before the colour was fully opaque (if you layer it on thick, you only need one coat), and two coats of Polka.com for some moderate glitter. It lasted a couple days before the tips started to chip.
Although it’s not a typical spring colour (and probably something I wouldn’t sport in the spring season), the collection comes out in February so there is some time to wear this before you feel the urge for something more pastel and light. As for the glitter shade, well you could certainly rock this year round.
Is OPI’s Vant To Bite My Neck and/or Polka.com on your wish list?
Please note, I was supplied this product by the company that handles PR for OPI in Canada. All opinions are my own.
Like what you read? Check out these related posts:
For the past couple of months I have been obsessing over blue polish. Whether it’s a Tiffany blue, a turquoise, blue glitter, or a deep navy, I have been gravitating towards this gorgeous hue.
OPI releases their Euro Centrale collection in February 2013 and I was lucky to get to try half the collection early. I don’t think I have been this excited over an OPI collection since Nicki Minaj’s collaboration last year. The colours are a nice mix of fun spring shades, with a few winter and fall classics thrown in the mix (plus a gorgeous glitter).
The first colour I tried was Can’t Find My Czechbook, which is a beautiful blue hue, perfect for spring. The collection also features a cobalt, but this shade is perfect for a day at the pool or park. It’s gorgeous.
When I originally got it I thought it was a bit similar to OPI’s No Room for the Blues, however, when placed side by side, Can’t Find My Czechbook has more of a teal undertone to it compared to the other colour.
The polish did wear for a couple days before it started to chip. I applied OPI’s Nail Envy as my base coat and then Poshe Top Coat to finish off my manicure.
There are a lot of blues similar to this one on the market (although, they may not be exactly the same), but if you are looking for a standard pool blue, then I would pick this up. It’s not really the most original shade in the collection, but it’s gorgeous when applied.
Is OPI’s Can’t Find My Czechbook on your wish list once the collection is released?
Please note, I was supplied this product by the company that handles PR for OPI in Canada. All opinions are my own.
Like what you read? Check out these related posts:
