Mom Appreciation
Need some last minute ideas for Mother’s Day? Take a look at our suggestions below!
Tear-jerking Treats: Monogramming has always been one of our favorite ways to say I love you.
- Inspired by ancient signet rings with an architectonic twist - Lauren Wimmer Customizable Signet Ring is available in gold, silver, matte or shiny finish as well as personalized either interlocking script or round blog letters for mom at $185 – $210.
Insider’s Obsessions: Andi Hrncir
As the founder of home accessories brand, Mattie Luxe, and busy mom of three, Andi Hrncir is a woman who knows all about making living a stylish lifestyle easy. Her line is dedicated to offering personalized, graphic designs – from placemats to trays – that not only add the perfect accent to your home, but also can be customized based on your personal taste and decor. Find out more about what Andi is obsessing over below! More »
TDO on BARNEYS NEW YORK The Window
I’m so happy to share one of the most exciting press mentions we’ve ever gotten – a feature on the BARNEYS NEW YORK blog, The Window. Still pinching myself that’s the TDO logo on the BARNEYS page! Thanks so much to everyone who has supported TDO in the past 6 years- we couldn’t have done it without you!
Pureology Serious Color Care
Dear TDO,
I’m a have-it-all kind of girl. When I go out, I like to have my kale and my truffle macaroni and cheese. I like learning about Hermes Birkin dimensions as much as I like reading about Warren Buffett. I find David Einhorn and David Beckham equally fascinating. But the problem is, I haven’t been able to have-it-all with my shampoo. Despite a terrible stint with Tony the Tiger highlights, I’m addicted to coloring my hair. But all the shampoos I see are single service, they’re volumnizing, clarifying, hydrating, anti-frizz, pro-shine, OR they’re sulfate-free and meant for color treated hair. How do I get the “and”? Can’t my hair be protected against color fading, brassiness, and look like it could go on to star in a JLo music video? Help me! And no, washing my hair twice with two different separate shampoos is not an acceptable option.
Sincerely,
Me
Dear Me. Of course there is a solution! You didn’t think the beauty gods would let you down, right? They talked to the genius people at L’Oreal to found Pureology, serious color care. They can help you have-it-all in all all aspects of your life, including haircare. Each of their seven shampoo lines contain zero sulfates, their exclusive anti-Fade formula, and are dual benefit with volumnizing, hydrating, repair, smoothing, anti-aging, purifying, or protectionist (against extremely lifted hair) actions. They’re like a friends with benefits that actually works without the messy repercussions. I particularly like the Pure Volume line. A little known secret about shampooing is that most people over shampoo their hair. Color treated hair already has a tendency to be drier than untreated hair, so you need at most a pea-sized amount to wash your whole head. A tiny dab of Pure Volume shampoo produces enough lather for my long hair and the formula is gentle enough that I don’t feel guilty washing my hair in consecutive days following gym workouts. If anything, I like to spend more time on conditioner, combing it through the ends, an area that doesn’t benefit from natural moisture. And after towel-drying, my hair has enough bounce, softness, and oomph that I can see all the layers and dimension of my haircut from four months ago. And the color? Still non-brassy. In a consumer shampoo test, 86% of clients agreed that Pureology helped maximize color retention. And if you’re not satisfied? Pureology offers a money back guarantee, within four weeks of purchase.
You’re welcome.
Shades of Fame
Can you believe it’s already time for summer makeup? I know it’s May and in theory, I should be not at all surprised that all the summer collections are everywhere, but I still am. I feel like spring just flew by, plus I’m in NJ at the moment for a wedding and it’s chilly and raining, so summer doesn’t seem to be here at all. Luckily, I got my hands on two of the new Smashbox summer releases to warm me up and get me excited for the coming season.
The Shades of Fame Reflection High Shine Lip Gloss Set is a collection of five new lipglosses just begging to be worn with a bathing suit. They definitely live up to the shiny name, which I enjoy in a gloss, and they come in a nice range of colors – everything from hot pink to a bronze to a lighter pink perfect for the daytime. I really like the hot pink shade. My two favorite colors this summer are shaping up to be orange/coral and hot pink, so that one will slide nicely into the rotation.
The Shades of Fame Eye Palette & Brush is also new for summer and looks a lot like the Softbox Eye Palette from earlier this year, but with different shades of shadow. The Softbox palette had more neutral shades in it though – this one has some neutrals in it as well, but it also has a few brighter shades that are fun to play around with and use as accent colors. (I’m especially digging the olive green and teal shades). You can create a ton of different looks with the colors included, so it’s nice to take along on a trip. I also really like the two shades of cream liner that come inside and the Mini Photo Finish Lid Primer that’s included too. They’re all welcome additions that make it easy to tote around and get a complete eye look with. Just add mascara and you’re all set to go!
Take a Walk in the Garden
Stila’s palettes are some of my favorites around because they always have a ton of great shades in them and they’re never outrageously priced. You know how sometimes you see a makeup product on the shelves and get all excited and then see how much it’s going to cost and realize that it’s not coming home with you? That almost never happens to me with Stila and it makes me like them even more. I’ve been playing around with their In The Garden Palette for awhile now and I’m loving it as much as the similar In The Light Palette that I bought months ago and have used a ton. It’s the same style palette, just with different shades, and while the In The Light Palette leaned towards neutral shades, In The Garden has a few neutrals accented with bold shades that give you a bright pop of color when you use them.
Juniper is probably my favorite shade in the palette. It’s a deep, shimmery forest green and it’s just super pretty. It’s perfect for a twist on the classic smoky eye using green instead of black or grey. I also really like the other green shade, Moss, because it’s a lighter olive green with shimmer so it’s more work appropriate. There’s also a very pretty deep violet-blue called Freesia that I really like because it makes my green eyes pop when I use it. The great thing about the palette is that you can use the lighter neutral shades to accent the brighter ones or to tone them down if you’d like, so it’s really a great palette to travel with since it gives you so many options. (I actually have both In The Garden and In The Light with me on a trip at the moment. I just couldn’t leave them behind!) Both palettes retail for only $39, which is a great price for ten different shades. Pick one (or both!) of them up for yourself – you won’t regret it!
Dedicated: Simple, Personalized Skin Health Consultation
A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine stood in front of a rack of Simple Skincare products in Duane Reade, looked at them and then left because she didn’t know what to buy. Later she texted me and said she really wanted to try the line, but didn’t know what worked for her. Of course, I offered up my favorites, but I also realized that what works for my skin doesn’t necessarily work for everyone else.
Luckily, the folks over at Simple Skincare put together a handy new (and free!) Skin Health Consultation quiz to help you figure out exactly what products you need. Though the quiz is short, it’s also very specific and delivers the advice customized to your skin type. Don’t know if you have combination skin? Exactly how sensitive is your skin? Not sure what a T-Zone is? No worries- the quiz doesn’t throw around any beauty lingo- it just asks you the basics like “Is your forehead oily?” The one question that did get me- “How many glasses of water do you drink per day?” I’m ashamed to state the answer! More »
Brighten Your Look
It’s crazy to me that we’re already seeing a lot of summer collections in stores because I haven’t even begun to play around with all the fabulous spring collections that I have. It’s not summer yet, people!
Bobbi Brown’s Brightening Nudes collection is new for spring and it’s one you’re not going to want to zoom past on your way to the hot and lazy days of summer. First of all, the Sparkle Eye Shadows. Oh, the Sparkle Eye Shadows! As someone who loves playing around with sparkle in my makeup, I adore these. They’re available in four shades – Ballet, a light pink glitter, Mica, a heather grey sparkle, Silver Moon, a light silver glitter and Sunlight, a golden glitter. More »
Low-Poo? No Problem.
One of the latest shampoo trends is- well- not really using that much shampoo. Whether it’s because they want to preserve their color, not dry out their hair, or prevent it from being exposed to too many harsh ingredients- many people are embarking on a new type of shower regime- the low-poo wash. Now L’Oreal has introduced that concept to the mass market for the first time with their new Evercreme Cleansing Conditioner, a low-poo formulation that also cleans and conditions in one step.
The product is formulated with 1 part shampoo with every 3 parts conditioner, so it’s an extremely moisturizing treatment with the added benefit of a gentle cleaning. Lest you start thinking that this sounds a bit like the dreaded all-in-one-shampoo-conditioners that always leave my hair in a dry tangled mess, rest assured that the L’Oreal Evercreme Cleansing Conditioner is first and formost a conditioning treatment, and leaves your hair feeling silky, smooth and nourished. The product is also sulfate, silicone, and paraben free and formulated with botanicals and 100% vegan. It’s also absent of heavy waxes so never leaves your hair feeling coateded or weighted down.
Butter London Branches Out
I’ve been obsessed with Butter London’s polishes since I first started using them (I’ve gone through THREE bottles of All Hail the Queen!) so I was beyond excited when I heard that they were branching out into lipgloss, especially once I found out that they were going to be in the same shades as some of their most popular polishes. They’re starting off with five shades and I finally got my hands on three of them (I might’ve shrieked like a little girl when I opened the package).
I tested out Teddy Girl, a pale retro bubblegum pink, Trout Pout, a creamy peach-cantaloupe color and Primrose Hill Picnic, a tropical fuchsia pink. All three of them were nicely pigmented and they’re moisturizing without being too sticky. There is nothing I hate more than a sticky gloss that makes my hair weld to it in the wind. That drives me insane and luckily, these past the breeze test. I really like that the glosses aren’t see thru – for $17, I want my gloss to come with color and these definitely do that. They do have a strong scent to them – I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is, but make sure you like it before you buy one because it lingers on your lips for awhile. I really love how close Butter London was able to make the colors to their polish counterparts – when they’re next to each other, they’re virtually identical, which is good news because their shade selection has always been fabulous. Now they just really, really need to make an All Hail the Queen gloss for me. Pretty please?
