Kitten Lounge

You guys know that my favorite show, hands down at Fashion Week was Tracy Reese's collection which was full of whimsical garden dresses - she makes you feel girly and ready to take on the world at the same time. I still get chills thinking of her choice of music and including Terrence Howard within that line up! Anyway, when her pieces pop up outside of the runway, I love sharing! At the Twilight premier, Jennie Garth was seen wearing this Embellished Toga Dress. She looks elegant and oh so Tracy Reese touched as well! Take some time to check out her site so that you can see what would look best for you!

I love looking at presidential pictures of first ladies and of course, one of my faves was Jackie. She had a great sense of style that was timeless. So of course my eye is on Michelle and so I have decided that as apart of Fashionable Fridays, I will make sure to keep you in the know of the various looks Michelle wears. It will be interesting to see how her style will be. In a recent WWD, they suggested that the first family will be a classic presence where they will mix their high fashion with those that many of us wear. Either way with this historic family, I am interested to see how Michelle and the girls represent their style from functions to just being out and about! I would love to hear your thoughts! Of course we have to kick this off with some images of the soon to be First Lady on Election Night. I know there were some mixed reviews of the look but I thought it was powerful while being fashionable. I saw this dress hit the runway during Fashion Week - loved it then and thought it was appropriate that night as well!

During Fashion Week, it's more than the fabulous clothes and parties, I love being in the tents and getting introduced to new products. As I walked around the various booths, I came in front of Boots. I knew them to be a store that sold various skincare, beauty products, etc. But I was surprised that the line called No7 was their own line. I was given a moisturizer for day and night and I have been using it since Fashion Week! I love how fresh my face feels and as I received a full sample, I know that when it's time to get another one, I can either go to Boots or I can get it at Target. This is affordable and attainable skincare that will make your face glow everytime you apply the creams! This has made my skin look very refreshed and I honestly feel that I am getting a mini spa everytime I was my face! So although this post is late in coming, I wanted to spend a few months with this product before sharing it with all of you!

You guys know that this is not a place where I talk politics! I feel that I am not qualified and I don't follow all the issues; however, I do have a message! I have stood in a lot of lines for Fashion Week, ramdom events and I have waited to get interviews about new items that are hitting the market and if I can do all of that and fit everything into my schedule, I know that I can vote. This year we have learned a lot of information and have seen the candidates in various ways. I feel that this has been and will be the most exciting election and to be apart of it, if you took the effort to register to vote - follow through and get out there! If you didn't fill your info out, I believe that you can also do a provisional vote as well (this allows you to place a vote when your information may have been incorrect to due not filling out your intent to vote or simply not getting yours in on time) check such sites as Can I Vote which will let you know where you vote and also get  you in touch with someone in your state who can help you out. I will be voting later on this evening as polls here won't close until 9pm. Then I will head out to some bar to watch the numbers start coming in. This election has really made people have a lot of issues and a lot of us who may have sat back before are standing up now. Even T.I. voted in Atlanta via an early voting period last week. He had believed he was not eligible to do so due to serving some time but found that he could. It is an important part of what we do in this country and it is important that if we can be vocal on what we think is wrong, we should put action into what we know is right by making a stand. I will be on Twitter all day so let me know your thoughts and how the numbers are coming in!

I found out about Inhabit days before Fashion Week and fell in love with their pieces that definitely leave people lingering to get a second look of your outfit! I love that they are for men and women and are all about ultimate comfort to boot! During Fashion Week, I had the opportunity to wear one of her long tunics that had long sleeves and little holes for your thumbs. I could wear it everyday. Regardless of whether you're wearing the cotton or cashmere look, this is definitely something that should be increasing in your closet without a doubt! If you are into organics, they also have a section of the line that includes this as well. I love casual luxe which Inhabit is without a doubt

There are certain times during the year that I absolutely love to be in the midst of shopping mania! One of them is when Lucky Magazine holds its Lucky Shops event! I love going and checking out a variety of items that are greatly reduced while enjoying some cocktails. Each fall that I have attended, the deals have been better and I have walked away with some great finds and awesome goodies to go with it (I am still giddy about my Tory Burch bag and the most amazing CK seamless panties - TMI I know but I love them so it's ok). This year, Lucky Shops will be at the Metropolitan Pavilion on November 7th and 8th. This year the denim bar is back thanks to Lycra and of course Singer will be there for complimentary hemming. Lucky's "The Lucky Guide to Mastering Any Look" will be available for purchase and I love that Benefit will have a Brow Bar. With so many giveaways available and more, you'll want to get your tickets to be apart of this. In addition, the lovelies at Lucky Shops want to give you a little love so we have a giveaway for the coveted goodie bag! One of you will win this bag stuffed to the brim with goodies by visiting the site and providing comments here on the following question: Tell me why you like Lucky Shops and what you hope to get while there from the vendors that will be attending this shopping event. Those with the correct answer will be randomly drawn. Winners will be announced on Oct 24th! If you're going let me know and I'm sure I will see you there!

I have to say that one of the things that I love most about Fashion Week above and beyond the shows is that it's a time when people come together to see people you run past daily or who you only talk to via emails. It's also a time when you have the opportunity to meet others through people that you already know. This can take place at shows, in the tents, parties and so much more. Simply put, it's a great way to relationship build!

Well, the night before Fashion Week, Total Beauty kicked off this week of events by throwing a party and via Sam from Dark PR, I had the pleasure of meeting Andrea and Liza Young, the Brazilian sister duo that is behind New York's prominent, Beam Laser Spa (1841 Broadway Suite 806). The night that I met them, I knew that not only did they look adorable but I was definitely intrigued to learn more about the services that were available at this spa. Fortunately, we were able to meet again and I settled on a date and time to not only have an appointment but to learn about the spa!

Trust me when I say that I was a little nervous to have my appointment. Although the idea of never having to shave under my arms again seemed like a dream, the idea of having a laser on me was a little too Goldfinger for my taste. But my apprehension was calmed by being greeted by Liza who has such a great calm personality, I love that she chatted and explained my forms and one look in the office makes you feel a bit of Zen. Andrea has such an amazing personality and beyond having a bubbly personality, knowing that she is a molecular biologist with an MBA and has worked within the hair removal industry for many years, made me feel that she was knowledgeable about various techniques and had seen the evolution of them.

My initial concern was the obvious - pain, I love how she explained that in areas that had less hair, you wouldn't feel as strong of a sensation as denser areas. In fact, the sensation would be temporary. Seeing her demo the laser and watching the puffs of air that came out that cooled the areas that had received the laser was very calming. But another issue that still remained was that I had always heard that African Americans were not able to have this treatment or that many people felt it simply wasn't for them. Even my mom was shocked that I had received this treatment as she explained that back in the 70's she had had laser treatment in her face and that later her dermatologist had explained that it wasn't for women of color. In fact when Googling on various message boards, I found this response along with warnings of scars and spots appearing on the skin as a huge warning against doing this.

Andrea's knowledge and answer to this question was shocking to hear. In spas that have these laser treatments, those who are olive to darker skinned should find out what kind of wavelength is used in terms of the procedure. Those that are darker need to make sure that their facilities have a dual laser machine which has an Alexandrite and a Yag wave. The YAG wave is for those with darker skin and although it penetrates deeper into the skin layer bypassing the skin color, it has a slightly reduced effect that still removes the hair without lightening our color. I found this amazing and was pleased to know that laser treatments could be an option for all skin tones.

Andrea explained everything, answered questions and continued to make me comfortable. Now for those who are thinking of getting this treatment, they offer a free consultation where they do a patch test. This is where you choose a small area and they do the procedure so that you can have a sample. In many cases, over 90% of those who do the consultation, come back to actually get it done. With all this knowledge and hearing this percentage, I was ready.

Prior to this, I was not able to shave about a day or two before coming in and (to my grossed out dismay) I didn't have deodarent on. Since I was doing my underarms, Andrea, shaved the arms to make sure it was clean, drew the area that would be treated with a white pencil and then used the laser. This procedure probably only took 10 mins total. At first the sensation of feeling the beam and then the cold air on my arms just felt different as you don't usually have this on you; however, when it got to the denser areas, there was slight discomfort. I love that she guaged my reactions and when I needed a slight breather she stopped. She continued to chat with me and you were able to continue. When it was over, aloe was placed under my arms.

I was shocked that it was over so quickly and after she examined my arms, she said that it didn't look aggravated. I felt a slight discomfort but absolutely nothing major. Now when you sign up you know that you will have to do somewhere between 6 - 8 treatments and they are spaced out by 6 weeks. Each time the hairs are growing in less and you can see the difference. In fact, within 3 weeks, both sisters said that I would notice hairs under my arms but that they would literally fall out. Although I am not a fan of stray hairs, the idea that I am one step closer to not having to shave is AMAZING.

When I got home, I checked under my arms and each day (as this took place on Sun) I am amazed that I haven't really seen anything! They offer so many services and I would start with doing your underarms. Because this is such a new thing for me and I have my next treatment in Nov, I will keep you guys up to date on how everything is going. Three weeks from now (actually from this past Sun), I will let you know if I see any hairs. The sisters reminded me that if I have hairs that are growing in by then and have not fallen out, they would take away the stray hairs at no cost.

The care they take from the time they walk in the door to when you leave is amazing and being comfortable is half the battle! Beam Laser Spa is definitely a place that I will refer to my friends and if you guys go there, you have to let me know your thoughts!

After seeing the Michael Kors Fashion Week show a few days ago, as I sat thinking about my post for today, I knew that I wanted to add some of his fab accessories. I am all about his bags (have always been a fan) and of course, how could I not mention the footwear which are perfect. I feel that he has quite a few items within his collection that use the olivine color which is the perfect neutral while adding quite a pop of color. Take some time to check out these items and then of course start putting together items from his label as well.

All the planning and tests of endurance and witihin a few days, it's all over! Well the good news is there will be some recapping on Fashion Week next week but we will start to go back to our normal structure. There were a lot of outfits and coverage that made it onto other media outlets which I can't wait to share with you and my lovely sponsors but I don't have the footage and like you, will have to wait for it. When I receive it, I will let you guys know! With that being said I am recovering from Fashion Week and definitely had some parting thoughts and I have a new Fashion Week that I will let you know about shortly that I will be covering which takes place right before the holidays and it's International as well! We are getting the last bolts tied down but I can't wait to share with you.

Fashion Week - I have been to shows before but never seriously covered it in the way that I did this year! It definitely take a lot of planning and there are events that happen prior to, during and after! My big thing was feeling amazing each day and it wouldn't have been possible without starting off the day with my beauty regimine which consisted of Mistral Soap (I used a different one everyday and always smelled amazing - they are a must for any day), Nars Cosmetics (I need to know that I will look amazing and not have to retouch as I was running around all over the place) and Model Co (which kept me fresh with the misting sprays). These were my basic tools that I relied on!

Comfortable but amazing clothing was a must as well - Lauren Conrad's Collection made everyone smile as I went from the tents, suites and off site locations! I can't thank their staff enough and it actually made it live on air in Sacramento since Fox News was at the tents on Friday and a few Japanese magazines (once again, when I get the footage and magazines, I will let you know). Linea Pelle had amazing belts and on the first day and with my outfit from Inhabit, I included it within my look which was amazing. It just goes to show you that you can put your flair in there and still look amazing.

Every now and then I had to take a breather and constantly rework my schedule as I had plans to see one event but would recieve an invitation to another. When covering the shows flexibility is the key! Most important, being able to hang out with people in the industry and to remember that this is an amazing series of days is also key. I have to thank Sam Dark PR and Dashing Diva for not only keeping me amazing in manis and pedis but letting us go back stage to Erin Fetherston and Tony Cohen to see what they do and what it takes to put on such a show. I love you guys and it added so much to this coverage.

Finally, when it was over, yesterday was my birthday and with Lauren Conrad on my back I felt amazing covering the show and then heading out to dinner at Nam with my boyfriend and later to Mocca Lounge. There is nothing like hanging out in Tribeca with the rain, a few friends and your boyfriend. Today, I'm heading out to the beach and working on covering the super secret Fashion Week but it was all worth it and I can't wait to do it all over again in a new location! I have included two images: one is me on the red carpet of the Total Beauty party which kicked off Fashion Week. They had a daily sponsored suite at the Bryant Park Hotel with Chanel, Ted Gibson, Aveda and more. It was nice to meet fellow bloggers and to get away from the madness. You guys throw a great event. The next is last night at Mocca Lounge after a few drinks with Paul our Food Editor and also my boyfriend. Speaking of Food Editor, he was linked on Food Channel so you can learn a bit more about him there!

So Fashion Week is over and yesterday I had an AMAZING birthday and of course there will be recaps and I have another show that I attended last night as well. The Carmen Marc Valvo show was a beautiful show and reminded me of everything that I enjoy about fashion! I love seeing a show where you love every single piece that hits the runway and it's a shame that I can't include every piece but these were my ABSOLUTE faves from this show! I love a great evening gown and the attention to detail that is applied!