The Insider: Contributed by styleit

Amanda Seyfriend Plays Alice For Vogue Italia

styleit — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 16:22:38 GMT

Actress Amanda Seyfried has seemingly flown under the radar even though she’s appeared in high profile projects such as Mean Girls, Big Love, Veronica Mars and the upcoming Mama Mia movie. In last month’s Vogue Italia, she gave her best Alice In Wonderland for a seven page editorial. See the complete spread after the jump.

[Read full story on The Insider]

Currently In Love With: NARS Miami Sun Set

styleit — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:14:18 GMT

While in San Francisco, I planned to spend a Sephora gift card I received for my birthday from the gals at Coutorture burning a hole in my pocket. What better location than to spend it than San Francisco, the home of Sephora, and in San Fran’s Flagship store. I went in with a few ideas on what I was going to purchase, but once I saw the NARS display I was transfixed. I eventually walked away with Lip Gloss in Dolce Vita, Lipstick in Heat Wave, and the Duo Eyeshadow in Portobello. I was planning on writing an in depth review complete with photos when I became transfixed by another NARS release - the Miami Sun Set. I was immediately struck by the sunshine yellow eyeshdow color, and went straight to daydreaming potential eye makeup combinations before I even considered the rest of the set. The duo, appropriately named Sundance, is clearly the standout item in the collection. Including a summer red nail polish, Dovima, wasn’t a bad choice on NARS’ part. After all, who can go wrong with a brilliant cheery red? Where the collection starts to lose my affections is at the potted Lip Lacquer in Capucine. True the shimmery orange is gorgeous but the application is messy, especially considering applying the color anywhere in New York City. Gross subway germs combined with the need to consistently carry a lip brush immediately turn me off any potted lip color. Aside from the inconvenience and gross factor of the gloss, the Miami Sun Set isn’t a bad deal at $65.

[Read full story on The Insider]

Twitter Keeps Downtime Lively

styleit — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:40:41 GMT

Ah…Twitter. The microblogging site that allows you to instantly update your status based on the question “What are you doing?”. If you haven’t discovered Twitter by now, you’re late to the game. In fact, Twitter’s popularity has grown so rapidly the site simply can no longer accommodate the users anymore. Goodness knows I’ve had my fair share of escapades involving Twitter. Since it’s inception, Twitter has been as famous for it’s downtime as it’s service. Keeping users on their toes, Twitter is constantly updating their “oops” graphic, just to keep users guessing. Today I decided to keep things light with a mini-retrospective of Twitter’s sense of humor, coupled with a dash of Lisa Nova’s “Twitter Whore” video. Enjoy! For more amusement, follow the jump. And if you’re so inclined, follow Style IT on Twitter.

[Read full story on The Insider]

Enjoy A Spa Day With Borghese & Bloomingdales of South Florida

styleit — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:38:32 GMT

It’s no secret that I love Borghese spa & cosmetics products. Borghese is offering a fantastic spa and makeover filled day at Bloomingdales locations all over South Florida. Clear your calendars on June 28th so you can enjoy the following fantastic services at a South Florida counter near you: 1. Mini facials by experienced Estheticians in a private spa room with warm facial cloths 2. Complimentary Makeovers with professional makeup artists 3. Easy to learn Makeup techniques and applications 4. Relaxing Massage 5. Vitamin C Treatments for illumination and glow 6. Hydration treatments with our Crema Straordinaria Skincare Products 7. Free Gift with Purchase 8. Complimentary samples to take home ***Bring a friend and receive a deluxe sample*** Locations participating in this event are: The Falls Miami - 305-252-6256 Aventura - 305-792-1054 Boca - 561-394-2286 Palm Beach Gardens - 561-625-2073

[Read full story on The Insider]

Style IT Investigates: Marshalls ShoeMegaShop

styleit — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:42:01 GMT

I was recently encouraged to check out Marshall’s new in store Shoe MegaShop. As someone with very large feet (size 12 if you must know, but they do perfectly compliment my 6′2″ frame) shoe shopping often leaves me disheartened unless I can count on the retailer to carry size 12 shoes regularly. In fact, there are very few shoe stores I can count on - Target & Payless immediately come to mind. While in San Francisco on a business trip, I managed to sneak a few moments for myself Saturday morning before my flight back to JFK to check out a conveniently located Marshall’s store. Honestly I tried as hard as I realistically could to enter the experience with an open mind. Once I saw the store’s style-by-style merchandising, I knew that I only stood a 1% chance of finding a shoe in my size. The downside of style-by-style merchandising, while appealing to those average sized gals, is the tantalizing styles get my hopes up. I browsed the aisles, casually falling in love and repeatedly looking for anything over a size 10. If you have average sized feet (ie, sizes 6-10) you’ll love the new Marshall’s Shoe Megashop. For more details on Marshall’s new merchandising efforts, check out what Girl-Woman-Beauty-Brains has to say. I had a similar experience when I popped into a Union Square Payless location one day while casually shopping. The retailer is also experimenting with style-by-style merchandising instead of the traditional sorting by size method. The store looked lovely, the shoes were beautifully displayed, but the entire experience left me feeling like I’d gambled and lost. Even though the Shoe Megashop experience wasn’t meant for me, I’m still a very big advocate of Marshalls/TJ Maxx, especially after having worked there for a stint during college. If you’re an ultimate bargain hunter like me, check out Marshalls and TJ Maxx’s new sites, What’s In, where you can share your great finds with other users. After signing up find me, under username styleitonline, and show me your latest finds. I’m planning a TJ Maxx shopping trip this weekend for the 3 p’s - pots, pans and purses!

[Read full story on The Insider]

San Francisco & Liquid Eyeliner

styleit — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:02:38 GMT

Getting to San Francisco certainly wasn’t easy (to put it mildly), so I knew the city MUST have good things in store for me and other members of the Coutorture team. I have searched every drugstore in New York for L’Oreal’s Lineur Intense felt tip liquid eyeliner. After working for Lancome for 7 months, I came to realize exactly how similar these two companies are. Products premiere under the name L’Oreal months before they are branded Lancome to test the market’s receptiveness, Juicy Tubes appear in identical colors at your local CVS, and many women are fully aware of this fact. Why should you pay upwards of $20 for products endorsed by some French actress when the same concepts, research adn development went into products available for under $10? My favorite L’Oreal/Lancome dupe is Lineur Intense, which is an exact duplicate of Lancome’s Artliner. Truth is, liquid eyeliner’s effectiveness doesn’t come from the formula but from the comfortability of the user with the applicator. I could draw circles, hearts, leopard spots and a map of the United States with Lineur Intense’s felt tip. I have heard whispers of L’Oreal foolishly discontinuing Lineur Intense, after the introduction of the new Voluminous Mistake Proof Marker Eyeliner. I have yet to test the “mistake proof” liner, but I’m pretty sure mistakes can be made. Additionally, L’Oreal also has a Lineur Intense brush tip liquid liner, so the shelves are becoming crowded. Similarly, Maybelline had a similar felt tip liner product that was also discontinued. Terrified of having to pay $28 for Lancome’s Art Liner, I searched high and low all over New York City for my beloved eyeliner. San Francisco is known to serious shoppers as the city that has everything. The stores aren’t crowded, even on weekends, and items sold out in New York are readily available in in the Bay Area. I didn’t believe the tales, chocking the stories up to an urban shopping myth. However, when I popped into a Walgreens on Market Street, I checked out the L’Oreal display like I have done so many times in NYC, scanning for even a hint of the sleek gold packaging. Lo and behold, San Francisco’s shopping tales are truly no urban myth, as Walgreens had at least two of every color in stock. Quickly I grabbed Earthen Rock Brown, a deep true brown and Black Mica, the perfect soft black, like they were my natural disaster food ration. If San Francisco can provide my beloved, rapidly disappearing liquid eyeliner, the sky is the limit. I plan on hitting Sephora to spend a birthday gift card and Payless in search of the elusive sandals. I won’t complain if I still cannot locate the sandals, because when I begin to feel sad I shall create perfectly drawn liquid lines to my heart’s content.

[Read full story on The Insider]

Happy Jetting - If Only We Could Have Jetted

styleit — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 07:29:02 GMT

On a hot summer’s night, two gals packed their bags in preparation for a relaxing six hour trip aboard Jet Blue Flight 647. We looked forward to endless snacks, personal tv, XM radio and endless leg room. What we didn’t anticipate was spending 5.5 hours on the tarmac, running out of jet fuel, filling the waste tanks, and the eventual cancellation of our flight after the crew had reached their maximum number of hours. Somehow our co-worker, booked on a flight departing two hours later, managed to make it to San Francisco as we were inexplicably stranded on the tarmac. At first the experience didn’t rattle us, as we watched both X-Men & X-Men 2 and giggled various topics. Jet Blue’s new Happy Jetting slogan seems even more absurd since were never able to Jet. We would have been much happier had the Jetting actually occurred. Time after time the pilot spoke to us over the loudspeaker, spouting various excuses he was handed down from the tower. First we were going to have to make a refueling stop in Salt Lake City because we had sat on the tarmac too long and had used too much fuel to make it to our destination. After another hour and a half passed, the captain informed us that we had run out of fuel and had filled the waste tanks, resulting in our flight returning to the gate for refueling and de-wasting. Yet another hour and a half passed (still waiting to return to the gate, mind you) when they informed us that the flight crew was over their maximum number of hours and would be unable to complete the flight. Didn’t you have the slightest idea that would happen two hours ago before our six hour flight even got off the ground? Needless to say, sometime around hour three of the 5.5 hour experience a stroke of genius hit: Jet Blue has a Twitter. I could Twitter @JetBlue and maybe they’d respond. Maybe we’d get snack boxes! Lo and behold, not only did Twitter respond, but I received seven direct messages from the man behind JetBlue’s experiment in social media. To view the entirety of our Twitter conversations, plus a documentary video straight from the cabin, follow the jump.

[Read full story on The Insider]

Shoe Emergency!

styleit — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 04:14:39 GMT

When the sun went down after a 95 degree day, my roommates and I headed into the backyard for a little fun with the water hose and our dogs. Goofing off, I somehow managed to rip the nail off my big toe. The nail is still attached, and my toe is bandaged into the size of a light bulb. What timing my klutziness has, just as I’m packing and preparing for a week long trip to San Francsico starting tomorrow. I’d been avoiding buying sandals all Spring, thinking I could get away with wearing ballet flats all Summer as to avoid dirty feet. My procrastination has left my only shoe options for the week to Havianas flip flops handed out at Fashion Week last year. I’ll be spending all of tomorrow morning calling Payless stores all across the city in search of Mork Mirrored Sandal, $19.99. Even if you’re not temporarily handicapped like me, the Mork sandal is a great summer option, in either the black or silver. Ladies, don’t make the same mistake I did - no goofing off near a fire escape ladder!

[Read full story on The Insider]