IT Cosmetics Must-Haves at Ulta

Here's a look at some of the latest must-haves I previewed from IT Cosmetics available at Ulta Beauty. It was like a skincare and makeup playground, where I got to swatch and blend to find my perfect shades. IT Cosmetics addresses all areas of your beauty concerns - aging skin, dark spots, dark circles, pores, lines & wrinkles, blemishes & acne, sparse lashes, brow drama, redness, and dull and dry skin.

Superhero Liner - waterproof liquid-gel liner

Confidence in a Compact with SPF 50+, a solid serum full-coverage foundation. Includes anti-aging hydrolyzed collagen, hyaluronic acid, squalane and a super ceramide cream.

Bye Bye Under Eye Concealing Pot - weightless smoothing complete coverage

Confidence in an Eye Cream

Bye Bye Lines Serum - advanced anti-aging wrinkle-smoothing miracle concentrate

Bye Bye Redness Neutralizing Correcting Cream - helps camoflauge any red-toned skin discolorations such as blemishes, skin irritations, sun damage, age posts and more. Rich in anti-aging peptides, colloidal oatmeal, hydrolized collagen, aloe and avocado. 

Bye Bye Redness Erasing Correcting Powder - a talc-free powder with tone-correcting full coverage. Instantly reduces the look of redness, discolorations and any imperfections. Infused with anti-aging colloidal oatmeal, aloe, cucumber, chamomile, avocado, chrysin, tumeric, collagen and peptides. 

- Kim Weling

IT Cosmetics Jamie Kern Lima - Upcoming Personal Appearance at ULTA Concord Mall

Jamie Kern Lima, creator of IT Cosmetics, is making her first personal appearance at ULTA Concord Mall in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday, March 22nd. See details below for event day only exclusives and to schedule a personal consultation during the upcoming event! 

LORAC Rockin' Red Hot Holiday 2013

LORAC Rockin' Red Hot Holiday 2013 gift sets and exclusives are so gorgeous and glamorous, you'll want to pick up a few sets for yourself! Add some shimmer to your look with the Rockin' Red Hot 3D Liquid Lustre Set ($28) in Diamond (white gold), and three limited edition shades - Platinum (Silver), Amethyst (Taupe) and Topaz (Warm Bronze). It can be applied over eye shadow or worn alone on eyes and cheeks. 

The PRO Palette is something every eyeshadow lover should have, with two sets to choose from this season: Sephora's exclusive Rockin' Red Hot Pro Collection, with 8 shimmer and 8 matte ultra-pigmented eyeshadows, Front of the Line PRO Liquid Eyeliner, PRO Mascara, and a mini Behind the Scenes Eye Primer and ULTA's exclusive Rockin' Red Hot Pro Set, featuring the PRO Palette, Front of the Line PRO Liquid Eyeliner and a mini Behind the Scenes Eye Primer. 

A perfect gift to hang on the tree or include as a stocking stuffer is the Rockin' Red Hot Mini Glosses to Go ($20) in 6 shades: Amp (Nude), Electric (Pink Nude), Groupie (Baby Pink), Tour (Petal Pink), Solo (Magenta) and Encore (Red Coral). Ulta also has an exclusive Rockin' Red Hot Mini Lip Gloss Collection ($24). For 6 full-size shades, check out the Rockin' Red Hot Lip Gloss Collection ($27) in Rock N' Roll (Pink Nude), You Rock (Plum), Rock On (Rose), Rock Star (exclusive Violet shade), Easy Rock (Fuchsia) and Rock It (Coral). 

Get lash-ready with the Rockin' Red Hot Lashes ($23) duo with a sexy, studded red eye lash curler and PRO Mascara to curl, lengthen and thicken lashes. Get the most value with the Kohl's exclusive Rockin' Red Hot Eye & Lip Palette Set ($25). Valued at over $150, these red metalized palettes contain 10 shimmer eye shadows, 2 jumbo-size highlighters, 7 creamy lipsticks and 3 luscious glosses. 

What's great about these sets is that you can easily split them up to create individual stocking stuffers or group some of the products to gift to friends and family, while gifting yourself a palette, lip gloss or liquid lustre.  

Rockin' Red Hot Eye & Lip Palette Set

Rockin' Red Hot Lip Gloss Collection

Rockin' Red Hot Lashes

- Kim Weling

essence Fall/Winter 2012 Collection

When thinking about holiday stocking stuffers, essence cosmetics comes to mind! This fall/winter season was the first time I was introduced to essence, and since I was at Dashing Diva to get a pedicure, I immediately was drawn to all the essence colour & go nail polish shades. I went with a bright coral (#16) which was long lasting, fast drying, and had a brilliant gel-shine! The polishes are also free of harmful ingredients such as formaldehyde, toluene and emollient phthalate. 

There are 18 new and unique essence colour & go shades, from bright pink to classic red, unique shades of grey and blue, dark green and purple as well as shimmering and metallic effects. The best thing about the collection - each polish retails for $1.99! You can fill an entire stocking with nail polish!  

essence cosmetics also features lipsticks ($2.99) and lip glosses ($2.49), eyeshadows ($2.49 to $3.99), mascaras ($3.99), concealers ($3.49), powders ($3.49), pencils ($0.99 to $3.49), brushes, sets and more. Some of my favorites include sea my eyes! quattro eyeshadow, Miami's Ink gel eyeliner, extreme volume mascara, Cool Down long lasting eye pencil and Teddy and Behind The Scenes kajal pencils.

You can  learn more about essence cosmetics at essence-cosmetics.com and find the entire product line at ulta.com and ULTA stores.

- Kim Weling

BaByliss Pro Style Shoot Featuring BaByliss Nano Titanium Hot Rollers

On April 3rd, BaByliss Pro guests including select bloggers and press took part in a style shoot at Caravan Stylist Studio.

To prep for the shoot, Adreanna applied DDF skincare, including Aloe Toning Complex, Ultra-Lite Oil-Free Moisturizing Dew and Wrinkle-Resist Plus Pore Minimizer. Adreanna then created my makeup look with the following Ulta products - Fabulous Face Concealer Stick, Extreme Wear Matte Finish Mousse Foundation, My Girl pallet, Molten Eye Shadow, Lash Icon Mascara and Lip Gel. Adreanna styled my hair using the Conair Ceramic Round Brush, BaByliss Pro Nano Titanium blow dryer and BaByliss Pro Nano Titanium hot rollers.

The BaByliss PRO Nano Titanium Hot Roller sets are available in 5, 8, 12, 20 or 30-roller sets, with 4 different roller diameters, including small, medium large and jumbo. Since my hair is thin and fine, the 5-jumbo roller set is perfect for me to use at home and great for travel.

I was amazed at how hot the rollers get, as I've used some rollers that don't get hot enough and as a result don't produce the curls I'm looking for or all-day staying power. The hot rollers are so easy to use, and come with butterfly clips and metal pins. I find that when I use the pins my hair doesn't crease, but if the rollers don't want to stay in place then I'll also use the butterfly clips. My hair beautifully goes from straight to silky, voluminous wavy curls that last throughout the day.

The following BaByliss PRO Nano Titanium Hot Rollers are available at folica.com.

- BaByliss Pro Nano Titanium 5 Roller Hairsetter (BABNTTS7), $34.99

- BaByliss Pro Nano Titanium 8 Roller Hairsetter (BABNTHS8), $54.99

- BaByliss Pro Nano Titanium 12 Roller Hairsetter (BABNTCHV15), $54.99

- BaByliss Pro Nano Titanium 20 Roller Hairsetter (BABNTCHV21), $64.99

- BaByliss Pro Nano Titanium, 30 Roller Hairsetter (BABNTHS40), $99.99

Prepped for the shoot with hair and makeup ready!

After hair and makeup, I then perused through the designer samples available to wear for the shoot. Most of the pieces I picked out were dresses and separates by Rae, in bold colors and prints. The Amanda Bird of Paradise mixed print maxi dress by Rae was ultimately the dress I chose - and surprisingly was the perfect length!

Here are the final images from the shoot. They came out absolutely fabulous! A very big thank you to Paola, Jason and Adriana. It was a pleasure working with you all - thank you for having me participate in such a fun shoot!

Below photos by Jason Setiawan

Hair and makeup by Adreanna Jones

- Kim Weling

Holiday Gift Sets from Smashbox Cosmetics

Smashbox Cosmetics has the perfect gift sets to get you glammed up and photo-ready for the holidays! You always get a great value with gift sets / kits and can try out some new shades you wouldn't normally buy. It's also a good way to try out some new products!

The Snappy Holidays collection is available at smashbox.com, Sephora, Ulta and Nordstrom. Includes:

- Life is your Set Holiday Pencil Kit, $22 ($62 value): five creamy, blendable eye liners in vivid shades in Black, Gold, Emerald, Espresso and Sapphire.

- Snap Your Fab Holiday Lip Gloss Set, $30 ($96 value): two full size and four travel size glosses in Pout, Radiant, Luster, It Girl, Infamous and Pink Sugar.

- Click You're it Holiday Palette, $49 (over $250 value): 15 eye shadows, 5 cream liners, a mini photo finish lid primer and fan-favorite Get-the-Look cards.

- Behind the Lens Holiday Prime & Set Kit, $39 ($50 value): Photo Finish Foundation Primer and travel size Photo Set Finishing Powder SPF 15.

The Be Discovered Holiday Palette is exclusively available at smashbox.com, Ulta and Ulta.com. This mega palette retails for $60 (over $300 value) and includes 45 eye shadows, 9 cream eye liners, 3 blush shades, 1 bronzer, 2 soft lights, 6 lip glosses and 4 mini brushes. The palette makes it easy for you to change up your beauty style, with three trend-setting looks -Indie Glam, Pop Icon and Mod Chic.

The Holiday Flash Collection will have you party-ready in three simple steps! This collection is available at smashbox.com, Ulta and Nordstrom. Includes:

- Long Wearing Liquid Liner, $22, two metallic shades: Chrome and 14K

- Eyelights Eye Shadow Quad, $39: four metallic shadows - pearl, gold, silver and pewter, that can be worn wet or dry.

- Double Ended Lip Enhancing Gloss, $22: two sparkle-rich glossy shades - Star and Siren

- Kim Weling

Red Carpet Manicure Preview

On September 7th, I attended the Red Carpet Manicure Press Preview at the Andaz Hotel. The preview was hosted by celebrity manicurist Elle, introducing Red Carpet Manicure's first at-home professional gel nail polish, now available at Ulta retail stores and ulta.com.

Attendees were able to choose a Red Carpet Manicure color and received a complimentary LED manicure. I decided to go with the dark purple "Thank you Thank you". I was excited to experience my first gel manicure and have my nails ready in time for fashion week - just one less thing to worry about!

You start by prepping with Prep Max Adhesion Sanitizer and brushing on Revitalize Nourishing Cuticle Oil. Then you apply Structure Base Coat Gel, your LED Gel Polish color and Brilliance Seal & Shine Top Coat Gel. What amazed me was how quickly my nails dried under the LED light. There was no waiting for your nails to dry afterwards. No worrying about smudging or putting a dent in your nails. You finish up with Purify Pre and Post Application Cleanser. Right after I had my LED manicure, out of habit I was still being very cautious not to get a dent or scratch on any of my nails. The best thing about it is that the LED gel manicure lasts 2-3 weeks. Then when your ready for a new manicure the gel polish can easily be removed using the Erase Gel Polish Remover. You can read through the entire process here.

My LED gel manicure lasted 2 weeks. I'm always on-the-go and it was so nice for a manicure to last longer than a week and stay perfectly intact. I definitely prefer a gel manicure over a regular one.

The LED Gel Polish retails for $9.99 and comes in 36 shades. The starter kit with professional light, $79.99 or starter kit with portable light, $59.99 would make the perfect gift for at-home gel manicures. A professional gel manicure at a salon is on average $40!

Images courtesy of Red Carpet Manicure

- Kim Weling