Sunday, July 24, 2011

Weekly Preview: Upcoming Sales on Beauty & Fashion

Hello Gorgeous! How was your weekend? As you may have noticed, I was busy putting together my new Etsy shop, among other things! I hope you are all caught up on your beauty sleep, because another week is about to begin. If you find yourself suffering a case of the Monday's tomorrow, just take a look through these fabulous sales to cheer you up!

Monday, July 25th:
Featured Sale: 
Banana Republic Mad Men Collection - 11:00am CST on Gilt Groupe
UGG Australia - 10:00am CST on HauteLook
Da-Nang Blowout - 10:00am CST on HauteLook
Pur Minerals Cosmetics - 10:00am CST on HauteLook
Report Signature Footwear - 10:00am CST on HauteLook
Taryn Rose - 10:00am CST on RueLaLa
Voom by Joy Han - 8:00am CST on 
Swirl
Michael Kors - 10:00am CST on Beyond the Rack
Kensie Girl 11:00am CST on Ideeli
Adrienne Vittadini Apparel & Shoes 11:00am CST on Ideeli

Tuesday, June 26th:
Featured Sale: M Missoni - 10:00am CST on RueLaLa
All Saints Apparel & Shoes - 10:00am CST on HauteLook
Hugo Boss Fragrances - 10:00am CST on Biva
MICHAEL Michael Kors 11:00am CST on Ideeli
Cosabella 
- 11:00am CST on MyHabit
Chocolat Blu 
- 11:00am CST on MyHabit
Yochi Designs 11:00am CST on Ideeli
Tahari Outerwear 11:00am CST on Ideeli

Wednesday, June 27th:
Featured Sale: 
Charlotte Ronson Shoes 
- 11:00am CST on MyHabit
Donald J Pliner - 10:00am CST on HauteLook
BB Dakota - 10:00am CST on HauteLook
Joe's Jeans - 10:00am CST on HauteLook
7 For All Mankind- 10:00am CST on RueLaLa
Jean Paul Gaultier Fragrances - 10:00am CST on Biva
Esprit - 10:00am CST on Beyond the Rack
Andrew Marc 11:00am CST on Ideeli
BCBGeneration Accessories 11:00am CST on Ideeli

Thursday, June 28th:
Featured Sale: Furla Handbags - 10:00am CST on RueLaLa
Gypsy 05 - 10:00am CST on HauteLook
Alfred Sung Fragrances - 10:00am CST on Biva
Puma Footwear 
- 11:00am CST on MyHabit

Friday, June 29th:
Featured Sale: Fusion Beauty - 10:00am CST on HauteLook

Decadestwo.1 Designer Shoes - 10:00am CST on HauteLook
Magaschoni 
- 11:00am CST on MyHabit

Which sales are you most looking forward to? Personally, I'm pretty excited about seeing the Mad Men Collection from Banana Republic on Gilt tomorrow! Hope you all have a fabulous week, and happy shopping!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

New Etsy Shop Now Open



Hello Lovelies! I'm so excited to announce that my Etsy shop, Tara Lane Designs, is now open for business! Currently, there are several bracelets and one necklace available, but I will be adding items regularly. Also, I am taking custom requests, so if you see something you like, but want to have it made using different colors, etc, just send me a message on Etsy or email me (hautelunchinfo@gmail.com) and I can create and reserve your one-of-a-kind piece! Here are a few of the items currently for sale in my shop:


Woven Coral & Purple Curb Link Bracelet
Multicolored Wrapped Bangle Bracelet
Embellished Chevron Friendship Bracelet
Also, as a thank you to all my fabulous followers, I am offering a 10% off through July! Just enter the code HAUTELUNCHJULY at checkout! Thanks for all your support! I hope you enjoy my creations!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Beer, Brawn, & Bracelets

Hello Gorgeous! Perhaps you've been wondering where I've gone to this time. Lucky for me, I was spending some quality time with my family in Indiana! I had a great time with them, and the weather was fabulous (though the heat wave kicked in on Tuesday morning). I spent a couple mornings lounging by the pool and swimming, but I also was able to attend one of my favorite non-Chicago festivals of the year- Oldenburg's Freudenfest! Unfortunately I had to go without my beer loving fiance this year, but I still had a blast with my parents! We tasted lots of different beers, ate some delicious German food, and played some fun "drinking" games!


Although many of you know that I'm a nerd, I bet you didn't know that I'm also pretty buff (sort of). In fact, my dad and I kicked some serious butt at the beer stein holding competition. Though I ended up getting surpassed later in the day, I love this photo of my dad and I holding down the top spots!


I realize my dad and I aren't sporting the most fashionable looks ever seen on Haute Lunch, but it was hot, and we were outside all day drinking lots of beer.
And here's a shot of me setting the temporary women's record!


Cool as a cucumber...the boys were impressed! I also didn't spill a drop (because if I did, I would have been disqualified). ;)
I also did a little shopping with my mom while I was in Indiana and found some great deals! Elder-Beerman (which I believe is only in a handful of states since the Macy's monopoly began) had some great sales, and I ended up with some new Jezebel panties, a Wonderbra, and a cute Fossil scarf for just $20 total! I also did some shopping for jewelry making supplies. That's right, I've become a real (jewelry) DIY Diva! I've mostly been making bracelets, but I've also been trying my hand at earrings and necklaces! Here are some of my recent creations:




Over the last week or so I've been working to create my own Etsy shop! Hopefully it will be ready to go in the next couple days, but until then I'd love to hear any suggestions you have regarding the name, items to sell, etc! I hope you all have had an excellent week so far!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Update: Deep Conditioning for Tangle Free Hair

Good Evening, Gorgeous! As I mentioned in my post earlier today, I had my first deep conditioning treatment this afternoon. I was really happy with the results as my hair came out much softer and healthier in addition to being less tangly! However, I was most pleased that the girl who did my treatment (the same gal who gave me my new style last month), gave me some tips to do my own deep conditioning treatments at home. Here is what she said:

  • After washing your hair with very warm water, squeeze out the excess water and coat with a protein based deep conditioner.
  • Leave the treatment on for 10-15 minutes. For extra benefit, you can use the blow dryer to add some heat to your hair while you wait.
  • Wash out the conditioner with very cold water to seal in the moisture.
The deep conditioning treatment she used on me was the Awapuhi Wild Ginger Keratin Intensive Treatment, which is available online from Folica.com for $25. She said it's the best that Paul Mitchell makes, and is also what she uses on her own hair. Of course, I took home a bottle of this because I can do several of my own home treatments for the same price as a single salon treatment! 

One other way you can do a deep conditioning treatment without having to do quite as much work is put the conditioner in your hair, then go outside and sunbathe for 30 minutes or so. This will add a little heat, but won't require you to hold a hair dryer over your head for 10 minutes straight. Either way, your hair will definitely thank you for the extra TLC! I really did see a huge difference in the manageability of my hair from this morning to this evening, and love not having to combat tangles for five minutes straight! Have any of you ever attempted a home treatment like this? Are there other deep conditioners you would recommend? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Six Tips for Tangle Free Hair

Hello Gorgeous! Today I'm heading into the salon for a deep conditioning treatment, which will hopefully help prevent my hair from breaking and tangling. Thanks to my baby fine hair, I have struggled with tangles my entire life. While this is definitely not desirable, it has forced me to become quite knowledgeable about tangle prevention. Of course, you could always give salon treatments a try (like I'm doing today), but here are six tips you can use at home to keep your hair healthy, shiny, and tangle free!


Photo Courtesy of RealBeauty.com
  1. Brush or comb your hair before washing so you don't start with a tangled mess.
  2. After applying conditioner to your hair, comb out any tangles with a wide tooth comb and leave conditioner in for at least 2-3 minutes.
  3. Always spray on a leave-in conditioner while hair is still damp. After applying, comb your hair with a wide tooth comb once again, then style as usual.
  4. Use a deep conditioner 2-3 times per week to keep hair moisturized and smooth (I reviewed two excellent choices in this post). This will help prevent tangles from forming in the first place.
  5. Hair oils, such as argan oil, can also help protect hair from heat damage, making it more manageable and tangle-free (I mention a personal favorite here).
  6. If you end up with a tangle or knot in your hair, the worst thing you could do is try to brush through it. Instead, use a wide tooth comb or pick to gently pick the hair until the tangle comes loose.
So, do you have hair that likes to tangle like mine does? Have you ever tried a salon deep conditioning treatment before? This will be the first time I've ever had one, but I decided to give it a try since my hair has been extra tangly lately. Plus, a deep conditioning treatment only costs $17 at the Paul Mitchell school nearby, so I won't feel too horrible if it doesn't help much. I'll update you all with the results tomorrow! 

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Interview with Jess Lam, Co-founder of ObviLux


Hello Lovelies! Last week I had the opportunity to talk with Jess Lam, one of the co-founders of ObviLux, a new website I've been digging for the last month or so. Jess is super sweet and has spent a lot of time talking with me. Although this site is already lots of fun and easy to use, Jess and the rest of the ObviLux crew are clearly committed to making people's experience with the website the best it could possibly be. Although I could go on and on about the site, I will let Jess tell you about Obvilux in her own words!

T: What is your role at ObviLux?
J: I am one of three founders of ObviLux. Currently I'm trying to help grow an active ObviLux community while talking with shoppers to figure out how to make the experience better overall. I spend most of my days on the phone with fashion gurus, stylists, and shoppers. It's pretty awesome. 

T: What was the idea and/or motivation behind creating ObviLux?
J: We noticed that our friends were sharing a lot of clothing through Facebook and of course we always shared links through email. There were lots of problems with using FB or email to find and share clothing so we wanted to make the experience fun for ourselves and our friends. 

T: How does ObviLux work?
J: ObviLux is completely fueled by our shopping community. All of the clothing and products are on the site because individuals added them using our Lux It! button. We made it really easy to add clothing so we've seen a high level of participation. Once clothing is on the site people can share it with their followers and create style-sets, which give the price and vision for what an outfit might look like. You can also discover some really amazing items by following other users and stores. Needless to say there's plenty do :)


T: What can ObviLux bring to the table that other websites, such as Pinterest, cannot?
J: We're specifically focused on the shopping experience. People use ObviLux to find and share items they want to buy or dream about buying. This also means that we work with brands to reward the most influential and loyal shoppers. If you're a big fan of urban outfitters, with a little work you can eventually become the store ambassador and potentially earn rewards. We will also recommend clothing and products we think you'd like based on your style, favorite stores, and friends' recommendations.

T: What other benefits might members experience from using ObviLux?
J: Every time I visit ObviLux I'm always so impressed by the range in awesome clothing people have shared. I use a lot of this clothing to create wish lists that I'll send out for birthdays and Christmas. That way my friends and family don't have to guess what to get me. Of course the store ambassador titles are an awesome benefit. Shoppers are always pushing to be the store ambassador for their favorite brands.

T: How have you partnered with stores to reward "store ambassadors?"
J: We have been meeting with many of our shoppers favorite brands to negotiate partnerships. These meetings have been going well and we are learning a ton. We hope to secure these rewards (gift cards, merchandise, coupon codes) in the near future from our most popular online stores.

T: Since ObviLux is still in it's early stage, are there any new features that users have to look forward to?
J: We are going to upgrade the design of all the current features soon. We're obsessed with design. On-top of that we plan to do some really exciting things with the Style-set feature. Outfit creation can be pushed much further. We're also still meeting with many of users to hear what they want most. So feel free to shoot me an email if you dream up a feature you'd like to see and want someone to build it for you (jess@obvilux.com). We only create the things our users want.




Thanks to Jess for answering all my questions about ObviLux! Like I said, I've been using it for about a month now, and have had a lot of fun creating style sets and browsing through people's "luxes." If you would like to follow me, you can find my ObviLux profile here. Hope to see you on ObviLux soon!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

July Birchbox Review: A Cynthia Rowley Collaboration

Hello Gorgeous! Yesterday I received my July Birchbox in the mail and was even more excited than usual to open it. Why you ask? Well that's because this month's box was the first ever collaboration, done with designer Cynthia Rowley! The items inside were supposedly some of her favorite products, and the outside of the box was so pretty I almost didn't want to open it!




Inside was the usual card describing the box, as well as the product list on the back.




I thought the aqua blue tissue paper was even prettier than the usual pink, but tore into it anyway to see what I got!




Once open, I wasn't quite as thrilled with this box as I was June's Birchbox, but I still received a lot of nice items.


Clockwise from Bottom: KIND Almond & Apricot bar, Philosophy Purity Made Simple One-Step Facial Cleanser, Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse Multi-Usage Dry Oil, Zoya Touch Collection Nail Polish in Pandora, Redken Shine Flash 02


One of the main reasons why I wasn't quite as happy with this box as I was the June box is because this box contained a sample of Philosophy's Purity Made Simple facial cleanser which, as I mentioned in a post last week, does not work for me. I also wasn't too excited about the Nuxe dry oil because I have oily skin and hair, so the only place I would really apply it would be to my hands or legs. However, I did rub a little on my hands yesterday, and was happy to find that it didn't feel too greasy, and also smelled divine!


The remaining items included a bottle of Zoya Nail Polish in Pandora (yay), Redken Shine Flash spray, and a KIND Almond and Apricot bar, which I ate almost immediately (it was lunch time)! The Redken spray seemed to provide decent shine when I sprayed it on my hair yesterday, but I don't think I like it as much as my Ojon Glossing Mist. However, I must admit that the snack bar was far more delicious than I expected! I was also quite pleased with the Zoya nail polish. It went on nicely and is a very pretty, neutral color. Here is a swatch:


Zoya Touch Collection Nail Polish in Pandora
While I often choose brights over neutrals, I was happy to receive this particular color because it has such a nice shimmer to it, and would be great to wear when traveling so I don't have to worry about touch ups. One of my favorite things about neutrals is that you can't really tell when they start to chip!


Overall, I was happy with this box, but I was hoping for a little more since this was the first ever collaboration. I'll have my fingers crossed that I'll get another full-sized product next month! Have you received your July Birchbox yet? What did you get? If you're not a member, do you think you would consider joining? Unfortunately, as Christina of Red Lip Gloss found out, Birchbox is only available in the U.S., but if you live in Canada, there is a similar product called Luxe Box, which Christina wrote about in one of her recent posts.


I hope you all have a fabulous day! It sure looks like it's going to be gorgeous (at least here in Chicago)! Talk to you soon!