Day 1 - NYC Fashion Week

Oh my gosh! What a whirlwind today has been. So much fun here in NYC at Fashion Week. We started the day meeting Kandee Johnson over a lovely breakfast at Norma's, a fantastic restaurant in the Parker Meridian Hotel. Her crispy french toast was as big as her head!...I swear. Not to mention fresh squeezed orange juice and shots of smoothie. Norma's is a MUST if you happen go there the next time you are in NYC!!

Photo credit: tummydiary.wordpress.com

Next, we hit the streets to film the following video intro before the Anne Bowen show. I felt so funny being all dressed up with a camera guy following me. Videos always stress me out!!! I do not like to be in the spotlight...but somehow I keep getting roped into these video clips. I swear I have to do 1,000 takes just to get something usable.




Next was the Anne Bowen show. I finally got to meet Brian C. Hawkins, an amazingly talented Mirabella Makeup Artist. We have had so many phone conversations, so it was a pleasure to finally meet him face-to-face. The makeup team he put together was fantastic!! I loved talking with them to get their input into how our cosmetics were performing backstage. Big sigh...when the feedback came back positive:). I put so much time and energy into each product that a positive review always feels really nice!

And I specifically LOVED the makeup look Brian created for Anne Bowen. They used such an unusual combination...and I am someone that loves unusual combinations:-). The team smoked out the eye starting with Bark Eye Colour which is a great deep brown. The interesting part was that they used Ultraviolet Eye Colour to create dimension. In a million years, I would have never thought to use those two shades together!! Ultraviolet is my FAVORITE shade, so now that I can use it to create a smoky eye...just makes it even better! A little blending with Sienna and then Gilded was applied under the brow. SO BEAUTIFUL. And the great thing is that everyone can really actually wear this look.

Anne Bowen's show was so much fun! BEAUTIFUL dresses. It is amazing that so much work goes into something that really only lasts 6-10 minutes! Wow. It all happens so quickly. Check out the video with a recap of our experience at the show.

I'm here! NYC Fashion Week...

I am minutes away from meeting with Kandee Johnson, one of my favorite beauty bloggers, and we are going backstage at the Anne Bowen show at NY Fashion Week!!! I have been waiting for the opportunity to be at NY Fashion Week and it is finally here:). Mirabella is the official makeup sponsor for Anne Bowen and the wonderful Brian C. Hawkins will be leading the makeup artists to create fabulous makeup. Stay tuned on Facebook and Twitter for behind-the-scenes footage at the show!

Blush! Giveaway Winners

Thank you to all of the fabulous followers that participated in our Blush! Giveaway.

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

Vintageheart
Jeanne Wagner Duren
SheilaW9
mom4everandever

Contact us at smm@mirabellabeauty.com to claim your FREE Blush! Colour Duo.

I'm so excited for you to try them:)

Happy Blushing!!!

Rose Gold Educator Offer Details

Hi Educators,

Thanks for participating in the call yesterday. If you are now following both John's and my blog, email smm@mirabellabeauty.com. We will respond with instructions on how to order your limited edition Rose Gold Eye Colour Collection. I can't wait for you to get it! You will LOVE it!

Blush! Giveaway

Now that I have sufficiently talked up our Blush Colour Duos...we are giving some away!!  4 lucky winners will get their choice of one of Mirabella's NEW Blush Colour Duos.  Choose from Blissful, Glowing, Merry or Radiant.  Psst...Radiant is my favorite!!

THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO WIN!!

1.  Follow my blog and post a comment in response to this post.  It could be about anything!  What is your favorite Mirabella product?  What makes you blush? Etc...

2.  Follow us on Twitter @MirabellaBeauty and retweet (RT) the following message:
"Follow @MirabellaBeatuy and RT Win one of the NEW Blush Colour Duos by Mirabella http://bit.ly/isQS45"


TERMS:

• The deadline to enter is Sunday, July 31, 2011 at 11:59PM (PDT)
• Participants must use valid email address and/or twitter account to win
• A maximum of 2 entries per person
• One comment on my blog
• One retweet on Twitter
• Contest is open to individuals of any country who have reached the age of majority according to their local laws (18 in the United States with these exceptions: Alabama and Nebraska, 19; Mississippi, 21)
• We will select 4 winners at random from all eligible entries
• The winners will be announced on my blog, via Twitter, and on Mirabella's Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mirabella-Beauty/154901032649) within 48 hours of the dealine
• Void where prohibited by law

Blush!...Communicating the Message

Just because I finished a fabulous product did not mean that my work was finished.  The hardest part was ahead...how to communicate that the average woman needed more than one blush.  My first thought was that we needed to show consumers how to apply blush in just one shade before we could jump into two.  And for that, clients needed to understand their face shape.  I enlisted the talent of Lynda Modaff who illustrates all of our face charts to create a profile face illustration where we could show the application of blush.  Next, Ashlee Erickson, Regional Manager for RDA/State and a fabulous makeup artist, walked through the steps of application for the Classic, Angular, and Full face shapes.

 I really LOVE how these illustrations turned out!!  The final step was to show models that had these face shapes so that the average women could identify which category she fell into.  Again, Ashlee was a great resource in finding the appropriate models.

Finally we created a fun YouTube Blush! tutorial series that show application techniques.  It was such a fun project:).  







What is your face shape?

Blush!

Calling all girls that want to have a fresh pop of color on their cheeks...you MUST try our amazing new Blush Colour Duos!!  They launched over a month ago, and I could not be more happy with how the product turned out.  This was a daunting task.  When we expanded our shade range for women of all color, we knew that our Cheek Colour was just not cutting it.  The four shades varied minimally and were flattering on only a few skin tones.  My goals in reformulating were to expand the shade range and clean up the ingredient deck...easier said than done.

I started by shopping other brands to see what they offered in terms of blush.  It was so surprising to see that most companies offer between 10-20 shades, but none of the lines had any color.  A ton of sku's but limited shade ranges.  I immediately realized that I had my work cut out for me because there wasn't a company out there that I felt was doing a fabulous job.  The most difficult part was that I was working with a small space on our display unit.  How could I add more shades when there wasn't any room on the display?  That is when the idea came to launch a blush duo.  This way I could cover all skin tones in a limited amount of space.  When I originally suggested this idea to our sales team, they were very hesitant.  The main feedback was that it was difficult enough to sell a customer one blush, let alone two.  However, the more conversations I had, the more I felt that this was the correct direction.  I always use more than one color or product to finish my cheeks whether it be a bronzer or several shades of blush.  Mix and matching on cheeks is key for me.

Jeremy Matthews, Regional Manager in the Midwest, had previously shown me a palette by Scott Barnes that really inspired him.  It had three chunky square powders in one palette.  I have ALWAYS loved the square pan and was eager to jump on the idea.

I enlisted the help of Jasmine Dashtizad to pick the appropriate shades.  Jasmine is a fabulous makeup artist that has helped us at our last photo shoot as well as in our YouTube videos.  She is a great asset to Mirabella and is always willing to help out.  It was hours of shopping to put together the four duos.  Next came the task of the formula.  This particular mineral formula has been on my radar for years, and I was so excited to finally have a use for it.  It truly is AMAZING!!  Check out the fabulous duo shades below.

And finally, I cannot forget about the shade names.  Whenever I am naming shades, I really try to go by how the products make me feel when I wear them.  So far, Blush Colour Duos has been the most personal product for me.  As I tested the colors, I was so amazed by the bright payoff, that I truly looked a certain emotion whether I felt that way or not.  If I was wearing the pink duo, I looked Merry whether I wanted to or not.  Once I realized this, the shade names were easy.  How do you feel when you wear Blush Colour Duos???