Curvy Girl's Guide To Social Events

I just read an article about how skinny women stay skinny.
When you are born curvy that entire concept is somewhat hilarious. But once you have accepted and embraced your curvaciousness (hopefully before you turn 20), you probably have no desire to even be skinny.
It makes for good reading though.

One of the concepts the article dealt with was what skinny women do when at social events and/or business functions. They all said they only drank water, or limited themselves to no dinner and 2 canapes.
Get real. Have you ever stopped at 2 canapes???

For those of us (like me) who have the desire to be a little less curvy, but possess absolutely no self control, navigating the social event doesn't take will power, it takes strategy. Fierce strategy.

So here's the curvy girl's guide to the social event.

1.) Wear the biggest lashes you have. 

Its a yin and yang thing - balance out what you've got in back with a little something special up front. If nothing else they might divert attention from your derriere (theory not quite proven, but has its merits), and lets face it - its just not a party without lashes!

2.) Wear the highest shoes you own.

Multiple great reasons for this one. The height of the shoe determines the curve of your back. In 5 inch heels you'll lean into your gait far more alluringly, will work your posture to its very best, your shoulders will stay squared, your ankles and calves will look gorgeous. And you will look damn fabulous.
On top of that you'll hardly drink anything as the mere thought of falling off those towering heels in front of the world will mortify you into submission.

3.) Take a handbag that has handles. (or that requires you to actually hold it)

A shoulder bag is too convenient, a clutch can slip fashionably under your arm, but a bag with handles will stake claim to one of your hands, and as such one of the twin devils of your demise is now out of commission.

4.) Get a drink that you don't like.

For me its Chardonnay. I don't like it at all, and I think it looks like urine. I can walk around all night with a chardonnay in my hand and not even sip at it. Champagne? That can be hard to turn down as it tastes so good, but just remember it gives everyone bad breath. Don't believe me? Go chat to a champagne drinker. Yuck.

5.) Wear a bold lipstick

Kim Kardashian in fuchsia lip

Bright, bold lips are sensational. So long as you maintain them. If you are eating and drinking they will start to break down and wind up looking hideous, so dial up a fabulous fuchsia or a bold red, keep both hands occupied and voila! Social event under control.

The other option, of course, is to just get out there, eat, drink and be merry, and start another diet tomorrow.

Or the next day.

Life's short, play hard, have fun!

Whats In My Makeup Bag??

I often get calls from magazines wanting quotes about whats in my personal makeup bag.
I also get tons of emails/facebook messages/twitter DMs - you name it asking me the same thing - what do I use and what do I carry around with me.

When I leave the house each morning, I don't plan on doing any repair work to my makeup, unless I have to go out that evening, so I don't carry much of the main stuff.
Lets have a look at what I do carry:

image courtesy kellycappelli.com

Starting from the bottom right.
Its really important to have a well constructed makeup bag, as this is what is going to protect all the goodies inside. Mine is from the Pink Mumbai Collection from Stephanie Johnson. I use their cosmetic travel bags when I travel too. I'm obsessed with the Mumbai collections - I love the exotic Bollywood look and feel of them.
In the top left corner you'll see I have the matching mirror. (I also have the change purse in Mumbai Pink)

Next I have a couple of badger hair Corinna B makeup brushes in case I need to powder or add bronzer, and a couple of lip brushes.
I don't change my basic makeup routine particularly often, but what I do change is my lips. I'll often change them throughout the day depending on my mood, so there is always an assortment of lip changes on board.
Generally there are a couple of different toned nude lipliners (you can modify any lip with a good nude), I always have the amazing Julie Hewett Rouge Noir lipliner with me, either so that I can pull off a totally slammin red lip, or so that I can kick some life into a more subtle color. Rouge Noir is on the "can't live without" list.
Ellis Faas lip pen/bullet in shade L207. This is a beautiful, neutral nudey pink shade that goes with everything. I love these bullet products - you wind up color from the bottom, it disperses just the right amount, and it is totally self contained.
H.Wood.Beauty lipgloss in Cabo. The color pay off with these glosses is amazing. It applies completely evenly across the lip.
NUDE Skin Care lipbalm comes in a cute little square box, is intensely moisturizing, tastes like vanilla kisses and can be used just as a lip balm, or worn with a liner for a soft effect lip.
Immediately above the lipliners I have three fab lipsticks. From right to left, Cover Girl Lip Perfection in Spellbound is a sensational, bold fuchsia, in the middle I have Mak from H.Wood.Beauty, which is a soft, creamy pink/nude, and on the left I have Something New by MAC, which is another fuchsia lip, but less bold and less blue than Spellbound. (this season I am all about fuchsia...)

Very long work days frequently morph into late nights, when there's a dinner or drinks event after a shoot, late business meetings, or even after a long day at the race track with racing beauty Jennifer Jo Cobb when we have a last minute sponsor dinner to attend. My makeup has been on sometimes since as early as 4 or 5am, and now seriously needs a little love to make me look wide awake, bright eyed and bushy tailed.

Girl's gotta have a game plan, and here's how it goes:

A spritz of skyn ICELAND Arctic Face Mist (travel size bottle) instantly refreshes and revitalizes both your skin and your makeup. It also gives your skin a mega dose of vitamins, so instead of looking tired out and beat up, it looks gorgeous.
skyn ICELAND Icelandic Relief Eye Cream pen. I dab some of this under my eyes. Its instantly cooling and refreshing as well as hydrating. The first place on our face to show exhaustion is under the eyes, this product is a high speed remedy. And it feels amazing.
Ellis Faas concealer bullet. Next step is adding back in some under eye color. This product smooths on over existing makeup, knocks out any blue/grays that are appearing under the eye, and makes you look rested.
Standing upright on the top row is the Ellis Faas milky eyeshadow bullet in shade E109. This is a beautiful vanilla with a slight sheen to it.I put a little around the inner corner of my eye and into the lower lash line. This instantly wakes the eye up, and makes you look fresh and alert.

Below the Arctic Mist bottle I have an eyeliner pencil and a deep aubergine eyeshadow with a
taklon liner brush from my Corinna B makeup brush line. Using black around your eyes when you're already tired will just drag your eye down, but a deep aubergine will give you depth through the lashline and will make your eye color pop like crazy. I use the taklon liner brush to buff and smudge the eyeshadow, making it into a soft, smoldery liner.

I have Makeup Forever Duo Mat in shade 209 in case I need powder or foundation repair, and normally just one piece of cheek makeup. Shown here are Nars The Multiple in Cadaques (hot pink), Copacabana (a high shimmer) and H.Wood.Beauty cream blush in Snapdragon.
Cream blushes are my absolute favorite thing. They give a round glow to the cheek, and don't sit on the surface of the skin like a powder bush does.

So there you have it - the makeup items that go in my handbag, and get me through pretty much anything life throws my way :)

Single Girl's Survival Guide To Valentines Day, Day 3

Single for Valentines day?
Flowers and chocolates not coming your way? Well heck. Guess we better find some fun to get into to make up for the lack of romance.
Instead of eating yourself into a sugar coma (which you're only going to regret later anyway) shop yourself into a shoe coma! Its like the gift that keeps giving. Men come and go, but a great pair of shoes is forever.
Or something like that.

Anyway, lets entertain ourselves with some of the new seasons delectables, and indulge our (my) inner shoe fetish...

We'll pretend there's no Valentines day, and instead plan a  fab outing for Easter. No sensible shoes allowed, the gratification only works when we lean to extremes.

First up, the closest thing to sensible is a platform Tory Burch sandal.
This one is a lovely blend of height and comfort (the two don't always ride together)
The strap will make your ankle look edible, and will burn that fool man who let you go.
Or didn't snap you up.

Gucci's Mira sandal is gorgeous with pants that have movement in the lower leg, gorgeous with capris for spring, gorgeous with a skirt that moves. Gorgeous with pretty much anything.
Put it on the "cant go wrong with" list.
You'll wear it for years.

 

While we're at Gucci, lets look at the Kelis sandal. Nothing sensible about this one, but the gratification is extreme.
 Easter Sunday will be so much more fun with these on! They look like they'd hurt, but then love hurts, doesn't it?

Now lets add a little excitement to the equation with some spring love from genius Nicholas Kirkwood. Not for the faint of heart, this man is all about height. Towering, sexy slingbacks, perfect for leaning against things in, or sitting down in. Aren't they fabulous???

Still with Nicholas Kirkwood, lets bring a little crazy to Easter (or Valentines Day) with these:

Aren't they amazing??? I'm sure over at The Man Repeller they would call these, um, Man Repellers, but so what? Its high fashion meets single girl, and it works soooo well!

Saving the best for last, I die a thousand glorious deaths over these

Christian Louboutin (I whisper his name in reverence) Toutenkaboucle.
Brings tears to my eyes.
Honestly single girls, if you have to choose between a man and a shoe this Valentines day, take the shoe.
There are not enough words to describe the ecstatic paroxyms this shoe sends me into.
Just looking at it makes my heart race. Who cares if they cost as much as a house payment??
Oh the fun to be had in this shoe!!

The Naughty List...

Face it - nothing says "dirty Santa" quite like sexy, risque lingerie!
So if you're on the naughty list, here are some fabulous items to ask for...

From Agent Provocateur, The Fifi Collection. Festive!

Very fab Agent Provocateur the Helena Basque.

Who needs to breathe when you can be clinched like this?

 

Agent Provocateur Side Tie Undies.

 From Faire Frou Frou (www.fairefroufrou.com)

I found these Toad Lillie Hot Pink Panties

  

 and this gorgeous What Katie Did Glamour Corselette.

Makes you wonder exactly what it was that Katie did...

These red frilly knickers are from SocksnKnicks

Order them online from the UK in time for Christmas

 Put a bow on it with the Demaris Peach Bow Pantie from Faire Frou Frou

If you're on the naughty list, naughty gets naughtier with a

Love Is Blind mask from Kiki de Montparnasse

Love/Desire bedding from Kiki makes a gorgeous gift too

For those who made the list this year, here is Kylie Minogue's Agent Provocateur commercial,
that not only became a cult classic, but got banned many places too.
Kylie loves great lingerie...

Lip Loving Holiday Gift Guide

Here are some holiday gift sets for lip lovers

Nars Follow The Boys Lip Gloss Set ($48)

This set of Nars lip gloss favorites makes lips look more luscious with dazzling shimmer and shine.
Four .14 oz lip glosses in Moon Fleet (clear with silver and gold flecks), Easy Lover (sheer, hot pink)
Turkish Delight (pink sorbet) and Sweet Revenge (sheer, pink grapefruit)

Tarte Good As Gold Lip Gloss Collection ($165) 

An amazing array of gorgeous glosses in shades that range from sheer to deep. 15 X .6oz glosses in the following universally flattering colors: bubblegum pink, true pink, vivid pink, warm berry, deep raspberry, nude, brown sugar, soft peach, coral, whisper pink, apricot, apple red, mauve, tawny brown and deep plum.


Stila Lip Glaze Set ($120)

A collection of 8 luscious lip glaze shades, packaged in Stila's clickable pens.
There are four top selling shades and four limited edition, holiday shades that give a splash of color and shine to the lips.
The top sellers are: Kitten, Guava, Grapefruit, Apricot
The limited edition colors are: Sea Shell, Blush, Majesty, Merry Merry


Buxom City Slickers ($72) 

A dazzling, eight-piece mini lip color collection that features four Big & Healthy Lip Sticks and four Big & Healthy Lip Polishes. 
Geared toward "Buxom Girls," who live for jet-setting around the globe. Each lovely lipstick and lip polish is infused with antioxidant vitamins E and A to keep lips soft, smooth and protected. Wear one or layer two for a one-of-a-kind fabulous look wherever you land. 
- 4 x 0.07 Mini Big & Healthy Lip Polishes in Amber (washed peach), Brandi (candied plum), Denise (cool pink), and Michelle (raspberry rose) 
- 4 x 0.05 oz Mini Big & Healthy Lip Sticks in Bombay (poppy rose), Marrakech (beige nude), Fresno (blackberry wine), and Vienna (pink lilac) 

All sets are available at Sephora and at Sephora.com

10 Fabulous Pink Gift Ideas

Today my lovely friend Nascar Camping World Truck Series and Nascar Nationwide Series driver, Jennifer Jo Cobb is making history at the final race of the season at Homestead Speedway in Miami.

image by Jeff Robinson, Daytona 2010

Jennifer is the only full time female driver in any of the top three Nascar series, and today becomes the highest ranked female driver of all time in Nascar. On top of that she is the first driver in Nascar to bring a makeup sponsor to the sport.
Jennifer's primary sponsor today is LillysCosmetics.com. She will be driving a pink Lillys Cosmetics Ford F150, and wearing a pink Lillys cosmetics firesuit.

All week I've been posting the Jennifer Jo Cobb makeup looks that you can duplicate with products from LillysCosmetics.com.
Today I'm celebrating Jennifer's huge achievement with 10 pink gift giving ideas for the holiday season. (Jennifer's truck is the #10)

1.) Limited Edition Clarisonic Mia Hope

I swear by my Clarisonic! 

With every purchase of the Limited Edition  Clarisonic Mia Hope Clarisonic will make a donation to help women with cancer to look and feel like themselves again.

2.) A girl needs to smell fabulous too! Enjoy the naughtiness of Agent Provocateur on your wrists, throat, and all your other kissable places.

3.) Celebrate your gorgeous derriere with fun pink undies from Kiki de Montparnasse.
A bow here, a wiggle there - what more could a girl ask for?

4.) Pink diamond earrings. Fabulous!

5.) A pink ceramic watch from Michael Kors. Completely lovely.

6.) The Pink Room Candles. I found these on one of my favorite blogs, Flat Out Fabulous

7.) A cerise or rose pink pashmina. A beautiful accessory as well as the perfect throw to take with you when traveling. Real pashmina is both lightweight and warm, and ideal for air travel.

8.) Pink Frette Sheets.
I don't actually know anyone with pink Frette sheets, but the thought of them is just delicious!

9.) Juicy Couture Bath Caviar. A Juicy Girl needs a little luxury, so why not add some coral extracts of youth and vitality to your bath of glory?

10.) What better celebration of the pure pinkness of it all than a Pink CD? Every girl needs her Funhouse!

Prior work commitments meant I couldn't be in Miami with Jen and the crew to celebrate today, but I will make it home in time to watch her race tonight, so I will be there in spirit! And keeping with today's pink theme I'll be drinking one of these:

 

The perfect (pink) Cosmopolitan!

Good luck Jen!

Your Panties Are In The Mail

This has got to be about the coolest club I have ever seen!

Are you familiar with the coffee of the month clubs, or the wine of the month club, where every month you receive a new bottle of wine or bag of coffee in the mail?
Well how about dialing it up a couple of notches, and getting a wickedly fabulous pair of panties in the mail every single month??

Panty By Post is the brilliant idea of Natalie Grunberg, brought about by her love of all things french. Natalie spends her summers in France, where she has watched and admired French women of all ages, shapes, and sizes, their confidence, fashion savvy and self awareness, and the care and time they put into selecting and wearing pretty lingerie.

Panty By Post supplies women all around the world with gorgeous French panties of superior quality and comfort at an excellent price point. There are a variety of styles and sizes so that all body types are both worshipped and included.

Each month the lucky mailman gets to deliver you a beautiful package with an exciting new panty inside!

You can sign up for varying lengths of time - from the Double Dare or the Menage a Trois to the Sultry Six or The Commitment (12 months).

Just how fabulous would it be to be on the receiving end of this subscription, especially if its from the man who adores you? Or the good friend who loves you?

Its time to feed your love of lingerie!

 Panty By Post ships all over the world. Check them out here at PantyByPost.com
Follow them on facebook 
They're also on twitter @PantyByPost

Find me on facebook at the Corinna B page
Join me on twitter @Corinnamakeup

Ruby Wooooo

When beauty, nature, eastern mysticism and New York boho chic all come together the result is an edgy cool, modern and unique jewelry line called Ruby Kobo.

Yuvi Alpert, the back packing son of a diamond dealer, and Danna Kobo, jewelry designer combined their talents to create pieces that are neither too masculine nor too dainty, and not necessarily gender specific. Their pieces are intended to be layered, and easily manoeuvre  from  fashion day wear to glamourous evening wear.

Yuvi's travels through South America and East Asia gave him a love of ancient eastern mysticism which features predominantly in Ruby Kobo's deigns, where high quality materials such as rubies, diamonds and gold meet up with pave lined hasma hands, Tibetan masks and Tulsi wood beads.

Their intense attention to detail has made them a celebrity favorite, with a client list that includes Rihanna, Julia Roberts, Gwyneth Paltrow and Naomi Watts.

Julia Roberts in Ruby Kobo

Naomi Watts wearing Ruby Kobo at the premiere of Nine

Yuvi Alpert in the original Gold Hasma Pendant

Lindsay Lohan is a big fan of the Ruby Kobo Sashi bracelets, which have faceted crystals and studs enmeshed in brightly colored woven cords.

Whether you're looking for a simple something special to wear with Levis and a t-shirt or for something to dress up your LBD, check out Ruby Kobo