image by Brad Olson
makeup by Corinna Cooke

Are you dreading Valentine's Day?

Although it can be deliriously lovely for those who are in perfect relationships, Valentine's day can be plain awful for single girls, or girls who's significant other choose not to celebrate it.

You would be surprised how many girls are facing a February 14th spent alone. If you are one of them, don't go feeling bad - take the day into your own hands and have yourself some fun!

The Single Girl's Guide To Surviving Valentine's Day

Plan A Girls' Night Out

Chances are some of your friends don't have Valentine's dates. Get the gang together and go out somewhere fun! Plan something girl-centric, go to your favorite restaurant or go dancing - just make it fun.

Plan A Girls' Night In

Host a girl's-spa night in with wine and appetizers, have a masseuse, a nail person and a makeup artist come over. Turn your home into the most fabulous spa-zone ever!

If everyone else has a date and you are going to be alone, take the time to celebrate yourself.

Get Dressed Up

Even if you don't have a date get dressed up for yourself. Buy a pretty dress, do your hair and makeup, and celebrate you!

Get a Mani/Pedi

When your fingers and toes look and feel lovely, you feel lovely. So what if you are staying home with Netflix??

Take Yourself To Dinner

Get dressed up, grab a good book and take yourself out for a fabulous dinner. Who needs a dinner companion? read a great book instead.

Buy Yourself Some Roses

Who doesn't love flowers? Valentine's is nothing if not the flowers and chocolate holiday, so as kitschy as it may seem, buy yourself an armful of flowers, a box of chocolates and maybe a demi-bouteille of champagne.

Curl Up With A Good Movie

If all else fails, put on some bold red lipstick (the world is more exciting with red lips on!) put your flowers on the coffee table next to your chocolates and some popcorn, and curl up on the couch with Netflix for a romance movie marathon.

Beauty Tip Of The Week ~ Temptu Color True Lipstick

Are your lips ready for Valentine's Day?

I have a series of posts coming up this week about perfecting your Valentine's lip game, and I'm starting it off with a beauty tip of the week, and that is to try the new Temptu Professional True Color Lipsticks.
I'm obsessed.



These lipsticks balance intense color with a lightweight finish. The color payoff is just fabulous! They are a demi-matte finish and give you long lasting continuous color. 

There are 8 bold, glorious shades to choose from, and there is just enough time to order them for Valentine's Date night.

Pucker up!

Valentine's Lips Don't Lie

The great celebration of smooching is almost here, so there is no time like now to get your kisser ready for a big dose of lovin!

These 3 fabulous lip products came across my desk a while back, and I wanted to share them with you intime for you to get supple, kissable lips for Valentine's Day.

Because Valentine's Lips Don't Lie

1. Ilia Tinted Lip Conditioner

By day keep your lips soft and conditioned with this soothing lip conditioner. Ilia uses all organic ingredients, and their lip conditioner comes in a variety of shades that give a sheer wash of color, but that add intensity when applied liberally.
Winter lips need extra protection during the day, and this one is just gorgeous.

Ilia Tinted Lip Conditioner in These Days

2. Nuxe Reve de Miel
This one is a powerhouse repair product for chapped and sore lips, but is also a fanatstic anytime lip balm. I use it in my pro makeup kit, but also keep tubs of it at home and in my handbag.I love to wear it to bed at night, it's so concentrated that you only use a little, and wake up with smooth soft lips.
Nuxe Reve de Miel lip balm always gets 5 star reviews - I think it may be one of the very best lip balms ever.

Nuxe Reve De Miel Lip Balm

3. Lancer Volume Enhancing Lip Serum
With your lips all soft and supple it's time to plump them up a liitle with Dr Lancer's amazing Volume Enhancing Lip Serum. Not only does it increase lip volume (without any harsh irritants), but it also smoothes out the appearance of the little fine lines around the lips, making your lips look even more kissable.

Lancer Volume Enhancing Lip Serum

Chrissy Tiegen And John Legend For GQ Magazine February 2015

I like these two together.
I always think Chrissy Tiegen looks like she is fun to be around.

The husband and wife team up with photographer Anders Overgaard for this Valentine's month shoot in GQ Magazine.

She is so sexy in these images, but don't you think John looks like he just wandered in? Like maybe he's not supposed to be there?
Somehow his vibe just doesn't match.

But I bet they have fun together.

Thoughts?

Single Girl's Survival Guide To Valentines Day, Sweet Tips

We all know how lovely it is to receive chocolates and flowers, especially on Valentines Day.

If you happen to be meandering through a dude-free spell in your life, or maybe like my friends, you are suddenly single, and hurting, the lack of said flowers and chocolates can leave a wide, gaping hole in your day.
Traditional wisdom would say "Go buy your own" . Corinna's wisdom says "chocolate consumed during moments of misery goes straight to your thighs. And stays there."

My twitter friend @Immachocoholic has a whole different spin on the food category, and its really quite fabulous...

The following has been (quite liberally) lifted from their website Gourmet Healthy Chocolates.com

Chocolate is good for you

“Chemically speaking, chocolate really is the world’s perfect food.”  (Michael Levine)

Chocolate is good for you and I am NOT talking about the ‘candy’ that has chocolate in it. Many people associate chocolate with candy and most do not know the difference. Chocolate candy contains refined white sugar and other fillers including wax. Chocolate in its truest form is a nutrient powerhouse that really is good for your body.

 

Chocolate contains several minerals and vitamins. Dark chocolate is higher in cacao content and contains magnesium which helps muscles relax, aids nerve conduction and energy production as well as bone and teeth development. Women who lack magnesium experience greater PMS (premenstrual syndrome) symptoms. Dark chocolate also contains Copper that is directly involved in the chemical processes of the body. And, dark chocolate is also high in potassium that is vital to your cardiovascular health.

I've never tried this Xocai stuff, but they have it on their website

 Dark chocolate is also high in fiber! A diet high in fiber contributes to lowering cholesterol, is beneficial in lowering colon cancer, and improves metabolism  Studies on dark chocolate have shown that it is very high in antioxidants and prevents oxidation of the ‘bad cholesterol’ that implicates your cardiovascular health.

Chocolate Facts:

 

 It is estimated that approximately 1 billion people eat chocolate every day. The average American consumes 12 pounds of chocolate a year.The average European consumes 15 pounds of chocolate a year.

Nine out of ten people love chocolate.
Fifty percent of the population cannot live without chocolate every day.
Chocolate is known to increase serotonin and dopamine.
The topic of chocolate is universal.
Chocolate in its raw form is the highest antioxidant food on the planet.
When chocolate is processed or heated 60-80% of the beneficial antioxidants are killed.
Gourmet healthy chocolate promotes a healthier body by helping it come into balance naturally.
Chocolate that is not processed is a whole clean food that contains beneficial compounds called Flavanoids.
Theobromine is a natural ingredient that is a safer alternative as compared to caffeine.
It is a vasodilator which opens the blood vessels that helps reduce blood pressure and may even help with high cholesterol.
Chocolate helps curb your appetite and has been proven to help you lose weight.

I am so excited about any chocolate that helps you lose weight!
For fun and interesting tips on chocolate follow them on twitter @Immachocoholic
For more makeup fun follow me @Corinnamakeup
Check out www.gourmethealthychocolate.com for some Valentines Day chocolate options.
At least that way if you're going to do some chocolate damage this Valentines day, you'll be doing it the right way :)

And as for flowers? 

I found this fun item on "What His Flowers Really Mean..." 
Just between you and me, I never thought they put that much thought into it??? 
 

Single Girl's Survival Guide To Valentines Day, Day 2

So here we are on day 2 of our Single Girl's Survival Guide to Valentines Day.
And there is no day like Tuesday to talk about lingerie.

One of the biggest lingerie mistakes women make has nothing to do with the size or the fit, but everything to do with the reason for buying it.
I hear girls saying "why should I buy it if I have no one to show it too?"
I can't even tell you how much that messes with the Tao of Me.

Girls should always buy lingerie for their own pleasure, not for anyone elses. Buy it because you love it, buy it because it feels good, buy it because it makes you feel good, not because some dude might like it.
Wear it for the luxury, feel fabulous in it, and if some bloke catches a glimpse - well lucky old him.

And face it, if he sees you in granny pants he's probably going to be all kinds of happy, because afterall, he's just seen you in your undies.

Now, with men out of the shopping equation, lets look at some options that will make the single girl's Valentines Day a whole lot more fun.

One of my favorite lingerie stores is Faire Frou Frou in Sherman Oaks California.


From Faire Frou I found this
Maison Close gartered bodysuit
worn under a fun little spring dress (or winter one if you live in colder climes), much fun to be had!

Also from Faire Frou Frou, bring some power to your power meeting,
wearing a hot little number like this Lascivious Lila bra and Milla bodysuit under your business suit.
I personally am convinced that sales calls go better when you're wearing these.














There is alot to be said for wearing a corset, although perhaps not so much on days where you have tons of driving to do...

Almost virginal in white  
(I did say almost),
this Forever Yours white corset is really
very inexpensive.

It even has removable shoulder straps to help
hold you up if you have weightier boobs.



















Pink is fun. Kinda sweetly sexy too.

Its amazing what you can find if you just google "Valentines Lingerie"
This girl looks pretty empowered in her "Night of Seduction" set from 3Wishes.com
It would totally work under virtually anything you could possibly want to wear.

And lets face it - nothing says "howdy" quite like a peek-a-boo bra

 peekaboo bra in leather

or peekaboo bra in what ever this is...

 I can't really imagine this girl feeling sorry for herself on Valentines Day, can you? Probably because her bra is all support and no, um, coverage. She's having all kinds of fun.
I found this one at 3Wishes.com

So the moral of the story is, so what if you're single for Valentines Day? Go buy yourself something fun or fabulous, naughty or nice, something that you would feel completely lovely in, and buy it with yourself in mind, not the fool that just left you, or the one that didn't snap you up.

Chin up girlie!