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Val

GTL: The Boldest Beauty Looks of the 2018 Screen Actors Guild Awards

GTL – Get the Look, not Gym, Tan, Laundry, duh!

Sunday’s night Screen Actors Guild Awards appeared to be an almost 180 of the Golden Globes‘ sea of solidarity in the form of black gowns. The sentiments of the #MeToo movement still reverberated throughout the evening with Marissa Tomei saluting Rosanna Arquette and the many others who spoke about the sexual harrassment they faced in the industry. But the 2018 SAG awards red carpet seemed to offer a hopeful look at the future, which might’ve been sparked by the high spirits after the second Women’s March just the day before, as actresses fully embraced color from the clothes to the cosmetics.

As such, I decided to dig for the details on some of the vibrant beauty looks from the stars’ hairstylists and makeup artists should you want to snag the look for a date night look, a festive formal, or anything else on your social agenda.

January 22, 2018 by Val

Beauty, Skin

#OnMyVanity: Herbivore Botanicals’ Blue Tansy AHA + BHA Resurfacing Clarity Mask

I receive a slew of samples, and when I find something I like, I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

By now, everyone’s posted and later rolled their eyes at the phrase “New Year, New Me,” but one resolution I’ve been trying to stick to is taking better care of my skin. Which not only means keeping my face hydrated and protected but also sticking to a regualr masking schedule. But as many masks as I have in my menagerie, I only use them when my face looks especially hurt, like after the dust settles on a bad breakout. I know, I know, I should know better, especially as a acne sufferer.

Many of the masks I have on hand take a while to work (we’re talking 20 minutes sometimes); some not only need a good rinse but also a couple of cotton pads soaked in micellar water to make your skin clean sometimes, and others formulated with harsh chemical exfoliants tend to make my skin feel tight and sensitized. So it’s easy to get a little lazy about that part of your skincare routine.

January 19, 2018 by Val

Beauty, Hair

Amena Khan Becomes the First Model to Rock a Hijab In a Major Hair Ad

via L’Oréal Paris UK.

Update: Mere days after beauty blogger Amena Khan was announced as L’Oréal’s first hijab-wearing hair model, she has backed out of the campaign in light of a Twitter backlash. Khan made the announcement on Twitter and Instagram stating that the decision was made after tweets from 2014 in which she criticized Isreal came to light. Though she has since deleted the tweets, she decided to step down as she didn’t want to detract “from the positive and inclusive sentiment that [the L’Oréal campaign] set out to deliver.”

The brand delivered a statement Monday, saying, “We have recently been made aware of a series of tweets posted in 2014 by Amena Khan, who was featured in a UK advertising campaign. We appreciate that Amena has since apologised for the content of these tweets and the offence they have caused. L’Oréal Paris is committed to tolerance and respect towards all people. We agree with her decision to step down from the campaign.”

January 19, 2018 by Val

Beauty, Skin

Glossier’s Latest Launch Guarantees A Serious Acne ‘Solution’

A post shared by Glossier (@glossier) on Jan 16, 2018 at 2:59pm PST

Glossier is well known for providing incredibly Instagrammable products that help deliver its signature “Glossier Glow,” that naturally radiant and almost glassy-looking skin on the chic models that flood our social streams in a swirl of millennial pink. And while the beauty brand stepped into skincare a while ago (most recently unleashing a sunscreen), it’s out to conquer new territory: acne.

Glossier Solution finally hits shelves today (and is likely selling out at lightning speed) after weeks of teasing on Instagram.Housed in a pink bottle with a pump lid dispenser, the brand is also offering its own cotton pads, embossed with its signature “G,” to apply the Solution with. The new skincare essential is touted as an exfoliating skin perfector that gently sloughs away dead skin cells to keep pores clear, shrink their size, reduce redness as well as even tone and texture in mere weeks. In fact, the product page includes a series of before and after images of its effects on various skin tones and concerns.

January 17, 2018 by Val

Beauty

CVS Commits to Airbrush-Free Imagery

Courtesy of CVS.

CVS Pharmacy is making serious changes to what you’ll see in the beauty aisle.

The brand announced on Monday that it’s pledging to quit “materially altering” any imagery used in its stores, websites, social media, and marketing starting this April. In fact, a watermark, which the brand coined the CVS Beauty Mark, will appear on all of the materially unaltered imagery in the form of a heart inside of a circle. The retailer is taking the commitment even further by asking the brands that line its shelves to follow suit by skipping the Photoshop or to label those retouched images accordingly.

“We’ve reached out to many of our beauty brand partners, many of whom are already thinking about this important issue, to work together to ensure that the beauty aisle is a place that represents and celebrates the authenticity and diversity of the communities we serve,” Helena Foulkes, President of CVS Pharmacy and Executive Vice President, CVS Health, said in a press release. “We’ve been inspired by their willingness to partner with us to redefine industry standards around this important issue for the well-being of all of our customers.”

January 15, 2018 by Val

Beauty, Makeup

Gal Gadot Chooses to “Live Boldly” As The New Face of Revlon

via Women’s Wear Daily.

After saving the world and breaking a slew of box office records last year, Gal Gadot has set out to #LiveBoldly as the face of Revlon’s new campaign.

Announcing the partnership via Instagram on Tuesday, the Wonder Woman star is encouraging everyone to embrace their own version of beauty and become their own superheroes in the campaign that’s slated to roll out this month, marking another signpost in the cultural shift taking place in Hollywood and the beauty aisle. “Anything that makes you feel more confident, more beautiful and better about yourself has to do with [feminism],” she said during an interview about the new partnership.

January 10, 2018 by Val

Fashion

Gabi Gregg’s Latest Swimwear Collection Focuses On the Impact of Inclusivity

via GabiFresh.

Gabi Gregg is back on the sales rack with the her latest collection for Swimsuits for All. But this time around, there’s an even bigger message that goes beyond body positivity to go along with her bold designs.

Though I’ve loved how the influencer and entrepreneur has always used her platform to spread body positivity, her latest collection strikes an even more empowering chord thanks to its campaign. And I couldn’t be more excited about it! Featuring Philomena Kwao, a model and philanthropist, and Ericka Hart, an activist and sexuality educator, in the Survivor-inspired (the Destiny’s Child throwback, not the reality TV show) spread, each shared their own stories of survival and how it has empowered them to push forward for a better, more inclusive, future. “I wanna insert myself in a narrative where I’m oftentimes erased,” Hart said in an audio clip on Swimsuits For All’s site. “And just in general, you don’t get to see black, queer femmes talking about their bodies, and being topless, and pushing up against white supremacists’ notions of how we’re supposed to exist.”

January 9, 2018 by Val

Beauty, Hair, Makeup

GTL: The Boldest Beauty Looks of the 2018 Golden Globes

GTL – Get the Look, not Gym, Tan, Laundry, duh!

Embed from Getty Images

When I first heard that the women of Hollywood were choosing to wear black gowns to this year’s Golden Globes in protest of sexual harassment in all industries, I was actually pretty excited! I believed the all-black dress code would also foster more fun and creative hair and makeup looks as well. While most stuck to more natural looks, I was psyched to see many stars stepping out of their red carpet comfort zones when it came to their beauty looks.

But the evening was about way more than just gowns and glamour. These women created a visual protest against a system that for too long has valued women less, in many senses of the word and in all industries, (which could be even worse for a person of color, those who are LGBT+, and/or have a disability) and were and still are punished for speaking out. And when the Time’s Up Legal Defense fund was announced, I was even more thrilled as it would not only help without the same visibility or financial status as these actresses but also provide tangible help to fight alongside them as well as push for legislation to help level the playing field for all.

While the fashion made the biggest statement of the evening, many actresses served up style with substance. A few brought activists like senior director of the nonprofit Girls for Gender Equity and founder of the #MeToo movement Tarana Burke (who went with Michelle Williams) as their guests. And most skipped the constant “Who are you wearing?” question in order to make direct calls to action for their peers and viewers to learn more and get involved. In fact, Debra Messing and Eva Longoria set the tone for the evening by calling out E! (while on E!) about its equal pay dispute with Catt Sadler, siding with the former on-air correspondent who recently left the network after discovering her male co-anchor was paid more than her.

But even with such a big night filled inspiration, insight, and Oprah, I still wanted to share some of the details on how to recreate the looks from the hairstylists and makeup artists so you in case you want to recreate these glamorous looks for your next special occasion.

January 8, 2018 by Val

Beauty, Makeup

Jeremy Scott Mixes It Up With MAC

Photo: Courtesy of Mac Cosmetics via Fashionista.com

Curated Spotify playlists are the current go-to platform to share your music with friends and SO’s. But when I was a teen, your favorite tunes or just new music you needed to check out were shared in the form of burned CDs, complete with a Sharpie inscription. And prior to that, it was the classic cassette tape that held so many precious music memories (my dad actually wooed my mom with one.) No matter if you bumped them in your Discman on the way to school or in your parents car on the way to the mall, each had their own vibe — I mean, who else got a breakup mix CD from their bestie after getting dumped? (Just me? Ok.)

It’s the same feeling that Jeremy Scott channeled for his upcoming collaboration with MAC, which is slated to hit shelves February 8th, since music is always a part of his creative process. “In general when I’m sketching or musing about a collection or a musician who I am doing costumes for, music is always on and playing. I love how music can take a room and alter it,” he told Vogue, dropping the names of some his muses like Rihanna, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus, and Cardi B that populate his playlists.

January 4, 2018 by Val

Personal Musings

I’M BA-ACK!

A post shared by Val’s Vanity (@valsvanity) on Dec 16, 2017 at 2:07am PST

Did you miss me?

Aww, I missed you too! I promise I wasn’t too far away….just on a different platform. But with the New Year and the many changes that come with it, I wanted to share a few of the resolutions I’m planning on keeping for 2018, the first being: getting back to sharing beauty secrets and fangirling about my faves from the big screen to the store shelves right here.

Want to know what else I’m hoping to achieve during 2018? Check them out under the cut!

January 3, 2018 by Val

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