Shopbop & Sephora Present their Color Play 5-in-1 First Fashion Edition Makeup Palette

The stylish new SEPHORA COLLECTION Palette Color Play 5 in 1 limited-edition palette was inspired by Shopbop's just-launched Faces of Fashion editorial look book, and includes five distinct color palettes, each with ten eye shadows, two lip colors, and one blush in color stories that correspond to five iconic figures in fashion. It even comes with a portable mirror compact - simply select which of the five different looks (palettes) you're feeling at the moment & pop it in - making it perfect for busy girls on the go. "Fashion and beauty are inextricably connected, so it seemed fitting to bring them together in an editorial feature. Our customer loves Sephora, so we're thrilled to partner with them on this project," says Shopbop Fashion Director Kate Ciepluch. "Sephora is thrilled to partner with Shopbop on this limited edition palette," agrees Catherine Gore, Director of Merchandising for SEPHORA COLLECTION. "What is an iconic fashion look without the coordinating beauty? By partnering with Shopbop, it allows women to complete Picture 5 these statement fashion looks with the perfect accessory, a high quality, multi-purpose palette from SEPHORA COLLECTION."

The interchangeable color palettes include:

- A Nod to Mod (bright blues, greens, pink, purples)
- Angelic Boudoir (nudes, sands, with a touch of bright blue and fuchsia)
- Black is the New Black (black smoky eyes)
- Boho Bombshell (dark blues, warm taupes, warm golds)
- Classics Never Die (brown smoky eyes)

To celebrate this chic collaboration, Sephora & Shopbop are co-sponsoring a Faces of Fashion sweepstakes ending February 2, 2011 with a chance to win a year's supply of makeup from Sephora and a $2500 shopping spree at Shopbop! The Color Play 5 in 1 palette is now available at Sephora.com, while "Faces of Fashion" can be snagged at Shopbop.com.

To put your new palette through its colorful paces, here are some makeup tips from Sephora PRO Artist, Julie Taing:

A QUICK & COLORFUL SMOKEY EYE Apply the black matte shadow with a small shadow brush.  Complete the fun, edgy look by putting any color of your choice on top.

CREATE DIMENSION Mix shimmer and matte shadows together, applying the shimmer shadows towards the center of the eye and blending with matte shadows in the crease. For a more intense look, line the bottom lash line with a matte shadow.

HAVE FUN WITH COLOR! It's nothing to be scared of! One easy trick is to use a medium shadow brush and apply a natural shade of brown or black all over the top lid, stopping at the crease.  Then, line your bottom lash line with a fun, bold color that accents your eye color.  If you have blue eyes, gold shades look great, while green eyed-beauties should try purple, and brown eyes sparkle with green toned-shadows.

SPRING AHEAD This spring will be all about a fresh, natural look. Try keeping your eye shadows basic with eye-enhancing colors such as soft blues, browns and green with a soft natural pink lip color.  You can also try mixing the palette's peach toned blushes together for a soft and sun-kissed look. For a fun alternative, try a bold lip in your fave vivid lip color (such as raspberry) and pair with a a sparkling eye shadow & a soft, natural cheek color.

www.modernfashionworld.co.cc

Artist Isabelle de Borchgrave's Fab Historical Fashion Gowns & Costumes Made From...Paper

For more than fifteen years, the Belgian artist has been producing a completely original body of work that is easy to explain but difficult to categorize: exquisite re-creations of life-size historical costumes made entirely from...paper. Based on the rich depictions in early European paintings, iconic costumes in museum collections, photographs, sketches and even literary descriptions, de Borchgrave achieves the look of textiles by skillfully crumpling, pleating, braiding, feathering and painting paper. A painter by training, she now collaborates with costume historians and young fashion designers to explore the minds of the artists who created - or depicted - historical gowns, as well as the psyche of the women who wore them. "Although my inspiration springs from the period dresses in the great museum collections, this is just a wink at history," notes the artist who applies an encyclopedic knowledge of textile traditions to interpreting costume history with trompe l'oeil creations which both explore her imaginary world and create their own illusions. "My work is a confluence of influences—paper, painting, sculptor, textiles, costume, illusion and trompe l’oeil."

A new exhibition of her work opens February 5 - June 5, 2011 at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, presenting 60 trompe l'oeil pieces that span many highlights from the history of fashion including the elaborate velvets, needlework lace, ropes of pearls and intricate coiffures of the Renaissance period - in particular, costumes worn by the Medici family & Elizabeth I - gowns worn by Madame de Pompadour, Empress Eugénie and Marie-Antoinette, and designs of grand couturiers such as Fredrick Worth, Paul Poiret, Christian Dior and Coco Chanel.  Special attention will also be paid to the creations and studio of Mariano Fortuny (he of the inspired Grecian pleating) presenting the eccentric early 20th-century artist in an immersive environment under a feather-light tent.

"Pulp Fashion: The Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave" also features nine dresses entirely devoid of color in order to showcase their craftsmanship, as well as a re-creation of the artist's studio to provide insight into her creative process.

"I am proud to say that this exhibition, so appropriately presented in the galleries of our Legion of Honor museum, is the first to offer an overview of the artist’s most important bodies of work," notes Fine Arts Museums director John E. Buchanan, Jr., "from the white dresses and Papiers à la Mode to the Fortuny and Medici collections and her newest creations." Her latest body of work was inspired by six paintings from the museum's European painting collection de Borchgrave selected during a recent visit to the Legion of Honor: Massimo Stanzione's "Woman in Neapolitan Costume" (ca. 1635), "The Bath" (Jean-Léon Gérôme, ca. 1880–1885), "The Russian Bride’s Attire" (Konstantin Makovsky, 1889), "Anna Caffarelli Minuttiba" (Jacob-Ferdinand Voet, ca. 1675), "Marie Claire de Cory and Child" (Anthony van Dyck) & "The Foursome" (Jean-Antoine Watteau, ca. 1714).
"Pulp Fashion: The Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave" will be on display at the Legion of Honor from February 5 – Sunday, June 5, 2011. More info at LegionOfHonor.org.

www.modernfashionworld.co.cc

For the Most Prosperous New Year Ever, Be Sure to Clear Out Some Space

Drawing on an aspect of feng shui known as space clearing, expert Christan Hummel says that clearing away clutter around the house or office can produce major improvements by unblocking the flow of the invisible life energy - or Ch'i - through the space. It may sound woo-woo, but the anecdotal evidence proves otherwise: "When a group of us did a space clearing in the downtown area of San Paulo, Brazil, the traffic cleared up the very next day. All 77 people in the workshop arrived a full hour earlier as a result!" exclaims Hummel, noting that in cities where communities have done space clearing:

    - the crime rate dropped 30-50% in a single month
    - drug-related deaths fell by 25% (Frankfurt)
    - three properties long languishing on the market unsold were snapped up for the asking price within a week (Sonoma, California)
    - the polluted Salton Sea (at the time, North America's most polluted body of water) improved so dramatically within months, that it was eventually found to be free of toxins (California)

"How you behave when you get home and how you arrange your home and office spaces can make a tremendous difference in the flow of energy," explains Hummel, offering these tips on Do-It Yourself space clearing:

PROBLEM: Bad thoughts = bad energy

SOLUTION: Be aware of the thoughts you bring into the home by respecting your own space.  "Take off your shoes and leave them at the front door," says Hummel.  "Consciously leave your worries of the day at the threshold and gain from experience and knowledge of the ancient cultures who left their shoes at the door as a potent symbol of leaving the worries of the day at the door, and not bringing them into the home."

PROBLEM: Lingering bad energy

SOLUTION:  Clean up a room physically and then banish any lingering bad energy through ceremony, sage, smudging, intention & sacred sounds.

PROBLEM: Bringing work headaches home

SOLUTION:  Even if we leave our papers behind, most of us bring the troubles & emotional upsets of the office home. To practice letting it go, try exercise, a luxurious bath, relaxing, meditating, or doing a cleansing ritual: when you shower or take a bath add your intention that all the stresses of the day go down the drain. Alternatively, light a candle at the end of the day to symbolically "burn" your worries and problems of the day.

PROBLEM: Lingering past actions/traumas/emotions

    SOLUTION:  With intention, these unhealthy feelings can be cleared. Try a simple ceremony designed to lift the old vibrations and leave the space clear to receive the highest intentions. With perseverance, you can slowly and steadily overcome the bad energy left by old battles, previous deaths, divorce, and family difficulties and other hardships.

PROBLEM: Clutter, clutter everywhere

    SOLUTION:  Think of your home like a body: it has a circulation system and when life energy flows freely, the environment is healthy.  Clutter, however, blocks the flow. Since clutter represents postponed decisions, make the decisions needed to clear out & put things away. Once the physical pathways in your home are open and clear, the life energy can begin to circulate. "Do some emotional release work, a closure ceremony, perhaps one in which you feel gratitude, appreciation and love for the person in question, then let their items go," advises Hummel. "Keep one or two representative items, and give the others to special people, family members, friends, special organizations close to your heart. Let grandma's cups circulate in the community, not stay locked up in your living room."

www.modernfashionworld.co.cc