Win Maybelline Mineral Powder Makeup FOR LIFE!

You may have noticed some cute new wallpaper in our beauty section. That would be Maybelline, promoting their brand new line of mineral makeup cosmetics, MineralPower by Maybelline New York. What you don't know is that if you click on those images, it will take you to their site where you can enter to win a lifetime supply of Mineral Power products.

You might want to check that out!

Product Review Club Good Days Ahead

If you haven't already, you'll definitely want to sign up for our Product Review Club. Some of our savviest members have been enjoying the benefits for months with giveaways from Lubriderm, Belkin, Nestle Noir, Spa Boutique, and more!

We're constantly approached by companies who'd like our members to review their products on ChickAdvisor and we're currently in the works negotiating some AWESOME new products you will definitely want to try.

How to join the Product Review Club:
* You must be a ChickAdvisor member (sign up, it's free and fun!)
* Email us your member name, real name (first and last), age and mailing address
* There is no cost to join
* You have to agree that you will review the products on ChickAdvisor within 14 days of receiving them.
* You indicate which items you want to review - we don't automatically mail them to you.

When a new product becomes available, we'll send you am email and post some details here on the blog and in our forums letting you know a new item is up for grabs. We may ask you some additional questions about yourself to match the best reviewer up with each item. For example if a product is designed for oily skin we'll need to know your skin type. We then select the most appropriate reviewer for each item. The products are always full sized and yours to keep!

How to submit a product for the Product Review Club:
We vet each product to ensure it is something we believe our members would enjoy. The Product Review Club is ideal for Beauty brands, Health and Wellness, Books, Fashion, etc, however we won't turn you away if we think you have something our members would love.

Send us an email for more information.

Milan Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2008 Trends

Not to say anything bad about NYC and London but fashion week to me is Milan and Paris. NYC has a lot of great designers but it's problem is volume. London is great for creativity but it's a bit small. A lot of my favorite designers show in Milan (Prada, Marni, Jil Sander) and it gets me excited about fashion and what they have planned for the masses.


Bows (Pictured Luisa Beccaria)
Bows are another common trend to the fashion weeks that I'm enjoying. The Italians stuck to small bows on blouses like most designer. However, Francesco cognitional bucked the trend and used large bows in his collection. I'm looking forward to this trend on the streets.


Dramatic Cuts (pictured Jil Sander)
Dramatic cuts continued it's rise in popularity during Milan Fashion Week. Jil Sander's brilliant collection has been the best execution of the dramatic cuts trend in NYC, London and Milan. The trend hit many of the major design houses like Prada, Gucci, Burberry, Bottega Veneta, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Missoni.


Flares (Pictured Burberry)
Say goodbye to the unforgiving skinny trend; pants are spreading out again. Flares and Bell bottoms are making their way back into the mainstream. I hope you didn't throw your old flares out. Burberry used rich colours and shine to make their flares the best of Milan. D&G, Derercuny and Moshino all incorporated flare/bell bottoms in their collections.


Red (Pictured Iceberg)
The red trend powers on through Milan sweeping designers up in it's wake. Bottega Veneta, Moschino cheap and chic, Missoni, Rocco Barocco, Kristina Ti, Iceberg, dsquared and Maurizio Pecoraro all used red making this trend one with staying power and influence.


Bright Tights (Pictured Marni)
Tights, tights and more tights. What seemed like a small flash in the pan in NYC blew up in London and Milan is keeping it going strong.D&G pulled no punches with the tartan theme and tights were made to create a head to toe look. There are subtle design changes going on in th house of Just Cavalli, they are all for the better. He couldn't help himself this season and created leopard print tights.


Collar Treatment (Pictured Jil Sander)
Designers looked to the collar for volume and shape this season in Milan; building from the momentum of the trend from NYC to London. Jil Sander's collection not only did dramatic cuts really well, his collars were to die for. Other designers feeling the dramatic collar are Versace (a little suprising to me, but Donnatella has been moving forward with the collections recently), Roksanda Ilincic, 6267, Alessandro Dell'Acqua and Bottega Veneta.


Tartan (Pictured D&G)
The Tartan train is chugging along. The Italians loved tartan especially D&G who went nuts for the stuff. No other designer so far has taking the trend to this level. Other subdued collections that used tartan included Moschino cheap & chic, Just Cavalli, Dsquared and Dolce & Gabbana.

images: style.com and style.it

London Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2008 Trends

London is the week that everyone throws out expectation and wants to see fresh ideas and new talent. Many major buyers skipped the week citing the strong British pound and it's positioning between NYC and Milan. Just another side effect of the economy.


Red (pictured Giles)
Red didn't have the power it did in NYC, but some designers in London made great use of the colour. Giles is one of those collections; he created some stunning red gowns. Christoper Kane, Ashish, Jenny Packham and Luella.


Blue and Black (pictured Louis Goldin)
Blue and Black was a popular pairing across the pond also. Biba paired blue mini dresses with black detailing with the appropriate dark opaque tights,shoes and hats. Louis Goldin and her sleek, Tron influenced futuristic vision. Sinha-Stanic, Biba, Amanda Wakeley, Jens Laugesen and Richard Nicoll all used this combination for fall.


Dramatic Cuts (pictured Marios Schwab)
This was a small trend in NYC that found designers like Calvin Klein using it heavily. Other designers like Proenza Schouler and Jeremy Laing utilized cuts in a dramatic and fashion forward way. In London, Marios Schwab to it to it's limits of good taste to some and fashion nirvana to others. Giles and Ann-Sofie Back used a subtle approach; the cuts were thin and didn't overwhelm the garment. Jens Laugesen, Ana Sekularac and jean Pierre Braganza.


Collar Treatment (pictured Gareth Pugh)
Designers looked to the collar for volume and shape this season. This was perfect for Gareth Pugh, one of the most anticipated shows during London fashion week. Designers adding a dramatic collar to their collections included Aquascutum, Krystof Stronzyna, Roksanda Ilincic and Richard Nicoll.


Bows (pictured Bora Aksu)
Bows were on the smaller side and could be seen exclusively on blouses during London Fashion Week. Nathan Jenden and Richard Nicoll went big and broke the norm places the bows on the back, shoulders and waist. Many wearable blouses came out of Betty Jackson, Vivienne Westwood Red Label, Issa, Bora Aksu, Eley Kishimoto and Duro Olowu. Bows were a major trend on the London catwalks.


Tartan (pictured Vivienne Westwood red label)
Tartan got the London treatment thanks to designers like Luella, Jaeger London, Paul Costelloe, Vivienne Westwood red label, Ashish and Margaret Howell. House of Holland tartan treatment had a lot of buzz. People were talking about Agyness as the tartan bride. I don't think they had much nice to say about the collection.


Bright tights (pictured Paul Smith)
This trend has some legs and very excited for legwear in the near future. Tights were even more colourful on the London catwalks. Eley Kishimoto used a gingham print, Emma Cook used lace and Vivienne Westwood red label used stars.

images; style.com, vogue.co.uk

Interior Design Trends: Toronto Interior Design Show '08

Thinking of redecorating?

We spent a few hours at the Toronto Interior Design Show this weekend to check out the latest trends. It proved to be very inspiring with a little something for every taste. The themes for 2008 were easy to spot...

Black and White

Everything from wall paper, furniture and throw pillows to smaller accessories... black is back! This trend is crisp and elegant paired with white then using a splash of unexpected color such as red for an accent. Designers used wallpaper instead of paint on one or two accent walls, leaving the rest in a nice clean white to open it up and keep the room from looking too dark or too small.


This wall paper sample is elegant without being overly elaborate.


Chocolate brown paired with cream or ivory affords the same striking contrast with more of an earthy feel.

The Environment

We loved this kitchen garden from The Designer Guys.

Natural wood, celery green, cream, bamboo and organic cottons are the main characteristics of this relaxing trend.


Color

Fresh Aqua with chocolate brown is a popular look. The key here is to keep the furniture in classic colors and experiment with a vibrant splash of color on the walls. Aqua was also common on throw pillows, curtains and other accessories.


House and Home's Linda Reeves designed this room using black and white as the base then loaded it up with colorful accessories, animal prints and eye-popping fuchsia.


The condo fire place and wine rack add a dash of cheer to any room.



There were plenty of unusual and inspiring art exhibits tying black, white and vibrant color together.


Textiles

Elaborate tile schemes for back splashes or bathrooms add a sophisticated touch.

Design Within Reach was one of the show sponsors in conjunction with the launch of their new store in Toronto on 435 King Street W. This is fantastic. If you are not familiar with DWR, it's time to acquaint yourself! They are a fully licensed design shop, which means they sell the real thing, manufactured by the company holding the license to the original design. They sell a wide range of pieces from affordable to pricey.

Check out the rest of our pics from the show!

ChickAdvisor + Twenty Something TV

Thanks to the lovely Jill Clark for having me on Twenty Something TV!

For those of you not familiar with the show, it's like The View but with women in their 20's. They dress up, drink wine, laugh and tackle tough topics. They invited me to join them for the segment "Chasing the Dream". The episode has just aired online.

Also on this episode: Actor/Model Dorly Jean-Louis, Sportscaster, Caroline Frolic (The Score), and Katie Coristine, a television producer.

Check it out!

Mercedes Benz NYC Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2008 Trends

The collections were dark and sombre, falling in line with the economic mood of the world. The subprime fiasco is having global consequences and the luxury industry is wondering what part of their business is going to take the biggest hit. There was a general turn to the masculine throughout the week. Some trends this fashion week were widespread and others just a ripple.


Red (pictured Zero Maria Cornejo)
Red is a great change from the pinks that have been popular over the last few seasons. Burnt hues dominated the runway with the heavyweights Proenza Schouler, Herve Leger and Oscar de la Renta. There were reds across the spectrum from the bright supersaturated version at Y3, Zero Maria Cornejo and Marchesa and the more purple based reds at Zac Posen, Reyes and Donna Karen.


Blue (pictured Marchesa)
Blue was another dominate force with many designers falling under its spell. Cobalt blue was the standout shade and designers like Betsey Johnston, Karen Walker, Matthew Williamson and Oscar de la Renta used it. The darker shades of blue were plentiful and some standouts did the opposite. Rodarte used the lightest shade of baby blue that lent well to their twisted fairy tale themed collection. Other notable blues were used by Narciso Rodriguez, Marchesa, Preen, Proenza Schouler and Benjamin Cho.


Blue and Black (pictured Marc by Marc Jacobs)
Blue was popular but so was pairing it with black as seen at Calvin Klien, Doo ri, Vera Wang, Zero Maria Cornejo, Proenza Schouler, Rag and Bone, Lela Rose, Costello Tagliapetra, Elle Tahari, Benjamin Cho, Bill Blass, Derek Lam and Thakoon. That list is nowhere near complete.



Velvet (pictured Ports 1961)
I’m not a big fan of velvet but I’m in the minority. The darker colour palette of fall 2008 2009 lends itself well to velvet. Dresses were staples, but you could find a pair of velvet pants at Carolina Herrera. Some of the majors using velvet include Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren and Oscar de la Renta.


Bows (pictured Carolina Herrara)
Oversized bows adorned many a blouse during New York fashion week. Proenza Schouler had my favourite version of the bow in my opinion. Thakoon, United Bamboo, Carolina Herrera, Doo ri, Jason Wu, Ruffian and Marc by Marc Jacobs all used bows in their collections.


Flora and Nature (pictured Benjamin Cho)
It took NYC a season to jump on this bandwagon. It was used sparingly in many collections and a few chose to make abundance use of the theme. Florals a la Balenciaga were featured at Betsey Johnson, Diane Von Furstenberg, Erin Featherstone, Karen Walker and Bill Blass. Designers like Marchesa, Benjamin Cho and Koi Suwannagate used textile flowers as embellishments on dresses.


Neo Gothic (pictured Rodarte)
This is a small but interesting trend that uses qualities from past period with a contemporary spin. Rad Hourani (a Canadian) had a beautiful collection of black and red. Rodarte’s punk rock fairies were complete with spike Christian Louboutin pumps. Ruffian, Phi and even bridal queen Vera Wang infused the past with the present.


Tartan (pictured Ralph Lauren)
Some designers turned traditional tartan on hits head like Thakoon, Ports 1961. Some collections were overrun with tartan like Ralph Lauren and Thakoon. The amount of red tartan on the runway solidifies the colours dominance this season.