Author: Lani Grass

Perfume… is an unseen, unforgettable, ultimate fashion accessory. It heralds your arrival and prolongs your departure.– Coco Chanel

Who else can describe the essence of what fragrance is better than Coco Chanel herself?  Up until I worked in the industry, I knew so little about the centuries old allure of these mysterious essences.

Today, fragrance is the pièce de résistance to completing your look. It can be your invisible signature and if chosen correctly, can make you appear much more polished.

Perfume or Parfum. This is the ultimate luxury. It is the highest concentration and offers strength, hold and persistence.  It is made of up to 40% perfume oil and although the most pricey of the choices here, it makes up for it in pureness of scent and staying power.  Longevity on skin:  5-6 hours.

Eau De Parfum. This is an intermediate concentration. It still has a high perfume concentration, but is available in a convenient spray. EDP is made of up to 30% perfume concentration and while is more expensive than Eau De Toilette, is far less than perfume.  Longevity on skin: 3-4 hours.

Eau De Toilette. This is the lightest concentration. It is made up of 10-18% perfume oil and is the most affordable of the three choices.  Longevity on skin: 2 hours.

Fragrances are traditionally classified into four main olfactory categories: 

Citrus: These have fresh, sparkling, and energizing notes. They are a great choice for casual daytime wear. Choices include Bvlgari White Tea, Cartier Eau De Cartier and Guerlain Pamplelune.  

Florals: Like wearing a bouquet of flowers. These come in light or more sensual notes and are commonly structured around roses, jasmine, iris, tuberose and ylang-ylang. Some choices are Yves Saint Laurent Paris, Estee Lauder Beautiful, Ralph Lauren Romance and my personal signature scent, Marc Jacobs.

Chypre: Based on Bergamot and crisp top notes combined with a flowery heart note such as rose and jasmine, Chypre scents evoke a warm and woody scent. A few choices here are Dior Miss Dior, Knowing by Estee Lauder, Mitsouko by Guerlain and Aromatics Elixir by Clinique.

Oriental: Dominated by a blend of sandalwood and vanilla with soft, warm notes such as bitter almond mingled with woody, spicy or floral accent, some choices are Givenchy Hot Couture, Dior Midnight Poison, Obsession by Calvin Klein and Guerlain L’ Here Bleu.

Tips for wearing fragrance and making it last longer:

• For longest results, layer your fragrance all over your body with matching fragrance products such as a shower gel, soap, or bath oil, then a matching lotion or body cream.  (If you have dry skin, use a lotion or body cream. If you have oily skin, apply talc.) Follow with matching perfume at the pulse points, or an all-over spritz of eau de parfum.

• Spray fragrance straight up into the air and let it settle on you like a fragrant cloak.
• Lift up your hair and spray directly into it. The scent will remain in your hair much longer than it will on your skin.
• Use perfume or eau de parfum for staying power.

• If you have dry skin, you will need to wear more perfume, and re-apply your fragrance more often than someone with oilier skin.

• Wear stronger fragrances in cold weather. Cold reduces a scent’s intensity.

• Spray the inside of your elbow and behind your knee, for a longer lasting fragrance. The fragrance stays a little moist & scent works best just a little bit humid.
• It’s always good to rotate your fragrance choices because you will get desensitized to the aroma and you can inadvertently start applying too much and you won’t even know it.

 
Now that the holidays are upon us, it’s the perfect time to ask for your favorite scent or maybe even purchase one for yourself as there are many promotions that go along with them this time of year.

Fragrance can be an affordable luxury; by choosing the right bouquet you too can make a statement both of refinement and grace.

The choice is always yours, make it a good one!

~ Lani

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I love the holidays, I always have. Maybe it’s the weather change, the smell of cinnamon candles, the anticipation of gathering with family and friends or sipping hot cocoa in front of a warm fire?  But it also can be a stressful time of year with all the planning and events on the horizon.  In all the fuss and commotion, many of us think of ourselves last. But this season, it can be a different story…

For any holiday event, dressing for a party is like a balancing act. You want to look special with pretty make-up, sexy hair, and sparkly jewelry, but you still don’t want to look over-the-top, like you’re trying too hard, right?

Below are two perfect holiday make-up looks that I teach my clients. The key is balance and it’s all in the details, so pay close attention! Both looks start with a fresh, clean face, perfectly-matched foundation and finished eyebrows. 

1. Lip focus: Use soft, natural colors on the eyes. Be sure to wear brown or black eyeliner on the top lash line and use mascara to finish upper and lower eyelashes. Use a natural color on the cheeks as well. Apply a red or berry color on your lips with a brush and then line your lips with a matching pencil and finish with a beautiful, clear gloss. Note, the color palette on the cheeks and lips need to match. 
2. Eye focus:  Brush on neutral colors all over your eyelids. Then apply a charcoal color on the lower part of your eyelids and blend to the outer edges. Use a more dramatic eyeliner on the top lid and on the lower lid as well if you’re comfortable. Lightly dampen a sponge eyeshadow applicator and layer the charcoal shadow on top of the eyeliner to blend it in. You can also use other dark colors instead of charcoal if you feel so inclined! Apply a heavier hand with mascara on upper and lower eyelashes. Blend a soft color on the cheeks using a light touch. For lips, brush on a much more natural shade, outline with a matching lipliner and finish with a pretty gloss.

 

For Holiday Hair, the trick to looking special for a party is not wearing the exact same hairstyle you normally wear. If you usually wear it down, pull it back with a thin, sparkly headband or put it up in a soft bun or dressy ponytail. If you normally wear it pulled back, try curling it or straightening it and wearing it down. Apply a very light coat of hair oil to the ends to make hair glossy and add the illusion of thickness.

What about holiday bling? Now is the time to get out of your comfort zone and buy those gorgeous chandelier earrings or any other sparkly bauble you’ve been craving. Remember not to wear large, focal pieces too close together; ie, no chandelier earrings next to a show-stopping necklace.

Practice these looks at home before you actually have a party to get ready for and you’ll be excited and prepared for the upcoming holidays. The surprising outcome of taking care of yourself is that you’ll have more emotional energy to take care of others. So, decide now to make this your most beautiful season ever!

The choice is always yours, make it a good one!

~ Lani

P.S. If you like this style blog, please forward it to your friends so they can sign up and start enjoying it too! And here’s to us, and being our personal best!

   

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in life is how to get the most value out of something I want. I’m one of those careful people who thinks before I leap.

Not being a notorious risk- taker, I’ve actually been told I should have gone into Risk Management as a career! This line of reasoning also pertains to my views on fashion and what I spend my hard-earned money on.  Here are three building blocks to upgrading the look of your wardrobe.  I’ve also added a new resource I’d like to introduce to you.

CPW: Being a well-known connoisseur of classics, I educate my clients on CPW (cost per wear). You can calculate this out when you take the amount you paid for an item and divide it by how many times you have or will wear the item. This is a good way to see if you’re making a wise purchase or not. Ask yourself how many times you’ve bought something only to have worn it once or twice because the style doesn’t transcend into the next seasons?  Without a doubt, buying something of quality for a great price is the ideal fashion purchase.

Key Items: Weaving in quality key items into your closet will also make your whole wardrobe look more upscale. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on the majority of your wardrobe, just select some fabulous finds and strategically buy them to mix and match with what you already have.

Add some refinement to your wardrobe: I believe that fashion trends are moving into a more sophisticated era… Thank you Kate Middleton!  You will see more and more elegant, yet sexy styles hit the runway and magazines. You can still rock casual while being fashionably chic. Think jeans with a flattering T-shirt and a great jacket.  When you combine something that is well-made with updated accessories and neatly applied, yet not-overdone make-up, it’s the perfect combination of looking effortlessly elegant.

I’d like to introduce you to Etcetera: While personal shopping with many clients, we often frequent their favorite clothing stores on a mission to find items on their customized shopping list.  This is a great way to begin shopping in a familiar environment.  The frustration enters when we can’t find key items we came looking for.  For this reason, I recently began partnering Etcetera, a New York fashion design house.

Etcetera: It is an exclusive yet affordable line. It is not sold in stores and is presented by private appointment only with consultants throughout the country. The clothes are simple, wearable, fabulous and very sophisticated. Etcetera debuts their seasonal lines 4 times a year and they are available for a limited time period.  Etcetera designs their collection around real feedback from real customers.  In other words, they listen to what women want! Every piece is sold as separates and is designed to combine and re-combine with other pieces in upcoming collections.  The clothes are a great value in “Cost per Wear” because they are designer quality at department store pricing (such as Nordstrom).  We all love gorgeous clothes at great prices.

Enter each season with thoughtful selection in cost (CPW), adding a couple key items, and refining your look with a new accessory, you’ll find yourself stepping up the look of your wardrobe.

This is your Season to Shine!

~ Lani

A SPECIAL OFFER:

For my Portland, Oregon clients, I am debuting Etcetera on November 23^rd through December 6^th!

Clients will receive a 1-hour customized fashion consultation as a gift ( $50.00 value) just for scheduling an appointment to shop the private showing.

To receive a personal invitation, or if you have questions, please email: [email protected] and visit: www.etcetera.com to view the full collection.

“Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.”
— Coco Chanel

Ah yes, the little black dress has been a fashion code for so many years that you might not think about it as a fashion “must have” any more. Well, think again! This is your basic evening classic- an elegant blank canvas that you can accessorize up or down to suit your every occasion. Women have always loved the LBD because it’s black, which can visually take pounds off our frames and most importantly, it makes us feel sexy!

 Be sure to purchase one that makes you feel great in it. Buy it in a fabric you can wear year round. It will be the perfect background for all those fabulous and bold accessories that you can’t get away wearing with anything else. This is the item in your closet that you can wear to show off those drop-dead jeweled sandals and glitzy jewelry.

You should expect to pay more for an item like this because it is a fashion investment. Buy a well-made dress that you will have for years.  

Accessories; the sky’s the limit! Now that you have your LBD, it’s time to start thinking about what jewelry to wear it with. The idea isn’t to grab every nice piece of jewelry in your collection and put it on at once, but to strategically plan your ensemble out. Know that jewelry can date you. When you walk into someone’s home and look at their jewelry, you can tell if they’re 80 or 30 years old. If your jewelry is outdated, put it away for now. Most likely it will come back into style again. Wear the jewelry for the moment.

If your dress has a low neckline, wear a necklace that makes a statement. Much better to wear a bold, fabulous fake than a tiny diamond solitaire that gets lost in that dress. You can read the fashion magazines for ideas of what’s in for the season.

Follow the LBD bling rules! If you want to wear a bold necklace, don’t wear bold matching earrings next to it. Wear smaller earrings and maybe a big cocktail ring.

If you are wearing a jeweled cuff bracelet, you can rock the big earrings, but don’t wear the cocktail ring.

Location matters where this is concerned. You don’t want two bold pieces in close proximity to each other.  The goal is to look effortlessly elegant. Now, go out and have fun glamming it up!

If you enjoy this style blog, please forward it to your friends so they can sign up and start enjoying it too! And here’s to us, being our personal best!

The choice is always yours, make it a good one!

~ Lani

There is a well-known saying, “Dress for success”; this is an important fact in the professional world. Whether you are looking to be promoted, or just looking to get hired, you should always be dressed as if you are already in the position that you want. It is going to be a lot easier for management to picture you in your ideal position if you already look the part. And if you look the part, you will start to feel the part as well. This also shows that you take initiative and value taking good care of yourself.

People are generally pretty simple. They make a lot decisions based on first impressions. This may be an asset or a detriment for you depending on what first impression you give. It isn’t fair, but it’s very true.  Especially if you are self-employed, you should be very polished-looking.  You are the face of your business and people are going to make assumptions about your business based on what you look like. Take the time to plan what you are going to wear and how it is going to look for the occasion.  Don’t waste an opportunity to make a deal by not looking your best.   

Details, details, details! This is the difference between someone who just threw on a nice outfit and someone who is a polished professional. If you’re a man, does your suit fit you correctly? Does your shirt sleeve show just ½ of an inch beyond your jacket sleeve? Did you know to cut off the little pieces of thread that hold the pockets and slit in the back of your jacket together? (I’ve seen this a lot and it’s not good) Do you have a good haircut? Are your nails trimmed? This may seem like minutia, but it really does make a difference and believe me, people will notice!

If you’re a woman, do you have a make-up line from your foundation being a darker color? Are your fingernails chipped or the outdated dragon lady style? Are you wearing nylons with reinforced toes with sandals? Are your shoes in good repair? Is your hair clean with a nice hairstyle? When we don’t pay attention to our personal details, it can be assumed that we don’t pay attention to details from our profession either.

I always tell my clients to do themselves a favor, put in the extra effort. I promise it will pay off. Remember that saying, “You look the way you feel?” Well, the truth is “You feel the way you look!”

 

The choice is always yours, make it a good one!

~ Lani