Sydne Summer of Think Thru Fashion

Intern Kayte writes:

Last week, Sydne Summer of ThinkThruFashion and Michael Stars put on an Accessories Swap Soiree at Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills to help celebrate the first six months of the ttF Fashion Staples Series.

The evening featured free makeovers by Youngblood beauty, a raffle with unbelievable giveaways, and tasty food and spirits: not to mention mini cupcakes I could not stop nibbling!

100 of LA’s top fashion bloggers, beauty bloggers and editors attended, and each was instructed to bring a piece of jewelry to swap upon arrival. I was seriously bummed I had accidentally left my silver ball necklace in the car after seeing another cute blonde with a new L.A.M.B watch by my icon, Gwenny-Gwen herself. Typical; better luck next time!

Jamie Stone and Kayte Curtis

I was very impressed by the charity both contributors chose to support, Mariska Hargitay’s The Joyful Heart Foundation, which works to help end sexual assault and domestic violence.

At the end of the night, attendees donated over $680 to the cause and ThinkThruFashion and Michael Stars matched it bringing the grand total to $2,000.

Congratulations to ThinkThruFashion and Michael Stars for putting on such as fabulous, enjoyable event!

Today, I attended a CoverGirl event at the Four Season in Beverly Hills where they announced a big-time new charity initiative: CoverGirl Clean Makeup for Clean Water Campaign — a partnership with the non-profit cause Children’s Safe Drinking Water.

CoverGirl is making a $500,000 donation that will provide 50 million gallons of purified drinking water to needy-areas in using Pur packet technology.  The initiative will, amazingly, provide clear water to 70,000 children for a year.

Queen Latifah and new CoverGirl spokesmodel Dania Ramirez were on hand, and I took a couple videos documenting the event.  Meanwhile, log onto CoverGirl.com to enter an online contest to win a trip to Africa with Queen Latifah as part of the next Clean Makeup for Clean Water mission.  Enjoy!

My mom was on my mind a lot this weekend!  It’s been over four months since she died and I love feeling her with me as I’m driving, walking, getting ready for bed or simply lost in my thoughts.   I feel so insanely blessed–to be alive, to do what I love, to love what I do, to have developed enough resilience that I take the bad with the good and keep pressing forward–and I remind myself of my luck and of life’s gifts to me on a daily basis.

When Johnson’s Body Care approached me, offering to host a charity beauty sale, I jumped at the chance!  We threw a party today, generously supported by J&J through a kick-off donation of $100, in honor of my mother’s memory, with all proceeds going to the Lymphoma Research Foundation.  In total, we raised just under $1000–somewhere, my mother is pleased!  As luck would have it, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society was hosting a bachelor auction on Friday night, so I attended that as well, and “won” a strapping young man for a fun date.  Mama Jolie would have been pleased by that, too!

My beauty sales have become yearly events, and I’m already planning the next one, which I’m tentatively throwing in late November/early December.  If you’re interested in getting involved, either as a guest or as a sponsor, please email me at nadine@jolienadine.com.

Here are the Johnson’s gift bags, full of Johnson’s Body Care 24 Hour Body Lotion and 24 Hour Moisturizing Body Wash, and Be Radiant Exfoliating Body Wash and Be Radiant Cocoa & Shea Butter Lotion.  I also threw in some extra Neutrogena goodies I had from my last sale, some Bare Escentuals Bare Minerals foundation samples, and a copy of my new book Confessions of a Beauty Addict!

Here’s the table with the beauty products on it before the sale started…

And a video after the sale ended!  Thanks to all who came, and a very special thank you to Johnson and Johnson for hosting!

Some of my friends from college have been doing amazing things with their lives.  My sorority sister Ellen Gustafson, however, takes the cake!  As co-Founder and Executive Vice President of FEED Projects, Ellen is one of the few people I know who’s making a genuine, long-lasting difference in the world.  If you’ve been to Whole Foods, Harrods or Ralph Lauren Rugby recently, you’ve probably seen Ellen’s handiwork: the stylish, organic cotton and burlap, eco-conscious FEED bags and totes that Ellen developed with Lauren Bush to feed children in 74 developing countries.  The purchase of just one FEED 2 bag will feed 2 children for a school year; the FEED 100 bag, meanwhile, provides 100 meals for schoolchildren in Rwanda.

You’re probably like me; you want to help and give back to society, but your day-to-day life and problems get in the way and distract you.  Supporting FEED is a step toward helping another human that, for whatever reason, didn’t hit the birth lottery.  Spend a few minutes learning more about FEED Projects here.  Please answer in the comments section below with a fact or tidbit you’ve learned from the FEED website and I’ll send one lucky US winner a beauty basket personally filled with my favorite products!  (The contest is open until Saturday; good luck!)

Mark your calendars, meanwhile, for Thursday March 12th from 6-8:30pm, when FEED launches at Fred Segal Trend in Santa Monica.  RSVP to rsvp@feedprojects.org, and I’ll see you there!

Every year, L’Oreal Paris gives the female Golden Globe nominees for Best Actress Drama and Best Actress Comedy a special, super-duper fancy compact.  Below is this year’s gorgeous offering, a 18K gold, diamond and lemon citrine Carelle “Harmony” compact–Kate Winslet and Angelina Jolie were, of course, among the lucky recipients–which is also being auctioned off for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund on Ebay (it runs through January 18th).  It’s valued at $3650 (hello, way out of my price range!) although the starting bid was $500.  Lovely glamour, if you can swing it!

It’s National Ovarian Cancer Awareness month, and to help make women aware of the so-called “silent killer” (Ovarian Cancer kills 15,000 women per year, and many women are not diagnosed until it is too late, because symptoms are sometimes ignored as regular discomfort or pain), L’Oreal Paris is partnering with the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. For every Color of Hope Cosmetics Bag purchased (at $25, 888-270-7743), L’Oreal Paris will donate $5 to the OCRF.

From each Color of Hope Colour Riche Lipcolour sold (in three shades: A Color of Hope, A Lighter Shade of Hope, and A Deeper Shade of Hope), $2 will go to the OCRF. Finally, with the purchase of every L’Oréal Paris Hope Necklace—designed by 2008 Swarovski Award for Accessory Design recipient Philip Crangi, and featuring a double eternity ring design of cubic zirconia set in sterling silver, for $29.95–$5 will benefit OCRF.