Month: November 2017

Accessories /

Supermodel Martha Hunt x Pluma Capsule Collection Inegal

Supermodel and Scoliosis survivor Martha Hunt teams up with PLUMA to create the capsule collection “Inégal” which debuted in June 2017.  Together Martha and PLUMA have created two beautiful and inspiring designs sales from which will benefit two charities: The Scoliosis Research Society and The Curvy Girls Scoliosis Foundation.

 Caroline 1 in Rhodium

($515.00 in Rhodium, and Gold)

Caroline 2 in Rhodium

($440 in Rhodium and Gold)

The “Caroline” necklaces in the Inégal collection benefit The Scoliosis Research Foundation. The two special edition designs are available in rhodium and 24 karat gold, is handcrafted in Italy and made of plated brass plates with leather straps.  Interlocked, the plates emulate vertebrae creating a metallic spine choker.  ​The designs themselves are named “Caroline” after Martha’s mother who gave Martha the love and support she needed to battle the disorder.  “Caroline 1” has scales or vertebrae that are 2 inches in length while the “Caroline 2” has 1 ½ inch vertebrae.

Alyson in Gold

($39)

Alyson in Silver (Gunmetal)

($39)

The “Alyson” necklaces in the Inégal collection benefit Curvy Girls Scoliosis Foundation – an international network of peer-led support groups for girls with scoliosis. Two special edition “Alyson” necklaces, available in gold and silver (gunmetal), are named after Alyson Gerber who is the author of Braced, a novel about a twelve-year old girl’s first year in her scoliosis brace.  With one side emblazoned with “Inégal” and the other with “Resilient,” the piece is meant to celebrate and honor those who have scoliosis.


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​Martha Hunt wears the Alyson in Gold ​

“We created pieces that would honor the beauty of the spine, its simplicity, and genius.  The design also calls to mind how integral the spine is to human life and the burden that Scoliosis causes to the people who suffer from it with elegant simplicity, which is also reflected in the name “Inégal” meaning unequal or uneven.” – Brendan Cannon, PLUMA Creative Director

“Brendan Cannon is a friend of mine and has a pure heart.  Together we discussed the idea of designing beautiful jewelry, inspired by the experience of having Scoliosis, the Inégal Collection.  As 100% of the proceeds of this portion of the collection will benefit Curvy Girl Scoliosis Foundation, I want women who wear the “Inégal” collection to feel beautiful and empowered.”- Martha Hunt

The Caroline​ necklaces from ​the Inégal collection are available online at  LUISAVIAROMA – www.LUISAVIAROMA.com

The complete Inégal collection is available online on the

​ ​PLUMA website – www.pluma-italia.net​
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About Martha Hunt

Raised in North Carolina, Martha moved to New York City to pursue a full-time modeling career in 2007. She has worked with many high-end brands and designers, and has been featured in top-tier magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Glamour.  Martha has the distinction of being a Victoria’s Secret Angel since 2015.

Martha dealt with Scoliosis from the ages of 14-18 and finally had a spinal fusion at age 18.  It is a physical and emotional burden during adolescent years Martha felt lonely and insecure throughout the process and being able to relate to the thousands of people that undergo treatment for the condition, she’s passionate about spreading awareness. The need to bring awareness combined with how much research has evolved and needs to improve sparked her interest in becoming an advocate.

She visited Capitol Hill during the last two years, on behalf of The Scoliosis Research Society, asking Congress for more funding for all orthopedic research, through the National Institutes for Health (NIH).

About PLUMA and Creative Director Brendan Cannon

Brendan Cannon is the Creative Director of PLUMA, a collection of chic and elegant accessories produced in Italy by some of the premier luxury artisans in the world.

Cannon’s designs reflect the multifaceted lives and sophistication of women who covet and wear luxury accessories. The precise combinations of luxurious elements like brass with molded resin, high-grade leather, and enamel give an elegant sensuality, allowing the jewelry to become a wardrobe staple.

PLUMA debuted as a capsule collection that was shown alongside designer Jason Wu’s Pre-Fall 2013 collection. The ‘Oro’ suite, collaboration between Cannon and Wu, featured the brand’s signature gold links, brass, black enamel and molded resin. PLUMA officially launched with a full collection for the Spring 2014 season. PLUMA has attracted the attention of celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Robert, Vanessa Hudgens, Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez, Sharon Stone, Kate Beckinsale, Lily Collins, Jessica Paré and Julianne Hough, among others.

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About The Scoliosis Research Society

The Scoliosis Research Society is a non-profit, professional organization, made up of physicians and allied health personnel. Our primary focus is on providing continuing medical education for health care professionals and on funding/supporting research in spinal deformities. Founded in 1966, SRS has gained recognition as the world’s premier spine deformity society. Please visit www.srs.org for further information.

About Curvy Girl Scoliosis Foundation

Curvy Girls is a network of peer-led support groups that reduce the emotional impact of scoliosis by empowering girls through mutual support and acceptance to become leaders, make healthy lifestyle choices, improve self-esteem while giving back to the Curvy Girls community. The organization was founded by Leah Stoltz when she was 13 years old on Long Island, NY and now there are about 90 chapters in 13 countries, all led by girls with scoliosis between the ages of 11-22. Learn more at www.curvygirlsscoliosis.com.

Beauty /

How To Make Gel Manicure Last During Holiday Party Season

November marks the beginning of holiday party season and getting a manicure is at the top of everyone’s to-do list.

My favorite salon service is receiving a gel manicure but with so many daily activities I suffer from a few dents and chips.

Featured Photo from Vogue.com

I wanted to share tips that will make your gel manicure last longer and keep your hands beautiful during the holidays.

Make Your Gel Manicure Last:

  1. When cleaning wear rubber gloves.
  2. Avoid boiling water which lifts the nail lacquer.
  3. Use cuticle oil to keep the nail bed healthy.
  4. Apply a clear topcoat to add shine.
  5. Use sugar scrub on the hands to exfoliate and remove dryness.

The biggest gel manicure secret is when the polish chips use a file to reshape the nails. Filing removes the chipped polish and makes your manicure look fresh.  Finish the process with hand lotion.

Gel manicures can be beautiful and shiny!  Remember, do not remove the gel polish at-home and take a break between salon visits to let the nails repair.

 

ABC /

Talk of Alabama Lifestyle Segment: Breast Cancer Awareness Fall Must-Haves

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  To celebrate efforts of the National Breast Cancer Foundation I hosted a Lifestyle Segment with ABC 33/40 on Monday, October 30, 2017.  The television appearance featured beauty and wellness tips to help women that are undergoing cancer treatment.

A few of the suggestions discussed on-air included the use of hair turbans, scarfs, mineral makeup, and water-based nail polish.  Companies such as STILA Cosmetics provided makeup from the Living Beauty Collection and Dana’s Bakery shipped Pink Cotton Candy Macaroons that encouraged proceeds to be donated to the Breast Cancer Foundation.

This particular segment was dear to my heart because my mother is a Lymphatic Cancer survivor.  Special thank you to Talk of Alabama for allowing me to share cancer related beauty tips with a local audience!

Hair:

Turban

Scarf

Face:

Alima Pure

Deborah Lippmann

STILA Cosmetics

Wellness:

Pill Box Organizer

Take a look at the segment clip here: Talk of Alabama 10/30/2017 Kim West

Accessories /

The Holiday Shopping Season Starts Now! Amazon Opens its Black Friday Deals

Amazon today announced the opening of its Black Friday Deals Store, officially marking the start of the holiday shopping season. The Black Friday Deals Store, available at www.amazon.com/blackfriday, offers deals across every category now through Black Friday. Customers can find deals on everything from toys and electronics to holiday entertaining essentials and wardrobe must haves – all in one convenient location. Today, customers can save up to 30% on favorite toys including Baby Alive Sweet Tears, Dropmix, Tickle Me Elmo and more. This holiday season, customers can also expect great deals on premium TVs from brands like LG, Samsung and Sony, as well as popular toys from LEGO, Melissa & Doug, Nerf, Paw Patrol, Star Wars and more.

“We’re excited to officially kickoff another holiday season, bringing customers better deals than ever before on everything they’ll need – from electronics and toys to clothing, home essentials and more,” said Doug Herrington, Senior Vice President of North American Retail at Amazon. “Customers shop Amazon year-round for our great prices, unbelievable selection, and free shipping on over 100 million products. During the holiday season, customers love to discover great deals and must-have holiday gifts for friends and family. Some of the most popular starting points for holiday shoppers are our Black Friday Deals Store, Amazon’s curated Home and Electronics Gift Guides, the Holiday Toy List, the newly redesigned Gift Finder, our Handmade Gift Shop, and Interesting Finds.”

 More Ways to Shop than Ever Before 

  • Voice Shopping: Customers can voice shop with Alexa for tens of millions of Prime-eligible items, including many of the products available in the Black Friday Deals Store and featured in the 2017 Holiday Gift Guides. Available on the Alexa family of devices including Amazon Echo, Echo Plus, Echo Dot, Amazon Tap, and Amazon Dash Wand, as well as screened devices such as the all-new Amazon Fire TV, all-new Fire HD 10 Tablet, Echo Show and soon to be released Echo Spot, it’s as simple as saying, “Alexa, order [product]” and Alexa will find a top-rated product that ships with Prime. Just say, “yes” to buy it. Changed your mind? No problem, any physical product purchased with your voice is eligible for free returns. Customers must be Prime members with default payment and shipping information.
  • Amazon App: The Amazon App is designed to make your holiday shopping fast and easy. In fact, last holiday season, more than 70% of Amazon customers worldwide shopped using a mobile device. Customers can find where their holiday packages are in seconds, use camera search to quickly and easily find the items they want by pointing at an item or barcode, and never miss a deal by setting Watch-a-Deal alerts. Customers can also search and reorder with Alexa. Once Amazon boxes begin to arrive, customers can use the Amazon App’s Package X-Ray feature to scan the barcode and see what’s inside, allowing them to wrap gifts without ever opening the box or spoiling the surprise.
  • AR view: Amazon’s latest augmented reality offering within the Amazon App launched today for customers with iOS 11 installed on their iPhone 6S or later. Using Apple’s ARKit, AR view helps customers make better shopping decisions by allowing them to visualize the aesthetic and fit of products in their own living space. Customers simply open the Amazon App, click on the camera icon and choose AR view. They can then select from thousands of items – from living room, bedroom, kitchen and home office products to electronics, toys and games, home décor and more. Whether customers are buying a sofa or a kitchen appliance, they can overlay it onto their existing living space, move it and rotate it to get a full 360-degree peek in a live camera view to make sure it fits their style and aesthetic.
  • Amazon.com in Spanish: Since adding the option for customers to set their language preference earlier this year, millions of customers have chosen Spanish as their preferred language to shop on Amazon.com and in the Amazon App. Customers can shop, browse and search for millions of products, view their shopping cart, and place orders in Spanish. Customers can update their language settings in their Amazon App, as well as visit Amazon.com and click the ‘globe’ button – located in the navigation bar at the top of their Amazon home screen – to set and begin shopping in their preferred language. Preferred language settings will be saved for future site visits under ‘Your account’ settings.
  • Treasure Truck: Now available in 25 select cities, Treasure Truck is a new way for customers to shop this holiday season. Customers can opt-in to receive notifications from the Amazon App for special must-have offers from Treasure Truck, order the item, and pick-up at the truck all season long. Each time the truck rolls, one hand-picked offer will be available including gifts for the adventurer, foodie, hostess, kids and techie, as well as delicious seasonal food items, and more. Look for the truck at various locations this holiday season.
  • Amazon Books: Now open in Seattle, New York City (on 34th St and at Columbus Circle), Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston (Dedham and Lynnfield), San Diego, San Jose, Portland, Bellevue (Wash.) and Paramus (N.J.), Amazon Books integrates the benefits of offline and online shopping to help customers find books and devices that they’ll love. Whether customers want to discover a new book for the holidays or test-drive an Amazon device, Amazon Books offers gifts for everyone. Browse in-store deals and holiday features like Most-Wished-For-Gifts, Hidden Gem Gifts, the Holiday Toy List and customer favorites like Page Turners: Books Kindle Readers Finish in 3 Days or Less, Local Bestsellers, 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime.

Shop with Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs

Half of the items sold on Amazon worldwide are from small businesses and entrepreneurs, many of which will be offering deals on their products throughout the holiday season. Some of the small businesses and entrepreneurs offering deals include Sleepyheads, Furbo, Lightaccents, Owlee and TigerSecu.

Inspired Gifting for Everyone on Your List

  • Curated Gift Guides: Thoughtfully curated and inspired by Amazon product experts and influencers, Amazon’s 2017 Holiday Toy List, Electronics Gift Guide and Home Gift Guide take the guesswork out of gifting and offer customers quick and easy access to the top gifts for everyone on their list.

o   Customers can browse more than a thousand of the most sought-after products for kids of all ages and interests on the 2017 Amazon Holiday Toy List, available at amazon.com/holidaytoylist.

o   Those who want to shop more than 500 of the season’s hottest technology products, from TVs to gaming systems, can do so while shopping the 2017 Amazon Electronics Gift Guide, available at amazon.com/electronicsgiftguide.

o   And customers can browse the 2017 Amazon Home Gift Guide, available at amazon.com/homegiftguide for more than a thousand products for inside and outside the home.

o   New this year, the 2017 Business Gift Guide by Amazon Business is a curated list of more than 200 items designed to make holiday gifting easier for office employees, company clients and colleagues. Available at amazon.com/businessgiftguide, Amazon.com and Amazon Business customers can shop from numerous categories, including Electronics, Grocery, Entertainment, Audio & Accessories, and more. Shoppers can also discover white elephant gift exchange and budget-friendly gift ideas in the Business Gift Guide.

  • Handmade Gift Shop: Support small businesses and entrepreneurs this holiday by shopping Amazon Handmade where all products are handcrafted by local Artisans from around the world. New this year, the Amazon Handmade Gift Shop, available at amazon.com/handmadegiftshop, allows customers to shop handcrafted products for every occasion.
  • Gift Finder: For those in need of additional inspiration, the redesigned Gift Finder helps identify gift ideas when a customer doesn’t have a particular idea in mind. Gift Finder, available at amazon.com/giftfinder, offers a diverse collection of unique, but universally appealing gift ideas across categories. Shop gifts for men, women, teens, kids, toddlers, babies, pets or holiday fun.
  • Amazon Lists: Customers can find and shop friends and family’s Wish Lists at www.amazon.com/yourfriends to give them what they really want this holiday. To customize your own list, click ‘Add to List’ from any product detail page or go to www.amazon.com/yourlists to add multiple items in one convenient location. To save a gift idea in the Amazon App, customers can simply press down on any product image to fling it to the bottom of their screen.
  • Interesting Finds: Interesting Finds, available at amazon.com/stream, is an endless stream of beautiful products that inspires customers daily. There are a number of categories that customers can scroll through including “holiday toy list,” “gadgets,” “workspace” and even quirky customer-curated collections of products like “Nautical or Nice,” “Talk Nerdy To Me,” “Dog Gone Cute Dresses,”  “Rock Your Socks Off” and “Happy Glamping.” Customers can ‘heart’ products they love and we’ll get better at showing them more items like those. Customers can access Interesting Finds via the banner above the search bar on Amazon.com and in the ‘Programs and Features’ section of the Amazon App.

Free Shipping + Convenient Delivery

All Amazon customers can choose from more than one hundred million items that are eligible for free shipping this holiday and all year long. This includes eligible orders of $25 or more shipped by Amazon, as well as free shipping offers from the millions of small business and entrepreneurs selling on Amazon. For customers who prefer to pick up their packages when it’s convenient for them, Amazon Locker is a safe and secure way to receive Amazon packages. Available in more than 50 cities across the U.S., Amazon Lockers are strategically located near offices, major convenience stores, grocery stores, apartment buildings and malls across the country. To learn more about Amazon Locker, visit amazon.com/locker or to find the nearest Locker visit amazon.com/findalocker.

 Fast Shipping, Deals and More with Prime

Prime is designed to make your life better every day including the convenience of fast, free shipping and great entertainment. Prime members can shop thousands of Lightning Deals with 30-minute early access and, with the Amazon Prime credit card, members will earn even bigger rewards this holiday season. Members can also enjoy Free Two-Day Shipping with Amazon Prime, as well as Prime FREE One-Day Shipping and Prime FREE Same-Day Delivery on more than one million items in orders of $35 or more available to members in over 5,000 cities and towns. And, withPrime Now, Prime Members in more than 30 U.S. cities can benefit from one-and-two hour delivery. In addition, starting on November 8, Prime members in 37 cities and surrounding areas across the U.S. will have access to Amazon Key, the new service that radically improves the convenience of receiving deliveries. Amazon Key will allow Prime members to have eligible packages securely delivered inside their homes without having to be there.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

 

Beauty /

15 Doctor Recommended “To Do’s” to Fight the Flu

As we head into flu season there are many things we can do to “flu proof” ourselves. Regardless of whether you choose to get a flu vaccine or not, there are things we can do to heighten our chances of not getting sick this winter. Dr. Christopher Calapai, a New York based Osteopathic Physician board certified in family medicine, and anti-aging medicine provided us with a comprehensive list of 15 to do’s to fight the flu.

  1. Keep your surroundings clean, wipe surfaces at work, keep your cell phone clean. According to the CDC viruses can survive on a surface for up to 8 hours

  1. Wash your hands frequently and use a hand sanitizer. Remember the workplace and public spaces are a hotbed for germs. This is where the hand washing comes into play.

  1. Increase intake of vitamin D, C, E and A.  Include foods such as red bell peppers (add to salads), sweet potatoes, chicken soup, salmon and garlic. Research shows that keeping vitamin D levels at 80 ng/ml or so decreases the risk of catching the flu and swine flu.

  1. Bring your own lunch to work where you can control food prep and ensure surfaces are clean.

  1. Get a full night’s sleep.  When you feel run down you’re more susceptible to illness.

  1. Work from home when feeling sick. These days it’s easier for people to work from home at the slightest signs of cold or flu.

  1. Eat kimchi!  It’s delicious and a great probiotic which boost immunity.

  1. Add mushrooms to your meal.  Packed with selenium they’re an immunity booster.

  1. Sip green or black tea rich in polyphenols and flavonoids which ward off illness as well as L-theanine,

an immunity boosting amino acid. Green and black tea are also packed with polyphenols and flavonoids.

  1. Munch on sweet potato fries which are high in vitamin which helps us fight off bacteria and viruses.

  1. Don’t touch your face especially the eyes.  The average person touches their face around 15 times per hour! It’s something we do unconsciously so if we can be more aware of face touching the more we can stop.

  1. Soup it up!  Chicken veggie noodle or ginger garlic soup fights flu and sinus infection.

  1. Exercise regularly!  Doing 30 minutes of moderate cardio per day is optimal to enhance the performance of infection fighting white blood cells.

  1. Go hands free on the smartphone.  When we put our phones down and then pick them up or touch them this is where viruses can spread. Using earbuds and cleaning the phone with a devise friendly cleaner will help.

  1. Lose the booze.  You really want to cut back on alcohol consumption during flu season. It dehydrates us and lowers our immunity so our ability to fight off virus is impaired.

About the Doctor:

Dr. Christopher Calapai, D.O. is an Osteopathic Physician board certified in family medicine, and anti-aging medicine. Proclaimed the “The Stem Cell Guru” by the New York Daily News, Dr. Calapai is a leader in the field of stem cell therapy in the U.S. His stem cell treatments have achieved remarkable results in clinical trials on patients with conditions as varied as Alzheimer’s, arthritis, erectile dysfunction, frailty syndrome, heart, kidney and liver failure, lupus, MS and Parkinson’s. He has worked with Mike Tyson, Mickey Rourke, Steven Seagal, and Gotham’s, Donal Logue; and as a medical consultant for the New York Rangers. Connect with him via twitter @drcalapai or at www.drcal.net

Beauty /

Nordstrom Beauty Holiday 2017 Collection

Discover this holiday season’s must-have beauty gifts at the all-in-one shopping destination: Nordstrom! With exclusive festive offerings from top brands such as Charlotte Tilbury, Diptyque, La Mer, MAC, Tom Ford, Jo Malone and more, you’ll find everything from impressive luxury sets to mini stocking stuffers – spanning cosmetics, fragrance, skincare and men’s grooming – for all your gifting needs, OR for yourself to get holiday-party-ready!

MORE NORDSTROM NEWS:

YOUR BEST FRIEND IN BEAUTY Nordstrom Beauty Stylists are also what make Nordstrom a unique one-stop shop. Similar to personal shoppers, Stylists offer complimentary services to customers to help them find the perfect makeup, skincare and fragrance products across ALL brands and counters!

These experts are available in-store, by phone at 1.800.7BEAUTY or online at (http://shop.nordstrom.com/beautystylist). Prefer to communicate while you online shop? You can Live Chat with an expert Online Beauty Stylist at (http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/beauty-stylist).

SAMPLING: TRY IT BEFORE YOU BUY IT

Nordstrom Beauty wants you to love your purchase, so why not try it first? We offer in-store samples on almost any beauty product, every day. Nordstrom also offers 3 free samples with any beauty purchase online!

FREE SHIPPING AND FREE RETURNS ALL THE TIME

Nordstrom will ship almost anything on our site to you for free – no minimum purchase ever! Don’t love it? Returns and exchanges are free via mail, in-store or over the phone – it’s that easy.