Romy Raves

I am super excited to be heading to Cosmoprof North America in Las Vegas tomorrow, which is the largest professional B2B beauty show in North America. In my opinion, CPNA is the best, most polished and professional beauty event that I attend, and I love it! This year, I am heading to LV with my hubby (and social media guru) to scout beauty trends, network with brands and industry professionals and most importantly discover new and unknown brands and products. 

I am especially excited about the Discover Beauty section of the conference because it showcases a group of hand-selected brands from around the world that most consumers are not familiar with. This exclusive section of the conference is laid out like mini stores that allow you to really interact with these emerging brands, explore their products and learn more about what differentiates that brand. Some of the brands that I am excited to check out include:

Barista Bath and Body: A natural and organic line of luxury products that extends the exeprience of coffee beyond your morning cup. Even though I am not a coffee drinker, I am excited about a line that offers the stimulating smell and wake-up the skin benefits of caffeine.

Essè Cosmetics from Italy: Essè Cosmetics is a line that incorporates the benefits of grapes and wine. This oenophile is always intrigued by products that utilize grapes and wine.

IT Cosmetics:  This line infuses medical grade anti-aging technology into innovative, high performance color cosmetics. I was recently introduced to this intriguing line and am just beginning to explore the products. I am already very impressed with their Bye Bye Under Eye concealer .

The Jojoba Company:  A natural skin care line built on the remarkable qualities of pure, Australian jojoba that is grown in Australia without pesticides or fertilizers. Jojoba has an old school appeal and I am interested to see how it has evolved.

The Skin Deli:  A gourmet skincare line packed with nutrient-rich natural ingredients that are made out of 100% recognizable food ingredients. This line sounds like a yummy hybrid of two of my passions food and beauty, can’t wait to check it out!

Every once in a while, I try a product that instantly ‘WOWS’ me because it is so innovative and the results are so impressive that I can’t stop gushing about it. CND Shellac is one of the most amazing products that I have tried in a long time.

Two weeks ago, I was invited to a delightful beauty insider event at the recently relocated Paint Shop from Beverly Hills to experience this new Shellac nail service. Paint Shop was debuting their airy new digs on West 3rd Street and the fact that it is one of a handful of salons in LA currently offering Shellac. After sipping some tasty margaritas and eating some super tasty Mexican food from Plancha, the very skilled and meticulous Iesha gave me a fabulous Shellac manicure with the ease and flawless precision of a pro. The service took about an hour and I was amazed that it had almost no smell, I loved how it dried instantly and was even more impressed that I got my massage after the manicure to prove how totally dry my nails were.

What is Shellac you ask? Shellac is an amazing category busting hybrid nail color product that applies like polish, wears flawlessly for 14 days of high gloss shine, and is removed in minutes. Shellac paints on just like regular polish – base coat, color, top coat –however it needs to be cured between each coat under a special a UV light which is the secret to its durable finish. The formula is thin and flexible like polish, so it not only looks natural, it provides strong natural nail protection with a resilient mirror finish that resists dullness and chipping, even during the most rigorous activities.

Shellac is a professional salon service that launched in May 201o with 12 shades ranging from French pinks and whites to reds and rich darks. The product is hypo-allergenic, 3-Free (no formaldehyde, toluene or DBP) and requires zero drying time (the UV curing does that for you!) This innovative formula took nearly five years to develop because it resulted in this game changing professional product that resists chips, smudges, dullness, does not damage the nails, and is easily removed in 10 minutes.

Sounds too good to be true, right? Well a picture is worth a thousand words (forgive my amatuerish photo below, I am still learning the art of photographing for the web):

Shellac Day 1

Sorry for the lapse in posts loyal followers, but I am taking a much needed summer vacation and with that comes being caught up in the moment, absorbed in the experience and just being.  This is what I love most about going on vacation, taking each moment as it comes, not much planning, going with the flow and being present. So I thought I would share some of my thoughts and observations with you about being present, since it has been awhile since I wrote one of my more psychologically oriented posts. 

If you are anything like me in your day to day life, you are constantly racing around from here to there, filling your day with to do’s, work, errands, socializing, care taking and the list goes on and on. Sometimes I buzz so fast through life or worry about what’s next, I forget to pause and be in the moment in order to observe what is going on around me, how about you?

Being on vacation with no agenda and all that matters is being with my family is showing me that I am missing out on some precious moments, especially with my son. Right now, I have no distractions, no to do’s, no deadlines, no appointments and I am lapping it all up. We are giggling, laughing, playing, snuggling, pillow fighting, firefly and baby frog catching, adventuring and I am really being with him. This focused presence is showing me how much I am really missing, how many subtle and precious moments I am missing out on because I am focused on something else. In the moment these things feel more important, but they really aren’t and that makes me sad.

In truth, what is really more important than being with my son and family? NOTHING!! Blogging can wait, Blackberry can wait, events can wait, but my son growing up and being a little boy will not wait. I will blink, it will all be over, I will still have the same to do list and nothing to show for it. So this vacation has really helped me see what is really important, to slow down, be present and shrink down the unnecessary to do list and drink it the precious moments before they are gone.

What are your most precious moments? What moments are you missing and what tips can you share that have helped you be more present?