Pantone Color 2016: How To Incorporate Serenity & Rose Quartz Into Your Beauty Routine

As the end of the year quickly approaches, the possibilities for the New Year are endless. What are some of your goals and desires for 2016? Lets start the New Year off right with Serenity and Rose Quartz! These are the Pantone colors of the year; will you be on top of the latest trend? These are said to be the IT colors for the upcoming year, we will see these colors in everything from fashion, home décor, nails and our favorite makeup. This is the first time that Pantone has ever chosen two colors of the year. We're not alone in the excitement of these shades; some of your favorite brands have already started coming out with products in these trendy colors.

Lets start with nails; Sally Hansen and Smith + Cult Lacquers already have colors in these nail shades. For Rose Quartz options, you can try Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Petal Pusher or Smith + Cult in Pillow Pie. For Serenity options, you can try Sally Hansen Miracle Gel in Sugar Fix or Smith + Cult in Cut The Mullet.

It Cosmetics has also come out with their Pantone inspired lip glosses. These Vitality Lip Blush™ Hydrating Gloss Stains are extremely hydrating and infused with oils and butters for the most luxurious feeling on lips (no stickiness)! Try shades Je Ne Sais Quoi and News Anchor Blue. Smith + Cult's Life in Photographs is also a light and gorgeous lip lacquer with a hint of shimmer. If you're not much of a gloss girl, KORRES Lip Butter in Jasmine is the way to go! It's a small jar packed with luxurious butter to leave lips smooth and slightly rosy.

One of our favorite brands, Hourglass Cosmetics, has a beautiful Ethereal Glow blush that gives off that rose quartz glow. We can't forget eyes - Sonia Kashuk's Fair & Square Eye Shadow Quad brings different shades of the rose color we all adore and offers textures of sparkle or matte without breaking the bank. Elizabeth Arden also offers new staple colors in Innocence (rose quartz) and Sky (Serenity). These two shadows can be worn lightly and eventually be built up for a evening look.

Last but certainly not least, Sephora has teamed up with Pantone to create the Pantone Color of the Year 2016 Collection! This collection will highlight Rose Quartz and Serenity for eyes and lips. For lips, the collection will include a Layer Lipstick, which will have a velvety smooth rose finish, and a Matte Color of the Year Lipstick in Serenity, which will be a lovely pastel blue. Some of you may be thinking, "how can I incorporate blue into my daily routine?" Don't worry! This lipstick can go from subtle to bold. We obviously can't have a collection without some fabulous lip-glosses, so the color of the year Modern Watercolors Lip Gloss Set will feature six pastel shades. Lastly, you'll want bold and beautiful eyes. The Modern Watercolors Eyes Palette will contain 24 shadows. Staple shades will be included as well as bold colors. This collection is available now at all Sephora locations.

Will you be picking up any of these Pantone inspired products?

This is a guest post written by Imani Wood-Rodriguez.

CEW Names 2013 Beauty Award Winners

Last Friday, I celebrated this year's CEW Beauty Insiders' Choice Awards at the beautiful Waldorf Astoria. 36 products across 30 product categories were awarded. The CEW Beauty Awards is the only awards program in which the winners are determined exclusively by beauty industry professionals, CEW's 5,500 + members who know the best in beauty. The CEW Beauty Award is a high honor and sets the stage for consumers to know what products to buy next. See below the winners for each category:

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips Review & Swatches

Lately, I've been kind of obsessed  with nail art. I don't really know why especially since I'm AWFUL at painting my own nails. Honestly, I usually get them done professionally. I saw a friend with these Sally Hansen salon effects nail polish strips and I thought I had to try them. They sell them mostly at pharmacies, but around here, they're always sold out. I finally got the kitty, kitty ones, but I love them so much, I didn't want to use those on the first try in-case I messed up. I ended up purchasing two more: Laced Up & Misbehaved. Duane Reade had this awesome sale for buy one, get one half off. Woo hoo. I opted to try Misbehaved first.

Each box comes with 16 nails strips, a mini nail file and a cuticle stick. It also came with specific instructions. It was actually pretty simple to use (even for the non-nail savy). You are instructed to file your nails to the shape you want, push back your cuticles and then finally remove any excess dirt or nail polish with remover. One all that's complete, you find the strips that match up to your nail then file off the access. That's it!

It doesn't say to use a nail polish top coat, but I did anyway just to lock the strip into place. I've had them on about a week and they're a little chipped, but nothing too noticeable.

Laced Up

 Kitty, Kitty

Misbehaved

This is what comes inside:

Final look:

Retail: $9.99 at Ulta

I've also seen them in CVS, Duane Reade, Walgreens for the same price.

I can't wait to try the others!!

Have you tried these Sally Hansen Salon Effects yet?