StyleSchool

Not sure what beauty products are must-haves on your honeymoon? Mark your calendar for COS BAR of El Paseo’s “Travel in Beauty, Travel in Style”event this Thursday at the La Quinta Resort in Palm Springs, California. The 60-minute seminar, hosted by El Paseo’s beauty expert manager Sydney Rucker, promises to teach women about the most essential beauty products while traveling and how to pack them!

COS BAR carries a selective lineup of beauty, body and skincare brands like Chanel, La Mer and Frederic Fekkai. They also have underground favorites, like Sisley, Cle de Peau and Kanebo.

To reserve your spot at the “Travel in Beauty, Travel in Style,” call COS BAR of El Paseo at 760-341-6699.

If you can’t make this week’s event, don’t despair: COS BAR locations offer multiple classes and fun beauty events every month that members can register for only $69. For more information on COS BAR events, products and its other locations, visit cosbar.com.

–Christa Joanna Lee

A healthy skin regimen is always important, but never more so than when prepping for your big day. All the top experts suggest scheduling a consultation with a skin care professional at least 6 months before your wedding. Luckily for some brides (and grooms!), Dr. Zein Obagi and his daughter, Sandra Obagi, are making stops across the country offering free one-on-one skin consultations. 

Obagi is the brains behind the awesome ZO Skin Health (zoskinhealth.com) products, so here’s your chance to skip a pricey in-office visit and get the scoop on the latest skincare breakthroughs, complements of the father-daughter duo.

Skin evaluations are available by appointment only at the following Nordstrom’s locations.

November 14, 2010: Dr . Zein Obagi, Nordstrom, Ala Moana, Honolulu, HI. 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. lectures. For an appointment call 808-953-6100, ext. 1764.

November 14, 2010: Sanda Obagi, MBA: Nordstrom Garden State Plaza, Paramus, NJ. 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. For an appointment call 201-843-1122, ext. 1060.

January 16, 2010: Sandra Obagi, MBA: Nordstrom Downtown Seattle. Seattle, WA. 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. For an appointment call 206-628-2111, ext. 1764.

Take advantage of some much needed face time with these skincare gurus and find out what you’ll need to prep your skin for a radiant walk down the aisle. Visit Dr. Obagi online (zoskinhealth.com) for more information on locations, special events and his line of ZO Skin Health products.

–Christa Joanna Lee

If you love the idea of a makeup palette for your wedding day, but have yet to find the perfect color combination for your skin tone, take note: make-up artist extraordinaire Julie Hewett recently introduce a new customizable palettes!

The empty palettes launched on juliehewett.net last week and can be filled with anything from eyeshadow to concealer. Virtually every product in Julie Hewett’s line is available in a pan for palette placement.

Assembling your own custom palette is simple. Just follow these two easy steps:

1. Visit the Custom Palettes section on juliehewett.net and choose a 1-pan, 2-pan or 4-pan empty palette ($18, $28 and $48 respectively).
2. Scroll down to Single Pan palettes and you’ll see a list of all the available pans to mix and match.

Our must-have for every palette? Julie Hewett’s “Shimmy” gleam cream—a multi-use illuminzer for a touch of shimmer.

Take the customization one step further by personalizing your palette with your name! Share the love by gifting each of your maids with her own custom palette, as well!

—Christa Joanna Lee

Getting married provides the perfect excuse to indulge in some at-home pampering. When a spa retreat just won't fit in your planning-filled days, Thymes makes it possible for the spa to come to you.

This fall, Thymes introduced their new Moonflower collection. Scented with cinnamon, clove, sugared quince and myrtle, it's your one stop shop to fulfilling your ultimate relaxation needs. Their chic bath salts ($5, thymes.com), shimmery body wash ($21, thymes.com) and luxurious moonflower scented candle ($25, thymes.com) are the perfect antidote to melting away wedding planning stress in the comfort of your own home. 

So, exfoliate, soften and smooth your skin with these irresistible bath and body must-haves to ensure you walk down the aisle with the perfect bridal glow.

—Christa Joanna Lee

As temperatures begin to cool, we found a great way to keep warm next to your sweetheart in the days leading up to your wedding. Noodle & Boo’s Glowology Love Light candle ($24, glowologyskincare.com) gives off a decadent honey fragrance, that both soothes and sets the mood. 

Even better, though, by lighting the Love Light candle, you will also benefit an amazing cause. This month, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Glowology is donating 50% of proceeds from the Love Light candles to The Breast Cancer Research Fund.

So whether you keep the Love Light candle all to yourself or purchase them as gifts for your bridesmaids, you'll be doing some greater good. Visit glowologyskincare.com to purchase this beautiful and unique gift and support fight against breast cancer.

—Christa Joanna Lee

If you easily bore with nail colors, dreaming of a new hue the day after getting a manicure, you’re in luck. Sula’s Paint & Peel polishes (available at sulabeauty.com, $14) let you easily peel polish off sans remover and messy cotton balls.

This month, Sula debuted mini Paint & Peel polishes, available in four different sets of three fun colors. We love the Jewel trio, which comes with three autumn-appropriate shades: Dove, Merlot and Teal. Sula minis are perfect for busy brides-to-be. They're compact, making them great for carrying around in your purse for a quick polish change between wedding errands.

Because we're such fans of this amazing new technology, we sat down with Sula a few painting and peeling questions.

Q: How do I use Paint & Peel nail color?
A: It's simple. Just apply Paint & Peel polish onto clean, dry nails, like you would any other nail color.

Q: How long does it last?
A: Paint & Peel nail color is like make-up for your nails. It’s not forever, but that’s the point! Experimenting with different colors has never been this easy.

Q: I can’t stand the smell of nail polish and remover. Does it smell like all the others?
A: Nope! Sula Paint & Peel polishes have a “Big 3-Free” formulation that is free of Formaldehyde, Toluene and Phthalates—the “smelly stuff” found in most polishes.

Q: Does it dry faster than normal nail polish?
A: Yes, two coats will dry about in two minutes. You'll need to wait 30 minutes before peeling, though.

Q: Will all the peeling ruin my nails?
A: No! The polish sits on top of the nail, so it won't dry them out. Normal environmental elements do dry nails, though, so condition your nails regularly.

—Christa Joanna Lee

Whether you’re in search of a beauty treat to try out on your wedding day or looking for a special thank you for your bridesmaids, BeingTRUE’s limited-edition Lipsync Heartfelt Lip Palettes ($38, BeingTRUE.com) are the perfect pick. The portable heart-shaped clutches—available in two palettes—contain a lip compact that has a light lip color, a shimmery gloss and a deeper lip shade. 

Every bride knows that a budget-friendly tip for your wedding day is to have a friend do your makeup. But did you ever think you’d have the chops to do it yourself? Now you can get the best how-to instructions for creating stunning wedding day looks with the help of YouTube’s latest beauty buff, Lauren Luke (bylaurenluke.com). 

If you haven’t heard of Luke yet, it's only a matter of time. She started off selling cosmetics on Ebay and instead of uploading pictures of products, she posted photos demonstrating how they looked when applied. Her makeup skills were so amazing that people wanted her tips for getting such glam looks, so she added her amazing how-to videos.

In addition to making fashioning your big day look a breeze, Luke's offering a brand new line of full-face makeup palettes. The five palettes in the By Lauren Luke collection—My Vintage Glam, My Smokey Classics, My Fierce Blue Violets, My Luscious Greens and My Sultry Blues—each come with an eyeshadow primer in two shades, three eye shadows, two lipsticks, a lipgloss, a blush and a black eyeliner ($37 each, sephora.com). True to form, the palettes also come with DIY tutorials.

Need a little more instruction? Check out Luke’s YouTube page where she personally demos how to get dolled up for your walk down the aisle.

—Christa Joanna Lee

Who’s the fairest of them all? That would be you, gorgeous, especially if you win The Fairest.com’s latest contest! Register by October 30th on thefairest.com/instylewed for an all expense paid trip to Hollywood for two for the Ultimate Beauty Weekend. The grand prize includes:

A full day at Exhale Spa

A facial with celebrity fave Sonya Dakar

A haircut by celebrity hair stylist Neil Weisberg and coloring by Amanda George, the co-owners of the Neil George Salon

A Stila makeover and goodie bag stuffed with $250 worth of products

A Hollywood night on the town after your beauty treatment

The newly launched TheFairest.com is a full-service beauty retail site, similar to RueLaLa.com and Gilt Groupe (gilt.com). As an exclusive members-only online boutique, TheFairest.com offers members a whopping 50-70% off high-end beauty brands from one-of-a-kind finds to established favorites like Jurlique, Stila and Tarte.

And the deep discounts don’t stop there! The team at TheFairest.com extended an exclusive discount offer for InStyle’s beauty-obsessed brides. When you spend $75 or more, you'll receive $10 off. Just use the coupon code: inwed.

So, why not give yourself a little (or a lot!) beauty pampering before the big day? Just visit TheFairest.com to find expert make-up advice for your wedding day looks and to get more information about the Ultimate Beauty Weekend giveaway.

—Christa Joanna Lee

What bride doesn't want a brighter, whiter smile for her wedding day photos? Most teeth whitening products usually take a couple weeks before you notice any real results, but we found a new system that guarantees whiter teeth in less than an hour. Yes, you read that right—one hour! Luster ($39.99; at drugstores) is a new at-home tooth whitening system that promises to get teeth up to six shades whiter with zero tooth sensitivity. I gave it whirl this weekend and it totally worked—my teeth were noticeably whiter in 60 minutes!

Here are Luster’s 3 easy steps to pearly whites:
1. Rinse with the Accelorator Mouth Rinse for 10 seconds to enhance the effectiveness of the whitening gel.
2. Brush on the Super Whitening Gel—the same whitening product used by dentists!
3. Apply the Activating Whitening Light, which will stimulate the photo-activator in the gel in just 2 minutes. You can rinse and repeat ten to twenty times for up to 1 hour for best results.

—Christa Lee