And the winners are…

The 37th Annual FiFi Awards 

A few months ago, we introduced you to the FiFi Awards, (the “Oscars of the fragrance industry”), which are held every year and are sponsored by The Fragrance Foundation.  On Wednesday, the foundation held the 37th annual FiFi’s in New York City.  Here’s a look at some of the winners!

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Fragrances of the Year

Women’s Luxe:  Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku Lovers Fragrances (all five of them!)

Men’s Luxe:  I am King by Sean Jean  (Diddy’s Fragrance)

Women’s Nouveau Niche:  Chloe by Chloe

Men’s Nouveau Niche:  Burberry The Beat (we wrote about this one a few days ago!)

Female Celebrity Fragrance of the Year:  Paris Hilton - This one was already revealed to us

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Hall of Fame

Designer:  Marc Jacobs  (He’s created scents for women like Daisy, Blush, Essence, and Grass, and his traditional Marc Jacobs Eau de Parfum Women’s as well as Men’s fragrances.

Fragrance:  Tie between Davidoff Cool Water and Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds.

Bath and Body Line of the Year:  Angel “Les Parfums Corps” by Thierry Mugler

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Advertising and Design

Best Packaging of the Year:  Women’s Prestige:  Harajuku Lovers Fragrances and Ma Dame by Jean Paul Gaultier

Best Media Campaign of the Year Men’s: Juicy Couture’s Dirty English

For a complete list of winners, visit this article from Fashion Wire Daily

Happy 25th Birthday, Burt’s Bees!

The most buzzed about birthday of the year!

burts-beegsBurt’s Bees, a leader in natural personal care product industry is celebrating their 25th birthday!  Tons of top celebrities like Paris Hilton, Seth Green, and Terrell Owens came out to celebrate with them!

And they should throw themselves a party!  While many businseses are suffering from the recession, Burt’s Bees business has been booming, as sales have doubled in the last three years.

What started out in 1984 as a beeswax candle company, quickly evolved into a soap, perfume, and personal care product company.  In 1991, they launched their best selling beeswax lip balm and the rest is history!  All of their products are based on ingredients that come form nature, hence making them as natural as possible

Burt’s Bees is committed to creating natural, Earth-friendly products that are good for both you and the environment.  In conjunction with the Natural Products Association, in May 2008, they pioneered the Natural Standard for Personal Care Products, which requires a products to be made with at least 95% all-natural ingredients in ordered to be labeled “natural.”

With dozens of awards under their belt, Burt’s Bees is definitely a quality brand to try. InStyle Magazine named their SPF 30 sunscreen as the best natural sunscreen, and both Self Magazine and Health Magazine named their Naturally Nourishing Milk and Shea Butter Body Wash as the best shower gel in their Healthy Beauty Awards (just to name a few).

Check out DBC’s entire collection of Burt’s Bees Products.  We guarantee you’ll fall in love if you haven’t already.

Our Top 5 Lip Balms for Summer

Summer is just around the corner, which means long days in the sun.   Your lips are one of the more sensitive areas on your body and they are important to keep protected!  Here is our top lip balms that are especially great for moisturizing and sun protection.

  1. Best for Swimming:  Banana Boat Aloe Lip Balm (SPF 45) bananaboatThis super protective new lip sunscreen with added aloe and vitamin E is perfect if you’re spending time in the water, since it’s also waterproof.
  2. Best for Travel: Reviva Labs Vitamin E Stick (SPF 15) Featured in Lucky Magzine‘s May issue, fashion designer, Anna McDonald mentions the stick as her go-to effective lip balm.  It also doubles as an under eye protectant!
  3. Best Lip Gloss with SPF: Murad Luscious Lip Duo (SPF 15)muradThis $33 value is only $17.99 and comes with two of Murad’s best selling lip glosses: Goji Berry Sheer (which contains collagen for lovely lip plumping), and Energizing Pomegranate.  
  4. Best Organic Lip Balm: Kiss My Face Organic Lip Balm (SPF 30) - Made with certified organic beeswax, Kiss My Face Lip Balm is made with all natural ingredients like coconut oil, and vitamin E.  Choose from six yummy flavors like Ginger Mango, Sliced Peach, and Cranberry,
  5. Best Lip Balm with a Cause: Too Faced Love Lisa Lip Balm toofacedThis balm was designed in honor of Too Faced’s founder’s sister, Lisa, who is currently battling melanoma skin cancer.  A portion of all proceeds go directly to the Too Faced Love Lisa Melanoma Research Foundation Grant to help funding to finding a cure for the disease.

Brows, Behave!

NEW! Urban Decay Brow Boxes

urbandecaybrow-boxThere’s really no other product like it out there – Urban Decay‘s brilliant palm sized brow box contains all you need to making your eyebrows look groomed, shaped, and all-around fabulous!  It’s no wonder the Brow Box won a 2008 Golden Compact Award for “Best Brow Product.”

Each tiny, decorative box (four different sets available) comes with two eyebrow shadow shades, a pair of mini tweezers, and a small, angled eyebrow brush. Also in each box is a little drawer that contains wax, to keep your brows in place all day long. It even comes with a small compact mirror, so even when you’re on-the-go, you can do a little touch up. Choose one of four color duos, depending on the color of your natural brows.

For blondes, try Honey Pot; for dark brows, try Brown Sugar; for auburn, try Gingersnap; and for somewhere in the middle, try Beige Betty.

Father’s Day Gift Ideas Part 3: Men’s Fragrances

Men typically don’t like buying a new fragrance for themselves, which is why cologne can make such a great Father’s Day gift!  Here’s three of our favorite fragrances (some new, some classic) that would be perfect for all types of Dads! 

If Dad’s into music…

New! Burberry The Beat for Men

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The fresh “leatherwood” scent (a combo of woodiness with leather accents) of Burberry’s The Beat was actually inspired by music.  Launched in Fall of 2008, the fragrance’s creators listened to various British rock bands like Fratellis and Arctic Monkeys to find the ultimate vibe of The Beat.  

According to Burberry’s Creative Director, Christopher Bailey, The Beat was designed to target a “younger, cooler, more urban Burberry.” The fragrance currently has over 3000 fans on Facebook, giving a sense of the younger demographic it calls out to.   The fragrance even made its debut in the United States at the trendy, music-oriented club venue, The Viper Room in Hollywood.  

The ads feature five young, attractive, aspiring British artists, musicians, and actors.   This video gives an exclusive behind the scenes look from The Beat’s ad campaign photo shoot. Bailey calls the scent, “disheveled elegance…style and attitude that is young, modern, masculine, and dynamic.”  This doesn’t mean that Dad won’t enjoy it.  In fact, if he’s looking for something that will remind him of his youth, or even just wants to feel “cool” again, Burberry’s The Beat for men is the fragrance for him.

Burberry The Beat is also available as a women’s fragrance

If Dad’s into cars…

New! Cartier Roadster for men

cartier-roadsterWith a tagline that reads, “Audacious. Masculine. Modern” it’s no surpise that this new Cartier fragrance is called Roadster (if you didn’t already know, Roadster is the name for a classic car).  Fittingly enouhg, “Roadster” is also the name for one of the most popular styles of Cartier’s luxury watches.

Cartier Roadster is the fifth of the brand’s men’s fragrances, but it is the first to have launched in the past decade.  It has a fresh, minty, citrus scent that’s great for summer and Dads of all ages. 

Cartier’s marketing approach to the scent is just as modern and cool as the bottle and fragrance itself.  If anything, you should check out their interesting, interactive website that’s dedicated solely to the fragrance.  Despite the eerie background music that sounds like a bad horror film soundtrack, the black and white hazy graphics that spin around on your computer screen is a work of art in itself.

If Dad’s a little more conventional…

Ralph Lauren Polo Black Men’s Spray

polo-black-menIf Dad’s more traditional and likes things that are familiar, the perfect Father’s Day fragrance for him is Ralph Lauren’s Polo Black.  Ralph Lauren fragrances are an obvious classic.  

Even the face of the fragrance, Ignacio “Nacho” Figueras is traditional. The professional polo player has been the face of Polo Black since its launch in 2005.  Guillaume de Lesquen, the President of Ralph Lauren fragrances says he “personifies the World of Polo by living the lifestyle represented by each of the fragrances.”  Nacho has recently signed with Ralph Lauren to be the face of all three Polo men’s fragrances.  

The Polo Black scent, which is described as a, “bold fusion of iced mango, silver armoise, and patchouli noir” fits perfectly with all the masculine characteristics that the Polo Black label as a whole gives off: “Modern. Daring. Sophisticated.”

To round out Dad’s collection, Ralph Lauren Polo Black also comes in men’s deodorant, after shave, and all over body wash.

Father’s Day is Sunday, June 21st.  There’s still a lot more gift ideas to come, so stay tuned!!

In the News…TheBalm, Ahava, Bare Escentuals and more!

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In the May issue of Lucky MagazineAhava Mineral Foot Cream was featured as one step in getting a salon-worthy instant pedicure.  

TheBalm’s Karate Pick up Liners were featured in the May issue of InStyle Magazine where one of their beauty editors says, “I keep these in rotation for times I need an eye boost.”

Self Magazine‘s 2009 healthy beauty awards named Murad Intensive Wrinkle Reducer for Eyes as their Best Anti-Aging Eye Cream.  Self says it “reduced fine lines and wrikles significantly in only a couple of days.”

In their June issue, Allure Magazine listed their annual Reader’s Choice Awards.  L’Oreal Paris’ True Match Super-Blendable Makeup won for Best Drugstore Foundation, while Bare Escentuals BareMinerals SPF 15 Foundation won for Best Foundation in Department and Specialty Stores.

Linda Cantello, a professional makeup artist for Giorgio Armani Beauty is featured in the June issue of InStyle, where she says she uses Revlon’s Age Defying Spa Concealer to help when covering up smokey eyeshadow mistakes.

You hair what you eat

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According to a recent WebMD article, what you’re eating can have just as much effect on your hair as your hair products.  Chicago based dietician, Dawn Jackson Blatner, says, “If you eat a healthy diet, you will grow stronger and healthier cells throughout your entire body – inside and out.”  Foods like salmon (contains Omega-3′s which contribute to health scalps), nuts (contain zinc which helps prevent shedding), and low-fat dairy products (contain calcium, which aids in hair growth) are among the list of healthy hair foods.

While its important to follow a healthy diet, there’s also beauty products that can help your hair along like Moroccanoil Oil Treatment, which adds to shine and softness of hair, or CHI Organic Olive Nutrient Spritz that combines natural oils and extracts with active hair spray ingredients.  Also great for your hair is Citre Shine Split End Mender, a miracle formula that contains pure citrus extracts that restores and protects split ends.  

So while you’re choosing the right foods, also choose the right hair products.  Both can have some positive, glowing effects on your tresses!