I’m a sucker for large tote bags - mainly because I’m the type of person that carries my life around with me - I need to be prepared for everything! Now, with summer coming and picnics and trips to the beach that require all different kinds of paraphernalia I’ve been keeping my out for the perfect summer tote. Thankfully, the ladies of Dimepiece read my mind and came out with three large utility totes. They have a clean, simple design and come in three awesome prints: camouflage, leopard and snake skin. The Dimepiece utility totes retail for $92 and you can get them on the Dimepiece online shop.

A few weeks ago we heard Tricky’s Nothing’s Changed and now we have a new track from Tricky also with vocals from Francesca Belmonte.

Download Tribal Drums - the second free track from Tricky’s upcoming album False Idols by going to Tricky’s Facebook Page.

Kate Nash released her third album Girl Talk back in March and she’s had two tracks - one of them which dropped just a few days ago. There’s something about her - her sound, her look - that reminds me of my college days. I could see her music blasting on college campuses and indie rock stations. It’s like playful, mellow riot grrrl for a new millennium.

The internet has been abuzz with the news that Karl Lagerfeld chose Keira Knightley to play Coco Chanel in an upcoming short fashion film and the trailer is now here! Entitled “Once Upon A Time” the short film features Keira Knightley as Coco Chanel as a young designer at her first boutique in Deauville, France. French film actress Clotilde Hesme is also in “Once Upon A Time” and I’m guessing she plays Coco Chanel’s aunt Adrienne.

The full film will be posted on http://www.chanel-news.com on May 8th at the same time as its premiere in Singapore, the destination chosen by Karl Lagerfeld for his upcoming Cruise fashion show.

Soundtrack:
Ah! Finalmente!
Extract from “Tosca”
Composed by Giacomo Puccini
Performed by Gottfried Hornik, Fernando Corena, José Carreras, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
℗ 1980 Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Hamburg

How many nude eye shadow palettes can one woman own? Apparently not enough. I happily cashed in my 15% V.I.B Sephora coupon (what’s up with that - it use to be 20%) determined to buy a product that I normally don’t always buy (like NARS) so I spent some time in the Too Faced section. This is what I went home with:

I apologize for my lighting difficulties - I tried many times but this was the best I could get with my lighting source. I did manage to get a great shot when it matters most.

I love that this travel friendly palette has enough room for nine shadows. The large pans on the left serve as your all over base - lash line to brow bone. The middle pans are for you lid and the last column is for your crease, lash line and/or outer-v contouring. I also like how they are categorize as Day, Classic, Fashion. I translate Day as weekend play dates or for days when I’m working out during my lunch breaks. Classic would be for the office and Fashion would be for night out with the girls, date night or going to happy hour straight from the office and it’s a day off from working out!

Unfortunately I forgot to swatch these shadows, I guess I was just too excited to try these colors out. I like to shoot my exterior and colors, swatch and then try them out on my eyes. This time I went straight for trying on my eyes and completely forgot to swatch so you can see what it looks like on a tanned complexion.

I can describe the colors to you. In the Buff, is a matte creamy bone white. Fuzzy Handcuffs is a matte peach beige. Voulez-vouz is plum brown with a light shimmer. Satin Sheets is a peachy pink shimmer, Sugar Walls is a metallic mauve with silver glitter and Garter Belt is a matte brownish grey taupe. Birthday Suit is a cool, icy mocha shimmer. Lap Dance is a metallic silver plum and French Tickler is a deep black with packed with gold glitter.

I am new to Too Faced palettes, I guess in the past they came in cardboard packaging and this one is metal. I love it - when flipped upside down a very strong magnet keeps it closed. It’s lightweight yet it feels very sturdy. Also, if you leave it on your bathroom counter you won’t have to worry about water seeping in the corners or on the back surface.

For the beauty novices, it comes with a “how - to” booklet:

I decided to go for the full Too Faced experience by using my favorite primer (Too Faced Shadow Insurance, of course) and I tried out each of these three looks.

Day:

This was a very quick and easy look to do. I also like pairing this combo with a blackened brown eye liner pencil - it softens the look even more.

Classic:

The combination of the peachy pink Satin Sheets with the glitter packed mauve of Sugar Walls really creates a great metallic eye. I experienced minimal fallout from Sugar Walls. It wasn’t bad, like I normally experience with a glittery Urban Decay shadow. The matte mushroom grey taupe of Garter Belt keeps the metallic sheen from getting too disco ball for the office. I would also recommend this for date night or even for a first date. This is really pretty but you need to be comfortable with sporting a metallic eye look.

Fashion:

I probably could have really smoked the intensity on this one if I were to smudge French Tickler heavily on the lower lash line as well on the top. I wanted a clean black cat eye look. I normally shy away from the glittery black shadows because I usually experience annoying amount of fallout but surprisingly I experienced minimal fallout with shade as well! Also, it packed a great deal of pigment with just a small amount. This black blends very nicely as well. I also love the soft metallic sheen of Birthday Suit and Lap Dance.

I have been wearing these shades for a week straight - I think I’m in love! Satin Sheets is currently my favorite with Fuzzy Handcuffs on top, Birthday Suit on the brow bone and Garter Belt as my crease and Voulez-Vouz as my outer-v contour. It’s a really pretty nude look I’ve been sporting for the past few days. I think I’ll break out French Tickler on the work days I’m not working out or running during my lunch breaks. I can’t wait to spend more time with all of these shades.

Aside from the cheesy shadow names, this palette creates sexy, date night looks but also it is not out of place at the office, playground, dance classes and Target. I think I found the one palette I can take with me on my next family vacation next month! On top of great primer, these shadows did not crease or fade on my lids for a good eight hours.

I use to bypass Too Faced because I thought it was geared more to a younger audience with the cheetah print motiff bronzers and packaging but once I gave the brand my full attention I realized, “hey this is a fun line, makeup is timeless and I do love cheetah print” so who was I kidding?

Congrats, Too Faced - I’m becoming a bigger fan!

Too Faced Boudoir Eyes, $36/USD

Available at stores and online that offer the Too Faced brand.

Disclaimer - I bought this myself to review at my local Sephora. 

If you find your boyfriend boring and your other friend attractive, you may want to switch things up a bit.

Dear MISSter Simms,

A few months ago I met a guy who I thought was perfect.  He’s incredibly kind, empathetic, and respectful.  On top of all that, he’s about to finish law school.  And we have great sex.  The only problem is that he’s not very spontaneous or funny.  He’s safe and kind of boring really.  Right when I came to this revelation, I went on a trip with my childhood friend to a cabin in the woods.  We had a ton of fun, and I started developing feelings for him.  I didn’t act on these feelings, though.  I feel guilty about being in a relationship with the “perfect” guy while constantly thinking about someone else.  Should I tell either of them how I feel?  I’m worried that if I tell my boyfriend he’ll resent me, and if I tell my childhood friend he’ll get weirded out and stop talking to me.  I need help making sense of my emotions right now.

Between A Rock and a Hard Place

Dear BARHP,

Here’s what you need to do.  First, dump your boyfriend.  Clearly he’s not “the perfect guy” if you’re constantly thinking about someone else.  In fact, no one is.  Everyone is flawed.  His flaws just happen to be being “safe and kind of boring” instead of something more common like being ugly, having horrible B.O., or having violent tendencies.  It’s not like your boyfriend is going to become out of control and hilarious over night (or ever), and you’ve only invested six months of your life into this relationship.  What do you have to lose?  Breaking up is never easy, but it is better than being in a relationship where you’re unhappy and stringing the other person along while they think everything is all good.  You don’t need to tell him that there’s another guy in your life.  All you need to say is that you’re not feeling him as much as you used to and  don’t want to be with him anymore.  He may cry and/or try to make a case as to why you should be together, but stay strong and stand your friend.  It’s better for the both of you.

As for your childhood friend who you think about constantly, once you’ve broken up with your boyfriend you’ll be free to proclaim your love for him.  If you’ve been friends since childhood, it should hopefully take more than a confession of your feelings about him to damage your relationship irrevocably forever.  And, hey, he might even have the same feelings for you and you two could go build a solid romantic relationship off the back of your long, storied friendship.  What could be better than that?

Need relationship advice?  Send your questions to ronsimmsjr at gmail dot com and you might be featured on the next installment of Ask MISSter Simms.