Attention Fashionistas!

As you know, Purple Lab is extremely inspired by fashion, hence our creme blush, Cheek Implants in Six Inch Heels and our Huge Lips Skinny Hips lip gloss in Red Sole!

To celebrate the launch of our new foundation, Silk Sheets, we partnered with Chictopia, the ultimate destination for style-obsessed clothes horses (me being one of them) to launch the “Foundation of Style” contest.

We know that every girl has those key items that make up their Foundation of Style, be it your go to shoes that are impossible to walk in (walking is so overrated!) or a fedora, made chic by adding a broach, feather, or a crystal necklace around the base.

Between now and Oct.27, enter the Foundation of Style Contest for a chance to win the latest beauty must-haves from Purple Lab and a chic Balenciaga clutch makeup bag. Plus, we will be featuring our winners on Purple Blab as the guest beauty blogger for the month of November!

For details on how to enter, check out the contest on Chictopia and a few of our favorite looks!

Slicari

Maryvannotes

Red Lipstick

To celebrate our contest you can receive 20% on Purple Lab products using the code “chictopia” at checkout, now through Oct 27!

Cant wait to see your looks!

Mwah!

Karen

Purple Lab Creatrix

If you are not yet familiar with @MsAmandaGreene or @LALupus Lady you must get to know her. now. She is the sweetest, kindest and spunkiest gal in Los Angeles, not to mention a huge advocate for raising awareness of Lupus (and Purple Lab)! Amanda has been a loyal Purple Lab customer and friend of our brand since our launch.

Here is Amanda’s entry to one of our Brickfish contests.

She hosted a Purple Lab on HSN Screening Party!

Amanda recently traveled to New York City and wanted to make it memorable – including an experience with Purple Lab. So, here is what happened. As told to me…

On a recent trip to New York City, I was asked by my friends at Purple Lab NYC if I was going to see a Broadway show while I was in Manhattan. I was in fact, I had just purchased tickets for “Promises, Promises” starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth. That is when I sent an email to Karen. I came up with a self-imposed “Ultimate Broadway Challenge.” The challenge: would I be able to get Kristin Chenoweth, star of stage, screen and Twitter, a Purple Lab lip gloss? E-mails flew and soon it was arranged that I was going to meet a Purple Lab intern to get the lip gloss that I was going to (attempt to) give to Kristin Chenoweth.

I was as nervous as someone who would be going on the Broadway stage that night during my pre-theater dinner. I was hoping that the timing would be perfect. I did not want to fall flat on my face for Purple Lab NYC, especially when I was the one who came up with this idea in the first place). I am a Multi-tasking Maven and I wanted to complete my mission.

My husband said I had a look of determination in my eyes, but also hoped the night wasn’t going to end with us at explaining Hoodia- infused lip gloss to an NYPD officer.

After the show, The excited crowd waited about 20 minutes before the cast started exiting one by one. Then there she was: the uber-petite Kristin Chenoweth! She was smiling and signing autographs. She was coming down the barricade–making her way along the very rail where I was. I started snapping pictures of her and I got one of the lip glosses in the foreground.

Then it was time to accomplish my Ultimate Broadway Challenge. I gave Kristin Chenoweth a Purple Lab NYC “Huge Lips, Skinny Hips” lip gloss. As she looked at the curvy box, I told her that it is lip gloss that is a plumper and had Hoodia inside to curb your appetite–that’s why it is called “Huge Lips, Skinny Hips”! Kristin’s reaction was priceless–I caught her smile in a classic “open-mouthed gasp” with my digicam. As Kristin walked away, she held a tight grip on her new Purple Lab NYC lip gloss.

Ultimate Broadway Challenge: Mission Accomplished!

Thanks Amanda! You rocked it!

MWAH!
Karen
Purple Lab Creatrix

What I’ll wear on HSN is always the most stressful part of going on air for me. I can deal with the pressure of being on TV in front of what could be 10 million people. But the outfit, that’s another story. TV clothes are tricky. I can’t be as over the top as I am in real life (i.e. no million layers of accessories… no major hats… no feathers). I have to think colors, what will pop. And remember, the camera really does add 10 lbs.

Panic! Help! This time, I’m not leaving my outfits to whim. I have partnered with AOL Stylelist to ask for your assistance in choosing my final outfit for my broadcast. Check out the contest to vote for your favorite outfit and leave a comment to enter to win a Purple Lab Huge Lips Skinny Hips Lip Gloss.

Don’t forget to watch me on HSN at 8pm on August 19th to see the winning outfit!

Here are my outfit choices. All photos taken by the amazing and fabulous Vinnie Merlot.

Look 1: Green Lanvin dress and purple and gold YSL wedgies.
What I love: the color. Emerald is amazing on the little screen – and what better way to wear it than with purple shoes! My fear… are the ruffles too much for HSN?

Look 2: Thakoon graphic print dress, vintage Gucci gold belt, Lanvin shoes.
What I love: It’s fun and flirty. The colors are beautiful and while the graphic is busy, it won’t overwhelm on television. The little puckered sleeve is heaven.

Look 3: Marc Jacobs satin pants, red Celine blouse, Nicholas Kirkwood lace booties.
What I love: Black and red is killing me right now. Love the contrast and slightly 80s feeling of it. It’s so chic! I think this look is kind of perfection, do you?

Look 4: Black Zac Posen tuxedo pants, Lanvin silver brocade top, Alexander McQueen belt.
What I love: I’d normally stay away from dark colors for TV but the silver is so happy and shiny that I thought it would work well. Agreed?

Look 5: Orange Marni dress, Lanvin lemon necklace, Givenchy wedgies.
What I love: Okay, this is one of my favorite dresses on the planet but it could be too sack-like for TV. The color is rad, but the shape? Thoughts?

Look 6: Black Givenchy walking shorts. Balenciaga turquoise drapey top and crystal necklace. YSL pumps.
What I love: the aqua is made for TV and it’s high fashion without being unrelatable. Plus, a crystal necklace. I can’t resist some sparkle.

Can’t wait to see what you choose!

Mwah!
Karen
Purple Lab Creatrix

Told to you by Purple Lab’s one and only male intern, Vinnie…

When I first heard that I would be able to attend the second speed dating event taking place at the W Hoboken, I was immediately filled with anticipation. This was due the fact that I’ve been interning with Purple Lab since mid-June and I’ve heard countless stories about the FAMOUS Purple Lab Speed Dating event. I was also present upon the arrival of the Guinness World Record certificate in the mail, which managed to evoke a serious amount of excitement in the office.

Now, I would finally have the chance to experience the scene of a mega speed dating event first hand. Fortunately for the Purple Lab team, it was a bit smaller this time around but I’d say it was just as fun. Instead of organizing the event, Purple Lab was responsible for making over female daters before they began to meet the boys.

Armed with a full supply of Purple Lab products, Sharon, Julie, Eve and I were chauffeured by Todd to the W Hoboken. Upon setting up our products, I wasn’t sure what to expect by the crowd or the speed dating process in general. As the daters started pouring in, the women were immediately drawn to our products (can’t blaim them!).

Not knowing much about the application of make up (I’m more the office photographer/photoshopper/videographer), Julie and Eve did an awesome job of being pseudo make up artists for the night as I told the crowd about our lineup of double duty beauty products. Huge Lips Skinny Hips was a crowd pleaser as always, even drawing attention from the male speed daters! Continuing through the night, when women found themselves dateless, the Purple Lab team was ready for touchups.

The salon Toni & Guy did a great job of providing hair 911 style action and together we proved to be an unbeatable team. After the speed dating was finished, the crowd moved downstairs to indulge in the 80s tribute band in the living room. Julie and I walked around to do some sampling of the products to a lucky group of girls.

Overall, the event was a definite success. not only for the speed daters (I did see some getting cozy in the living room after) but also for the Purple Lab team.

Thanks to everyone who came out, we hope you found a match!

MWAH!
Vinnie
Purple Lab Multitasking Maven

Every season, fashion designers have a look book, a book that’s curated to perfection, showcasing the collection. It’s not something beauty brands would typically do. Being that I’m such a fashion girl at heart, I was a little jealous! I wanted one!

Today we launch our look book (the cover image is above)!

So I asked some of our favorite bloggers and F.O.P.L. (friends of Purple Lab) to strike a pose. We turned my apartment into a photo studio.

The kitchen was the Dolce Gusto coffee and muffin “craft station” as they say on movie sets.

The living room is was saved for hair and makeup. Turns out that Britt, our multi-tasking maven (a.k.a. intern) who also wound up in one of the pics, is genius with hair! To give you a sense of the mayhem – 11 models, 3 makeup artists, Sharon and a team of 4 interns, 2 Dolce Gusto girls manning the cappuccino, 1 photographer, and me.

Our makeup artists rocked! Thank you to Stacie Ford, Ani Hovhannisyan, and Donna Beretsky-Neidecker, who are so talented and smoke out an eye like nobody’s business! And then there’s Ana Schecter, photographer (or as I like to call her, photographess). She is sooooo talented, it hurts! Love, love, love you Ana, Stacie, Ani and Donna!

We carefully plotted which look would be right for each model. Extreme and edgy red liner (Huge Lips Skinny Hips in Red Sole doubled as shadow for the day) for Karen Blanchard of Where did U Get That – she has such a downtown vibe that we knew she could pull it off (not everyone in the world can, but we also gave her a natural look).

Meanwhile, Todd was on the roof deck, morphing it into a photo ready studio. We hung a white blanket on the fence between our deck and our neighbor’s (for a stark white background), removed the table, chairs and grill and set the stage.

This is Ana at work, shooting a pregger and beautiful Mildred of Beauty Logic Blog.

And here she is with the lovely Audrey of Homerun Ballerina, whose birthday is today by the way! HAPPY B’DAY PRETTY GIRL! J’ADORE! Audrey has such a natural glow about her so it was fun to get enhance it with the highlighter of Luxury Squared.

Now, Virginia Nam of Lovely 20s and The Examiner. She looks like such a perfect little porcelain doll so we had to go with it for this very Asian-inspired look, using Huge Lips Skinny Hips in Lychee Martini on the eyes (it really works well as a shadow but you do have to let it dry!)

P.S. We’re working on shadows, BTW! Coming somewhat soon-ish!

Christine from My Style Pill pulled off a really out-there, runway-ready eye – words won’t do it justice. The rest of the face was super natural so that the eyes were the main attraction. See below and drool!

It took a while to perfect the heavy rock star eyes for Anne of The Jet Set Girls. I love the contrast of the dark, dark eye on her fair skin. And that red hair! She was so fierce, I couldn’t stop kvelling all over her!

Noelle and Joelle of The Owls Are Not What They Seem, gave us the glamour – each with two looks.

But check out the eye on Noelle. When the eye was open, it just looked like a thin cat eye but when closed, it was ON!

And Joelle – no words!

F.O.P.L. included Amanda, the cutest blond! She entered our model search contest and we fell so in love with her that we asked her to be in our look book (she came with her mom, Andrea, who started a Twitter account called @vote4amanda when her daughter was racking up votes!)

Hello Bridget Bardot eyes (Ani, amazing job!).

Barbara Dial, our resident pole dancing teacher (from S-Factor, the inspiration behind Huge Lips Skinny Hips in Kitty Poledancer, soft nude-pink), is the consummate California girl. So we edged her up with a side bun and red-red lips.

There was one more look we were dying to do at the end of the day – something kind of hippie chic with a long side braid and we turned Britt into a model! How gorgeous is she here?

More Behind the scenes pics are on Facebook.

And there’s a great video as well, created by Kendra Elise (there she is below).

Mwah!

Karen

Purple Lab Creatrix

Guess what we did yesterday? All the girls in the office and I went to the Sex & the City 2 world premiere. Sort of. Crashed is more like it. It was time for some serious guerilla marketing action at Radio City Music Hall.

Our girls dressed in their cute Purple Lab tees, skinny jeans, and one key accessory: retro style cigarette trays, wrapped in purple velvet and harnassed to their bodies. A moving beauty counter of products!

A close up of the trays:

See, I was there two years ago and it was a SCENE! There were hundreds, maybe thousands of girls outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of SJP and lines of ticket holders that spanned four city blocks. (I actually had passes in my hand and got all dressed up like a total cliche, took one look at the crowd and the line I’d have to stand in, gave my tickets to two tourists, and went to dinner with a friend).

I thought, if we can’t afford to be there as an official sponsor, we could sure street-team-it. It’s the best audience I could imagine – pop culture loving, style obsessed girls who love all things fab and glam!

To give you a sense of how long the line was:

We offered makeup touch-ups and SATC makeovers to gaggles of girls and gave out ring pops (what better snack for the movies?) and Foot Petals (a must-have for hours of heel-wearing).

Don’t worry – we brought hand sanitizer and a billion applicators to keep it totally sanitary. New Yorkers tend to be germaphobic.

One of the “afters” with Huge Lips Skinny Hips in Red Sole and newly lined eyes!

She had this adorable tattoo!

We found some new fans…

While stationed outside of the Duane Reade on 51st Street, the women who worked there started to knock on the window to find out about our products. I was showing them by holding them up against the window!

Then one came out to try out some gloss and get my card (she wanted to show it to the buyer – you know how Duane Reade has that new chic beauty division with luxe brands? We’ll see what happens.)

It was a success of “Big” standards.

Video coming soon!

Mwah!

Karen

Purple Lab Creatrix

We recently did a cute segment for Better TV in the Purple Lab apartment (a.k.a. my home/office/warehouse). They shot here once before and I have to say, it’s always fun to have a film crew come over!

The producer, Marianne, is heaven to work with and – I love this about her! – she writes vampire young adult novels (check her out). This was one of her last shoots for the network before she left to write full time (we’ll miss you, Marianne).

The premise of the shoot: Mother’s Day. We had three moms, each a different age group, and I gave them make overs (I have been taking makeup artist lessons).

One quick thing – I wore these super cute harem shorts (right to the knee). Bad idea. Now that I see the pix, well, it looks like I’m wearing Pampers. (Not showing you!)

Anyway, mom in her 30s, was Deena, a friend of a friend. The problem with moms in their 30s? They need quick beauty tips because they’re busy with small kids.

The solution: double duty products save time (and $$$); neutral colors are a must because you don’t have to spend too much time applying, blending out each shade, especially with kids running all over the place.

This was the look I gave her.

All I needed: Four products.

1. Silk Sheets foundation to even her skin tone

2. Cheek Implants cream blush in the shade Backstage Pass. The trick is to use it as a full on eye shadow, the whole lid from the lash line to the crease. It brightens the whole face.

3. Lashionista Modelista, just the mascara. One coat on the top lashes.

4. Huge Lips Skinny Hips in Goji Berry Smoothie (the soft berry shade is out at the end of the month)

Five minutes. Done!

Now on to mom in her 40s (my friend Sally, who I hadn’t seen in far too long). In your 40s, you have a little more time. Your kids are likely in school. You have your days back! So you can play with your makeup.

Don’t be afraid to bring on the glamour with a serious smokey eye – it’s not just for 20somethings. It’s fun to flirt with new looks as you hit your forties, especially when you work with products that have sophisticated formulas but a playfulness to make you feel young and fun.

For Sally, it was all about subtle shine on the lips and rosy cheeks. Here’s her before and after:

Here’s what I used:

1. Cheek Implants in Six Inch Heels. You will feel like a super model while enhancing cheekbones with a pale shade of pink.

2. Lashionista Modelista in After Dark: Just smudge liner with a small angled brush to create a soft yet smokey cat eye. The diamond dust is subtle, giving the eye just the right amount of shine.

3. Luvah in Mama’s Boy. Made to bring out your inner vixen, it’s infused with aphrodisiacs and natural libido stimulants to remind you to feel sensual and beautiful.

For Mom in 60s, we actually played Joan Hirsch, none other than Sharon’s mother! She’s a doll and looks 20 years younger than her age. The issue moms have in their sixties? They want to look younger without going under the knife (well, some don’t mind the knife, not naming names).

The solution? Use beauty products that have anti-aging benefits so you are treating skin all day and definitely do NOT be afraid of color. A pop of color will brighten your whole face and give you a youthful appeal. Lastly, love that highlighter.

Highlighter should be your best friend, especially as you age. It’s the best way to add soft shimmer and draw attention to your best features. Chic tip: A dab in the corner of the eyes by the nose will draw the light away from crow’s feet.

Meet Sharon’s maker – before and after:

Here’s what I used:

1. Silk Sheets foundation equipped with anti aging benefits, thanks to silk, algae, seaweed, juniper, almond seed extract, and more!

2. Luvah in Rich Jerk: Use a bright lip color so lips pop. The double plumping ingredient, “Complex OO,” provides long-term lip enhancing benefits while Vitamin B3 provides immediate plumping, erasing fine lines.

3. Luxury Squared, which is equipped with both an under eye color corrective concealer AND highligher. Both offer skin care ingredients like silk, Vitamin E, carrot oil, antioxidants, algae. And the highlighter’s got my favorite additive – diamond dust!

Happy early Mother’s Day!

Will share the clip when it’s live.

Mwah!

Karen

Purple Lab Creatrix

I recently wrote about the Women in Need charity event. But what I didn’t share is the high drama look I gave my eyes, thanks to Lashionista Modelista (clearly, an addictive product for me!).

It’s super easy and here’s how to do it yourself:

When you do something like this, something that draws all the attention to your eyes, keep the rest of your look soft and neutral.

Let one thing stand out on your face at a time – sort of like an outfit with one star accessory.

I did this look with Huge Lips Skinny Hips in No Panty Lines (a.k.a. clear) so that there was a little moist shine but no color to distract from the eyes.

It was a hit!

Mwah!

Karen

Purple Lab Creatrix

First of all, I am horrified at long it’s been since I have blogged. Let’s just say that I’ve been in the midst of serious insanity.

We’re finally bringing back Love Your Thighs and Lychee Martini, two chic shades of Huge Lips Skinny Hips. Love Your Thighs is exotic coral and Lychee Martini, super sheer peach. And… Limo to Lobby (perfect pink) and Goji Berry Smoothie are on their way, too.

I’ll be debuting them on HSN. along with Pearlesque Show, our new silicone-free primer with a touch of crushed pearls and honey, in April. Click here to see when!

Oh! We’re also doing Lashionista Modelista in a new color – midnight blue! A really rich navy called Modern Classic. The blue is so sophisticated and it really makes the whites of your eyes pop.

This is what it looks like on my skin.

There are going to be three – yes three! – new products for July. The details are still hush-hush but I can tell you that one is an exfoliator (the best skin treatment before your makeup and it has amethysts!) and the other two are for the eyes (a primer and cream shadow but both with a twist – you’ll see).

There have been a billion passes as names – all of the ones I originally wanted are trademarked but it’s amazing how hitting a road block forces you to a better place.

Lab samples have been flying around the office. Been on a dozen new desk sides, thanks to Sharon, our killer PR princepesa. Figuring out things to do before HSN to promote our shows (look out for a contest on Closet Couture!). Planning a big look book photo shoot at the apartment office.

We’re shooting 20 different looks on ten friends and bloggers with photographer Ana Schechter. She is a genius with the camera. We’ll video behind the scenes action for fun!

I look so harried at the moment. I am so crazed that, get this, I had a ticket to go to Florida for Passover to see my family and Todd and I completely forgot about the flight. Literally just blanked. We thought we were going on Thursday but our ticket was for Wednesday and it took two days of nonstop airport stalking and double lay overs to get there!

But I’m coming back to life… and will have loads to share!

Mwah!

Karen

Purple Lab Creatrix

The spring runway – and even many fall runways – were stalked by glamazons sporting a fresh-faced, natural, no-makeup-makeup look. Have you noticed? So we put Ashley, one of our multi-tasking mavens, to the test and create the look herself.

Meet Ash:

She is an all-natural kind of girl to begin with (not to mention the most amazing singer ever – full on jazz vocals a la Norah Jones).

Armed with Silk Sheets luxe foundation infused with silk, Luxury Squared under-eye concealer and highlighter, collagen-packed Cheek Implants in Backstage Pass (ripe, delicious peach with golden undertones), Lashionista Modelista and Huge Lips Skinny Hips in Worship Kate, she turned herself into an exact replica of what Stella McCartney’s models looked like on the catwalk. (Love Stella, BTW.)

Here’s how to get that youthful, clean, natural look.

More how-tos to come! And do let us know what you want to see us create!

Mwah!

Karen

Purple Lab Creatrix