IIDA Houston City Center’s Product Runway

Product Runway is an avant-garde couture fashion design competition with a twist. IIDA Houston City Center’s Product Runway, influenced by the concept of the hit realty TV show Project Runway, is one of a handful of fashion shows of its kind in the country. Product Runway puts teams of interior design and architecture professionals and interior design students in a fashion design competition by creating handmade garments out of standard architectural finish materials such as glass, tile, carpet and wood. Product Runway promises to showcase eye-popping creations during a runway performance by each team on nearly 150 ft. of runway at Revention Music Center!

Each of the 20 competing teams has been assigned one hard material and one soft material, which must collectively make up 80% of their final garment. With this year’s theme: Avant Art, each team will be assigned a specific art movement with a correlating artist, as well as a piece of work from their artist that shows a true representation of that particular movement. The majority of a completed garment (approx. 60%) must be made of their hard and soft goods that are as close to the team’s assigned art movement and artist. Teams are encouraged to work with their garment label representatives to select goods that will best reflect their particular art movement. The assigned artist and image should serve as an abstract design inspiration. Within the portfolio submissions, each team will be asked to describe how their garment’s design relates to or interprets their assigned art movement and artist. Final entries, also modeled by a member of the design team, must be designed and constructed completely by the team.

The 8th Annual Product Runway Fashion Show is scheduled for Friday, April 22nd at 8 p.m. at Revention Music Center. Funds raised by the evening of inspired designs benefit the Houston Furniture Bank, a local non-profit that focuses on making houses into homes by providing furniture for families in need via 70 agencies in surrounding counties.

New Year, New You

by Carla Menendez

Innovations in skin care and look-at-me makeup will make you more radiant than ever.

GET GLAM!
Give your makeup a makeover, one for day and another for night.

Going out? Butter London Night Shift Smoke Stick Duo (1) has matte black shadow on one end and a soft gold highlighter on the other for sexy smoky eyes in a flash ($20; www.butterlondon.com).

Change up your look with the blink of an eye. Too-Faced Le Grand Palais (2) comes with 18 eye shadows, two blushes, a bronzer, a highlighter, mascara, a lipstick and shadow insurance, so you can experiment to your heart’s content ($58; www.sephora.com).

Stay smudge-proof all day with Urban Decay 24/7 Waterline Eye Pencil (3). Balmy spring weather, take that ($20; www.urbandecay.com).

Don’t underestimate the power of a perfect pout. Exfoliate with The Lip Scrub by Sara Happ in Midnight Blueberry (4) ($24; www.nordstroms.com). Then go bold with Clarins Joli Rouge in Joli Rouge ($27; www.clairinsusa.com).

LOVE THE SKIN YOU’RE IN.
Stretch out your facials with skin-care devices designed to deep clean, exfoliate, even prevent wrinkles. Speaking of staying young, don’t neglect your hands, neck and more.

Men need a good skin-care device, too! Clarisonic Alpha Fit Men’s Cleaning (5) features two settings: Clean-Shaven cleans and preps skin for a closer, smother shave while Bearded deep cleans without tugging. The kit also comes with a cleanser ($189; www.clarisonic.com).

Foreo Luna Mini (6), made with antibacterial silicone, works wonders no matter your skin type. Three zones cover the gamut of skin care, unclogging pores, gently exfoliating, removing makeup and more. Low-frequency pulsations help to diminish the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles ($139; www.sephora.com).

---

Read the rest of this article in the 2016 Spring H Texas issue, available soon on newsstands and digitally.

Tricia Covel launches golf apparel “Swing Dish”

Top names in fashion and the professional golf celebrated the newest line of women’s golf apparel at a party hosted by “Swingdish”at the iconic (Steve) Wynn Country Club. Championed by designer Tricia Covel, Swingdish is a signature line of luxury women’s golf apparel and accessories.

Joining the celebration were executives from golf courses around the country, fashion insiders, PGA representatives, and Covel’s husband, country music hall-of-famer and avid golfer, Toby Keith.

Over the course of her life, Covel had a love for fashion and developed a late love for the game of golf. This new found passion also lead to her partnership and current role overseeing operations at the Belmar Golf Club in her Oklahoma hometown.

Realizing there was a significant void in golf apparel for women, Covel, along with daughters Krystal & Shelley, worked with an Ohio-based creative team to create Swingdish. The fashion line includes women’s golf shorts, shirts, skorts and accessories that are functional and practical while keeping an eye on style.

 

 

The Swingdish collection is individualistic and timeless, creating a sentimental
place in any athlete’s wardrobe. The unique line offers a successful mix of high style and
functionality perfect for all women.

ZeeBerry.com

Online Shopping Extravaganza

ZeeBerry.com is one of the web’s fastest growing jewelry destinations. You can find many of your favorite brands here; from Alex and Ani, Dogeared, Gorjana, Ettika & Shashi and Chan Luu. As I browsed the site, I couldn’t deny my love for Kendra Scott. A new pair of stylish earrings arrived the next day. Our readers receive 15% off use the code htexas15.

Zeeberry.com

Fall Trends – It’s Makeover Time!

Fabulous Gift Ideas

Forget about playing it (completely) safe this season, at least when it comes to your beauty routine. Color is in for fall and the holidays! Bold liners and shadows brighten your face, just in time for the dreary cold; thanks to modern advances, makeup actually stays put and lasts longer than ever. Plus, don’t miss my best beauty gift-giving suggestions. Happy glamorous holiday!

 

 

 

 This year’s glittery, limited-edition holiday scent represents the sensual midnight hour.LOLITA LEMPICKA MINUITE SONNE combines notes ofliquorice, iris concrete, vanilla and benzoin—perfect for your holiday party ($105; www.amazon.com).

 

 

Tame your mane without breakage. Olivia Garden Divine Brush Collection features an ergonomic design that makes hair brushing easy and snag-free. My favorite is the Divine Wet Detangler, with memory flex bristles to detangle post-shower hair.
($24; www.oliviagarden/brushes.com).

---

 

 

Cleanse, moisturize and treat your skin with the spa-strength June Jacobs Brightening Gift Set. Paraben and preservative free, this five-piece kit, which promises to deliver a glowing complexion,
is conveniently packaged in travel-safe sizes with an elegant gift box. Includes: Creamy Cranberry Cleanser, Vanda Orchid Polishing Beads, Brightening Serum, Brightening Moisturizer, Intensive Age Defying Brightening Eye Cream.
($54; www.junejacobs.com).

 

Colors were a big trend on the fall runways.
Add some color to your life with Urban Decay
Ten 24/7 Glide-on Eye Pencil Set. The soft pencils
go on with ease and have great staying power
($52; www.urbandecay.com).

 

 

---

 

 

Bliss Rock the Party! Set is just the thing for an endless season of holiday parties. The head-to-toe set is complete
with rescue essentials: thigh firming cream,
high intensity hand cream, energizing mask and
a triple oxygen instant energizing eye mask
($45; exclusively at Sephora).

 

 

Chanel Coco Noir is a modern combination of
luminous floral and sensual oriental notes; its
top notes of grapefruit and bergamot accentuate
the rose and jasmine.
($98; www.chanel.com).

 

---

 

 

 

 

 

Laura Geller Beauty Book of Jewels Baked Eyeshadow Library is the most comprehensive eyeshadow collection. Each shade can be worn dry or wet for a deeper color
payoff—perfect for doubling as a liner.
($99; www.qvc.com).

 

---

Prefer a minimalist take on the trend?
Go for a liquid liner, which creates more of a clean, precise line; blue and violet are all the rage. Try:

Eyeko Visual Eyes Liquid Eyeliner in Marine
($19; www.eyeko.com)

 

 

 

 

 

Napoleon Perdis Two Faced Eyeliner Duo in High Society
($35; www.napoeonperdis.com)

Maybelline EyeStudio Master Duo Glossy
Liquid Liner in Violet Luster
($8; www.ulta.com)

Choosing The Right Glasses For Your Face

Brotox – Not Just for Women & Not Just For Wrinkles!

The Latest and Greatest Extensions

Do you crave long, voluptuous locks? Look no further than Houston’s own Mario Romero. He is a master trainer for the Balmain Hair line and the first stylist in Houston to carry their newest offering: the luxurious System Volume line of extensions.

Many extensions take forever to install; they’re heavy and cause your natural hair to break. The Volumizer is lightweight and bonds to your hair (via infrared light) in 35 seconds. (If you’ve had extensions before, you understand…. This is a big deal!) The system spreads the hair evenly, and makes sure that each bond is unique so it blends perfectly with your natural hair. Thanks to Système Volume from Balmain Hair you can have a natural voluminous look in an instant, and it lasts three to four months. You can find Mario at  the lab hair Studio, 3000 Sage; Ste 1157, Houston TX.

Or call him at 713-965-0025.

Here is a picture of how my extensions looked on the first day. On this blog, I’ll chronicle the three months and see how the Volumizer holds up.

Five days later: I waited as long as possible to wash the extensions. I’m very gentle when I do so. Mario said not to be alarmed, some of the extensions will fall out. None have fallen out yet. You use a special brush to tame these manes. When drying your hair, you can use a round brush on your tips. Here is a picture of my hair when I blow-dry it myself. Never, never as good as Mario, but not bad!

Week Two: So far so good. Extensions are holding up and I still really can’t even feel them. They are lighter than expected. Mario said they expand when they are shampooed, so I thought they might feel a little heavier. They don’t.

Week Three: Still going strong and looking good. I felt fabulous at the Centennial Symphony Ball!

Week Seven: This morning when blow-drying my hair, one strand came out.  Seriously, after seven weeks… I’m astonished!!!

Week Eleven: I returned to have my color touched up.  I love returning to the salon for a blow dry.  It always looks the best when done by a professional. The next day, after attending a wedding, the second strip of hair fell out.  For those of you who have had extensions before, you know this is incredible staying power!!!!!

Week Fourteen: The third strand came out.

 

 

Get Beautiful Glowing Skin with Dry Brushing

I find it kind of funny how it seems like in many ways society is moving backwards in time. In many aspects of our lives we are opting for simpler solutions that were more common in the past in regards to our health, eating habits, and personal care.

Nowadays, a lot people are adapting to and using the ways of the past. Like hanging their clothes on a clothes line outside to dry, growing their own food, canning and preserving fruits and vegetables, utilizing homemade cleaning and personal care products and much more. This is awesome to see because it means that we are taking control of our own lives and taking matters into our own hands, putting less reliance on the system for support. This is also excellent news for Mother Nature, as a lot of these older practices that we have been reverting back to are helping the environment directly.

One of these practices from the past is called dry brushing, and this is what this article is about. Dry Brushing is an ancient practice that has been used for centuries primarily by Scandinavians and Russians, and many ancient texts refer to a method of using sticks, sand and rocks to massage the skin; this is essentially what dry brushing is. It is a method that involves brushing the skin with a brush made with natural fibres to remove the outer layer of skin
that is re-generated every 24 hours. Here are some of the potential benefits that dry brushing can provide for you if done on a regular, daily basis

Benefits Of Dry Brushing
Removal of dead skin- dry brushing will help shed dead skin cells, which will improve skin texture and cell renewal as a new layer of skin is formed every 24 hours.
Dry brushing can also help removes cellulite. Cellulite is actually caused by subcutaneous fat material and fibrous tissue that are not able to be eliminated through the skin, they then cause this dimpling effect on the overlaying skin. Cellulite is most commonly found on the thighs, hips and bums of women, but some men have cellulite as well. Good news is, dry brushing can replace expensive and mostly toxic creams, liposuction and other laser treatments or plastic surgery. You’ll have to try it and see for yourself!
Dry brushing can actually strengthen the immune system. It does so by stimulating lymph vessels to drain toxic mucoid matter into organs of detoxification we can detoxify and purify the entire system.
Dry brushing will tighten your skin. By increasing the blood flow, toxins are moved and eliminated through the skin. Underneath that old layer of skin lies a new layer with a healthy glow.
Tone your muscles. Dry brushing tones muscles by stimulating the nerve endings, which causes the individual muscle fibres to move and activate. Also, it can mobilize fat and help to even out the distribution of fat deposits.
Did you know that your skin is one of five main elimination channels of the body? Some refer to the skin as the third kidney because of its ability to rid the body of toxic waste material. The skin eliminates about 2 pounds of toxic material each day in the form of perspiration; this is one reason saunas can also be very beneficial to our health. Because of the regular use of oils, creams, soaps, sunscreens make-up etc. the pores of the skin can become very clogged with toxic chemicals, and hinder the process of elimination of even more toxins. It is important to keep the skin healthy and fresh, and this is exactly where dry brushing comes in. Here is a step-by-step guide to dry brushing your skin.

The Method:
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE from Collective-Evolution.com!

Miss Houston takes home crown @Miss Texas USA Pageant

The judges chose the blonde……

The ballroom at the Hilton of the Americas was transformed into a professional Vegas-type showroom replete with stage, flashing lights and over 100 of the most beautiful women in Texas.  They started in yellow tops and white shorts and marveled the crowd with their commitment to physical fitness in the swimsuit competition.  They were red-carpet worthy in the evening gown portion of the program.

When all was said and done, Brittany Booker was crowned this year’s Miss Texas USA.

The Top 16 were: Miss South Texas USA Barbara Falcon, Miss San Antonio USA Larissa Taylor, Miss El Paso USA Georgina Macias, Miss Dallas USA Shannon McAnally, Miss Fort Worth USA Christina Entsminger, Miss Dallas-Fort Worth USA Kathryn Dunn, Miss North Dallas USA Sarah Boehner,  Miss Houston USA Brittany Booker, Miss Gulf Coast USA Kallye Mitchell, Miss Galveston USA Taylor Lanning, Miss Lake Jackon USA Brittney Tiner, Miss RGV USA Yliana Guerra, Miss Laredo USA Lauren Guzman, Miss Spindletop USA Ashlea Gutierrez, Miss Bay Area USA Erin Kay and Miss Mission USA Ashley Huges.

In the Top 5 were Miss Bay Area USA, Miss Laredo USA, Miss South Texas USA, Miss Houston USA and Miss Dallas USA.

The event was emceed by Houston darling Crystle Stewart.  She announced her appearance on a TBS special series.  We interviewed her before winning Miss Texas USA.  WATCH INTERVIEW HERE

H Texas Magazine is especially proud of Booker.  We were on the distinguished panel of judges when she was selected as Miss Houston.  We were instructed to look for Miss Texas.  Obviously we found her!

Brittany is a University of Houston student.  She’ll represent Texas at the Miss USA pageant in Las Vegas.

  SourceURL:file://localhost/Users/laurette/Desktop/MissTexasUSA2011.doc #MissTexasUSA, http://htexas.com/?p=8120, @OfficialAnaRod, @theperfectface,@HoustonBride

Beauty Must Do’s for I Do

Bridal Beauty

“The best thing is to look natural, but it takes makeup to look natural.” -Calvin Klein

It is important to look flawless for your big day. Creating a blank canvas (priming) before you apply any make-up will help your face stay picture perfect throughout the day and night. Have a practice make-up application run a couple days before your wedding.  Try these suggestions below for your Bridal Brilliance!

Bronze Smokey-eyes

Smokey eyes are not only for a night on the town, but can be worn for weddings too.  For a more natural look try Gold and Bronze shadows; this will keep your make-up looking fresh and trendy without the drama of being over- done.

You will need to start with an eye primer like MAC Prep+Prime Eye ($16.50 www.maccosmetics.com)

Instead of just the traditional eye shadow powders try mixing in cream or gel liners as shadows such as MAC Fuidline in Rich Ground ($15 www.maccosmetics.com) This will give you amazing staying power for those warm summer months. If you still want to stick with the powder shadows try Cargo Essential Palette in Bronze ($32 www.cargocosmetics.com)

Fabulous Face

Start with a Primer like Giorgio Armani Fluid Master Primer($56 www.giorgioarmanibeauty-usa.com) to insure your make-up stays on all night while smoothing away fine lines and imperfections.

Whether you are the bride or in the wedding party you need a foundation that resist smudging and will not melt through the heat and humidity like Estee Lauder Double Wear Light Stay-in-Place Make-up SPF 10 ($33.50 www.esteelauder.com)

Chose a blush that is light and gives you just a little bit of color like Stila Cheek Color Pan in Delicate ($18www.stilacosmetics.com)

Create that over-all face glow, radiance finish with MAC Mineralized Skin Finish in by Candlelight ($28www.maccosmetics.com)

Luscious Lips

Does your lipstick wander off? Try an amazing invisible anti-feathering lip liner like Benefit d’finer d’liner ($20 www.benefitcosmetics.com)

Afterwards try a neutral shade of lipstick like Chanel Rouge Coco Hydrating Crème Lip Colour in Mademoiselle ($30www.chanel.com)

Dot some gloss like Chanel Glossimer in Bikini Peach ($27www.chanel.com) in the center of your lips and you are perfect and flawless for your big day!

by Carla Menendez
Photos courtesy of product manufacturers

Summer Beauty Must Haves

Beauty Talk Super Summer Beauty Must-have-it Products

Laura Mercier Sun-free Gradual Self-Tanner hydrates skin while provides instant shimmer and a sun-kissed glow ($38 www.lauramercier.com)

Benefit Lip Glosses- Gloss of Your Dreams! is non-sticky with a soft cushion applicator and available in 8 shades ($18 www.benefitcosmetics.com)

Per-fékt Skin Perfection Gel is an all-in-one, enriched with antioxidants primer and sheer foundation, sweat and water-resistant product that dries as a flawless powder finish ($57.50 www.sephora.com)

Cosmedicine Medi-Matte vaporizes oil all day long while protecting your skin with an SPF 20 ($42 www.nortstrom.com)

Summer Damage Control