Beauty Roundup For Memorial Day Weekend

Summer is officially starting this weekend and not a moment too soon.  Do you have any special plans for the long weekend? The Blond and I actually did our travel last weekend as we spent a few days in Montreal. It was fun and high in calories, as not only did we find several excellent vegetarian-friendly restaurants, but also several excellent places to satisfy our cravings for French pastries. I did a little shopping, including an interesting new perfume (thanks to Jane from Daly Beauty). You'll hear all about it soon.

 Our hotel was across the street from Ogilvy and Holt Renfew. Both stores are lovely, of course, though they have little to offer for the American shopper that you don't already have at your local Neiman Marcus, Saks or Nordstrom, with two exceptions: the Canadian stores seem to still have in stock limited edition items long after they're sold out around here. I came across several items such as Estee Lauder Sea Star bronzer and Guerlain summer cream eye shadows. I'm probably forgetting a few. One must-stop counter is Shu Uemura at Holt Renfew. Right now they're still waiting for the new items and new packaging, so many products are not available, but the exceptionally knowledgeable SA gave me a sneak peek of the new catalog and I'm green with envy. I feel like starting a big campaign to get L'Oreal to bring back Shu Uemura to the States.

In the meantime, there's plenty of pretty stuff to keep us busy:

• Café Makeup has the info on Chanel's Fall 2011 Collection. Wallets will weep.
• Best Things in Beauty gave us a first look at Giorgio Armani Beauty's new Gloss d'Armani. See above.
• DivaDebbi tried the infamous Maybelline's Great Lash Mascara after all these years. Is it still controversial?
• Product Girl got a peek at Joelle Russo's makeup bag. See what a Nordstrom Regional Beauty Director loves.
• Gina Brooke, Artistic Director for Hourglass Cosmetics and celebrity makeup artist, shared her beauty secrets with Fab over Forty.
• The Beauty Look Book put a spotlight on Chanel's divine Rouge Coco Shine.
• Check out BeautyXposé for the Spring/Summer nail color collection from Anise.
• Daly Beauty featured Deborah Lippmann's nude nail look. Fashion might be my all time favorite nail color. I'm on my second bottle, something that rarely happens.
• Gouldylox Reviews showed us how to attach feather extensions to our hair. Seriously.

And even more:

• Zuzu's Petals helps us choose between Becca Beach Tints and cream blushes on Everyday Beauty.
• The Product Doctor has swatches of Tom Ford lipsticks in really light shades. Utterly not my colors but interesting nonetheless.
• The book The scent Trail has been on my to-read list for awhile. Olfactorama's review pushes me to start reading it.

Have a beautiful weekend, stay safe and sun-protected!

Image: cover of Harper's Bazaar May 1955 from myvintagevogue.com.