Fashion Trend Spotting

The point of this website has always been to help you spot unique and personal trendsetters. I’ve decided one great place to find the most unique and genuine trendsetters is on YouTube! The very first person spotlighted on Fashion Trend Spotting is Kandee the Makeup Artist aka Kandee Johnson. Kandee does everything from amazing makeup techniques to crazy ways to cut your t-shirts to hair styling!! She rocks the word crafty like nobody’s business! So, check out my Fashion TrendSpotting Episode 1: Kandee Spotting!

If you know of a YouTube trendsetter who you think deserves to be featured on Fashion Trend Spotting, let me know! Leave a comment with the person’s YouTube channel name and url.

I do ask that you keep this criteria in mind when spotting trendsetters:

• Must be original
• Must be genuine
• Must be a regular YouTube user (meaning he/she must post at least 1-2 times per month)
• Must not contain any vulgar or foul language, videos, or photos

Can’t wait to see who you’ve Spotted!!

I want to tell you about the store that I believe has the best in-person Customer Service, but first I have to tell you how I got to that decision and it all started when one of my worst nightmares happened Saturday.

So, let me start from the beginning. After 1 month of marriage (I will be blogging ALL about the wedding and my wedding fashions in the next few posts btw) my husband and I decided it was time to get rid of the “wedding weight” and start working out. So we ordered the Insanity workout DVDs – have you seen that demo video? This thing is not only INSANE, it will kick your butt into gear!! I can’t wait to get started, but I’m pretty nervous about it – I promise to blog about it and let you know how it works.

Anyway, back to my Saturday incident… we decided to help me get motivated and excited about this new workout program we would go get me some brand new tennis shoes! (yay!) So we head off to the mall with plans to buy me awesome new workout shoes, and a new pair of jeans (all my jeans are worn out).

We began the hunt for shoes first, while in the 2nd store, trying on a neat-o pair of shoes, I raise one foot to untie the shoe and take it off when I hear a loud “Rrrrriiiippp!!” “OMG” I thought. “Did my jeans just rip at the butt seam?” I froze. I was so nervous to move, I thought my underwear was out in the wide open. When I looked down I realized the rip was in the inner thigh! So my underwear was safe from ridicule, but the inner thigh is even more awkward! I freaked out and said to my husband, “Give these back to the saleslady, we are going to buy jeans NOW!”

The jeans that ripped were my favorite pair of Seven jeans… take a look at this rip:

My Ripped Seven Jeans

Yeah, it was a nasty rip. So I quickly walked down the mall to my favorite “jean buying store.” And here it is folks – the store I believe has the best in-person Customer Service - Buckle! If you’ve never shopped at Buckle (for jeans, only jeans) then you are missing out on a really great experience.

I was greeted about 3 minutes after entering the store by what I like to call my “personal shopper assistant” named Justin. Justin asked me what type of jean I was looking for, what size, what did I like about the jeans I had on (my old jeans) and he immediately noticed that I had purchased those from Buckle a few years back. That means he knew his product like the back of his hand! He then pulled 3 pairs of jeans for me to try and led me to the dressing room. As soon as I walked out in each pair of jeans Justin gave me a few seconds to look and critique the jeans myself then he was right there asking what I liked and didn’t like about that pair. He would take my answers and go search for more jeans that fit my likes.

After trying on about 12 pairs of jeans I found the perfect fit – Diva by !iT JEANS! Justin was nice enough to let me wear them out of the store when I told him how my Sevens ripped in the middle of Lady Foot Locker.

The lucky pair of jeans

Diva by !iT JEANS

Here’s the main point: In no way did Justin make me feel pressured to buy jeans, uncomfortable that he was there every time I came out of the dressing room he was there, instead he showed impeccable in-person customer service. I felt like Justin was my best shopping buddy by the end of my shopping experience.

And it’s not just Justin, I have been shopping at Buckle for jeans for the past 8 years and not once have I walked in and been ignored or left to find jeans on my own. Every visit I am greeted and treated like a star with a personal shopper. It is the best treatment anyone could have and you are sure to walk out with a great pair (or 2) of jeans!

Btw, these are the shoes I picked out… Nike Shox Navina Premium, I call them my ‘Shimmer Shox’ because of the shimmer color on the mesh.

Nike Shox - My Shimmer Shox

So, Buckle, keep it up! It would be great to see you engage in the same type of customer service, celebrity treatment through @BuckleStore on Twitter. (Right now, @Zappos and @Zappos_Service are dominating with the online Customer Service!)

Tell me, who do you think has the best in-person Customer Service?

If you have a mom, a grandma, or a friend who’s a mom then Mother’s Day is a day you should celebrate! And you need to start preparing now. If you’re the creative type plan to make something special for the mom in your life. If you aren’t the creative type but you wish you were, follow this guide on How To Make a Mother’s Day Gift She’ll Remember Forever!

Now, if you just don’t think you have time to make something, that’s ok! But spend some time shopping around online to find the perfect gift. I have a few suggestions:

For Mom:

Mother's Day Gift for Mom

What mom wouldn’t love a new Le Creuset Cast Iron Skillet to cook with!

For Grandma:

Mother's Day Gift for Grandma

Even though the holiday is “mother’s” day, think about how surprised and excited Grandma will be to see that you thought about her too on Mother’s Day! This Vintage Brooch is the perfect gift to show her you love her.

For a New Mom:

Mother's Day Gift for the New Mom

If your friend is a brand new mommy, get her something that reminds her why Mother’s Day will quickly become a special day for her…something that reminds her of her little one(s).

No matter what you choose to get mom, grandma, or your mommy friend for Mother’s Day just know, it will be so special for them to know that you even thought about them on such an important day.

If you have any Mother’s Day gift ideas whether shopping or DIY leave a comment and tell us about it!

**CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED, THANK YOU TO ALL THE BLOG AND TWITTER ENTRIES! CHECK YOUR EMAIL TO SEE IF YOU WON!** Once I get confirmation from the winner I will announce who it is, here on the blog.

A good fashion/twitter friend of mine, Donn Bryant sent me a gorgeous wedding gift. I hope to wear it with my wedding dress!!

Donn is a brilliant designer and craftsman. He handmade this bracelet – Elegantee’ from his collection at Jaydon Studios.

Elegantee' Bracelet from Jaydon Studios

Now, I’m not just blogging this to brag… well I kind of am… but here’s the exciting thing about this. Donn has offered to give one of these beauties away to one of YOU!!

So here’s what you need to do…leave a comment below and tell me what you plan to wear for your Valentine’s Day date whether it’s a cocktail dress and stilettos for a night of dancing, or PJs for a night in with the girls!

Also, you can Retweet this on Twitter:

RT @CharissaCowart V-Day Contest: Win some brilliant Elegantee’ arm candy-Check it out http://bit.ly/9t0bY5 (RT 2 enter)

Now, go enter and Good Luck!

*Contest closes at Noon CST on Monday February 15, 2010. We will contact the winner by email as soon as a winner is chosen.*

*Jaydon Studios bracelets are all handmade in the US. Click here to read more about Jaydon Studios’ Designer Fashion Magnetic Bracelets and the special CZ stones included.

Contest featured on:

Ok fellas, while it is such a generous thought for you to want to give your Valentine jewelry on the day of Pink and Red, you must, I repeat must be careful what jewelry you choose and how you wrap it. In fact, there is only one piece of jewelry you need to stay away from and that my friend, is the Ring. The only reason you should give a woman a ring on Valentine’s Day is if that ring is a diamond and you plan to drop down on one knee and ask her to spend the rest of her life with you! If that is not your plan, do not get her a ring.

If you get her a necklace or earrings instead, please make sure they are not packaged in a box that could resemble a diamond ring box.

Guys, these are things you must think about especially if you have been dating the love of your life for 4 wonderful years, but aren’t ready to make that big leap into marriage. Odds are, she’s ready and is just waiting for you to pull out that little ring box. And when you do, you bet it better have a diamond on the inside and a “Will you marry me” coming out of your mouth!

(Otherwise, you will spend days making up for the disappointment she will feel when she sees a pair of earrings instead.)

Not, I’m not here to just tell you guys that if you planned to get jewelry you are doomed to fail… nah, I would never do that Here are some options for jewelry on Valentine’s Day.

1. Put it in a box that isn’t small and ring-box-shaped.

2. Get her a necklace or bracelet to avoid the look of a proposal.

Check out eBillme’s list of Valentine’s Day gift ideas or their list of gift ideas for HER.  (Ladies, for those of you getting ready to forward this post in an email to your boyfriend with “hint, hint, hint” in the subject line, check out the Valentine’s Day gifts for HIM too.) In fact, they have a really great contest running right now. Up for grabs is $600 worth of jewelry, a diamond necklace for her and a Citizen watch for him. Check it the Who’s Your Valentine contest, you might win big!

eBillme's Valentine's Contest Prizes

If you want to stay away from jewelry altogether to avoid the Valentine’s Day from Hades, check out the gorgeous bags at Handbag Heaven. (I particularly love the pink one shown below).

Ribbon Shoulder Tote from Handbag Heaven

Men, if you want to go above and beyond the call of duty this V-Day check out this striking red clutch from The Butler Bag’s new Boutoure Line. The Butler Bag is an amazing bag (I have 2 and love them so very much). Jen Groover created the Butler Bag which has a built in organization system for your purse. I promise, it works!! (The red clutch pictured below is $800, it’s a perfect splurge, but she does offer less expensive bags around $65 and up.)

So get out there and find the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for your love and come back and let us know what you chose!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Allure Clutch Butler Bag

Allure Clutch - Inside View

Just last week our TVs, internet news pages, and social networks were inundated with talk of the devastation of an earthquake that wiped out most of Haiti. It was heart-wrenching and people everywhere were jumping at the chance to send money, prayers, anything to help Haiti.

This week, I pray that you haven’t moved on with your life and forgotten about the people who are still suffering, the people who can’t move on with their lives. Instead, I hope you stop and say a prayer or send a text to give $2, $5, $10, whatever you can afford to help rebuild Haiti.

If you are looking for ways to give here are two organizations that I trust and support:

* eBillme is running the helpHAITI campaign and is donating $10 to the American Red Cross for every order you place online at one of the helpHAITI participating retailers. In addition, if you spend $50 or more, eBillme is offering to give you a $10 discount on your order, plus send $10 to the Red Cross for Haiti.

* The second comes from Emerald City Fashion Week

A good fashion friend of mine, Steven Matsumoto quickly put together Fashion4Haiti where you can buy t-shirts with the date of the disaster and Inifye printed on the front, which is Hatian for Unify. The proceeds from the t-shirts will go to World Vision to help the children and families suffering from the earthquake.

Most of you know that I don’t typically blog about contests other than my own simply because I’m not a “contest blogger.”  However, my dear friend Elise is a Star Stylist for Stella & Dot. She is running a contest and you just have to see these prizes… Flower rings! And let me tell you… they are B-e-a-utiful!! (Take a look at the Coral/Gold Bloom Flower Ring below… that’s just a sample of what’s being offered as prizes.)

Bloom Flower Ring Coral/Gold from Stella & Dot

So I decided to help her get the word out by blogging about it. Do me a favor and check out her blog and enter to win these amazing star-studded accessory pieces!! Also, click here to see the full contest details.

If you win – let me know so we can feature you on Fashion Trend Spotting!!

Good Luck!

Now that the rush of Christmas and New Year’s is over… it’s time to switch my focus to my favorite holiday - Valentine’s Day!

The fact that V-Day is my favorite holiday has absolutely nothing to do with romantic dates or even boys for that matter! Whether I’m dating someone or single, it doesn’t matter, Valentine’s Day has always been and will always be my favorite holiday for a few simple reasons:

1. Everything is PINK and RED on Valentine’s Day!

2. I have an excuse to be decked out in PINK and looking all Girly!!

3. There are Flowers EVERYWHERE!

4. People are genuinely happy. (No matter how much they “say” they hate Valentine’s Day).

If you happen to be one of those people who hates Valentine’s Day (you probably call it S.A.D. Day – Singles Awareness Day) do me and yourself a favor this year…Love it instead! I promise, it’s a whole lot more fun if you decide to enjoy it. Go out and buy the little kiddie Valentine’s Day cards that you stick a sucker or pack of lifesavers to – write a little something on each one, and give them out to all your friends! I promise, promise, promise you will have so much fun! You’re friends will laugh and then tell you how sweet it was to think of them (especially the single ones!)

But I really love this holiday because it’s a time to tell those who you love how you feel about them! It’s the one day that it’s “ok” to be all nice and frilly to your friends, male or female. If you’re the type person who has trouble telling people how you feel about them, this is the one day you can do that without being embarrassed. So go ahead, tell someone you LOVE them, LIKE them, ENJOY being around them, or just VALUE their friendship – if no other day, then on February 14, 2010!

Have no fear, this won’t be the only Valentine’s Day post you see from me! So go ahead, leave me a comment and tell me what you’d like to see here regarding my fave – V-day! I’ll even tell you about the brutal Valentine’s Day date I had in college (It turned out ok though).

So what are your views of Valentine’s Day? Do you have plans? Tell me!

Also, if you’re looking for unique Valentine’s Day gift ideas check out eBillme’s Valentine’s Day and then head over to Handbag Heaven for all your handbag purchases! (Men, a pink or red handbag is a great Valentine’s Day Gift Idea, by the way!)

I had the honor this week of hosting an e.l.f. MUAH (Make Up At Home) Party at my house here in Alabama. I can’t tell you how excited I was to showcase the e.l.f. (Eyes Lips Face) cosmetic line – ’cause you know us Southern Belles just love our makeup! I have been a fan of e.l.f. for a while now. Not only do they have amazing products but they have amazing prices! Almost all their products are around $1, $3, or $5. The bigger full sets are around $15. It’s the perfect combination!

I also had the chance to meet Ted Rubin, (CEO at e.l.f. Cosmetics) while I was at Blog World in Las Vegas this past summer and he is such a fun, down-to-earth guy but also brilliant with this business.

So this week I invited a whole crew of ladies over to my place to introduce them to e.l.f. The mistake I made was holding the party the week of Christmas because so many of the women had to go to other Christmas parties. But we still had a blast with those who attended.

Here’s a look at the set-up for the party!


I live-streamed the whole party and completed 2 live makeover demos for the livestream viewers. I had about 20 live viewers over the course of the evening, which was wonderful. People were great about asking questions about what colors I used, what brushes I was using, etc.

I demo-ed 2 different looks, Bright Spring & Holiday Dramatic. I wanted our viewers to see that they can do just about anything with e.l.f. products.

Take a look at the live video of the two makeovers below. (I apologize, things didn’t go exactly as planned on the livestream, and the video kept freezing, so I had to stop and start it several times. Also, the intro part where I explained what a MUAH party is didn’t record, but you will still be able to see the live demos.)

The gals all had so much fun playing in the makeup and giving each other makeovers… the star product was the Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder! It was a HUGE hit! I’m pretty sure everyone ran out to Target or logged on to eyeslipsface.com to buy it the very next day!

Click here for the Flickr photo album to see how much fun we had!

Have you tried e.l.f. Makeup yet? If so, tell me what product is your favorite! If you haven’t tried it and have questions, please leave them in the comments below, I will do my best to answer them!

Finally, if you think I did a good job showing off the e.l.f. products do me a big favor and Vote for me to become the *New Face of e.l.f.* Click here to vote!

If you’re anything like me, you read that question, “Finished your Christmas shopping list yet?” and you laugh! Like really laugh – lol if you will… because well, we still have 10 days until Christmas! That’s plenty of time for a little shopping, right? Well that’s what I tell myself anyway and right at that moment thoughts of the busy shopping mall & driving around for 30 minutes trying to find a decent parking spot flood my mind and instantly I wish I had finished my Christmas shopping already.

But then I jumped into reality and realize there are some really great places to get the rest of the gifts on my list, and they reside right here in my little white Macbook, ahh the joys of the internet!

Places like Amazon.com, Buy.com, Shoebuy.com, GiftGirl.com, & Shop Debt Free.  And that’s just the beginning!

But even when you have the leisure of shopping from your comfy micro-suede couch, you still have to shop around to find just the right gift for those on your list. Well, GiftGirl.com and Shop Debt Free are two places that help you with the shopping process.

Gift Girl is primarily for those of you shopping for the women on your list and looking for a higher end gift. The guys over at Gift Girl have made it easy for you, all you have to do is put in a few characteristics about the person you’re buying for and let the Gift Girl give you suggestions! Then you just click to buy. Plus, you can save the search for later Birthdays, Anniversaries, etc.

Now, on the other end, Shop Debt Free is similar; the good people over at eBillme have selected gift ideas for Men, Women, and Kids. All you have to do is choose the one you’re shopping for and see what they’ve suggested! Plus, you can pay with cash online through eBillme, and the site offers the lowest prices online, guaranteed! You can’t beat that! Oh and if you do, just let eBillme know, they will pay you the difference… no kidding!

So no matter who you have left to buy for, crank up the computer and get to shopping!

Here are a few of my personal picks:

Silk Sheets – Sale $67.00 (Reg. $129.99)

Cutting Board – Sale $27.95 (Reg. $32.95)

“Angel” Perfume – Sale $27.01 (Reg. $85.00)

So if you’d like to buy me a nice little Christmas present this year, feel free to click on any of those little links above.