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

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!

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!

BOTH CONTESTS ARE NOW CLOSED! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED! WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED WEDNESDAY MORNING (NOV. 4TH)! CHECK BACK TO SEE IF YOU WON!

I am SO excited that I can hardly stand it! Today we kick off an amazing giveaway here on Fashion Trend Spotting. First I want to say a huge thanks to the wonderful people at Handbag Heaven. They wrote up a really cool post about me in their blog from a Q&A session I had with them, be sure to check it out, just click here. I also want to thank them for offering two handbags for this giveaway. That’s right… TWO! There will be two winners! But they are also two different ways to enter. So let’s get right to it:

How To Enter:

1. It’s so easy to enter. Follow me (@CharissaCowart) AND Handbag Heaven (@HandbagHeaven) on Twitter AND RT this tweet: RT @CharissaCowart Follow and RT to win a @HandbagHeaven handbag!! Details here http://bit.ly/3QXzfl (Note: If you don’t have a Twitter account, it is definitely worth your while to create one, Twitter ROCKS.) One winner will be chosen at random. (**Hint: The more you tweet about it, the better chance you have of winning. Each tweet or RT about the contest = 1 entry.)

Deadline for the Twitter entry is Sunday @ 10pm Eastern – Winner will be sent a DM from me (@CharissaCowart) then announced on Twitter. >>>THIS PORTION OF THE CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED – THE SECOND PORTION IS STILL OPEN AND ACCEPTING ENTRIES! THANKS TO ALL WHO ENTERED THE TWITTER CONTEST.

2. This is the more detailed & creative way to enter, BUT if you win, you receive the handbag of your choice from Handbag Heaven. You must go to their website (www.handbagheaven.com) and pick your favorite bag. then leave a comment here on the blog with a link to the bag you chose and tell me what outfit you either own or have trend spotted that would go perfect with that bag. I will choose the entry that has the best Fashion Trend Spotting Skills as the winner.

Deadline for the Trend Spotting Comment entry is Sunday (Nov. 1) @ 7pm Eastern. Winner will be emailed and announced on the blog on Monday (Nov.2).

Good Luck to everyone! If you have questions Tweet me or send me an email – charissa cowart at gmail dot com.

• Don’t forget to check out the Q&A series I did with Handbag Heaven check it out right here. http://www.handbagheaven.com/blog/charissa-cowart/1116/

How cool is this hat she is wearing. (The woman on the far right knitting.) Now I have seen some hats like these in the U.S. but not frequently. I think this is such a unique take on covering the head. Instead of this being a hat, it looks like she has taken a piece of cloth and wrapped it around her hair and head, then tied it off at the top.

Now Let’s Make it Even Different

I would like to see one like this, in a solid color but with the tip cut out. Think bandanna meets Bohemian style hat. So the hat would be similar to this but would look more like a wrap around where part of your hair would peek out at the bottom if you have longer hair. For women with shorter hair, a hat like this that covers all of it would be ideal.

But what I want you to see is this Indonesian woman, in the green top below. I love the way her top fits – long with room to move, yet very tailored. Notice the broach at the neck. You may remember in my last post, I suggested a broach with the “Little Black Dress” to change it up and make it a little dressier.

You can see the broach is also a part of the Indonesian culture, yet she is wearing it in the place where a necklace would normally go. I’ll now work on designing a top with a broach made on similar to this.

This is my first post about clothing and fashion from another country. You will see much more in the future, as this is my goal with Fashion Trend Spotting.