:: I ran out of my beloved Glossier Boy Brow last month, and wanted to find something similar with more product in the packaging since I go through it so quickly with daily use. I read good things about the Givenchy Mister Brow waterproof tinted waterproof brow filler, so I ordered it from Sephora, and it’s so good. It’s a long wearing liquid-to-powder tinted formula that fills in sparse spots and sets hairs in place in one step, so you can use it alone for a quick brow groom or pair it with your favorite pencil for extra definition.

:: I was on the hunt for a hydrating tinted lip balm to throw on during the day, and the Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector was a great find. It wears like a gloss, but isn’t the least bit sticky, and feels really nourishing.

:: The day after Valentine’s Day, we closed the flower shop a little early and went for team spa pedis. As usual, I stared at the wall of polish for at least five minutes — why do I always act like it’s as permanent a decision as a tattoo?! — before settling on OPI’s ‘Do You Take Lei Away‘, a creamy beige nude with a hint of pink. I loved it so much I ran to Ulta to buy a bottle, and I’ll probably wear it on repeat this spring.

:: After a few months of rocking SPF 50 nearly every day on my face and neck, my makeup stash needed an update. When you’re so pale you have to blend your base all the way to your chest to avoid a foundation line, it’s time to take action. I went to MAC to get color-matched, and when the artist freshened up my makeup after putting me in a new foundation, she used MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in ‘Medium Tan’ to bronze me up. I already love that powder in ‘Light Plus’ to set my makeup, and she explained that the darker shade was a good match to my undertones so it looks like a natural tan when dusted around the perimeter of my face and down my neck. I can build it from a sheer wash of warmth to a full-on bronze, and the silky mineral powder is super easy to blend over any base — or just moisturizer! —  for “no makeup makeup” looks.

:: Cooking For Picasso by Camille Aubray is a multi-generational story with all my favorite things: art, food, magical scenery, romance, and coming-of-age. C and I went on a little staycation to our favorite resort over the weekend, and I needed something to read by the pool, so grabbed it from the library in a hurry on Friday afternoon because I thought the  cover was pretty. Sometimes judging a book by it’s cover works! ;)  I got completely lost in it for two days. I’m halfway through, and can’t wait to finish it up this weekend! Here’s the synopsis:

“The French Riviera, spring 1936: It’s off-season in the lovely seaside village of Juan-les-Pins, where seventeen-year-old Ondine cooks with her mother in the kitchen of their family-owned Café Paradis. A mysterious new patron who’s slipped out of Paris and is traveling under a different name has made an unusual request—to have his lunch served to him at the nearby villa he’s secretly rented, where he wishes to remain incognito.

Pablo Picasso is at a momentous crossroads in his personal and professional life—and for him, art and women are always entwined. The spirited Ondine, chafing under her family’s authority and nursing a broken heart, is just beginning to discover her own talents and appetites. Her encounter with Picasso will continue to affect her life for many decades onward, as the great artist and the talented young chef each pursue their own passions and destiny.

New York, present day: Céline, a Hollywood makeup artist who’s come home for the holidays, learns from her mother, Julie, that Grandmother Ondine once cooked for Picasso. Prompted by her mother’s enigmatic stories and the hint of more family secrets yet to be uncovered, Céline carries out Julie’s wishes and embarks on a voyage to the very town where Ondine and Picasso first met. In the lush, heady atmosphere of the Côte d’Azur, and with the help of several eccentric fellow guests attending a rigorous cooking class at her hotel, Céline discovers truths about art, culture, cuisine, and love that enable her to embrace her own future.

Featuring an array of both fictional characters and the French Riviera’s most famous historical residents, set against the breathtaking scenery of the South of France, Cooking for Picasso is a touching, delectable, and wise story, illuminating the powers of trust, money, art, and creativity in the choices that men and women make, as they seek a path toward love, success, and joie de vivre.”