Beauty week starts today 2/16 at Saks in Richmond! Tara, their lovely events and marketing manager, invited me to come in and preview some of the products and freebies. There are so. many. freebies. Basically, almost every brand in the cosmetics department has a free gift with purchase.

I’ve been wanting to try the Clé de Peau concealer (especially since my favorite concealer from Bobbi Brown is being discontinued). It has a cult following and I’ve heard nothing but good things. Tara made me an appointment with Millie, the make up artist representing Clé de Peau at Saks. He walked me through the line. We talked about the history, technologies and formulas.

Millie confirmed that the concealer is Clé de Peau’s bestseller. There were stickers on the display for the awards it’s won. I learned that the company was started in 1982 with a vision of fusing French skincare with Japanese Technology (they’re one of the many brands under the Shiseido umbrella). He removed my makeup with the softest cotton pads (made with natural silk) and applied the nighttime moisturizer (Fun fact, day moisturizers typically contain SPF, which he didn’t want to use because it causes a white cast when photographed). He showed me the brand new Radian Stick Foundation, but we ended up using the fluid version. He used a cream blush in shade one (pink/berry) and a light bronzer. On my cheekbones, he used the Brilliant Enhancer reminiscent of the YSL Touche Éclat. for lips, he used the Radiant Lip Liquid (I loved the way this felt – almost like a lip gloss).

The concealer is supposed to be super full coverage and long lasting. I think it will be perfect for carrying for touch-ups. I’ll make sure to give you an update once I’ve used it for a while.

He also let me try the new Blush La Rose from Saks. How cool is this? The product is in the petals, and you swirl your brush on the rose and then apply.

Here’s me and Millie after the makeover. Thank you, Millie! (To schedule your own appointment with Millie, you can email him at menelik_glover@s5a.com or call 804-320-6969.)

If you’ve been thinking about trying something out or if you’re running low on any of your favorites, now is the time to re-stock. For the full details on each brand’s gift with purchase, click here. (I think the Bobbi Brown one is super cute too).

You can probably tell my favorite shade to wear and decorate with is white. A while back I asked on Facebook what people would like to see on the blog and my friend Molly wanted tips for wearing winter white for messy people. I say, say go for whites that are washable. Silky tops and dry-clean only pants are tricky because I end up needing to dry clean them after almost every wear. My favorite pants are a pair from the Scandal collection that The Limited did a few years ago. Those ones are no longer sold (I with they were do you could get them – they’re sooo comfortable), but try to find lined pants that are machine washable. My other tip for wearing white is to take them to the dry cleaners and have the back pockets cut and sewn. It always bugged me when the pocked lining showed through until I learned this trick.

Here are a few of my favorite winter white looks:

This sweater by Nili Lotan is so, so pretty. I saw it on Gal Meets Glam and it looks SO soft.

And here’s how I do winter white:

Read More about Winter White

When I worked at a Bare Minerals boutique in college, I had to clean about 40 brushes in a bathroom sink at the end of every shift. You’d have thought that would have made me really good at it. We had a special brush cleaner and when I worked there and got 50% off everything, I had one too. Now, I don’t buy special brush cleaners. Up until recently I was using a bottle of face cleanser that I didn’t like using on my face and sometimes Dr. Bronners.

I got the tip from Sparkle of Canvas The Salon at a beauty event I went to before the holidays to use coconut oil and Dawn and it works so much better than what I’d been doing. (side note: the beauty events at Canvas are underrated and amazing. The owner Jevata always has beauty lessons from experts, giveaways (I won a bracelet from Bebe and got a free OPI nail polish) and good snacks, If you’re in Richmond, go!)

What you need:

Coconut Oil (mine is from Trader Joe’s, but you can also get it here) 

Dawn dish soap (I assume you can use any variety.)

Brush Cleansing Mat. I have this one from Amazon. 

See that white brush on the left? Those are hard to get perfectly white because I usually use it with dark eyeshadows but this does the trick. This mat is the latest addition. It’s so great. Before, I was rubbing brushes into my hands to get them clean and breaking up the makeup and oil with my fingernails. This works so so so much better. There are tons of these out there, and I’m sure they all work pretty much about the same. This one has suction cups on the bottom that stick to the inside of sink so I don’t have to hold it, which is nice.

Scoop some coconut oil onto your brush cleansing mat and rub your dry maul brush into it. Rinse.

Squirt a dime-sized amount of Dawn onto the mat, and rub the wet brush into the mat.Rinse and repeat until the brush is completely clean.

I’ve heard that you shouldn’t set your brushes upright when they’re still dry because the water will seep down to the wooden handle and dissolve the glue that holds the brush together. I lay them out on a towel to dry.

Read More about How To Clean Your Makeup Brushes

PLANKrva hosted a class for Virginia Bloggers and we all got to try out their Lagree Fitness Method. Nine of us tried the class for the first time and then got to know the owners, Tanya and and Alison over veggie sushi and sparkling wine.

This is what we saw when we walked in. The studio is awesome.

There are 10 spaces in the class, so you’ll need to plan ahead and reserve a spot. Each person gets their own “Megaformer,” which is where you’ll spend the entire class. Tanya talked to us for a few minutes about what to expect from the class. She told us there would be modifications for every pose and that she’d walk us through everything. She also said the class would be really hard and that sometimes we’d feel like we wouldn’t stand to do a move any longer, but then at the end we’d be surprised it was over (This was so true).

She told us to grab the spring at the front of the machine and hook it onto the nob. There are two different resistance levels, and she tells you when to switch (I think we only switched once during this particular class).

We slid into a plank for the first part of the routine, and she walked us step by step through 5o minutes of planking, moving back and forth from the front to the back of the machine, doing pistol squats, using resistance bands, and ultimately finishing with ten minutes of stretching.

I really did love the workout and plan to go back. My typical workouts are yoga, hot yoga, barre and gymnastics (let me know if you want me to do a post about any of those). I found Lagree to be most similar to barre. Having some background in those moves definitely helped me in this class. There was no sweating, and I wasn’t reaching for my water bottle. It didn’t feel like an aerobic workout, but it was challenging. The music was awesome. I’m pretty sure I heard Nelly’s Ride Wit Me.

Here’s there pricing info:

Your first class is $20 and after that, classes are $29. They also do a package of 4 for 80 ($20 each). They also have a mini 30 minute class focused on just abs and arms for $15. Full price sheet here.

They’re offering 30% off of the 8 Class Pass to Tiramisu For Breakfast readers. The regular price is $144 and with discount its $100.80.  This offer is only for the month of January (2017).  Anyone interested should email the studio at plank@plankrva.com to get started.

Let me know if you have questions and thanks so much to these lovely ladies for hosting. Go see them soon! 

Deborah Lippman’s Naked is the perfect nude and Lady is a Tramp is such a pretty dark red.

Naked looks great on toes too – that’s what I’m currently wearing. I also like the look of either of these paired with white. This brand also has the best shimmer/glitter shades. Happy Birthday is good for the holidays and Mermaid’s Dream is a cool seafoam green with blue glitter.

Since going full-time with TFB Agency in April of this year, I’ve been doing work from home some days. I needed a space that was both comfortable and dedicated to business, so I did some re-organizing.

I got this silver tufted bench to use with my black round dining table. It was tough to sit at that table and work – there wasn’t enough room to spread out papers. So, switched it out for a West Elm Parson’s Desk and added a ghost chair. Here’s how it all turned out:

I also have another desk space across the room that you can see in the photo below.

I moved my Ikea Hovet Mirror to make room for it.

I would love to see photos of your workspace. Tweet them at me @christinamdick

2016 was a big year for Tiramisu For Breakfast and we’re so grateful to you all for being a part of it. This year, TFB became an official company and I had my first TV appearance and magazine feature. Here’s a summary of the year:

In January, I talked about my favorite products for Moisturizing dry skin. I still love these and have added some new things like First Aid Beauty’s Ultra Repair Cream.

Also, my friend Jevata and I hosted our first Inspiration Party. We invited the women in our lives to get together and ideas, favorite books, goals and encouragement. It was amazing.

I also competed in a gymnastics meet with Liz from I Heart Vegetables and some other gymnast friends.

In February, I took over the Virginia Bloggers Instagram account for a week.

In March, R Home featured me and my home (and kitty) in this piece.

April was a big month for business. TFB Agency won it’s first award for an influencer campaign we worked on for ElementsBeautyShop.com. This was also, when TFB Agency officially launched with this piece in Richmond Biz Sense and picked up out first new clients, Patient First and James River Air.

In May, I joined Jessica Noll (check her out on Instagram: @Jessica.Noll) on CBS 6’s Virginia This Morning to talk about Summer Beauty. You can watch the full segment here. I also helped host a shopping event at J. Crew to benefit Massey Cancer Center and introduced you all to the brand, The Organic Pharmacy.

In August, Dermatologist Suzanne Peck shared her skincare tips with us in the first Tiramisu For Breakfast Live Facebook Interview. Check out part one and part two.

In September, I chatted with local PR queen Pryor Green about skincare and makeup tips for sensitive skin. (she shared some great stuff!) Also, Katlyn Pierre  joined TFB as our first intern! She graduted in May (hire her!)

In October, I worked with CBS 6 again for a story about the Luke’s Diner Popup shops Netflix did across the country to promote the Gilmore Girls revival. Watch the clip here.

Also in October, Katlyn and I attended Style Weekly’s When Art Meets Fashion event at Saks to benefit the new Institute of Contemporary Art at VCU.

October was also the month my little brother got married. Him and his wife, Jennifer, got married at Bold Rock Cider in Nellysford, Virginia and everything was beautiful.

I talked about the inexpensive but fabulous dress I wore here.

I wrapped up the year with a gigantic gift guide that was hopefully helpful to all of you.  Please let me know what fun things you’d like to see on the blog in 2017 in the comments!

My brother Davey and his wife Jennifer LOVE their dogs Ollie and Sam. When I met Sarah and learned about the custom designs she creates, I knew it would be the perfect gift to give them for their wedding.

About Huger Memories:

Interior Designer Sarah Gibson Wiley founded Huger Memories in 2012. She creates “memory art” in the form of embroidered pillows. Check out her feature here.

Photo by Beth Ferguson for R Home

Here’s how the process worked:

The hardest part of the whole process was getting a photo of the two dogs together. First, I went through my brother and his wife’s Facebook photos to find one. When I couldn’t find one there, I reached out and asked for a photo of the dogs (I lied and said my friend had dogs that looked just like them and I wanted to show her.) That didn’t work either, so I got my dad to help me get this one. (I never realized how hard it was to get a photo of two dogs together, specially when it seems like Kitty is always posing.

I sent the photos to Sarah in an email, crossing my fingers they’d work. She let me know they would, and also that I didn’t even have to have a photo of the dogs together. She could have taken two separate photos and worked them together. Also, the background of the photo doesn’t matter at all – she can make it into whatever you wan. (As lovely as that leather couch was in the photo I took, I didn’t want it on the design). So, if you’re thinking about getting one, don’t worry at all about the background.

After just a few days, Sarah sent back this proof. I sent it to my dad and cousin for approval, and then let her know it would be perfect.

Next, she sent me the version with the fabric sewn on. I let her know it was great and she worked on turning it into a pillow.

I visited Sarah in her beautiful home/shop to pick up the final product.

I loved this Iris Apfel design she had hanging in the shop.

I gave the pillow to Davey and Jenn at my Grandma’s 91st birthday dinner and everyone loved it.

The best part of the whole experience was that their reaction was even better than I expected.

In addition to family portraits, she also does family portraits, homes, interpretations of children’s drawings and wedding invitations.

These are a few of my favorite examples from her site.

Pricing:

You can get a pillow page of your home, pet, family or your child’s drawing for $225.

Sarah also offers “mini memories” in either 5X7 ($95) or 8X19 ($145) that can be framed.

Tea towels are $145.

Thanks to Sarah and Huger Memories for making this wedding gift so special!

If you’d like to purchase your own, orders are being accepted through 12/15. Give Sarah a call at804.304.8808 or email her at sarah@hugermemories.com

Let me know what you think in the comments!