BlogCatalog

It's Christmas time and that means bloggers are putting up Christmas-themed posts. We asked Austin to go through BlogCatalog and find some "recommended reading" for the holiday season. Here's what he came up with:

And So This Is Christmas: Christmas means different things to everyone. For some it’s about spending time with family, for others it’s about a holiday, for others it’s about presents, for other’s it’s about celebrating the original story of Christmas. And for some, it may even be a time that reminds them of their loneliness.

A Christmas Story: When my sister and I were little girls my father brought us a Christmas present that has become the stuff of family lore. It was an Olde English Sheep Dog named Greta, purchased from the pet department at Harrods and transported back to us in Florida in the cockpit of a Pan Am 747 where my father was serving as the engineer.

Santa Claus Does Not Forget: Christmas morning came, and Bertie was up at dawn to see what was in his stocking. His mother kept away from him as long as she could, for she knew what Santa Claus had done... (Story by M.A. Haley)

Japan loves KFC for Christmas: Many people have interesting traditions during Christmas…Take for example, Japan…They love KFC chicken for Christmas dinner…If you dont believe me, check the following article, with videos!

Beauty and fashion and go hand-in-hand. But more often than not, women have more interest in one over the other. I know fashion, but keeping updated with the latest beauty trends is something I always need help with. I turn to magazines, my favorite beauty retailers and, of course, beauty bloggers for assistance. And one beauty blogger we should all be relying on for the latest on beauty is LeeLee and her blog Oh.Em.Gee. Blog.

I recently got in touch with LeeLee who was more than happy to share her insight and knowledge about selecting the right lipstick and upcoming beauty trends.

LollieShopping: What are your top three favorite red lipsticks and why?

Oh.Em.Gee. Blog:

1. Lancome Lipstick, Color Design Pout-a-Porter in Behnaz - I was lucky enough to get a hold of one of these amazing tubes through the sheer dumb luck of a friend and I have to say that the hype surrounding Behnaz was definitely worth it. I think it's as close to the "perfect" red as you can get. It doesn't go too far in either the blue or orange direction, so from what I can see it would be flattering on just about everyone. It's matte, but not drying, the pigment is great, and I haven't had any experience with it feathering (even when I'm too lazy to use liner) so, it's just fabulous all around.
2. Nars Lipstick, Flaming Dust - This one is a really interesting formula. It starts off more like a stain than a lipstick. The shade is a very pinky-red and it's so great for summer. The first swipe is really sheer and will leave you looking like you've been lazing around, eating a cherry popsicle. The more you layer it, the more opaque it becomes. It's definitely really bright after a few layers, so I don't think it's for the faint of heart, but if you're just starting out on your red lipstick search, I think this is a good way to ease into it. The texture is pretty matte, but it's not drying at all and I haven't had any issues with the staying power.
3. Illamasqua Lipstick Maneater - This one is BRIGHT. No, really, really bright. This is actually a recent purchase for me and it's already at the top of my red list. Like Behnaz, this one is in the medium red category - not too cool or warm. It's super-pigmented and the staying power is like no other. I actually had to do quite a bit of work to get this off at the end of the night, but I think that's the mark of a great red lipstick. You don't ever have to worry that you'll end up with the dreaded "ring" mouth (where the color fades away everywhere except the outer lines of your lips) and it can definitely withstand a night out (or a day of running around). This one is matte, too, and because of the staying power I would definitely use a lip balm underneath. The only retouching I do for this is whatever lip gloss I decide to put on top.

LollieShopping: Do you have tips for finding the right shade of red lipstick for one's skintone?

Oh.Em.Gee. Blog: I think this is a really tough question since there are so many ways to get a good idea of what shades will look better on you. Undertones, tooth color, hair color, whether you look better in gold or silver.... Honestly? My only real tip is: TRY IT ON. I don't think there is any other real way to do it. Based on your individual coloring there will, of course, be shades that are more flattering than others, but if you stick to all the "rules" you could be missing out on amazing colors. I've actually taken some of those "find out which shade will fit you best" quizzes online, and most of them tell me to get warm, orangy tones... BAD IDEA. I look awful in orangy-anything. I really only wear medium reds (the ones that don't go toward either side of the blue-orange scale) and the pinky-blue-undertoned reds that are usually recommended for people with a cool complexion. I don't know, I'm sure there is some merit to those typical tips, but I really think you should just try it on. Especially since it's rare that a color looks the same on your lips as it does in the tube, or even on your hand.

When you try it and you look in the mirror and feel sexy and beautiful then you've found the right color, undertones be damned.

LollieShopping: What's your favorite fall/winter beauty trend?

Oh.Em.Gee. Blog: Metallic smokey eyes, without a doubt. I always love metallics, but the ones that have come out this year just make me happy (like the Bobbi Brown Chrome collection)! I like that metallics are universally flattering (as is a smokey eye) and you can make this look go as subtle or intense as you want. Also, the big return to liquid liner cat eyes and structured waves that remind me of Old Hollywood that we've seen all over the runways (and red carpets) are favorites of mine as well.

LollieShopping: What spring beauty trend are you looking forward to?

Oh.Em.Gee. Blog: Oh my gosh, by Spring I will be so ready to get away from pale skin and dark colors! I'm really looking forward to sun-kissed skin and  candy-colored lip gloss. Also, all the lovely spring colored eyeshadows are a great way to add a little color without going overboard. I especially love lilac on the eyes for spring.

LollieShopping: What do you recommend as the best way to keep one's beauty products organized?

Oh.Em.Gee. Blog: I'm a little bit OCD when it comes to my product organization. My friends joke that I could open a Sephora from my bathroom. They're probably not wrong about that! I have four drawers dedicated to makeup, plus three shelves worth of skin products. I never use makeup bags unless it's for traveling. I hate not being able to see what exactly is inside of them without having to open them. Instead, for shallow drawers I use standard flatware trays, like this one from Target: Lipper International Bamboo Flatware Organizer. These trays are fabulous for organizing brushes, eye and lip liners, etc.

For deeper drawers, you can't beat Ikea's organizer baskets. They're tall, but fold-able, baskets that are perfect for lipsticks, eyeshadows, foundations, blushes, and pretty much whatever you want to put there. The baskets keep your drawers from getting all powdery and dirty (as mine tend to, if I don't put anything between them and the makeup) and both the trays and the baskets make it really easy to just pull anything out of the drawer. You can even grab the whole tray or basket if you need to dig through something. Perfect all around!

Site Of The Day:

So, in case you've been living in a cave in Turkmenistan for the past day and haven't heard the news, BlogCatalog has been named the Site of the Day by Top Site Tally. In recognition of this award, we have prepared a few words:

BlogCatalog: We'd just like to say thank you first and foremost to our families for standing behind us no matter what, and...

Kanye: BlogCatalog, I'm really happy for ya and I'm a let ya finish, but Facebook has one of the best websites of all time.

BlogCatalog: Uh, thanks to Top Site Tally and all of our amazing members.

Changes To Our Site:

There are many changes underway at BlogCatalog. First, you may have noticed the new holiday theme on the home page courtesy of Oscar (TN9Design). That's his little holiday gift to all of you out there in cyberspace. He is also working on a host of other design changes that will will make navigating the site easier and will make the ads on our site less intrusive. Overall, the changes are estimated to increase the sites level of usability by over 400% (these figures are based on a quite biased survey of approximately 2 BlogCatalog employees).

Dan (thegoodknife) has also been working like a mad man in order to improve the user experience on BlogCatalog. His changes may not be quite as apparent to the everyday user as the upcoming design changes, but they are vital to improving the BlogCatalog experience. You see when BogCatalog was acquired, there were tons of bugs in the source code. Since Dan got his hands on the site, he has been meticulously combing through that code, making updates, removing the bugs and moving it all over to a new framework. So, now the BC source code is comprised entirely of Dan's original code. This means that all the code is now super clean and streamlined. For the users that means things should run a bit faster and account updates should happen a bit quicker too. If-- as they say--time is money, then Dan just saved you about $ .35 while you read this post. Tell him thank you the next time you bump into him. He'll like that!

Popular Blogging Discussions: Find out more about one of these topics or share a piece of sage advice.

Is Wordpress Better Than Blogger?

Complying With FTC Disclosure Rules

How to Generate More Blog Traffic

I have to say it always makes my day when I see @jaybetee or @BlogCatalog pop up on someone's #FollowFriday list on Twitter. Being the skeptic that I am, however, I have to wonder if making it on to various #FollowFriday lists has any real impact when it comes to gaining more Twitter followers. Except for when I first started using Twitter, I don't think I have ever added anyone from a #FollowFriday list.

So I am wondering am I the weird one? Do you regularly start following people your Twitter contacts recommend on their #FollowFriday lists? Or, is #FollowFriday more of an effective way of letting people you already follow know that you dig their tweets? Or, a little of both? I'd love to hear what the bloggers think about #FollowFriday and how you use personally utilize this hash tag.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a photo blog is worth a few million at the very least. Photo blogs are widely used by amateur and professional photographers, travel bloggers, artists and many others as an easy way to share their work with millions of viewers worldwide. Attractive, contemporary and often minimalistic blog themes are used to frame the shots and make them stand out on the page.

The BlogCatalog directory is full of stunningly beautiful photo blogs. To show you what we mean, we had Austin compile a list of a few favorites. Check out his favs below and hop over to http://www.blogcatalog.com/directory/art/photography/ for a list of all the photo blogs on BlogCatalog.

 

The Estetic of Senses:A photoblog by two bloggers from Belgium. Featuring a collection of regularly updated personal photography of nature, architecture, artistic nudes, and other scenes from the Belgium area.
 

Here's a little shopping secret for you: when you sign up for sale email alerts, you know about hot fashion sales before everyone else does. Rather than sign up to receive the email newsletters of various retailers and wind up with many emails in your inbox, you can instead sign up for sale alerts through a third party provider and receive the bargain information of all your favorite retailers in one email. Best of all, the service is FREE.

There are two top services that provide great fashion sale information: Shop It To Me and ShopStyle. At Shop It To Me, the service locates your favorite brands on sale in your specific size. Just create a profile at Shop It To Me and select your favorite brands, retailers and your sizes. You then receive daily or weekly (depending on your preference) Shop It To Me Salemail which lists the sales of your favorite brands and designers in your specific size. So, let's say you love Diane von Furstenberg, as I do, then when a DVF dress in your size suddenly goes on sale at Nordstrom, you receive an email from Shop It To Me Salemail. Pretty cool, huh? My Shop It To Me Salemails have led to some awesome bargains including Diane von Furstenberg, Custo Barcelona, MICHAEL by Michael Kors, Marc by Marc Jacobs and Free People. See the sample Salemail below.

ShopStyle is a wonderful fashion search engine. Sorry, Google, but when I'm shopping for a cute pencil skirt, I type "pencil skirt" into ShopStyle's search engine and get way more awesome options. But if what you seek are sales, then you must sign up for ShopStyle Sale Alerts. As is the case with Shop It To Me, you have to set up a profile including your favorite brands and sizes. Then set your email preferences and you're good to go. My personal Sale Alerts bargain finds include Juicy Couture and Betsey Johnson. Check out the Sale Alert email example below.

So, which is better and which sale alert service should you sign up for? My most sincere advice is to sign up for both. While some of the selection overlaps, I have found that the two services offer a sale selection with more differences than similarities. If you truly want a vast amount of sale information and bargain finds, then you would do best to sign up for both Shop It To Me and ShopStyle. You won't regret it, and you'll find your wardrobe growing and growing with great designer bargain discoveries while still saving money.

Scrolling through the BC Blog Directory the other day, I happened to stumble across the graffiti blogs section. Until that point, I didn't even know there was a graffiti blog section in the directory. Being quite curious about the section I managed to overlook until this point, I went in and discovered many cool blogs showcasing examples of vibrant street art from around the world. I recruited some other members of the BC team to help me take a look through all of the graffiti blogs and put together a sampling of a few that we think are worth sharing. The blogs below highlight the work of street artists in the United States, Peru, Germany, Belgium, England, France, and Israel to name a few. Take a look and let us know what you think.

ArsTreets: A gallery of the art in the Parisian streets..."The Outside Culture, The Magic EveryDayLife, Your Museum..."

Graffiti on Trains: This site gives you what it promises...graffiti on trains. A collection of photos from around Belgium.

West German Street Art: Germans can create some wicked street art. This site is a great photo chronicle of the art created there.

Street Art In the City of Tel Aviv: A poignant blend of street art photographs and poetry.

Jason Rubacky: It's all about graffiti here. A collection of videos and photos showing pieces from across the globe as well as reviews of painting supplies.

The Crooked: A site that share lots of street art images and aims to start some discussions on the current state of things as they begin the journey to being a legitimate street art institution. 

Manchester Graffiti: A mix of graffiti, hip hop and culture from Manchester, UK.

Vandalog: Everything street art, and nothing not street art. Vandalog has interviews with street artists and gallery owners, info on print releases, reviews of exhibitions, and much more.

Mutando Urbano: A blog from Peru about urban art and artistic expressions in the streets.

On November 17, 13,200 bloggers from across the globe participated in BloggersUnite: Fight For Preemies. Their posts about the rising rates of premature births raised the awareness of approximately 3 million readers. Through a mix of sobering facts, statistics and moving personal accounts, these bloggers poignantly illustrated the impact premature births have on both the individuals involved and on our society as a whole.

Thanks to all who were involved, the Fight For Preemies ranked as the top event on BloggersUnite before and during the event with a total of 495 registered participants (approximately 3.8% of total participants). The March of Dimes saw the percentage of blog posts in which they were mentioned double on the event date, and Fight For Preemies was mentioned nearly 5 times as much on November 17th as it was in the month leading up to the event.

BlogCatalog and BloggersUnite want to thank each and every blogger who participated in this event. Thank you for taking the time to make a difference. Thank you for sharing your stories; they moved us more than you can imagine. Below are a few of the posts BloggersUnite and The March of Dimes felt deserved recognition for truly capturing the spirit of this event:

Love My Lily: "Having a preemie means having to say goodbye to a lot of things that most first time parents take for granted..." http://lovemylily.blogspot.com/2009/11/prematurity-awareness-day.html

Baby Tea Leaves: "I learned something that day. I learned that even though we forget so much, that some memories will never ever lessen. They will remain as vivid as the day we experience them." http://babytealeaves.blogspot.com/2009/11/post-that-almost-wasnt.html

Sophie's Journey: "Nonetheless, every night we were there, we noticed another couple who spent hours and hours sitting next to their baby's crib, reading to him from Harry Potter. They never missed a night. Their dedication was incredible." http://sophiejourney.blogspot.com/2009/11/prematurity-awareness-month.html

Mothers Who Write: "He knows her better than I do. I have a baby too ticklish to touch and Ididn’t even know. I feel like crying, but don’t want to cry here. “Take me back,” I say. “I’m ready to go.” http://motherswhowrite.blogspot.com/2009/11/fight-for-preemies.html

Life And Times of the McTripletts: "I could give you some statistics about how many babies are born early each year, how much it costs families and businesses, what percentage of babies die from complications, the average time spent in the hospital, the percentages of these babies who have life-long complications... but to ME - those are just numbers. The statistic "1 in 8 babies is born prematurely" wouldn't have ever meant anything to me... unless that 1 baby was mine." http://themctriplets.blogspot.com/2009/11/prematurity-awareness-day.html

Sayer's Journey: "Aidan spent 66 days in the NICU. Aidan lived and thrived in the NICU thanks to many doctors, nurses, specialists and research done to help babies born too soon. Aidan came home a month before he was even supposed to be born." http://sayersjourney.blogspot.com/2009/11/prematurity-awareness-day.html

Our Stork Got Lost: "I definitely wasn’t prepared for the feelings of guilt, sadness, jealousy, anger, confusion, and fear that I would feel just because Max and Wes were born prematurely." http://ourstorkgotlost.com/2009/11/blogging-for-preemies-a-mommys-point-of-view

As of December 1, 2009, new FTC guidelines went into effect requiring bloggers to disclose any time they are compensated for endorsing or reviewing products or services. Bloggers should now be disclosing any time they receive payment, free products or services, or perks in return for a post on their blogs. Also any relationship with a company or organization that can be viewed as creating a conflict of interest should be disclosed. It is also a good idea to add disclosures to any past posts that still receive a decent amount of traffic.

The main focus for the blogger should be transparency. Tom Chernaik, one of the developers of http://CMP.ly (Comply), has had several discussions directly with the FTC. In a phone conversation yesterday, Tom told me that "what the FTC has said is that they're not looking to go after bloggers. What they want is for people to comply and be transparent and to be open about what they're doing." He stated that most of the burden will fall on advertisers. They will be responsible for "lead[ing] the discussion about disclosure...and having a monitoring plan in place to monitor those disclosures as they occur."

This does not mean that bloggers are without responsibility. Although the FTC may focus mainly on advertisers, bloggers are still required to include disclosures on their blogs and can be fined if they don't include them. Because many bloggers are confused about what they will be required to include on their blogs, CMP.ly is making it easy for bloggers to include disclosures. By creating a free account at CMP.ly you will have access to six standard disclosures and a custom disclosure that can be pasted into your post. If you feel like taking a more relaxed approach to the whole disclosure issue, humorous illustrated disclosures can be found at Louis Gray's blog. Whatever path you take, just be transparent and you should be OK.

Times are tough, and shoppers are cutting back. But, that doesn't mean consumers have stopped their holiday shopping all together. Americans are still giving and getting presents. In today's economy, being able to give the "right" gift can be a challenge, especially if the recipient is a high-maintenance, fashion-loving, trend-setting diva (that's a lot of hyphens). Being that I fit that description, I must share with you some tips and tricks for satisfying the designer demands of your favorite fashionista while sticking to your Walmart budget.

Speaking of Walmart, did you know you can buy designer fashion at this often chastised mass market? Norma Kamali has been designing since the 60s and is known for being innovative and creating functional, yet fashionable, pieces that can often be worn in various ways and in various settings. One of her most classic designs is the puffy sleeping bag coat, which is now available at Walmart for only $28. Her collection for Walmart even includes organic pieces. The entire collection ranges from a mere $4 to $28, so you can definitely find something stylish and inexpensive.

Norma Kamali for Walmart. Image from Walmart.com.

Of course, you must be familiar with Target's success with showcasing designer fashion. Currently at Target, you can find the Anna Sui for Target collection (price range: $20.98 - $104.98), Carlos Falchi for Target (handbag price range: $19.99 to $49.99) and Anna Sheffield for Target (jewelry price range: $13.99 - $34.99).

Anna Sheffield® for Target® Charm Bracelet. Image from Target.com.

Kohl's currently features a line from reality star turned designer Lauren Conrad. Named LC Lauren Conrad, the line includes jeans, leggings, tops and even pretty party dresses. Styles are trendy without being too young and junior-ish, so even the mature fashionista will appreciate the designs. Prices range from $13.99 - $44.99.

LC Lauren Conrad Shaker Cardigan and Asymmetrical Dress. Both images from Kohls.com.