GAL APPROVED – WEEKEND EDITION
Hot bags, cool soaks and intense gel liner!

By DIVAGALS | May 20, 2011 | Entertainment

SLING. Helen Barr, creator of the barr + barr collection, has created an incredible line of hand-stitched, lightweight leather bags and purses. Helen’s philosophy is simple: make bags that are beautiful, functional, environment-friendly (they are vegetable-dyed with no paper or plastic fillers), and look great coming or going. Helen has thought through everything, from creating bags that open wide enough for you to actually put items inside (and lots of roomy storage pockets to boot!) to having cleanable liners in a white and black print (so you can see what’s going on in there). We fell in love with almost all of her designs, but one that really caught my attention is the Kelly-inspired bag, which is so Grace Kelly meets 2011. Remember the movie Le Divorce? Isabel, Kate Hudson‘s character, wore her red Hermes bag all the time only to be told that was a fashion “don’t.” Well, someone’s going to tell me “don’t” because I see myself wearing my barr + barr bag to social events, the opera and out to lunch with the girls. For the girl who wants a simple small purse to grab and go, barr + barr also offers a great brown choice with a simple gold clasp. With attainable price points ranging from $250 to $350, these purses are a wise investment. Besides, who wouldn’t want a bag from the same designer whose collection’s been seen on Sex and the City and USA Network’s Covert Affairs? And hello, barr + barr has a shoe line as well. Yes, Helen’s got you covered, from shoulder strap to toe. Check out barr+barr bags on sugaRushtv’s accessory of the day video, and and make your own barr + barr selection here.

SOAK. You know the iconic slogan, “Calgon, take me away!” But the line has definitely taken on a new look. At an elegant luncheon at Southgate at Essex House Hotel off Central Park South right here in New York City, the DivaGals got first look at the classic spa line’s newest collections: Sensual and Ageless Bath, as well as an introduction to Calgon’s oatmeal single packs, massaging beauty bars and the new Vanilla Passion Refreshing Body Mist. There’s also luminous body creams with fun names like “Angelic Kiss,” “Flirty Tease” and “Femme Inferno,” whipped up in cans that look good enough to eat. And yes, Calgon’s can’t-live-without bath beads are still available, now in stylish, water-proof cyclinders. You won’t have to worry about dropping the box in the tub anymore! WIN THIS! Click this to learn how to win products from Calgon Sensual Collection, right here on DivaGalsDaily.com!

SLIDE. We love putting on makeup, but even the top artists will tell you that eyeliner can be tricky. Pencils can leave hard chalky lines, while liquid liner calls for only the steadiest of hands. If only there was something in-between. That’s why we are so glad for Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics and its incredible wear gel liner. This handy lit pot delivers intense color that’s simple to apply to lashes. We dampened our Youngblood angle brush and dipped it into Eclipse (just one of Youngblood’s five gel colors) and placed it close to our lash line from inner corner to out. The result? A straight line that made our eyes pop. Then we decided to take it to the next level and thickened our line at our outer corner. One word for the result? Fabulous! Of course, we know what you really want to know: does it last? We put it on at 9 a.m. and could still see a hint of color more than 12 hours later, oh yeah! Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics retails for $21.99 and will be available at www.ybskin.com beginning July 1.