Have you got something to hide? Let’s face it most of us aren’t born with perfect skin and invisible pores, in fact one topic my friends and I talk about daily is how our skin looks on any given day.

Whether your concern is about a sudden breakout to an acne condition, dark circles, redness due to sensitive skin or rosacea, Lee Graff has seen it all at her CosMedic Clinic. And this Saturday only Lee will be available at Shoppers Drug Mart, 1500 Avenue Rd., Toronto ON from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM to teach you how quickly you can create flawless looking skin using COVER FX products in your perfect colour match. Lee will be on hand along with with our COVER FX Specialists to demontrate just how easy it is to have great looking skin. Book your appointment today by calling the Shoppers Drug Mart Beauty Department; 416.781.6146.

For more information about Lee and skin concerns visit her MED FX blog on our website.

October 6th - Bryant Park Hotel, New York City…. Located right across the street from the famed Bryant Park tents where Spring/Summer collections had just been presented last month, and deemed as THE place to be and be seen by the who’s who of  the NYC glitterati…

It’s a very special day! Lee Graff and Jenny Frankel are hosting a ‘Meet And Greet The Press’ in the beautiful penthouse loft at the very fashionable Bryant Park Hotel.  The room has enormous cathedral windows that fill the space with natural light and our stunning Colour Your Were Born To Wear visuals and product display further enhance this gorgeous room. The elevators are small and have moody red lighting reminiscent of the seedy bars near the Moulin Rouge in Paris but I digress…

While nibbling on fashionable snacks, top beauty editors and  influential beauty bloggers came out to meet Lee and Jenny, learn about the brand and got a sneak peak at what’s new for Spring/Summer ‘09 (which is very exciting by the way but sorry, I’m not at liberty to tell you yet ;) 

Our lovely and talented New York Team - Taneil, Kathia and Nathan were on board to colour match  our guests and ensured that they got to see and feel all our products while Lee, Jenny and moi walked around and spent some one on one time with each one of them.  Everyone left with great information on our brand and with their very own perfect foundation shade and texture to keep.  You could almost see the wheels spinning about COVER FX story ideas… stay tuned!

Great job, Jenny and Lee!  Special thanks to Kathia, Taneil and Nathan for all their help and support … and for there all-round cuteness….  It was a great event!

Ready to meet the press

Lee & Jenny with NY team

While Spring/ Summer 2009 fashion shows are happening in New York, London, Milan and Paris right now, most of us are thinking about our fall wardrobes and wondering how to update our makeup looks to make sure we’re looking current without trying too hard.  Read on and not only will your look be ‘of the moment’ but you can learn how to create a Fall makeup look that is custom made for you with COVER FX products in the perfect foundation shades and textures specifically designed for you!  COVER FX Foundation Artists will teach you how!  We’ve taken a sampling of all the hotest makeup trends and put them on face charts with  ’step by step’  instructions on how to re-create them.   So put on your kicky heels and make your way to the nearest COVER FX location to see our interpretation of the latest makeup trends.

Here’s a peek!

From minimalism to feminine to natural to futuristic, the Fall / Winter catwalks highlighted fashion and makeup trends that were a combination of contrasts;  A reflection of society to live their own identity….  Have a look at the newest makeup trends for Fall/Winter 2008 and learn how to achieve them with COVER FX at a retail partner location near you!

Look - Future Perfect                Colour Series - B Series

Look - Playful & Feminine            Colour Series - C Series

Look - La Boheme                     Colour Series - E Series

Look - Asian Future              Colour Series - M Series

I arrive in London on a rainy afternoon.  I’m so happy to be here!  London has an incredible energy that you can’t help but get caught up in.  Thousands of very fashionable people of all ethnicities enjoying all that London has to offer…picturesque, historical sites….Buckingham Palace, the Thames, and St. Paul’s Cathedral to name a few.  Fascinating museums (you can visit these for free), wonderful restaurants and back to back retail stores filled with the most amazing and fashion-forward things…clothing, accessories and shoes….oh my!  Heaven for most girls that I know…. I will be here for 5 days.  My knee is still killing me and I’m walking with a limp but I don’t care….. I’M IN LONDON!!

Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge is one of the coolest stores in London and COVER FX has a prime location; Ours is the first counter you see when you walk in the front door.  Our counter manager, Benjamin is Swedish, his full-time co-worker Angele is from Paris and Viktor, their part-timer is British.  They’re all accomplished makeup artists and the three of them make an amazing team.

I had a very packed schedule planned for London….training the team and meetings with Harvey Nichols head  office and store management teams.

We had great fun in training where I learned a groovy application technique from Angele using the handle of the brush in a rolling motion for blending….very cool and effective!  Viktor told us he sold makeup to Amy Winehouse’s makeup artist who was buying COVER FX Cream foundation for Amy.  Apparently she uses a stencil to create that wild eyeliner.

My good friend came to meet me my last two days in London so we decided to try dining at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant, 15 where Jamie has taught underprivileged  teens to be chefs and employs them at his restaurant.  All proceeds from this restaurant go towards helping more teens.  Putting my PR hat on, I decided to bring a gift for Jools, Jamie’s wife with a note inviting her to go to Harvey Nichols for a makeup application… Dinner was not as good as we expected but we had a great time anyway.

My last day in London whizzes by and before I know it, it’s time for me to finally pack my things and head home.  It’s been an amazing few weeks and I’ve accomplished a great deal…everyone has been trained and raring to go.  Store management teams are supporting all our events and the press office is planning some great TV and editorial opportunities.  It was lovely to see everyone again and to meet the new members of our UK family (have a look at Anya in Manchester, the youngest, 3 weeks old).  I have a new celebrity makeup artist contact, Richard who does makeup for the actors of Coronation Street…the longest running soap opera in the UK.  He loves it and will be sending me tear sheets…yay!  I say my goodbyes to all until next time then make my way to Heathrow, board the plane and settle into my seat for the long trip home…..about 7 hours later we’re landing at Pearson International….I’m looking out the window and there are still mountains of snow even higher than when I left….It’s great to be home!

I arrive in Dublin on a very windy Sunday evening….the wind was a major theme during my stay in Dublin…..but I’ll get into that later….

I have a very busy 3 day plan for Dublin.  Harvey Nichols was having their Beauty School event and I was scheduled to do 2 Makeup Your Mind seminars and a special ladies shopping night hosted by IMAGE magazine (a beautiful, high-end Irish magazine) on the Wednesday evening.

I was also training Niamh (pronounced N-e-e-v), our lovely counter manager and her new part-timer Karla ,of course I also met with the Harvey Nichols store management team and the Dublin press office so needless to say, I had a very full agenda…..Training went very well with Niamh and Karla and my Makeup Your Mind seminar was well received.

Feeling very satisfied with how much I was able to accomplish and with one more day to go, I thought I would go back to my hotel, change into my workout gear and go for a brisk walk in search of a grocery store to pick up a few things.  The concierge gave me directions to the nearest grocery store and sent me off with a gigantic umbrella advising I should take it as “it was raining a little”.  So off I went in search of the store armed with my ‘umbrella for 4′…… sure enough it was raining a little…but that was the least of my problems.  The wind had picked up significantly, turned my giant umbrella inside out and my umbrella was now a sail propelling me across the street!  I held onto the umbrella for dear life and tried with all my might to restore it to it’s original state but to no avail.  I had no choice but to turn around and go back to the hotel with the mangled umbrella and completely soaked!….thanks to Dermafix technology my makeup stayed put!  We might want to add that to our training module….lasts all day and even through a hurricane!……I ordered room service that night and went to bed early because my last day in Dublin was going to be a very busy and long one.   I had more training to do all day and a big press event that evening so I needed my beauty sleep….

Wednesday morning….I’m up early getting all dolled up for my last big day in Dublin, do a final makeup check in the mirror, put on my best Dries Van Noten heels and hail a cab to take me to Harvey Nicks.  All is going well.  I will arrive early so I have time to relax and have another cup of coffee before my seminar.  The cabbie drops me and my very heavy work bags in the Towne Square when another huge gust of wind comes and threatens to knock me down for all the world to see.  Determined to not go down and in an effort to keep my balance (and save my shoes) I twist my knee and arrive at the store limping and in excruciating pain…..I found a bottle of Ibuprofen that I had tossed in my bag and popped 2 every 4 hours….training and the press event went off without a hitch!  Final stop…..London!

Hello All,

I writing to you from the United Kingdom where I have been since March 3rd!  First stop was Manchester.  Home of the Manchester United Soccer Team of whom the Manchurians are soooo proud.  the temperature was cold and cloudy but I was just happy to be out of snow covered Toronto….My mission was to train our new counter manger at Harvey Nichols Claire, who is covering mat leave for Elise.  Congratulations to Elise and her husband Richard who had a beautiful baby girl named Anya Laya!  Claire will be taking over until  Elise comes back early next year.  Claire will work with Dawn who has been working part time with us for about a year.  We did intense training for 2 days and then we spent some time on the shop floor.  They’re going to make a great team!  Next stop Dublin!

Our Cover FX counter in Manchester

Claire, me and Dawn

Training Workshop

Baby Anya ... we think she' a C20