Tips to Find the Perfect Holiday Dress!

Holidays are upon us and when it comes to selecting a dress style that looks best on our particular body type, it can be overwhelming and confusing. Don’t worry; I am here to help you! By knowing how to choose the best style of dress for your body type, you can make yourself look 10 pounds thinner! Do I have your attention yet?

Here are some tips on shopping for your body type and recommendations on where to find that perfect dress that will have heads turning!

 Apple shape: You have a square torso. In order to make your torso look smaller and more shapely, try looking for dresses that have ruching around the waist or a shirred dress. The gathering effect pulls in the waistline causing it to appear slimmer than your top and bottom halves. Try Ralph Lauren’s Open Sleeve Matte Jersey Sheath Dress. This one is great for plus size apple figures!

Dress it up with some hot red heels and some sparkling Garnet gemstone jewelry! Of course, you can do any color contrast with black! Be creative! For regular size Apple figures, check out this dress by Calvin Klein. 

Pear Shape: A halter dress is a great choice for your body type. It shows off your shoulders creating an illusion of a more balanced triangular shape. Your hips seem smaller and in better proportion with a halter neckline and take the eye away from your extremely narrow shoulders. Check out this dress by Laundry by Shelli Segal, high low glitter jersey halter gown. This dress will balance a pear shape body and give it an overall proportioned look. You can find this for $325 at Nordstrom.com:

Petite: A sheath Dress should always be your go-to style! Make sure it hits right above the knee. Don’t ever wear anything that passes the knee. You want to show off the narrowest part of your leg! A Sheath dress that is just above the knee makes you look more elongated and taller! Check out this inset lace sheath dress by Adriana Pappell for $138, it’s sexy and sophisticated!

Small Hourglass: Those blessed with a thin hourglass figure can practically wear anything! Dresses that look best on an hourglass body types are strapless or off the shoulder. Tailored dresses accentuating the narrowest part of your middle looks best on hourglass women. Avoid overly embellished and beaded dresses! It takes away from your figure and makes you look bigger than you actually are! Try this Peplum look by Vince Camuto, which is very popular this year!

Plus Size Hourglass: Women who are plus size hourglass should wear skirts or dresses that cinch in at the waist with a wide waistline and taper out. Choose something that fits you at the hips, taper in, and then flare at the hem to create an overall balance. Find something that hits right at or above the knee. Check out this dress by Collared Fit and Flare dress by Donna Ricco.

Straight Shape: For a figure that is mostly straight, you can create an illusion by wearing the right outfit! Your hips and bust are balanced and your waist is not very defined so you have to be careful in not choosing something that will make you look boxy! The best dressed for your body type are fitted sheaths & classic shifts work well with your shape, while an Empire waist or simple A-line skirt help to create some curves. One-shoulder styles can also ensure a dramatic silhouette. You can also experiment with different textures and colors. Wide belts that are darker in color can be used with your outfits to create an illusion of a smaller waist! Here is a dress by Maggy London that I think would flatter your body type and give it a curvaceous look.

It’s all about the accessories!

Follow the rules for your body type to look your best. Accessorize to dress it up or down with beautiful eye popping jewelry and some cute shoes! Have fun and choose shoes in an eye popping color like Red, Gold or Silver to accentuate your outfit. A black dress with red open toe sandals or pumps and some garnet earrings would look amazing this Holiday season! On top of that add a nice oversize clutch in red or gold.

Have fun with colors! You can also do gold and silver accents with a plain black dress to dress it up or down! You can pair a black dress with practically any color! Think Gemstone colors such as amethyst, peridot, garnet, blue topaz or prasiolite. All go with black and are all colors that are in this season!

Lasting Connections offers Image Consulting Services and Makeovers as part of our overall services. We help our clients bring out their most flattering features so they be their best possible self when making that important first impression!

Fall Makeup Trends

by Dawn Churchwell, Makeup Artist

When we think of fall, we think of dark, warm colors. Transitioning from summer to fall makeup, the main focus is dark mauve matte lips with simple neutral eyeshadows. Here are some samples on how to wear the appropriate shades day or night.Eye & Lip Makeup Trends to Watch

Eyes:

During the day time we want to keep the eyes neutral with gold, bronze or brown eyeshadow, or even just a simple black eyeliner. Come nighttime, to add depth or create an alluring smokey eye just add a pop of dark cranberry or deep purple eyeshadow to the crease.
Lips: We are seeing a lot of plum, berry, browns, cranberry or dark blood red matte lipstick for the fall. If you’re not into a matte finish, just add a clear gloss or a lipstick over it with a little sheen finish. To prevent your lipstick from bleeding, I would recommend applying a lip liner before the lipstick!
eyemake up palette eye make up

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Fall 2014 Fashion Trends: Cream is in, so Make the Most of it this Fall.

3. Luxury Lingerie. Presenting her with designer lingerie made out of exquisite fabric demonstrates your esteem for her AND your good taste. Just stay away from the tawdry side – no Fredrick’s of San Quentin guys! I love the selection from Be by Nadja. Each beautiful piece is expertly designed by owner, Nadja and made in the USA! The fabric is soft as an angel’s sigh and will feel heavenly against her skin. You can order online and Nadja will even specially wrap your gift with a bow and ship it out to you in time for Christmas! This IS the gift that keeps on giving, guys.

4. A Weekend Getaway. If you’re located on the West Coast, head to the coast this winter for a romantic getaway where you can enjoy the weather and ocean while you’re inside next to a cozy fire. That champagne and chocolate would come in handy on this trip, too!

5. Jewelry. Watch out because screams of joy and jumping up and down could result! If you know her taste and can find her that gemstone, ring, necklace, earrings, etc that she has always wanted, this is a gift that will have her thinking of you every time she wears it! Ask her friends, sisters, and mother what she likes. This is only if you have been together for a while. Otherwise, jewelry gives a very different message to women — unless you are a sheikh of some country giving out jewelry like candy to the women you date! It’s a gift that will make this particular holiday extra special and memorable and she’ll most likely brag about it to her friends who no doubt will compliment her on it. So, go ahead and get her something special! Surprise her!

Here’s one stylish option from Nordstrom. They are offering free shipping by Christmas Eve and you’ll find lots of great options at a variety of price points. Talk about Christmas made easy.

If you have other gift giving questions, feel free to email me at findlove@lastingconnections.net.

With love,

Sameera xxoo

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What is Financial Infidelity? And, Can it Really Kill your Relationship?

We don’t hear of it as often because it’s really not talked about enough. I have been talking about this topic all over the media lately especially after an article came out Just in time for Valentine’s day, a survey shows that about 7 million Americans have hidden a bank or credit card account from their spouse or significant other.

It’s very easy to lie to your spouse about a very small purchase and then start lying more in the future about bigger purchases, and soon it becomes a shopping addiction, gambling, trading stocks, or collecting antique cars in your friends garage! Think about it, if you lost a bunch of money in trading stocks and you don’t want your spouse knowing about how much money you lost. Instead of telling them the truth, you think you have it under control and get a credit card to float the expenses for the time being.

White Lies Lead to a Slippery Slope.

Soon, the credit card debt is very large and you cannot manage it anymore. Now you are in big trouble financially and your spouse is starting to get an idea about what’s going on. You may have started this whole thing with good intentions but it ends in a really bad way!

This is a great example of financial infidelity and a pattern that many people can fall into, which prevents them from making a lasting connection. To avoid something like this from happening, you have to be completely naked with your spouse and share everything with them! Don’t use your savings to trade stocks and then end up with nothing. Talk to your partner and make a decision together where you should be investing your money! Poor planning prevents you from having a good retirement and also can affect your children’s college planning and funding. This all takes a huge toll on a relationship.

Flirting with Financial Infidelity can Doom your Relationship, just like Real Flirting.

Financial infidelity is just like any other infidelity, which starts with a little flirting that turns into a horrific affair. With financial infidelity, one small lie turns into a bigger lie possibly draining the family financially and also ruining relationships. Children also get affected by things like this.

For newly married couples, it’s important that you are completely transparent with your spouse about your student loans, credit card debts, repossessions, and anything financial. You want to start a relationship based on trust and respect! Don’t hide things that can come to bite you later on and will ruin your marriage!

Open and Honest Communication with your Partner is Key to Creating a Lasting Connection.However, financial infidelity can be stopped if you realize early enough to recognize the signs and to start communicating the truth with your partner – only then can you start to forge Lasting Connections! Get naked with them and become completely transparent!

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Single in the Pacific Northwest? You’re in luck!

The Great Love Debate is on February 25: Seattle, WA & March 18: Portland, OR… and you’re invited!

If you’re single and live in Seattle or Portland, you don’t want to miss out on this fascinating show and the singles mixer after! 100 of the city’s most

eligible bachelors and 100 dynamic single women seated on opposite sides of the theater to try to answer the question… “Why is everyone still single?” Get $10 off your ticket with this discount code: lasting. Get you ticket here. http://www.greatlovedebate.com/#!2015-shows/cv86

What’s it all about?

Sameera Sullivan, CEO of Lasting Connections and America’s leading matchmaker for the 40+ set will be a featured expert panelist at both events. This unique, interactive Town Hall-style event has been selling out all over the country. It features leading relationship experts and an excited, engaged audience to dish, discuss, dissect, and debate the current state of the dating world! You’ll get lots of dating and relationship insight and the singles mixer afterwards is always a blast!

This is the event for you…

Dating is tough, and experienced matchmakers know how to do it… but you also want to hear from the people at this singles event who are also out there dating day-in and day-out! Here’s an awesome chance to discuss dating and love with not only your fellow singles but expert matchmakers as well. There’s going to be amazing information shared that you won’t hear anywhere else… you’re going to learn exactly what you need to know to meet the partner of your dreams. Dating is going to get a whole lot easier.

Hope to see you at the Great Love Debate!
With love,
Sameera

P.S. – Check out some photos from one of our previous Great Love Debates! Looks fun, doesn’t it?!

“Feisty” – “Sexy” – “Groundbreaking”

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