Health food for your lips

Is it possible to get long-lasting lip color without it drying your lips out? Not only is it possible, it can also be good for you. Tarte Cosmetics created "the first-ever lipstick that will nourish, moisturize and rejuvenate lips". Inside Out Vitamin Lipstick is powered by Borba nutraceuticals, which include grape seed extract, acai juice extract, vitamin E, green tea extract, chamomile extract, vitamin A, lychee extract, jojoba seed oil, vitamin K, shea butter and beeswax. And if it couldn't get any better, the product is also paraben and preservative free.

Maureen Kelly, founder and CEO of Tarte, says "I wanted easy-to-use products that would help me recreate beautiful, makeup-artist-inspired looks without all of the unnecessary steps. I wanted products that looked like stylish accessories when I whipped them out of my purse (and to that end, I wanted compact products that would fit in my purse!). Above all, I wanted healthy products that were doing good things for my skin."

She definitely accomplished that with this product. My lips never felt so good as when I was wearing Sweet Dreams - a bright rose color in a chic case - and after eating lunch, the lipstick was still there. If it weren't enough that Tarte is eco-friendly and has given to over 20 charities, proceeds from the Sweet Dreams lipstick (selling for $22) go to the Young Survival Coalition (YSC) - the only international, non-profit network of breast cancer survivors and supporters dedicated to the concerns and issues that are unique to young women and breast cancer.

For more information on Inside Out Vitamin Lipstick, Tarte or their cause, go to the Beauty page on Uptown Liz.

Drew Helps Fill the Cup

We love when someone uses their celebrity to give back. On March 3, 2008, Drew Barrymore gave $1 million to the World Food Programme on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Her personal donation is the start of the WFP's "Fill the Cup" campaign to raise $3 billion to feed 59 million children in developing countries around the world.

“I have seen with my own eyes what a difference a simple cup of nutritious porridge can make in a child’s life,” said Drew Barrymore.

Last year, WFP fed a daily cup of porridge, rice and beans to more than 20 million children. Their dream is to feed 10 million hungry school children in Africa by Thanksgiving Day. And the program comes full circle with 70 percent of WFP’s food purchased from farmers in the developing world.

It takes almost nothing to feed these hungry children - just 25 cents to fill one of the Red Cups. For more information or to donate, click here. To support the WFP by shopping, please check out some of the items that donate to this wonderful cause on Uptown Liz.

Introducing the Uptown Girl Bracelet created in loving memory of Elizabeth "Liz" Overturf

February 1, 2008 marks two years since my sister, Liz, lost her battle with breast cancer at the age of 28 years old. My goals for Uptown Liz are to share her story, grow her legacy and help the less fortunate in this world. One way that is being done is with the Uptown Girl Breast Cancer Awareness Bracelet that was created in Liz's memory by ek designs. Proceeds from the sale of this bracelet are donated to the Gal to Gal Foundation, a non-profit that supports stage IV breast cancer patients and their families.

My deepest gratitude to Elizabeth Kissick, founder and designer of ek designs. Her compassion, generosity, kindness and creativity were evident in the first time we spoke. I feel honored that she designed such a beautiful piece of jewelry in my sister's memory.

Uptown Girl - Breast Cancer Awareness Bracelet
The new Uptown Girl spends her weekends with friends participating in Breast Cancer walks (in high heels with a matching bag of course!). She is always in style and loves to "shop for a cause" for friends and family without needing an occasion. She is full of fun and laughter and lives in the present with spirituality and renewed gratitude toward each day. Five sterling silver charms represent the Uptown Girl philosophy: a present for giving and living a life in the moment, a butterfly fairy to represent spirituality and metamorphosis, a breast cancer ribbon for the cure, and a purse and high heel for style. The soft pink pearls, lobster clasp, pink and white glass blown bead along with sterling silver beads add to the feminine look and feel of this bracelet. This Uptown Girl bracelet is to remind women to believe in themselves and to live a life in the present with gratitude, spirituality, courage, laughter and, of course, style.

Lucky magazine says Uptown Liz is "favorite new site"

Dawn Spinner, Associate Beauty Editor for Lucky magazine, wrote "My favorite new site is Uptown Liz" on the magazine's beauty blog in an article today called Choose Your Charity. Spinner continues to write, "The search function is particularly fantastic: You can narrow down your results by charity or by product type. It's quite possibly the best cure to buyer's remorse and/or splurging guilt." I'm a big fan of Lucky magazine, not only for its pulse on the latest fashion and beauty products, but for their monthly Do Good While You Shop seciton. Every month they pick a cause to focus on, and list beautiful products that are donating to supporting charities. You will find many of these products on Uptown Liz. Thanks again to Dawn Spinner and Lucky for their support!

KillerStartups.com Has Chosen Uptown Liz - Vote Now

Uptown Liz has been chosen as a “Killer Startup” on KillerStartup.com. Not only is this a huge promotion that increases web traffic and googleability, it lets people vote if they think you are a killer start up. This company is a platform to find the next big thing on the Internet. I would love it if you voted!

KillerStartups.com is a user driven Internet start ups community. Entrepreneurs, investors, and bloggers are staying informed on up-and-coming Internet start ups using our blog platform, where Internet entrepreneurs submit their start up to see what others think about it. Their vision is “Tapping the wisdom of crowds to find the next Internet big thing.” They deeply believe in the power of crowds, and want to put it to good use by detecting in an early stage what’s going to be big.

New Year's Resolution #2 - Get Organized

The New Year it a time for starting over, evaluating, making room for the new and getting rid of the old. As a recovering perfectionist and self-proclaimed neat freak, I love everything in its place and the stylish products that hold it all. So it was no surprise that I fell in love (head over heels) with the bag collection from Jimeale New York. Realizing there was a market for fun and functional cosmetic bags, Jimeale Jorgensen, created a bag for all organized occasions.

The Broome Street is great for your purse or work bag. Small with three inside pockets, but large enough to hold cosmetics, mints, and anything else you might need. The Elizabeth Street can fit all your cosmetics and it's long enough to hold your make-up brushes as well. The Wooster, Thompson and Spring Street bags are the most unique in the industry. The size of bags can hold all of your travel needs with pouches and compartments to keep organized. The Mulberry Street is the mother of all bags. It's big enough to hold of all your toiletries, plus a travel blow dryer and flat iron. It has two inside pockets and a detachable pouch. It comes in a set with the Mott, Broome and Elizabeth Street bags. And don't forget an overnight bag - choose from the Charlie, Nicola or the Polly.

Not only are the bags beautiful and high-quality, they are affordable ranging from $20-$70. (not much more than you would pay in the department or drug stores). I have one in my bathroom for my cosmetics, one in my kitchen for my vitamins, and a couple in my overnight bag for traveling.

What makes these bags even more of a must-have is that Jimeale donates 15% of net profits to Boarding for Breast Cancer, a non-profit, youth-focused education, awareness, and fundraising foundation. Their mission is to increase awareness about breast cancer, the importance of early detection and the value of an active lifestyle. For more information on Jimeale's bag collection or their cause, please go to the Bags page on Uptown Liz.

New Year's Resolution #1 - Exercise

Many of you have made New Year's resolutions, which include to exercise more or just plain start exercising. If that entails doing some moving (like running) then the Enell sports bra is for you. Being a long-distance runner, I know how important it is to keep my girls protected. Not having a good sports bra that fits you correctly can cause damage to your breast tissue. Because of how much I run, it takes a while before I realize it's time to replace my sports bras. This past week I have worn one of the Enell sports bras and my girls were so secure, I had no idea how much support I wasn't getting before. I have always bought my sports bras at Fleet Feet, but didn't realize that I needed a model with more support. This bra prevents anything from moving - at all! What's great about this company is that they make bras for all sizes (including the larger breasted woman) and donate 10% of proceeds to FORCE (Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered), a nonprofit organization for women with increased risk of cancer due to family history and genetic status, and for members of families in which a BRCA mutation may be present. The sports bra retails for $60. For more information, please go to the Women's Sportswear page on Uptown Liz.