Meet Yokoo, Our Fave Designer on Etsy! Enter to Win One of Her Creations Plus Lancôme's Newest Skincare--Rénergie Volumetry

As I mentioned last week, we're dedicating this week on the blog to a few of our favorite entrepreneurs, artists and designers. It takes a lot of courage to do your own thing, especially when the economy isn't so great, so we wanted to spotlight some creative people we admire. Lancôme was founded 75 years ago this year by a young entrepreneur named Armand Petitjean, so you never know where something will lead!



The first person we're spotlighting is Yokoo. She's a young woman from Atlanta who specializes in knit items and has a great online boutique on Etsy. (Do you know about Etsy? It's essentially a giant online flea market populated by artists of all kinds. You can find everything from stuffed animals to leg warmers to homemade bath and beauty products.)



I've been meaning to write about Yokoo forever. I first ordered some of her pieces last winter and was amazed at how well made, warm and whimsical they were. Most of her pieces are best suited to fall/winter (I know, I know, it's 90 degrees outside...), but she has some seasonless pieces too. And she's branching into jewelry, which is exciting to see. Look how fab that necklace is in the picture above.



You'll have fun looking at Yokoo's Etsy boutique and at her Flickr photostream. She uses her Flickr pages to spotlight everything from new creations to DIY clothing projects to her favorite things. She's so creative and she has such great personal style. We hope you find her as inspiring as we do.



For today's giveaway, check out Yokoo's Etsy boutique, pick one thing you'd love to have and tell us why. We'll pick one name at random and you'll win that item plus our newest skincare, Rénergie Lift Volumetry Lifting and Reshaping Cream SPF 15 and Rénergie Lift Volumetry Eye Cream. The idea here is firming. (The cream comes in two options--normal/combination and normal/dry.) I've been using Volumetry all summer (with my fave Collaser serum. If we ever discontinue Collaser I will seriously fall apart) and was happy to have that extra oomph in the firming department.



Please comment by end of day Wednesday. Good luck.



Tomorrow: our favorite fashion illustrator!

Buon Giorno, "Matt" The Italian MUA...And Some Blog Giveaway Winners! Maybe You?

I spent today taking care of the blog's Gmail account. (Exhausting!) But there were a lot of nice emails from many of you, so thank you. One of the emails tipped me off to a cute project our Italian team is doing. It's called "Matt the Makeup Idol" and it's the fictional (I think) account of a young, very handsome Lancome makeup artist who seems to answer housecalls and last-minute makeup emergency texts. If any of you speak Italian, please feel free to translate some of this.

Matt has his own YouTube channel and there are five short videos. Even if you don't speak Italian, they're fun to watch. You can see Matt running around his swanky apartment, playing with his dog, playing with his hair, grabbing his cool Lancome case and jumping into his groovy Mini Cooper. It all seems very Italian.

Does anyone know if "Matt" is a real makeup artist?

I also forced myself to learn Excel this weekend so I can keep better track of the blog giveaways. I realized we never named the winners of a few blog giveaways and that a few previously announced winners are AWOL! Atelier Gal won the BB Kiss giveaway; Kristin won the Oscillation lash giveaway; Angela won the French skincare giveaway. I've emailed all of you. Awesome, if you read this, you won the Erika F. giveaway and we're still trying to find you! Same goes for Lucky/Lucy, who won the blog birthday giveaway. And JT, I need your phone number for UPS! All of you can email me at thelancomeblog@gmail.com.

Thanks for everyone's patience. As soon as we get these packages out the door, we'll go back to our regular schedule of giveaways!

Happy Birthday to the Lancôme Blog! (And Of Course, a B'Day Giveaway!)

Wow! What a year it has been at The Lancôme Blog. In the past 12 months, we've learned how to blog and tweet, made lots of new friends and talked about tons of products, events and trends. There have been bittersweet moments, like when our fab interns finished their internships and returned to school. And even some sad moments, as we've said goodbye to a few beauty and fashion icons.

The best part has been getting to know many of you and sharing what's fun and special about our Lancôme world. I hope you feel that you've gotten a behind-the-scenes glimpse that you wouldn't have gotten otherwise and learned a thing or two about makeup, skincare and beauty in general.

I love logging on every day and seeing so many familiar names. (You know who you are!) The fact that many of you take the time to comment and share your thoughts--even when we don't have a giveaway!--is really wonderful.

Thank you for all the support. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Stay tuned, because the next 12 months are going to be very exciting. From Julia Roberts and Michelle Phan, to our newest mascaras, lip glosses, skincare and fragrance, we have a lot to share with you.

So for our birthday giveaway, I'll let you pick! Leave a birthday wish for the blog and we'll pick one comment at random. That person gets to pick whatever five Lancôme products he or she would like to try. Please post by end of day Thursday.

Tomorrow, more L.A. stories!

PHOTO FROM SPRINKLES.COM. IF SPRINKLES IS LOOKING FOR SPOKESPEOPLE, ERIN AND I WOULD LIKE TO VOLUNTEER.

What a Week! And...Are You The Winner of the "Valentine's Day" Celeb Lip Giveaway?

As promised, the winner of the "Valentine's Day" lip giveaway is...Maranda, whose last lippie purchase was, well, not a Lancome product. That's okay. We like you anyway, Maranda! Check your inbox for a message from us.



I'm afraid I am totally wiped out and won't be writing about fashion week as promised. But I will next week! (A little taste of L'Wren Scott backstage above.) So much to share with you because it was a great fashion week. We had a very fun P.A. with Chris Benz last night and sold all the lipsticks we had on hand. It was terrific to see so many women wearing Chris & Tell and it looked beautiful on everyone. Kessa, your package is all bundled up and will ship out on Monday! Be on the lookout. Thank you again for giving us such a great name for Chris & Tell. I just saw that seven of the lipsticks are on eBay and the bidding is as high as $85.01. Crazy.



I hope everyone has a peaceful, restful weekend if possible! Look forward to talking to you next week.

Are You a Giveaway Winner? Read On...

Who doesn't like being a winner?



--MiscMayzee, you won the O My Rose spring color giveaway. MiscMayzee is a very busy blogger. I don't think I know anyone with as many blogs.

--Little Bird, you won the Extreme Beauty giveaway. (I don't sing well either, but I wish I did.)

--Rachael, you won the Genifique 3-pack. You'll be looking like a newborn in no time.

--Stephanie, you won the Crystal Renn giveaway. (Please remind me to send some product to Crystal. We really love her here at Lancome!) Stephanie, how do you have time to design jewelry and maintain three blogs? Please advise!



Thanks to everyone who left such great comments. I sent emails to all the winners, but if you didn't get the email, please contact me at thelancomeblog@gmail.com. (I don't check this every day, so sorry if you've left me a note there!)



More winners coming soon...



P.S. Since we asked everyone to donate to Haiti-related charities last week, I wanted to let you know that the parent company of Lancome has donated 500,000 euros to the cause, half to Doctors Without Borders and half to the Red Cross. I was very happy when I heard the news. If you haven't donated yet, please do. Haiti will need everyone's help for a long time.

Your 2010 Resolutions, An Awesome Genifique Giveaway and More Blog Winners!

Okay, Tammy, as promised--why 2010 will be more glamorous. We signed Julia Roberts and her gorg Mario Testino ads will start running next year, along with Mario's beautiful new Kate Winslet and Arlenis Sosa ads. Also, we've having a special Julia event to welcome her to the Lancome family. We'll report on this for the blog, of course. We'll be working with some new designers in 2010 and I think everyone will be really excited to learn who they are. Lancome will celebrate its 75th anniversary next year, and it's the 10th birthday of Juicy Tubes. And that's not to mention all the exciting new products, from Chris Benz's Chris & Tell to our spring color collection, a major new mascara and very cool skincare. And lots more...

And in terms of how people are rocking their makeup, the lipstick and nail polish trend shows no sign of abating. That's glamorous, no? It's great to see people experimenting with color and putting some effort into their makeup. Speaking of which, take a look at the big Craig McDean fashion story in the current W magazine. Two of the spreads are above. Forget the clothes and just focus on all the different lipsticks, eye makeup and nail polish. If you love makeup, it's very inspirational. (A lot of pale, platinum-haired models, I know. But I just read in Allure that's a trend too, love it or hate it.)

So today's giveaway. Tell us your new year's resolutions and we'll pick one post at random to win a Genifique three pack: youth activating concentrate, the new, not-yet-in-stores cream-serum (cult product for 2010. You read it here.) and the eye cream. These are great unisex products, so get your boyfriends and brothers to post too.

Please post by Thursday night!

Lastly, we have some more blog giveaway winners to announce. Congrats to Blinky Daisy who won the Juicy Tubes holiday gift set. SJ won a set too for correctly identifying the picture as a still from the movie "Singles." Charity won a bottle of Miracle from the holiday gift guide giveaway. Austrian Babe won the Tresor roller ball. And Chuck, you won the "Important Dinner for Women" gift bag giveaway, but I don't think we ever heard from you because the bag is still in my office. Sorry if you did email us and it slipped through the cracks. If you're a winner and didn't leave your email, please contact us at thelancomeblog@gmail.com.