Heavy Red’s Fatal Affection Waist Cincher

image source heavyred.com

Valentine’s Day has come and gone, but I’m sure you’re still in the spirit as you nibble on the last pieces of your chocolate heart. The Fatal Affection Waist Cincher by Heavy Red features a blood red heart with alternating black and white stripes that will remind you of love all year long. The steel boned underbust corset would look nice over a black flowing gown for a romantic gothy look, or paired with a short ruffled skirt and blouse for a fun gothic Lolita aesthetic.

The Fatal Affection Waist Cincher is available online at www.heavyred.com.

- Meagan

Valentine’s Day, some hate it, some love it.  Today we have a special online edition of “Ask Arden”, our new advice column where Arden Leigh, today’s freshest voice on women’s dating and relationship strategies, answers your questions.  Bringing together her experience in neuro-linguistic programming, brand marketing, psychology, pick-up artistry, and the fetish industry, she coaches women on developing a proactive approach to achieving their romantic goals.

Q : I hate Valentine’s Day. There’s so much pressure! What can I do to make sure that we both have a good time without unrealistic expectations?

A : I would say that if you pay attention to the clues your partner unwittingly gives you, you should know what kind of things will make them happy on Valentine’s Day, but the truth is that if you pay attention to those clues you should know what kind of things will make them happy every day. People are fairly easy to read once you learn to pick up on the signals they drop. Figuring out what to do for Valentine’s Day shouldn’t be all that different from figuring out what to do on any other day of the year. The only difference is you have an excuse to live it up a little more.

There’s no reason to hold yourselves to the standard of Valentine’s Day set forth by the greeting card companies, chocolatiers, and pricey restaurants offering prix-fixe dinners with champagne toasts (i.e., all those who stand to make a profit from it), but that doesn’t mean you should miss out on a day set aside to celebrate couple-hood. Being part of a couple is fun and if it weren’t you wouldn’t choose to do it. So why not celebrate a little?

Tailor your Valentine’s Day experience to the kinds of things you and your partner enjoy. Perhaps instead of a dinner with roses on the table, it’s a sporting event, or a movie you both want to see. If you choose to buy a gift, it doesn’t have to conform to the standard V-Day. I bought one of my first boyfriends a CD alarm clock for Valentine’s Day so we didn’t have to wake up to a staticky radio station (though he did then insist on waking up every morning to Alice Cooper’s “Poison”,  a great song but not one I necessarily want to hear before noon).

Whatever you do, make sure it’s personalized to the things you know you will both enjoy, and you’ll be guaranteed to have a good time.

Read the new column in the February/March 2011 Issue.

Submit your questions to askarden@auxiliarymagazine.com.

RockLove Jewelry’s Love Tokens

image source rocklove.com

Valentine’s Day is around the corner and RockLove Jewelry has a unique way of declaring your love with a centuries old custom of giving love coins as tokens of affection.  RockLove has revamped this tradition and is introducing their love token coin necklaces in sterling silver and 14k gold.  The token’s come hand engraved on a hand cast recreation of an antique coin that is hung on a chain to wear around the neck.  These are a great gift to give to your mother, friend, or lover.  You can read more about the interesting tradition of the love token on RockLove’s website.  Hurry now, as there is free shipping on these beauties until February 1^st!

The Love Tokens are available online at www.rocklove.com.

- Meagan

Happy Valentines Day from Auxiliary Magazine ;)

On Valentines Day we bring you the fun and playful designs of Fashion Whore.  Pink, ribbons, bows, and hearts, what better dresses to highlight on this holiday?  Fashion Whore designs one-of-a-kind and custom made dresses as well as hair accessories and jewelry.  You can find these dresses and more at www.fashion-whore.com and at their Etsy shop.

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by Vanity Kills

beauty picks just in time for Valentine’s Day

Lime Crime Magic Dust and Glitter

To some, Valentine’s Day is synonymous with single people everywhere ranting on their blogs about the invalidity of the holiday.  These disgruntled bloggers argue that it was invented by greedy greeting card companies as a ploy to sell the holiday’s related goods.  I prefer to focus on the bloody origins of the celebration by pointing out that the whole shebang ALLEGEDLY started when a priest named Valentine wedded young couples against Emperor Claudius II’s will.  Claudius II believed that unmarried men made better soldiers and in his rage, had Valentine beheaded.  Take the wimpiness out of out of February 14th by stocking your vanity with darkly decadent must-haves then wipe the floor with sappy pastels and that drugstore perfume your brother gifted you with out of pity.  Let this Hallmark holiday be filled with bold, in-your-face sanguine inspired shades and luscious olfactory delights.  Leave the self loathing and pining over the ex to the unfashionable.

RED EYESHADOWS
Magic Dust and Glitter – Lime Crime
available at www.limecrimemakeup.com . $12 each
Do you long for show-stopping eyes that induces a cardiac arrest in every man that crosses your path?  If so, then gently pat some loose, true red pigment, such as Lime Crime Magic Dust in Siren across your entire eyelid from lash-line to crease using a brush with a rounded/tapered edge (239 eye shading brush by MAC is always a good choice).  For a double shot of daring, apply a healthy layer of Lime Crime Transilvania Glitter over the red pigment.  Talk about a to- die-for gaze!

RED LASHES
Deep Blood Red Mascara – Bloody Mary
available at www.dearbloodymary.com . $10
Slightly squeamish about renting all your eyelid real estate to such a loud shade?  Flirt with red without fully committing to the whole over-the-top shadow experience by sprucing up your lashes with two coats of blood red mascara.  Try Deep Blood Red Mascara by Bloody Mary.

RED LIPS
Lipstick in Russian Red – MAC
available at www.maccosmetics.com . $14
Terminally dateless?  Pour out your sorrows to your Robert Smith poster as you curl up in bed with a nice glass of red wine accompanied by The Cure’s Disintegration playing in the background.  Even if your only make out partner is none other than the 24×36 inch image of Mr. Smith that hangs on the wall, you’ll still want to leave only the most exquisite crimson lip imprints.  This means that nothing other than MAC Lipstick in Russian Red will do.

RED NAILS
Valentine’s Day Manicure – Sally Hansen and Sephora
available at www.sallyhansen.com and www.sephora.com
Just because Valentine’s Day falls on a Saturday this year shouldn’t stop your fingers from feeling festive Monday through Friday.  What’s this I hear?  You’re bound by the chains of corporate slavery you say?  Slightly bend the rules of business casual without overtly offending dress code by sprucing up your basic office lady French manicure.  Start off with your usual pre-manicure prep work, such as soaking your hands in warm water for 5 minutes, removing any traces of prior excess nail color with nail polish remover, and filing your nails into an oval shape.  Never forget to apply a base coat. This extends the life of your chosen color.  Sally Hansen Double Duty Strengthening Base & Top Coat never fails to please.  Now for the fun stuff!  Apply two coats of a rich red shade, such as Sephora by OPI Nail Colour in Personal Shopper.  Following your color coat, paint a half moon shape on the tips using a black glitter-infused nail polish.  Sephora by OPI Nail Colour in Never Enough Shoes will do the job exquisitely. Fix any blunders and color spills with the help of a nail polish remover pen such as Sephora Brand Nail Polish Corrector Pen.  Finish off by applying a layer of topcoat to ensure that all your hard work doesn’t start chipping by day two.  Lastly, make no apologies for your gutsy style choices.  The natural look and safe neutrals are for the weak!

MARSHMALLOW
Flavored Body Powder in Marshmallow – Urban Decay
available at www.sephora.com . $26
Dinner date?  Take a cue from Front 242’s played out hit “Headhunter”. “One – you lock the target, two – you bait the line, three – you slowly spread the net, and four – you catch the Man” Do the baiting by dusting your neck, bare shoulders, and any other place you’d like him to take a bite out of with Urban Decay Flavored Body Powder in Marshmallow.  The shimmer will catch his eye, the yummy scent will draw him in closer, and when you divulge the information that the powder indeed tastes just like marshmallows, there will be sampling involved.  This delightful lure also comes with an adorable leopard print puff.

CANDY
Conversation Hearts Cologne – Demeter Fragrance Library
available at www.sephora.com . $20
Conversely, some things that are actually deemed fit for human consumption should never be literally ingested.  I firmly believe that the risks of wolfing down some Valentine’s Day candy greatly outweigh the benefits.  I really wonder about some of this stuff!  For example, I don’t actually know anyone who enjoys the taste of conversation hearts.  Most people feel that they  taste faintly reminiscent of chalk and aren’t overly enthused to receive them as a token of affection.  That’s why some confections are best administered in a spray form.  Enter Demeter Fragrance Library and savor sweet aromas without the ashen aftertaste! These perfumers captured the essence of the popular Valentine’s Day icon and bottled it up with flirty scents, such as Be My Valentine, which contains notes of peach skin, strawberry leaf, caramelized sugar, and ylang-ylang; Call Me  leaves you smelling like lemon zest, jasmine, honeysuckle, water lotus, and white rose; Love Me is a bouquet of orange, lemon, bergamot, peach, white rose, ylang ylang, subtle skin musk, and soft vanilla.  I guarantee that it’s a tenfold more appealing to your boyfriend than the real thing.

CHOCOLATE
Chocolate Scented Shower Gel Trio – Philosophy
available at www.philosophy.com . $30
Alas, who needs to wait around until some boy decides that we’re special enough to be given a box of chocolates?  Treat the most important person in your life (yourself!) with a sinfully sweet chocolate scented shower gel trio by Philosophy.  It doubles as a shower gel and shampoo and comes in three mouth-watering aromas: white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate.

If that doesn’t get you in the V-Day spirit then rent some low budget horror flicks from the 80s and watch young couples get slaughtered in the midst of a makeout session.  Getting sloshed on some chocolate martinis is a fine accompaniment because if you still get depressed this time of year, nothing says holiday cheer like a combo of vodka, chocolate, and gory movies!

from the February Issue of Auxiliary Magazine