Yesterday was the 2nd holiday Sniffapalooza (for the background, see Nosing Around New York). What an amazing day! Not only did I get the chance to shop the Barneys beauty level before it opened, sample from the urns at Caron, dine with one of the most wonderful and generous perfumers, ride in a rickshaw, and come home with tons of free goodies from Barneys, Caron, and Saks, I got to meet some amazing women from MakeupAlley. To name a few - Kathy (chattykathy), Tania (brooklyntbone, also of Brain Trapped in Girl's Body), Risa (lupa), Yelena (lenotchka), Christine (chrisskins), Patti (cavewoman), Angie (twizler), Connie (connie4580), Farran (hirondelle, also of Self Styled Siren), and of course Annie (annieytown, and the author of the fabulous Blogdorf Goodman).

I felt like I had known them for ages and I cannot say enough good things about them. Risa and I found out we share a crush on James Spader and that we were both at the Depeche Mode concert on Thursday. She has the most beautiful black hair with purple highlights in the front. I do not know many women who could pull that off, but Risa looks like she was born that way. She and Tania both live in Brooklyn. We are now trying to get Annie to move here.

Chattykathy, who has the same tastes in desserts as I, very easily convinced all of us to buy a Shiseido eye shadow she was wearing (review coming). Patti is a maven; she is endlessly knowledgeable about fragrance and makeup. She and Annie both traveled all night on a bus to join us in New York. Annie was my first blog friend and I was so happy to finally meet her. I knew her instantly and she was just as I pictured her.

If you're not already familiar with it, go on over to MakeupAlley, an amazing source of cosmetic and fragrance reviews and advice, and acquaint yourself with these wonderful women. Thanks so much to the phenomenal Karen (liongirl) for organizing Sniffapalooza - what an extravaganza.

I came home with endless bags of goodies - plenty of material to review this week. Watch for posts on Armani Prive, Nars, Shiseido, Becca, Bond No. 9, Jo Malone, Miller Harris, and more.