Celebrities

In the week leading up to the Golden Globes, all I can think about is Marilyn Monroe’s style. Actress Michelle Williams may face tough competition for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical (she’s nominated along with Jodie Foster, Charlize Theron, Kristen Wiig and Kate Winslet); but when it comes to who played the character with the highest chic factor, Michelle wins hands down.

Here, my favorite ways to channel Marilyn’s timeless look (clockwise): (more…)

Last night, I caught a glimpse of the always-gorgeous Jamie-Lynn Sigler with Joe Jonas, as well as Dominic Monaghan, while sipping champagne at the ultra-chic, intimate Sayers Club in Hollywood. The occasion: a private celebration of the GQ November music issue and the new GUESS online miniseries with the fashionable, Brooklyn-hip-hop-style-inspired Theophilus London, who gave a special live performance. Also in attendance were TV stars and hosts galore, such as 90210′s Shenae Grimes, and of course GQ Luxury Advertising Director Brendan Coolidge Monaghan.

Check out the miniseries exclusively on the GUESS Facebook page. And thanks to GUESS for inviting us to this amazing event!

As the dress designer of choice for the GMA dubbed American Royal Wedding (yes, a bit much I agree), Vera Wang’s name has been on everyone’s lips for the past few weeks. Meanwhile, her new fragrance has been all over my wrists. On Wednesday, I went to the James Hotel to  fête Vera Wang, Lovestruck, and Leighton Meester, the lovely spokesmodel of the fragrance.

The idea of romance is nothing new for a world-class wedding dress designer, but Lovestruck, as Vera told us, is not a wedding fragrance. It is romantic, inspired by a modern day take on Romeo and Juliet, but it’s about that butterflies-in-your-stomach thrill and Christmas Eve jitters you have when you are starting to really like someone. “ Lovestruck is about the emotion and rush you feel when you are falling in love and going for it…those heart-pounding moments of spontaneity,” says Vera.

She interpreted these feelings with a fragrance mix of slight tropical sweetness mixed with spicy florals, with top notes of pink guava and heady angelica flowers. Its tuberose base is tempered by musky woods, leaving a lasting and lingering scent. Evoking the R&J inspiration of the fragrance, Leighton Meester starred in the video and ad campaign, shot waiting for her beau on a Pretty Woman-inspired fire escape in SoHo.

Lovestruck retails for $48 and can be found at Sephora and Macy’s. Check out their Tumblr, where Shenae Grimes and Becka Diamond took the Lovestruck quiz and talks about what movies, music, food, and cities that have them Lovestruck (hint: someone has a thing for the movie Great Expectations).

Below, a few more snaps of the beautiful event planned by Celadon and Celery, who had a gorgeous set-up (love the roses, bookmarking those arrangements for my own apartment): (more…)

We think she’s pretty … without any makeup on ...

Well, this weekend I saw Katy Perry in concert, courtesy of Proactiv, and she had a LOT of makeup on. But I still left the show with three things on my mind: the lyrics to “California Gurls” (unavoidable), Katy’s Snow White complexion and her lust-worthy sequin mary janes. (more…)

So, I invited my good friend Jen of Happy Healthy Belly to CoverGirl’s pre-MTV Movie Awards Beauty Bar at Nine Zero One Salon in West Hollywood this weekend. And as you can see by the photo-booth shots above, a great deal of fun was had by all!

Highlights of the day included: celeb sightings (a feather-haired Demi Lovato, Rumer Willis, Aubrey O’Day, Karina Smirnoff and Stephanie Pratt, to name a few), as well as purple sweets, purple cocktails made with Hpnotiq Harmonie, a massive amount of braid action (those stylists are braid EXPERTS, let me tell you), hair services by Wella, bold (mostly red) lip color applied by celeb makeup artists such as Amy Nadine, and mani-pedis galore! FakeBake was also on hand to get everyone summer ready with fake tans but I didn’t have the nerve (better to try the rinse-off bronzer they sent me home with instead).

I did get the chance to try out Mermaid Tears, the beautiful sea green in the latest OPI Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides collection, above. Like it? Next up to try: Wella’s Brilliance hair care line for fine, color-treated hair, as well as CoverGirl’s new NatureLuxe Gloss Balm (Anemone 225 is gorgeous!). Very excited. Stay tuned!

Last night, I stopped by Kiehl’s unveiling of its environmental partnership with Golden Globe winners Michael C. Hall (“Dexter”) and Chloë Sevigny (“Big Love”) in support of the Waterkeeper Alliance, an organization dedicated to preserving and protecting water from polluters. As I’m someone who loves to hang out in the ocean and observe marine life off the coast of California, this is an issue that hits close to home, especially with the abundance of waste, plastic bags, oil pollution and nuclear disaster coverage that have unfortunately become part of our lives. But it’s not just the ocean that needs our attention, it’s the rivers, lakes, streams, even groundwater, that affect us and our health on a daily basis.

To show its support, Kiehl’s USA President Chris Salgardo presented the Waterkeeper Alliance with a giant check for $100,000 at Kiehl’s beautiful Santa Monica store while Sevigny, Hall and Santa Monica Baykeeper/Executive Liz Crosson look on smiling. Chloë’s brother, Paul Sevigny, DJ’d the event while guests sipped on cocktails and checked out stacks of Kiehl’s Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleansing Masque, featuring limited-edition label art designed by Sevigny and Hall (see Sevigny’s, left). One-hundred percent of the collection’s proceeds go to the Waterkeeper Alliance.

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After a week of pre-Oscar parties like Vanity Fair’s and the Sheer Cover-sponsored Dare2Care benefit, tons of celebrities and a few of us lucky beauty bloggers braved the ice-cold, blustery winds on the beach in Santa Monica today to stargaze at the annual Independent Spirit Awards. There, Black Swan took home top awards and celebrity spottings included ISA and Oscar nominee Mark Ruffalo (had to take a photo), Nicole Kidman (in a stunning L’Wren Scott red lace pencil dress), a very pregnant and glowing Natalie Portman (in a short yellow Givenchy number), Zoe Saldana (in awesome, vermilion Brian Atwood pumps), and Uma Thurman and newcomer Jennifer Lawrence (both most elegant in all-white Dolce & Gabbana).

Backstage doing touchups for the presenters was sponsor Aveeno‘s official spokesperson and branding consultant Patrick Melville, whose clients includes Demi Moore, Heidi Klum, Tom Cruise and Harry Connick, Jr., to name a few. An absolute sweetheart with an intriguing New York-London accent, Patrick was very calm, cool and collected despite having to touch up so many aggressively wind-blown hairstyles. So calm in fact, he just decided to “go with it” and not “fight nature.” (Beachy waves and messy updos galore!)

Aveeno had quite possibly the most serene lounge set-up in the area, complete with Aveeno Active Naturals product displays (new Nourish + Moisturize Conditioner, Positively Nourishing Calming Body Wash, Daily Moisturizing Lotion and Skin Brightening Daily Scrub). Celebrities like Diego Luna enjoyed drinks and snacks in the chic, Art Deco-inspired, glitter-adorned ELLE Green Room. Other sponsors, some of whom had awards in their name, included Jameson (the official house spirit of the evening along with G. H. Mumm Champagne), Piaget, Acura, Stella Artois, LG Cinema 3D, HTC, smartwater and Netflix. All in all, despite the cold, it was a great, laid-back ceremony filled with tons of humor (thanks in part to host Joel McHale) and stars who seemed like they were in the best of moods — the perfect ramp up to tomorrow’s much-hyped Oscars!

I’ve been using Parisian hair care brand Leonor Greyl (a rumored celeb favorite that’s gone on tour with both Madonna and Gwen Stefani) off and on for about a year now, and I must say their beautifying oils are not only some of the most glamorous “natural” products I’ve encountered, but the Huile de Palme (for hair) and Huile de Magnolia (for face and body) are quite the little miracle workers when it comes to moisturizing dry skin and hair.

Free of the chemicals and additives found in most hair products (sulfates, parabens, silicones, etc.), Huile de Palme (literally “palm oil”) is an environmentally friendly blend of botanical and vegetal oils that protects hair health from the elements, such as sun, surf and chlorine. It’s a pre-shampoo treatment, so you can apply it to dry hair and leave it on anywhere from a few minutes to overnight, depending on your hair texture and/or conditioning needs. (more…)

If you’re already racking your brain about what to do for Valentine’s Day and all you’ve come up with is “Dinner out or dinner in?,” consider taking pause from all the hustle and bustle at a quiet oasis such as Spa Luce. A seasonal offering on the spa menu, the delightful aromatherapeutic Spa Luce Valentine’s Day Couples Massage, $370, gets my vote for best investment in relaxation. It features massages performed side by side in the couples room, a mineral-salt soak in a hydrotherapy tub built for two, and a complimentary bottle of champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries.

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Campy? Yes. Forced? At times. Entertaining? You bet.

Recently, I got a sneak peek of “Burlesque,” courtesy of Sebastian Professional, the official hair product used in the movie. (Plug: See the beautiful limited-edition box set below.) Sebastian Professional Re-Shaper is my favorite heavy-duty hairspray, so of course, I had to see what they did with the hair in the movie … asap.

I hate to have gone into the theater with low expectations, but frankly, the track record for these star-driven vehicles is not exactly well, stellar. (Remember “Crossroads” and “Butterfly”?) Surprisingly, with Christina Aguilera’s voice as the true star of the movie, I managed to ignore the film’s flaws — mostly rushed, unrealistic scenes or bits of dialogue, although there were some really witty lines and touching moments in there, too — as I anticipated her next song-and-dance number. I mean, imagine having a front-row seat and a zoom lens during a Christina Aguilera concert, complete with multiple wardrobe and hairstyle changes, and flawless makeup … priceless, right? (more…)