Los Angeles

We recently caught up with celebrity brow specialist and makeup artist Kristie Streicher, who has an incredibly keen eye for stylish, often eco-friendly finds. In addition to grooming famous brows in New York City, volunteering with her father’s nonprofit organization (Divine Spark) and amassing what Vogue dubbed a “killer vintage wardrobe,” Kristie recently opened the new Kristie Streicher Beauty Bar inside L.A.’s Warren Tricomi salon. Here are her latest obsessions: (more…)

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…)

Everyone’s been asking, “What are you doing New Year’s Eve?” Well, chances are I’m going to ring in 2012 at my favorite haunt of late: Bodega Hollywood. It’s one of the few stylish spots in the heart of Hollywood that will have no reservations, no dress code, no insane prices and no obnoxious clientele. Instead, it will have a DJ and a complimentary midnight round of champagne (yay).

Not your average wine bar, Bodega Hollywood is one of the few places in the area that successfully combines an uptown look (think The Standard) with a downtown vibe (your friend’s loft apartment). Two blocks south of the W, it’s a place where you can sip one of 12 reds or whites on the menu and groove to the sounds of Radiohead’s Reckoner while Sixteen Candles is silently projected on a wall in the background. (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!

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…)

My face and I are not getting along. She hasn’t been pleased with the sudden moodiness in weather; and I haven’t been pleased with her tendency to flake, shine and erupt into painful blemishes. It’s like, seriously, “Please make up your mind about who you want to be!”

Up until last month, she responded to the soothing moisture in Kiehl’s Ultra Facial collection, and I was able to keep her temper at bay with the occasional tea tree oil spot treatment. But since summer hit, it’s like we haven’t been speaking the same language. And once you add hormones to the mix, you REALLy don’t know what kind of drama is going to go down. Clearly, we need help. (more…)

So, I’ve spent the past month moving apartments and trying to clear my mind of all the clutter that I’ve amassed over the last decade. While that means I’ve (shockingly) been spending less time obsessing over clothes and beauty products, it also means that I’ve had plenty of time to obsess about furniture and textiles. Which brings me to my latest fascination: Dekor, yet another reason to avoid IKEA. (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 week, I stopped by the L.A. press event for the launch of ULINX, a new jewelry line that lets you create your own jewelry using powerful magnetic pieces. As I noshed on cupcakes and cake pops from Sweet E’s Bakery (yum!) and sipped a Svedka vodka tonic, I got the lowdown on how to create my very own ULINX masterpiece out of LINX, aka tiny silver-plated neodymium magnetic spheres, and CLIX, modular magnetic pieces that look like printed rectangles and doughnut-shaped circles.

Sound like a science project? Yes, especially when you find yourself fighting with the positive and negative poles of the magnets. But really, it’s more like a space-age arts and crafts project.

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My hair had been looking really raggedy (to put it nicely) lately, so when I got the opportunity to visit a salon I’d been reading about, I jumped at the chance.  Yoshi Hagiwara has been a staple on the Los Angeles hair scene for the past 25 years, working at some of the most prestigious salons in the city, but this January he opened his own salon, Yoshi Hair Studio, in Beverly Hills.  Located right on Canon Drive (conveniently directly across from a parking structure, for those of you familiar with the area) the salon is warm and welcoming, busy, yet intimate all at the same time. (more…)