People & Parties

Thank you to Queen of the Quarter Life Crisis Jamie Stone for inviting me to a fun bash last night at Equinox in West Hollywood, where beauty bloggers gathered for an evening of braids, low-cal cocktails and bumpin’ beats (complete with a Dj and electric violinist!). This weekend, I challenge you to treat yourself with:

• Boho Braids at Blo—You too can be the “girl on fire.” Just saddle up to a stylists’s chair and relax for about a half-hour while they work a little twisted magic on your hair. I received a little triple-braid action (see left) that’s sure to last me a couple days!

• Refine cocktails—Um, pre-dance night drink? Make it two—especially since these are no-calorie mixers.

• The Spa at Equinox. It figures; I’m surrounded by sweating hard bodies, and all I’m thinking about is the lavender essence emanating from the spa. In any case, I recommend booking a massage, stat.

Happy Friday!

Adriana Lima, supermodel extraordinaire and one of Victoria’s Secret’s most famous Angels, needs no introduction. I got to meet her yesterday at a press event and like any good blogger would, I jumped at the chance to ask her a few questions.

The Daily Obsession: What’s the most romantic place in New York City to you?
Adriana Lima: The most romantic place in the city is the restaurant La Grenouille, especially on the second floor where they have those magnificent flower displays. My idea of a romantic night out is going for a really nice dinner and this is one of the most beautiful restaurants in the city. I also love Central Park. (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!

The New Year’s of Fashion is almost upon us, also known as Fashion’s Night Out! Let the champagne, tiny bites, and retail dollars flow as we put together a compilation of the best must-visit events for Thursday, September 8th. The sweet 16 below:

1. Bergdorf Goodman – 745 Fifth Avenue – The fun starts as early at 3 on the beauty floor with beauty experts and free services from Bobbi Brown, Chanel, and YSL. Stick around till 5:30 and meet the man, the legend, Oscar de la Renta as he signs his limited edition Le Metier de Beaute palette (we loved last year’s collaboration with Marchesa, so this one is gauranteed to be fabulous too.) At 7, make your way to the third floor for the Best in Show canine and designer catwalk competition judged by guest judges such as Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig of Marchesa, Monique Lhullier, and Tina Craig of BagSnob. At 8, pick up Jason Wu’s limited-edition FNO doll and get it signed!

2. Bloomingdale’s – 1000 Third Avenue – The standout here is the BANANAS Rachel Zoe, who arrives on the scene at 6:30 to launch her ready-to-wear, shoe, and handbag collections. When you purchase something from the collection, you receive a Rachel Zoe makeup bag. Also, visit Clinique for Milly designer, Michelle Smith, step into the photo-booth and get a Clinique goody bag with every purchase of $25 or more.

3. Coach – 595 Madison Avenue. Seth Myers. Need I say more? How about Kelly Framel of The Glamourai and The Man Repeller’s Leandra Medine? They’re all on hand to celebrate the re-issue of Coach’s celebrated Coach Duffle Sac.

4. Kiehl’s – Do you know who AJ McLean is? Don’t lie–I know you (or at least your teenage self) does! Was it always your dream to sing with a Backstreet Boy? Venture over to their flagship store and celebrate your inner 10 year old with a karoake contest and carnival. (more…)

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.

(more…)

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!

Last week, I thought, it’s almost midnight, I’m wide awake and I have nothing to do. Why not go crash a swim party?!? So a friend and I drove over to a rented mansion in L.A.’s Hancock Park district and indulged in Havaianas’ third Midnight Swim Club, filled with good-looking people and celebs like Jack Osbourne, Devon Aoki, Mekhi Phifer and more. (In the past, Kevin Connolly, Nicky Hilton, Elijah Wood, Shenae Grimes and David Arquette have been spotted.) We oohed and aahed the hanging Havaianas sandals, the bedazzle-your-sandal tent, the make-your-own-photo-book tent and, of course, the bar while gazing at a table full of Crumbs cupcakes.

The Cobra Snake shot gawkers (these are his photos you see) as people debated whether or not to go into the pool (For most people, the answer was no since it was dominated by Havaianas models in teeny swimsuits). But we spotted several brave souls and at least one skinny dipper as we grooved to the DJ’s sounds of everything from Axel F to Jay-Z. This got me thinking, if you and/or your building have a heated pool, or even just a hot tub, why not throw your own pool party … at night? A novel idea. And the perfect excuse to show off my favorite swimsuits of the season … in your best Havaianas flip-flops of course.

Don’t have a pair yet? Score a limited-edition pair by throwing your own Midnight Swim Party and post pictures of it to your Facebook or Twitter account (tag #midnightswimclub). Every week, Havaianas will award the best pool party picture with special Midnight Swim Club Havaianas.