Though I wasn’t particularly smitten with Penelope Cruz’s blush pink silk mousseline GiambattistaValli Haute Couture gown, her elegant moño, dewy skin, and brown smokey eyes worked together to convey a sense of elegance and of subtle seduction.
It’s hard to believe anyone ever managed to make Charlize Theron look less than stunning — and yes, I’m referencing the intensive hours the makeup team on the set of 2003’s Monster must have logged in order to transform the South African stunner into Aileen Wuornos.
Time flies when you’re having fun — which is why, you might be surprised to discover that it’s been over 20 years since The Body Shop introduced its first body butter, revolutionizing the skin care industry by revealing a thick, creamy lotion that could be slathered and massaged onto the skin like butter, melting at body temperature so as to leave behind no greasy residue but, instead,offer the skin a moisturizing hug.
I’ve never been a huge fan of nude nail lacquers — in fact, I was on the verge of unleashing a torrent of disappointed tears when, after going backstage at several fashion shows during New York Fashion Week FW14, I learned that buff beige and tulle pink manis would be a dominant trend come autumn.
I giggle every time I watch the Fotoshop by Adobé spoof, which basically pokes fun at all the airbrushed magazine covers, makeup ads, and skincare commercials that show “flawless” women with lashes that curl all the way to the middle of their foreheads, manes that unfurl like velvet curtains dropping at a posh opera, and skin that glistens even in the darkest of rooms — in other words, all the unattainable ideals that the beauty, fashion, and publishing industries impose upon everyday women because they insist on doctoring moving and still images using tools like Photoshop.
Before Tarte Cosmetics earned its now massive following, before founder Maureen Kelly appeared on QVC regularly to discuss the newest brand launches and exclusives, before makeup artists were using Tarte cosmetics exclusively when creating red carpet looks for stars like Julie Bowen, before all the press and accolades, there was one genial product: Tarte’s Cheek Stain.
Remember the exaggerated, combed-back, über teased, wet-looking quiffs and pompadours sported by Danny Zuko and the Thunderbirds in Grease?
Just realized Valentine’s Day is this Friday?
I’ve been starving to behold some truly innovative, exhilarating beauty looks during New York Fashion Week AW14 — and, after countless shows in which models wore no lipstick, only a touch of eyeliner, and sheer pink or beige nails, I finally got my wish with the cosmic-inspired makeup at the Rodarte AW14 show.
Typically, I emerge from New York Fashion Week feeling exhausted (the rest of schlepping from one show to the next for countless hours, in 20-degree weather, trying to look chic while avoiding patches of ice and piles of snow, then commuting back home to writer about what transpired and tend to everyday duties), frustrated (all the peacocking outside of Lincoln Center and all the nose-in-the-air attitudes at each show will grate on anyone’s nerves), and oddly inspired (despite all the headaches, there are usually at least a handful of shows that will elicit a positively emotional reaction and some beauty looks that will awaken your own inner artist).
