Brow Mapping

ASOS feather jacket, Uniqlo heat tech shirt, Arms and Armory necklace.

A little while back, Anastasia of Beverly Hills sent over one of their Beauty Express Brow Kits for me to test out. I'm pretty low maintenance beauty wise, and generally stick to a daily routine of eyeliner, blush and bronzer.  I know brows are important, but I usually leave mine rather neglected and shamefully out of sorts.  The brow kit that Anastasia sent over included gel, brow shadow, eye shadow, a brush, and a set of brow stencils to choose from according to your face and eyebrow shape.  Clear and simple instructions from the brow expert herself detailed how to achieve the golden ratio, and were easy enough for a complete beauty novice like myself to understand and follow.  I'm pretty pleased with the results.  If you're interested in getting a little help with your brows, the company is currently running a "Wish You Were Here" contest to be flown to L.A. to have your brows done by Anastasia herself.  Instructions on how to enter are here (U.S. Residents only, sorry). Good luck!

-Tiffany

Dip Dye

Dip Dye courtesy of Arrojo. East West sheer top, Joomi Lim cuff, Triskaidekaphobia necklace.

A little while back, I had the pleasure of getting my hair cut at my favorite salon, Arrojo.  They recently invited me back to test out their new Goldwell Coloring service, and I jumped at the opportunity to finally get the violet-blue dip dye job that I've been secretly longing to get for the past year.  While I used to dye my hair all the time as teenager, I haven't done it in about 8 years, and the main thing that's stopped me is my disapproving husband, who fears that I will look like the angsty teen that I once was.  Well, Jimmy happens to already be far away in Sweden (I'll be joining him on Friday), and only has a vague idea of what I've just done to my hair.

Inspired by the candy-colored hair at the recent Meadham Kirchhoff shows, as well as some photos from The Neverending Story blog, I brought some pictures to my dear friend Ashley Kowalski, who is one of the most in-demand colorists at Arrojo.  It took a whopping four hours, but with the help of her assistant Jamie, Ashley managed to produce the dip-dye color of my dreams.  Thanks so much Ashley, Jamie, and everyone at Arrojo!  I'll let you know how Jimmy reacts when I see him...

Inspiration snatched from The Neverending Story.

Ashley started by bleaching my hair to blonde, which took about two and a half hours!

After my hair was properly bleached, Ashley mixed some Goldwell purple and blue colors together.

Waiting for the dye to set

Dip Dye hair flip!

-Tiffany

My Nail Polish is Poppin

Gel nails and 3-D Nail Art courtesy of Spa Martier 

In the middle fashion week, the kids at Fashion Indie set up a Blogger Breakroom full of plenty of fun stuff, including a full on beauty salon with eyebrow waxing, massages, and manicures provided by Spa Martier.  There were a lot of manicure stations installed around fashion week this season, but how many of them were offering Japanese nail art and gels?  Novelty manicures have had a recent spike in popularity, and while airbrushed acrylic dragon talons have always been popular amongst a certain beauty-school dropout set, they've only recently evolved into something more widely acceptable.  Not to say that they've broken from their tacky roots, but rather than being ghetto fabulous, the designs are more fun, silly, and smile inducing.  You probably won't be winning any "chic points" for having 3D donuts popping off every fingernail (see example below), but having a ridiculous manicure will bring untold amounts of personal joy, as well as the cooing attention of some very strange strangers.

I went for a multicolored reverse-french manicure using gels, with a few 3D flowers and rhinestones.  I have been hearing about gels for the last few months, and was thrilled to finally try them. They've held out miraculously well, and after a week and a half, have shown no signs of wear or chipping. They're supposed to last three to six weeks, and I expect to have some nice long nails when I remove them. Best yet, the incredible nail technicians were ridiculously fast, detail-oriented, and dedicated.  If it didn't cost around $100, I would probably get it done every week. I'll just have to wait for a special occasion to go back to Spa Martier. I'm planning on getting some donuts, cupcakes, and pizza slices next.

Some of the different designs you can choose from. Check out the donuts in the bottom left corner.
 

The hundreds of gel colors available to choose from.

-Tiffany

Got My Hair Did

Getting my haircut at ARROJO by Topher. All photographs by David Ducane.

Last Tuesday, I was invited to get my hair cut and styled at ARROJO Studio, an amazing salon that's been home to many of my hair stylist friends. While I've visited the studio many times before, thrown parties for the salon, and even had my hair cut by off-duty Arrojo stylists (thank you Ashley), I never actually have had the privilege of sitting in an ARROJO salon chair and getting the full treatment. ARROJO asked several bloggers to get their hair done and photographed, and I was lucky enough to get to participate.

In case you can't tell, beauty-wise I'm extremely low maintenance. I almost never cut my hair, and when I do, I usually do it myself, so going to a salon is a real treat. Topher was a real trooper about dealing with the resulting tragedy that was my hair--a long and mangy tangle of frazzled split ends. He also gave me the best hair cut I've ever had in my life (probably because of the whole cutting my hair myself thing), chopping off all the deadweight and adding plenty of layers and volume in their place. After the cut, I was also treated to a full makeup application by Liz, the in-house makeup artist. The final results will be revealed at a party at the studio in September, but in the meantime, here's a sneak peek. Thank you so much to Topher, Liz, Andrew, Daniel, Rebecca, Victoria, David, and everyone else at ARROJO--I had an amazing time!

-Tiffany

Let's Make Up!

Christina and I at the DJ booth. We wore our Six Six Sick ribbon shirts, Forever 21 boater hats, and Triskaidekaphobia friendship necklaces. All photos courtesy of Urban Outfitters.

Last Thursday night, Christina and I had the pleasure of DJing the Let's Make Up event at Urban Outfitters, celebrating the launch of their massive new beauty department. Anna Sui, Lipstick Queen, Revolution in Cut, Manic Panic, Demeter Perfume, and Stila were all on hand to give free demonstrations, mini-makeovers, manicures, and blowouts. We were busy behind the DJ booth, so unfortunately we couldn't participate much in all the beautifying, although we managed to sneak in a makeover at the Anna Sui booth. Still, plenty of other ladies showed up and got in line for a turn with the stylists, and there was a huge line at the manicure station, where they weren't just painting nails, but creating some serious nail art. At the end of the night, everyone got goodybags stuffed with amazing makeup, including Demeter perfume, Pop nail polish, Nyx glitter eyeshadow, Manic Panic hair dye, Japonesque make-up brushes, and plenty of other goodies. Afterwards, we headed over to The Ace Hotel for drinks and snacks with the entire crew. A big thank you to all the lovely ladies at Urban, who made the night so much fun!

The fabulous ladies of Manic Panic



The phenomenal and super-sweet manicurist Tracylee did the manicures and nail art.

The ladies at the Anna Sui booth doing mini-makeovers

The awesome goodybag

There was tons of candy and Izze drinks

The Anna Sui booth--they always make the best make-up.

-Tiffany

Somewhere Between Gross and Amazing

Bunny and strawberry nail set. All nails available at Full Moon.

I've always been a fan of Japanese nail art, but for the most part find it absurdly out of my price range. In New York, a specially designed manicure with 3-D and acrylic art on every finger will run you around $100 or more. If I were married to a professional basketball player, I would probably have it done every week, but alas, I'm married to a Swedish teacher, and don't even think I can justify dropping that much cash on nail polish for a special occasion. Lucky for me, one of my best friends, Ashley, gave me a gift certificate to The Valley, a legendary nail salon in New York, and I'll finally let myself indulge.

While I was poking around the internet looking for design inspiration, I came across a number of DIY nail art sites, tutorials and videos, which got me thinking about giving it a try. Even though I love a good DIY, I'm actually not so great at home manicures, and a wavering left hand would probably ruin any home nail art attempts. Then I found Full Moon, a site which might be based out of Japan, or might be based out of Korea town for all I can tell. While they carry a wack-tastic selection of oddities ranging from macaroon decorating kits, rhinestone cell phone cases, and teddy bear adorned headphones, they also sell all the tools and adornments for at home manicures and nail art. Of particular interest: pre-decorated nail extensions that you can easily apply at home, averaging around $25 a set. Totally gross, yet simultaneously amazing. And more importantly, really funny. I think if I was wearing these, I would be cracking up at myself all day long. Less silly/tacky alternatives are available at the salon, but if I find myself addicted, don't be surprised if you see me around town wearing one of these ridiculous looking sets...

This pastel rainbow set reminds me of my childhood My Little Ponies playhouse

My favorite set of the bunch: cupcakes and ice cream cones! I wish I had these to wear with the Ashish ice cream cone dress!

A more classic girly set

For some reason this is called the "British" set, I guess because it mimics a tartan plaid?

-Tiffany

What's Up Pussycat?

Like most Asian females, I've been enamoured with all things Hello Kitty since childhood.  During my lifetime, I've witnessed the somewhat surprising and multifarious pop cultural appropriations of the mouthless Japanese kitten, who has seen her low-brow cartoon icon status reach art star proportions, appearing in museum exhibitions alongside Takashi Murakami, as well as being sculpted by Tom Sachs, with the results currently gracing the courtyard of Lever House.

This year alone Ms. Kitty seems to be doing her fair share of dabbling in the fashion world, appearing on T-shirts at Colette, taking residence at the Opening Ceremony store, and most recently, releasing a makeup collaboration with M.A.C.  As the proud owner of a Hello Kitty toaster (which my husband despises) and waffle maker (which spits out Kitty shaped waffles), I was a bit alarmed when I found this video of the M.A.C. x Hello Kitty advertisement on Racked yesterday.  Trannies, tulle, pussycats, the color pink, and Hello Kitty herself (albeit, as an oiled-up, frog-hopping, male go-go dancer), are all things that I love and adore individually, but all put together at once in a very David Lachapelle style music video?  I know I definitely have better things to write about than this (seriously, that Rodarte dress DIY is coming), but it makes the mind-bend a little, and had to be shared.  Of course, I will probably still buy the makeup...

-Tiffany

Margarita Saplala Shoot!

Inside the studio, one of the REAL models getting shot for the lookbook.

Yesterday afternoon, we did a shoot for the invite to the party we are throwing for Margarita Saplala, one of the many talented designers on the W29 Showroom roster.  We've been talking about collaborating with W29 for a long time (check out their new blog, both Lulu and I make a guest appearance!), since we love Shelley and Susanne, so we're very excited to be working with them on this party.  We got up extra early for the 10AM call time, even though it turned out we weren't going to be shot until 3 PM.  Nonetheless, we had a great time watching the shoot, hanging out with the most amazing make-up artist, Emily, eating tons of gourmet pizza from Waldy's, and dressing up in Margarita's Fall 09 creations.  Plus, in return, we got to walk away with some amazing full length black silk evening gowns from Margarita's Spring 09 collection.  We'll work for clothes any day!  You will have to wait till it's closer to the party to see the actual images from the shoot and the outfits that we wore, but in the meantime, here are some backstage shots.

One of the lookbook models wearing a dress featuring Margarita's custom designed silk fabric prints.

Margarita styling one of the printed T-shirts.

A few pieces of the crazy crochet and rhinestone jewelry from the Accessories table.  All of the accessories were made by another W29 showroom designer, P.Y.T.

Emily, our makeup artist, was a true genius.  A former editor at the now defunct CosmoGirl, she was one of the few people I gave over full control to (I'm a control freak and usually bring my own foundation cause I don't trust most makeup artists!), and she gave us a lot of useful tips.  She decided to give us a slightly imperfect version of our usual black eye, since she didn't want it to look too pretty.  Here she starts with a dark black eyeliner for Christina.

Emily's assistant, who worked on Nicollette, put a paper towel under the eye as she applied the eyeshadow, to prevent the pesky black flakes of shadow from dropping on an already made-up face.

Emily smudged black eyeshadow both on the upper lid, and right under the lower lashline.  She said that after a night out, your eyemakeup always ends up under your eyes anyways, so you may as well put it there and do it right! 

-Tiffany

Back to Black!

Get off the plane, go back to work.  Yesterday night I flew in from San Francisco and headed straight to Six Six Sick, where we donned Cheerleader outfits, courtesy of Screaming Mimi's,  and cheered on Vanessa and Marylouise, the hot ladies behind Posso The DJ.  I definitely left a part of my heart in San Francisco, but it was good to be home, and when I woke up this morning, I was in full New York mode.  Back to black, and not just clothing.

First on the list of things to do: head up to Henri Bendels and pick up my tube of YSL Gloss Pur, the luscious black lip gloss worn with angular bobs on the YSL Fall 08 runway show.  How do I plan on wearing it?  How about starting at Marquee, with my Prada-esque sequined lace cheongsam, my newly acquired lace neck corset from Confession New York, and my Tara Subkoff for Easyspirit black lace-up boots.:

Multiple Orgasms...

Finally, an orgasm that you can have at work. It started last Fashion Week when Christina scored the NARS Cosmetic's multi-purpose colorstick in Orgasm in the Doo Ri goodybag. In turn, she shared the love with me during our many nights putting on makeup together pre-Six Six Sick, and soon I too was addicted. We will always love NARS, not just because they've sponsered the Six Six Sick girls with some amazing makeup in the past, but mainly for the reason that all of their products come in amazing shades which glide on with a super-supple velvety finish. Orgasm, for example, delivers just the right amount of simulated post-coital rosiness, with an additional golden shimmer to create a positively glowing effect. Now, if it only would stop wiping off on my iphone...

-Tiffany

It's just a perfect day...

Yesterday Nicollette, Christina, Ashley, Erin and I took a field trip out to Flushing, Queens to have a girl's day at Spa Castle. Having seemingly landed in Beijing, rather than the far reaches of New York City, my companions seemed rather surprised (and let's admit it, probably suspicious). While I have spent many a childhood meal eating many dim sum and Chinese banquet meals in Flushing Chinatown, I must say it seems like a dubious location for an ostensible luxury spa. Maybe it's because I work at Happy Ending, a bar that once housed a Chinatown "massage parlor" that famously delivered the "special release," but you can't help but get a little skeptical of the idea of an authentic Asian spa. Nonetheless, after boarding a van and being taken through a long stretch of Korean restaurants and desolate suburban street, we arrived at a 100,000 square foot complex, complete with indoor and outdoor pools, hot tubs, saunas, food courts, nap rooms, and of course, an array of spa and massage treatments. For the flat price of $45 ($35 on weekdays), you get access to all of the facilities, paying extra for treatments, massages, and food. The entire concept is based on bath houses that they have all over Korea and the rest of Asia.


The spa has at least 10 different saunas, including an authentic Finnish-style steam sauna, where I tried to replicate the sauna experience I had at my friend Aapo's country house in Finland: sweating for as long as you can take it in the extraordinarily hot sauna, before plunging into a body of icy cold water (in Finland a freezing lake, and in this case, a 59 degree cold bath). They also have a smurf-village configuration of somewhat less authentic saunas, such as "Ice Land," a cold sauna, "Jade Sauna", a sauna housed in an agate lined igloo, "Gold Sauna," which is lined in gold foil, and a "Color Therapy" sauna where you can change the lighting according to your mood. Violet, for example, is supposed to promote creativity, but I just chose it because it looks pretty.

However, the most rejuvenating part of the entire experience was stepping under "The Waterfall," which rapidly pours gallons of water onto you like its namesake, is brutally akin to being hosed down by the police, yet also provides a sadistically pleasurable massage that leaves you aching afterwards.

We finished the day in Women's section, which we affectionately labeled "The Naked Section" (sorry, no pictures provided), where there is absolutely no room for modesty. Even if it's not for the shy, it is probably the most relaxing place in the entire spa, sheltered from the large crowds and screaming children that pack the outdoor pool areas.  That is, unless you're Christina, and get anxiety attacks from being surrounded by frolicking naked people.

None of us had any massages, and there definitely weren't any happy endings, but we all had a relaxing day trip and a perfect day, for much cheaper than any spa a quarter of Spa Castle's size back in the homeland, Manhattan. We will most definitely be back, and Spa Castle is the one thing that makes me look forward to winter, when I plan on doing some jacuzzi in the snow.

-Tiffany