Spring Shoe Porn!

At two price points:

Manolo Blahnik at a crushing $585

JCrew at a slightly less eye-popping $198

photos courtesy of neimanmarcus.com and jcrew.com

Let's File Under "Poor Idea"

I was never a big fan of the shoe bootie trend, or as I like to call them, "shooties."

It looks cool on the runway.  I'll give you that.

However, on anyone who ISN'T five foot ten and 100 lbs, it's just a one way ticket to looking dumb.

But now, the evil fashion industry who hates us has foisted another trend upon us.

The O-shootie.

That's right.  

The open toed shoe bootie.

Oh yeah.  Get a load of this.  Not only do they expect you to wear a shoe that is guaranteed to make your legs look short, stumpy and fat...they want your toes squishing out of them!

There are only four things that are certain in life:

Death

Taxes

Ralph Nader losing yet another election

and this trend making someone look like a fool.

photos courtesy for stylebytes.com and thetrendsetter.wordpress.com

Ultra Monday

As I type this, it's T minus 15 minutes and counting until The Hills season continuation premiere!

But I want to tell you about something else.  Something serious.  A new facial cleanser on the market!

Last week, I stopped into Kiehl's to pick up my favorite cleanser, the Washable Face Milk and I also snagged some samples of the brand spanking new Ultra Facial Cleanser.

Since I also regularly use the company's Ultra Facial Cream, I was pretty psyched to make all the bottles on my sink match.

Honestly?  I wish I could tell you that I loved it.

Well, I could.

But I would be lying.

It comes out looking like shampoo, very viscous and cloudy looking.  And it feels like honey spreading onto your face.  I happen to prefer a little less work in the evenings to get my cleanser on my face.

It lathers up really well once you start rinsing it off, but I felt it took a lot to get it all off my face.  And then my face didn't feel squeaky clean.

To be sure, it was a little disappointing.  

But then again, I'm sure The Hills will be too.  I heard Justin Bobby is back though!  Maybe not so disappointing....

photo courtesy of kiehls.com

I Swear

I swear to all that is holy to me (re: Prada) ... if I have to read one more fawning, obsequious article about Dennis Kucinich and his wife Elizabeth and about how they fondle each other just everywhere they go ... I will just go postal.

I get it!

He's an elfin, twice married, twice divorced, UFO sighting peacemonger vegan who met and married a tall pretty red-haired Brit and they just can't keep their unevenly matched attractiveness hands off each other!

GAG.

This, somehow, is news fodder for MONTHS.

(fyi...this all comes after belatedly reading my March issue of Elle Magazine and wasted ten minutes of commercial time reading a five page spread on the couple)

Guess what?!?

Washington is over it.

And the rest of the country couldn't care less!

Please.  Media.  Stop.  Seriously.  Mainstream media.  STOP.

Now excuse me while I yak.

Read All About It!

Big News Day!!

And, no, I'm not talking about Jim McGreevy's former limo driver revealing that he had a threesome with the couple.  But that was some pretty awesome reading.

First up!

Gap is launching the second Design Editions line!  Last year, the white shirts designed by Rodarte, Doo.Ri and Thakoon flew off the shelves...mostly because I grabbing them.  This year's designers include 3.1 Phillip Lim, Band of Outsiders, Threeasfour, Phillip Crangi and Michael Bastien.  Yum yum yum!

As for the Hills alumnas:

Lauren Conrad's collection was positively panned by the Fug Girls.

Whitney Port's line was mostly well received.

And Heidi Montag continues her shame spiral (or what should be a shame spiral) with this collection of pure evil.

It's like hooker wear.  Only cheaper.  And sluttier.

And...Botkier will design the next line of handbags for Target!

Whew...now back to reading tawdry stories about the secret lives of governors.

Going to Pot

This past week I had the distinct pleasure of going out after having a full hour or so to get ready!

That's right...no glancing in the mirror three minutes before departure time and swiping on a little blush and praying that the bar will be dark and everyone will be liquored before I get there.

Nope.

I tried on three pairs of shoes!

And, I got to play with a MAC Paint Pot!

One of the Fafi Collection, I tested out Cash Flow, a straight up gold cream shadow with a hint of a green undertone.

The shadow is what is really awesome.

It goes on smoothly (I used my fingers, I didn't have THAT much time on my hands) and pretty sheerly.  This is especially since it looks like the mud of the Dead Sea in the pot.

I was able to layer it on a little at a time and make it darker by my lash line and sheerer up near my brows.

With a heavy coat of mascara, I was good to go!

After a night at Marvin dealing with some guy who just swore he knew me from somewhere (hey, buddy, maybe I'm just kind of generic looking?) I got home and there was nary a crease in sight!  This stuff is strong...but it slid right off with a little of my trusty Almay remover.

As is my vice, I eyed a few other colors that might get added to my stash, including Artifact, Greenscape and Moss Scape.

Wow, so much for any resolution to save and not buy more makeup, right?

Responsible Makeup

One of my favorite parts of the movie Clueless is when Cher stomps around her room before her driving test whining for her white collarless shirt from Fred Segal...her most capable looking outfit.

Call me what you will, but I truly believe that clothes can make the difference between looking capable in a certain I-really-won't-send-your-office-into-a-shame-spiral.

The same could be said for makeup.

When prepping for an event when "capable" is the image you need to project, it's important to look polished and pretty, but without crossing into sexy territory.

And let me tell you, there are people who think the slightest hint of tackiness in you lipgloss means that you will spend more time picking your hair out of your gloss than writing briefs to win that motion for summary judgement.

Here is my formula for impressing the higher ups:

A light pink, natural looking blush like NARS in Sin, which, despite its name, looks dark enough that no one will worry about you sinking the company health plan with the pernicious anemia, but not so dark that you look like a tavern girl in an old Western movie.

A blend of brown eyeshadows. Usually, I like to layer my MAC Shadesticks in Beig-ing and Cement or a combination of Vincent Longo Baby Love and Sweet Dreams.

A light coat of mascara. Waterproof. Strongest you've got. No whore eyes here.

On the lips, tread very carefully. Keep your lips shiny, but not sticky. Natural colors. This is not the time to test out that lastest Juicy Tube in Poppy Pink or whatever. I will often just use a swipe of Rosebud Salve, but on days when I need a little more color (interviews can make me go paler than I already am), I use a little Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey or Prada Lip Balm #4.

The most important thing is to look nice and well put together, because Lord knows, if you can't put on your makeup...well, it may be terrible and prejudicial and trite...but can you really handle everything else?

XXL - The Redux

I stopped by my local CVS this weekend for the usual...some Cottonelle (yeah, that's right, I'm a sucker for the Zack Braff puppy commercials)...peruse some magazines without buying...and cruise out the mascara aisle.

I needed a replacement for my recently beloved Maybelline XXL, and I was prepared to simply buy the same one...until I noticed that they were on sale for buy-one-get-one-free!

Sweeet....

I picked out the Curl Power version and tried it this morning.

The first thing I noticed was that the primer is a light purple. That threw me a little bit. The second thing is that the curved brush takes a little getting used to.

I had trouble depositing enough mascara on my lashes, so I ended up looking a little weird today. But I'm willing to try again.

I think I noticed a little extra curl in the lashes when I put on the primer, but that could just be wishful thinking. (Does anyone else think that curling mascaras are a bunch of hooey? It's the Barnum Effect of beauty.)

My second choice was the Intense XXL, hopefully it will give me what the Curl Power lacks...

Will report back!

photo courtesy of maybelline.com

Support a Good Cause

I always feel like breast cancer gets the lion's share of the colorful, research-money dedicated products, considering everything in October is painted pink. While I would never choose one disease over another, I was alerted that theBalm was creating a limited edition version of their lipgloss to benefit the efforts of the NYC Chapter of the National MS society in honor of National Multiple Sclerosis Education and Awareness Week (March 10th-17th) called KISS MS GOODBYE.




During the month of March, theBalm will donate 25% of proceeds from the sale of this shade- a wearable coral hue infused with SPF 17 and a delicious strawberry banana scent- to the cause. The New York City Chapter of the National MS Society helps the thousands of New Yorkers impacted by MS to move their lives forward. They provide comprehensive support services and educational programs to people with MS, their family and friends, and raise funds locally to support the National MS Society’s research initiatives.



I'm a huge fan of theBalm's lipglosses, with their sheer sparkly shades and incredible scent. Seriously, it's actually kind of hard to stop licking your lips. So I fully endorse a purchase of a lipgloss so good that does good. And, multiple sclerosis research is a wonderful cause to support. (Full disclosure, I have a friend who suffers from the disease.)



Of course, if you would make a donation instead of buying a lipgloss, or simply learn more, please visit The New York City Chapter of the National MS Society.

Deep Thoughts by CapHillBarbie

Do you ever wonder whose job it is to pry eye shadows from their cases into little lozenges of powder to be photographed for magazines?

Do you think it takes practice?

There must be an art to getting it crumbled just so.

Do you think they have a separate person to remove lipstick from the tube?

Or artfully squeeze shower gel into the perfect, alluring swirl?

I sometimes do.

Fafi Mania

I've always had a rather complicated relationship with MAC Cosmetics.


When I first got interested in makeup and would wander the cosmetics floor, I was always intimidated by the MAC counter. They were always mobbed by girls who looked infinitely cooler than me, bedecked in the latest Betsey Johnson looks, being made up by makeup artists who looked like they walked in from a music video.

Let's just say I bonded with the Clinique lady in those early years. And wore a lot of Gap.

But, as I've grown, I've become more confident in approaching the MAC counters, and lately, their collections have been really bold...maybe still a little too bold for me.

The latest collection, Fafi, is a collaboration with a French graffiti artist whose work is like a combination of Japanese anime and Lisa Youskavage...except with the sexuality dialed WAY down.

The collection itself is a panoply of bright vibrant colors, many bordering on unwearable...unless you work at a MAC counter. However, there are some diamonds among the neon jewelry.



My favorites are the Fafi Eyes 1, a quad of two nude shades, a sheer grey and a light pink, great for doing a light daytime look or a smoky night eye and the Fashion Frenzy blush, a bright pink that makes me look like I actually am awake for once.

The best part might actually be the packaging in this case. Decorated with Fafi's work, they are little works of art on your bathroom counter. Tres chic. Makes me feel like I've got the best Betsey Johnson and the coolest Doc Martins.

Did I mention I was a teenager in the 90's? Do I have to?

Plus, it's just so much fun to say Fafi...


photos courtesy of maccosmetics.com