Gel nails, its kind of far to return to Chicago for the fill !

Now you would think i would have been done with that whole gel nail concept, but i was in Chicago and i overheard a friend talking about this mysterious gel nail coating that makes your manicure last for 3 weeks. So Miss Eye Spy started right in on the grilling , was it OPI , were the colors limited, did it lasts? She must be very distracted when she gets her nails done because she caved under my grilling, about all i got out of her was it was not OPI. I do apologize for my detective like questioning dear, but i am here to provide a service to my readers !

I didn't really give it another thought until the Bentley Prince Street girls hit the closest salon to our hotel many days later, and low and behold on the menu, the mysterious " Gel Coatings". Also about half the price of my previous foray into the OPI gel nail route and an extensive offering of colors. After being assured that " no damage will be done in the processing of your natural nails" i jumped in !
Its been a full week now and they look prettier than ever.

Now a new worry, there were no trademarks for what product i was getting. The wonderfully talented , very hip nail person was not really very forthcoming with what i was getting. I got the feeling it was very very " aftermarket" but they looked so good she could have been applying fiberglass i really did not care in the least. However, now what? It did say you can soak these babies off in 15 minutes ( which you have to do if you ever want to really change the entire color in gel)but i love them !

This is a wonderful invention and we need to get it out beyond the realm of the " branded " salons ! That's my biggest beef with LA, you would think we would get all the best products first, but every time i go East I'm shocked at how much more of everything they have. I'm serious ! Go stand in a Stop and Shop in the Northeast vs an Albertson's in the West and you will know what i'm talking about. Every time i go home I'm like damn they have more choices in Mustard than we have in all of the condiment aisle! Never mind a Dunkin Donuts on every corner ( but that's another post)!

All I'm saying is I need gel and flying to Chicago is not an option!

So LA Salons, get your postings on Yelp cause I need a Los Angeles place to brag on, if anyone can pass the word to Gloss, be my guest! Gloss is hands down the coolest, grooviest ,hippest nail salon in all of Los Angeles. We don't need any 310 glam West of Western! We have the elegance of Gloss, and that suits us just fine !
Take this as a Will Advise all!

Does this Girl ever get exhausted with the talk of SelfTanner?

I don't want to scare anyone but if your a fan of L'oreal Sublime bronze tinted self tanner i would strongly suggest you run out and buy at least one more tube. Has anyone but me noticed how scarce its becoming? Not to start a frenzied run on the product but when in Chicago recently friend Noelle and I were spotted sweeping the shelves of the local CVS of the last tubes there.

We have nothing to formally go on , but if you are a fan of the best gel tinted lotion, minimal stinky smell and absolutely awesome amount of "Metallic glint" then I'd go get the car keys and start roaming the city. Your only worry should be in Noelle and I are in town !

Swedish book pitch not what you think

So its been far to long since i made a literary pitch, and im not bragging on that i was ahead of the curve here..........but .

Last winter Masterpiece Mystery (Thank you WGBH Boston , best PBS station in the nation !) had 3 drama's based on Henning Mankells' Wallander character.

Now you all know how into the Dragon Tattoo series i am but this is even more full of scenery and moodiness. What do you expect detective Kurt Wallander to be ? Of course an opera buff with a drinking problem , astute perception and the most god awful climate on earth. I was made to love this character! Think Inspector Morse without a side kick and even worse weather !
I just finished Faceless Killers the first in the series, and i never wanted to get out of the car ! I have at least 6 titles ( audio) in the trunk right now, i could possibly drive to NY and still arrive with a contented look on my face.

Saturday's NY Times front page had an article how the death of Stieg Larsson has only made all of the other Swedish writers a hot commodity. By my bed right now im reading the so called " prime suspect " of Sweden. Author Helene Turstens' character is Detective Inspector Huss, and she definitely rocks! This is my second book in her series, and I love her . A police detective married to a chef with twin teenage daughters who loves wine, excuse me what's not to love. Did i mention she is also totally in love with her dog, no wonder I was hooked from page one.

Then there is Asa Larsson, another winner of Sweden's best crime novel award.
Sun Storm also by my bed is another moody violent but incredibly literary voice from Scandinavia. You have to understand these are not " thrillers" nor just " mysteries" they are rich deep works of fiction with commentary on everything from relationships in families to society in general. To even try to place a label on them is just so trite.

You get the sense that Sweden has potential to be one seriously dangerous place but also an incredibly intelligent country to hang . The best part of my weekend was i was sitting by my wonderful pool, palm trees waving, iced Rose in the tumbler, little andy poocha laying in the shade and I'm reading about a white out snowstorm outside Stockholm. Now that's my kind of summer read.

Get yourself to the library and on the Henning Mankell wait list, start with Faceless Killers if you can, and if you are on NetFlix, stop what you are doing and type in Wallander and get all the series. There will only be 2 discs, also available on Amazon ( of course i bought them, LA friends you are welcome to borrow the DVD's) ,,,,,,,you are about to get such a wonderful treat !

Dear friends,i do hope you enjoy them as much as i am !
Not just stuff, Your literary shopper as well!.

Helmut Lang dress and the day it finally fit

Now you know how much i love dresses, so earlier in the year (January) i found this dress on the sale rack at the Barneys Co-op . I have always wanted to have a Helmut Lang anything. I remember going into the Soho store (maybe 8 years ago) and just basking in the total minimalist aesthetic of it. Then i had to leave with just cologne, because really almost everything in there was more than my house payment !

So when i saw this dress i thought even if i have to have organs removed im getting it ! Yes i really did leave the store that day with it not even zipping !!!!!!!! But im glad i did, cause if you think the back is cool, you really should see the front. Its the most basic black dress you could possibly imagine and yet it has the sexiest cutouts with little mesh bits. Its like something you'd see on a little girls " heidi" kind of summer sundress and then rocked out to a goth extreme !

It is smokin****' and if it never fits again, no matter, its what i want to be buried in ! No one will know if they have to split the back !

When i brought that dress to Chicago i wasn't even sure it would fit and it was a real delight when it did ! It was worth all the effort in the world, and as my friend Samantha Weisman said it was no longer the products that made that market but the dress !

Long live Helmut Lang and even more important a really good sale rack !

Missing Shopper?

How many times can a blogger apologize for being MIA ? Well that's an exponential number really, so let me stop and start kicking some content your way to show you i am not the flake i give off i am!

First off i have not been as frugal as the lack of content would imply, if you are my facebook friend you know there was no shortage of cash dropped on that Helmut Lang dress i rocked at NeoCon.

What have i been buying, well since May i've been saying nothing but good things about the end cap Milano cosmetic section at CVS. Run and get yourself their super diamond gloss ! What will that set you back? Maybe 6.00? Everything they have in the line is super concentrated with color, i have the feeling its intended for women of color, and being Portuguese i figure i rank in that category. If your very fair, you might want to be careful, you could look like a club kid at work, but for us creatives that's only a bonus !

What are you still doing here , didn't i just tell you to go shop !