Does this make you Hot or what?

Now I know I have done my share of pitching products from CVS but i maintain on a bad day where else will 5.00 lift your spirits quite so high!

I've also said to hit those less " traveled" aisles, but just in case you thought I had stopped buying stuff that i totally can not read the labels on ,,,,,,,,,,,,,

yes here is something that could not be left on the shelf !

Cabellina, Chile Con Remero Conditioner ! I didn't get the shampoo because well that seemed just to over the top !
Look at the size of that bottle and i swear it was for sure under 5.00 !

Was it a little scary the first time i used it ,of course ! Does it work? As well as any other value item you would buy in a huge bottle with a pump........

And is it spicy ? Yes and the craziest part is your hair smells like mild green salsa until its totally dry ( and maybe several hours later, you kind of get used to it, so I'm not sure i can judge accurately!

Would i buy it again ? Probably not, has it given me great fun? You BET !

I had already gotten my yucks with the girl at the register! Never mind when I got it home !

So remember never let language stop you from shopping ( but try not to confuse the conditioner from the salad dressing either !)

Chicago for a Fill ?

So for 3 weeks I've been De-lighted with my super lovely red gel nails that were expertly applied for under 60.00 in less than 60 minutes in only an above average Chicago nail salon. However even the best things need a touch up so about 2 weeks ago i started searching for Gel nails / Los Angeles. I found what appeared to be a fantastic choice in Little Tokyo, which anyone following nails knows, Japan even has monthly magazines about nail tech and design, if there ever was going to be a place to try , this was it.

So do i go , No ! I go to a place , that had Gel in its ad, and was voted best nail salon in Pasadena. Opi Salon, all indicators are good right? I even go there to make the appt. the very nice young woman examines my nails , we set up the appt for the next day.

When did i realize things were about to go Horribly Horribly bad ? Right about when 5 nail tech ladies swarmed me and said the gel is red ! You might have thought i just brought leprosy into the salon. So i look at them and go yes, i got these 3 weeks ago in Chicago , like i said yesterday ! What the hell are you looking at my like that for? Do you not get any trade magazines? For god sake look at my blog posts from last summer . I ask you readers how can we consistently know more than the ladies behind the cosmetic counters, and obviously much more than anyone in the nail business. What i want to know is how can they be an OPI salon and have missed the entire OPI gel axxis innovation.

Needless to say , now I'm in the chair, they only have pink gel and she is pulling out a DRILL ! Two hours later, I pulled my hands from the UV light machine ( which i hear is like getting 4 times the UV sunburn rays ,so your nails will look great but your hands will be of a hag !)

I went from having the most lovely red nails that withstood the rigors of a major trade show to pinky lee nails. I drew the line at the hard white edge, I'm down with a lot of things but Stripper nails , not even i can say yes to .

Tune in two weeks from now, when the big question will be How do i get my Glam back?

Moral of the Story: be careful when you make commitment beauty decisions on the road !!!!!!!!!!!

Where do you get the best eyeliners ever? Surprise!

Of course its at CVS . I know you can get them other places but we all know CVS rules across the nation.

So back to the best eyeliner pencils ever, styli-style available either as an end cap or a smaller display close to end may not have the most extensive of offerings but what they do make are really fantastic. They have waterproof items, glimmer ones, and the best sharpener ever ! I know how can someone go on about an eyeliner sharpener, well ( and this really is the truth) I passed on seeing Sarah Silverman Live Thursday night , i wouldn't say i stayed home to sharpen my eye pencils, but given the time alone that was in fact what i did ( and all the lip pencils as well !). It felt great too ! I bought a vintage shot glass and they are all in there perfectly sharpened just waiting to prove how good they are. The silly part is they are basically all the same shade of green - teal on the eye side, and all hot red on the lip side. Let's just say I've done my part to help the American Cosmetic Industry !

What makes the sharpener fantastic is it has a fat and a thin sharpener side, and it contains all the mess. It has some kick ass blade in there too because the pencils come out cleaner than anything else i own.

So another reminder to shop for the best and not to be snotty and think the best need a trip and the aggravation of going to the mall ! Hit your CVS and enjoy the extra time at the end caps !

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 !