What's going on in beauty this week, from head to toe and everything in between.     From Head... Hair art: Love these stunning pieces of hair sculpture, and now want Nagi Noda to do a pony/tail. Ba-da bum.   ...To Toe... Steal my fantastic idea, svp: Nonplused by this Clos du Bois set that includes a nice pedicure shade, but am in mild shock that as far as I can tell, nobody has created a Beaujolais Nouveau pedicure. You've got three weeks, people! Go!   ...And Everything In Between: Bad gamble: Rajat Gupta, former Procter & Gamble board member, was sentenced to two years in prison (and $5 million in fines) for insider trading. Cheek swab: A London salon is offering DNA tests designed to help users find a cosmetics regime that's compatible with their genetic makeup. Finally, a way to tell what makeup looks best on your skin! The house that soap built: An… Read More...

#nodads It would be a stretch for me to try to connect the U.S. election to beauty, or personal appearance, or anything truly germane to my focus here. There's plenty of research out there about height advantage in presidential elections, and how candidates' facial looks don't matter as much as we might think—which is better for democracy and a fair vote, given that Mitt Romney's "high-quality face" is apparently in the 99th percentile of attractiveness, making him, as Zoolander might say, really really goodlooking. (Presumably Obama is too familiar for study respondents to accurately rate his face, though that hasn't stopped us for, say, George Clooney, so.) But really, so much of the research is contradictory and can be spun in pretty much any way you'd like—and, I mean, we're talking about two conventionally attractive candidates here, not JFK and Nixon, knowwhatimean? So I'll leap from my usual… Read More...

Years ago, I dated a bona fide good dresser. Actually, it wasn’t so much that he was a good dresser as it was that he knew what look he wanted to embody: a 1950s career man, one who wears a suit to the office and definitive leisurewear on the weekends. (He may actually have worn a non-ironic fedora, though it’s also possible I’ve mentally superimposed it onto him postbreakup.) He had rules that seemed like someone my grandfather’s age might have—shorts were for boys, not men; always wear an undershirt; single-breasted sportscoats were for hoodlums, etc. His rules gave me something more than a good giggle: a template. I wanted to be seen as a part of a team—his team—and by styling myself to look the part, I was hoping to become a naturalized citizen of his psychic nation. If I… Read More...

What's going on in beauty this week, from head to toe and everything in between. From Head... Rachel redux: As the Wall Street Journal reports, Jennifer Aniston has been spokesperson for notoriously few products, so it's interesting that she chose a little-known hair product company to make her debut into beauty product endorsement. The science-driven company says it's all about "beauty and brains," making Aniston a natural choice; as for her part, she says, "You want to be part of something that's exciting and authentic [emphasis mine]. You can't get more interesting than these scientists." What's intriguing here is her reliance upon authenticity as a point of pride (and sales); her image has been successfully cultivated as being authentic, and now she's able to monetize that directly. ...To Toe... Crash course: An SUV crashed into a Dallas nail salon and didn't stop until it blasted into the hair… Read More...

Illustration by Steph Becker   Just like me—in fact, just like pretty much every woman who has ever written about beauty in a public forum—the coauthors of Beauty Redefined have been critiqued as being both A) too pretty to understand the challenges surrounding looks bias, and B) so unpretty that it's no wonder they're writing about body image and self-esteem issues, the poor jealous things. What's that I hear you saying? Something along the lines of: But those statements are totally contradictory? Why yes, they are. That is, they're contradictory in their sentiment, but they're identical in their value, which is: Whatever this woman—or any woman—is saying about appearance must be evaluated by her own beauty, or lack thereof. Lindsay and Lexie at Beauty Redefined have some excellent talking points at their post on this matter, and if I could cosign the entry, I would. Their entry also… Read More...

What's going on in beauty this week, from head to toe and everything in between. From Head... Shades of gray: Turns out not as many people go gray as is commonly believed: One in 10 people over the age of 60 don't have gray hair, as reported in a study funded by...L'Oréal, which for once actually seems to legitimize the findings instead of casting doubt upon them. (Wouldn't L'Oréal want to report everyone turning silver at 60 on the dot?)   ...To Toe... Tights and YOU: Finally, someone answers all the questions you've wanted to ask about tights (but were afraid to ask). "Q: How do you make sense of the weirdo tights-sizing charts on the back of tights packaging? A: Just ignore them. The ones in your hands are probably the right size."   ...And Everything In Between: China mini-roundup: Aha! I've never… Read More...

Fine is dignity, elegance, class. Fine is edges that manage to be clean yet soft. Fine is a low, respectful whistle emitted under one’s breath. Fine is manners, fine is taste—but if she’s so fine, why is there there no telling where the money went? Fine is the root of refined. Fine is delicacy, fine is restraint, fine is thin. Fine is balanced on the palate, hints of tannin and leather, aged in oak barrels. Fine is please and you’re welcome—and, depending on who’s speaking, wham bam thank you ma’am too. Fine—unblemished, pure, of superior quality—stems from the Latin finis, meaning end, for once you’ve reached the end you can’t get any better, can you? Used since the mid-15th century to express admiration or approval, it quickly became applied to women’s appearances. From Jeremy Collier’s Essays Upon Several Moral Subjects, published in 1700: “Why should a fine Woman, be so Prodigal of her Beauty;… Read More...

Eve Plumb, Lisa Ferber, and Lisa Hammer in The Sisters Plotz and Their Afternoon of Will-Reading and Poetry When I interviewed artist, writer, and “highly productive bonne vivante” Lisa Ferber last year, she shared how two of her childhood heroines were Lucille Ball and Gilda Radner, because they managed the supposedly impossible feat of being both funny and pretty, and how as an adult she came to admire Fran Drescher for the same reasons. Lisa’s no slouch herself in the humor department—she writes and stars in a hilarious web and film series called The Sisters Plotz, directed by Lisa Hammer; its most recent installment, The Sisters Plotz and Their Afternoon of Will-Reading and Poetry, will air on Manhattan’s MNN Lifestyle Channel October 3 at 2 p.m., and on MNN’s Culture Channel October 7 at 10:30. It will also be live-streamed on MNN.org during those times. (And if you need… Read More...

What's going on in beauty this week, from head to toe and everything in between. From Head... Oh, fine: Bagelheads. ...To Toe... Tales from the salon: The most socially awkward pedicure ever. ...And Everything In Between: Hijab hijinx: A subcontractor for Procter & Gamble is suing the company for religious discrimination. Safa Elhassan was fired after she refused to accept the apology of a female colleague who forcibly removed her hijab in the presence of male coworkers, which, at press time, was perceived by this blogger to be really fucking rude. Story of O: The long-awaited skin care line from Estee Lauder developed specifically for Asian consumers is finally launching. Osiao—beginning and ending with the letter O so as to "convey a sense of harmony and balanced skin," and containing five letters, considered lucky in China—will hit stores in October. Can't help but wonder if it's… Read More...

She's a glamorous go-getter with nothing temp about her! Full-time, overtime—her makeup, like her day, goes on and on. What she loves: the no-fade staying power of these M?A?C Pro Longwear formulas—including new M?A?C Pro Longwear Blush.  I don’t mean to pick on MAC—really, I don’t. In fact, if the brand didn’t intrigue me so much I’d ignore it (when have I ever written about, say, Maybelline?). It used Miss Piggy for a model, for chrissakes, and even though I hopped right onto that with looking at the version of “authenticity” MAC peddles, the fact remains that I have to admire how well MAC’s marketing team zeroes in on what skeptics comme moi might sniff out in a brand. So at first, when I saw this astute Makeup Museum post critiquing MAC’s latest line, titled Office Hours, I glanced at the styling of the… Read More...

What's going on in beauty this week, from head to toe and everything in between. From Head... And yes, the leader's last name is Mullet: Members of the rogue Amish sect responsible for a spate of hair- and beard-cutting attacks on other Amish people were found guilty of committing hate crimes. Sentencing isn't until January, but the hate-crime classification carries a far stiffer possible sentence than mere assault—decades, perhaps. ...To Toe... Everything's bigger in Texas: Sarah Hepola's wonderful series examining the beauty rites of Dallas women zeroes in on sky-high heels and how they intersect with the city's car culture.   ...And Everything In Between: Drug war: L'Oréal gets a slap on the wrist from the FDA for making claims about eight of their products that, if accurate, would mean the product should be classified as a drug instead of a cosmetic. Learning curve: In order to successfully target emerging… Read More...

What's going on in beauty this week, from head to toe and everything in between. We've come a long way, baby? From Head... Masquerade: The invention of the beauty mask—which, charmingly enough, was onceuponatime called a "toilet mask." (via Makeup Museum)   ...To Toe... If the shoe fits: I adore Jane Marie at The Hairpin, and I adore my local cobbler, so when Jane Marie answered a recent question about cobbling, I became happier than anyone really should about cobbling. (Except, perhaps, Daniel Day-Lewis.) Bonus: Video with second-generation cobbler!   ...And Everything In Between: Targeted: Estee Lauder is suing Target in Australia for selling counterfeit MAC products. Not only are the products allegedly not actual MAC products, but Target was never an authorized MAC retailer. Oops! Target is claiming that the products came from a legitimate source in a practice known as parallel importing, in which genuine products are imported… Read More...