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subscribe to beauty counter blog via RSSGetting Your Nails ‘Did In The LDN
October 21, 2009 4:23 pm
Beauty Counter is coming to you live from London this week, where I have finally been reunited with my British counterpart after a long period of time spent apart. Said B.C. and I met in Japan, of all places, where we bonded over our shared beauty-editor experiences. We also discovered in common a love for nail rings—plastic rings attached to painted, bejeweled acrylics that we found at Tokyo’s Kiddy Land long before the solid gold versions were embraced by the street style set. On our agenda for the week, in addition to an Ab Fab reenactment over lunch at Harvey Nichols, was getting our nails done. So yesterday, we hit up Wah Nails. Reminiscent of Valley, one of my favorite nail art spots on the Lower East Side, the unassuming shop, set in Dalston and bordering on Shoreditch (Bushwick and Williamsburg, respectively, for the Brooklyn-minded among you), is the brainchild of stylist extraordinaire and girl-about-town Sharmadean Reid. Reid has been operating the Wah concept—fashion meets beauty, culture, and music—as an online style zine and decided to branch out into nail art this past August. She sells select vintage clothes, books, and coveted old issues of “hip” New York magazines like Nylon and Interview, but she specializes in manis. And not just any manis; freehand art is on offer here in a major way. “Every print we see is a nail,” joked manager Meghan Best as she painted a floral paisley motif from Marc Jacobs‘ Fall collection onto my nails. (I added the rhinestones for my own bit of flair.) The Marc nail and another blue-and-green print inspired by Peter Jensen’s Fall collection are part of an exclusive set designed by Wah for a week-long pop-up shop at Selfridges that begins on November 5. It’s not all fashion-focused, though. You can also get a bevy of colored leopard spots, a Fanta logo, or a five-finger tribute to breakfast food favorites laid out on a red-and-white diamond tablecloth. (Feel free to bedazzle those sausage links at will.)
Wah Nails, 420 Kingsland Road, London E8 4AA, 011-44-20-7812-9889.
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No Wash, No Appointment, No Problem
October 19, 2009 10:08 am
To properly christen the extensive redesign of its 59th Street store’s main-floor cosmetics area, Bloomingdale’s has lined up an impressive roster of in-store events. As previously discussed, the Dick Page for Shiseido PA is on for Wednesday, but today, it’s all about Bumble and Bumble. The downtown mainstay has set up its first-ever Styling Bar and Shop, which will be devoted to quick-and-easy services. It also features an enhanced retail experience with in-house instructional videos, touch-screen styling menus, style books with tutorials and product recipes, and a digitized salon locator. In celebration of its arrival, Bb editorial stylist Rolando Beauchamp—who counts Mary-Kate Olsen as one of his satisfied customers—will be creating multiple looks on one model while standing in the department store’s window display on Lexington Avenue. Intrigued Upper East Siders out for an afternoon stroll can come in and get a cut themselves for a paltry $35. It’s all in an attempt to introduce beauty-minded New Yorkers to Bumble’s new “no wash, no appointment” concept, which offers those of us who want a good haircut but have limited time and money to burn a viable alternative to the classic salon model. Stop by today from 12 to 2 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. to check it out for yourself.
tags: Bloomingdale's, Dick Page, Mary-Kate Olsen, Shiseido
Frédéric Fekkai Stirs Things Up On Melrose Place
October 14, 2009 4:40 pm
There’s something major happening at Melrose Place, and it has nothing to do with the Ashlee Simpson-fronted remake of the beloved nineties drama of the same name. (We still can’t bring ourselves to watch the new version. Is nothing sacred?) Frédéric Fekkai’s expanded 2,400-square-foot salon at 8457 Melrose Place reopens today, thus ushering in a new West Coast flagship for his ever-expanding brand. The remodeled location offers two levels of hair luxury, including a ground-floor retail space for all of your Coiff Oceanique Tousled Wave Spray-buying needs. The number of styling stations has also increased to 16, and nail enthusiasts can now enjoy a terrace equipped for outdoor mani/pedis. (Nothing like a little fresh air to diminish those acetone fumes.) For those of you who’ve dreamt of a haircut from Fekkai himself—an indulgence that will typically set you back $1,000—the styling legend has worked out something of a deal to correspond with the reopening of the salon. As a special one-time philanthropic event, Fekkai will be doing haircuts for a mere $200 from October 25 to November 5 and will donate 100 percent of the proceeds to the Art of Elysium. It’s still a somewhat hefty price tag, but hey, it’s for charity. (Tip not included.) For more information or to book an appointment, call (323) 655-7800.
tags: Art of Elysium, Ashlee Simpson, Frederic Fekkai, Hair, Melrose Place
The Minimalist’s Guide To A Great Haircut
October 12, 2009 1:29 pm
I am of the general opinion that the power of a good haircut lies in just how little post-salon maintenance is required. Do I need to use a flat iron? Forget it. A round brush? Nope. The goal is a wash-and-go end game, which I managed to achieve on a recent visit to stylist Kazunori Ueda at the newly opened Kayrunn Hirsch salon in Greenwich Village. He snipped my locks into shape, so all I have to do is shampoo and condition and somehow they just know what to do. Call it “scissor memory” or a miracle; either way, it makes my life way easier. A full-service destination providing cuts, color, Japanese straightening, facials, manicures, and waxing, Kayrunn Hirsch offers all the posh services of a midtown salon without the soul-destroying properties of actually having to get to one. The storefront is a stone’s throw from the NYU campus on LaGuardia Place, but these guys aren’t catering to coeds. Both Warren Tricomi alumni, Ueda brought his snipping skills over from Japan a little over a decade ago, while Stuart Hirsch has spent over 15 years as the master colorist at Upper East Side favorite Pierre Michel. Since opening their new venture this fall, the pair has racked up a clientele of boldfacers including Jessica Stam, Mandy Moore, and Riley Keough. As Hirsch puts it, “My specialty is blondes. Kazunori’s specialty is hair. Period.”
tags: essica Stam, Hair, Kayrunn Hirsch Salon, Kazunori Ueda, Mandy Moore, Pierre Michel, Riley Keough, Stuart Hirsch, Warren Tricomi
Glossing It Up In Williamsburg
September 25, 2009 5:22 pm
Having worked on this blog for a little over a year now, I have the pleasure of rehashing certain seasonal beauty issues with you and offering up new solutions. Last year, as summer dwindled away and the burnt-orange highlights of a few months spent in the sun became increasingly visible in my dark brown hair, I had an overwhelming desire to go darker. Nothing too severe, just a few shades closer to black for a more chic fall/winter look that didn’t scream heat damage. So I got a full color job that completely fit the bill. This year, I have the same inkling, although I’m a little less ready to commit to a permanent dye. So last night, I settled on a gloss, which deposits a temporary, transparent pigment into the hair shaft for color amplification and increased shine—or “a natural-looking boost,” as my colorist at Williamsburg’s Self Salon explained. Being Brooklyn-based myself, the newly revamped Grand Street space offered the perfect destination for a quick, instantly uplifting treatment. With a menu of services that ranges from dry cuts and peekaboo highlights to eyelash extensions (all of which are 20 percent off through the month of October), owner Maria Barca is out to make the minimalist-designed storefront the outpost for hipsters with a taste for the finer things. And to draw the neighborhood’s increasingly growing number of residents who have crossed the East River to “settle down,” she’s even brought on an expert wedding stylist (the salon’s Web site features a Beautiful Bride planner, which guides you through hair and makeup concerns from six or more months before the event so there are no surprise traumas on your big day). A Devachan-certified stylist who specializes in curly hair textures is also on hand, so even if you’re not after Bedford Avenue’s asymmetrical pixie cut, you’re still in good hands.
Self Salon, 147 Grand Street between Bedford Ave. and Berry St., (718) 599-1449.
tags: Hair, Self Salon
A Small Piece Of Funkified Flair Backstage At Rag & Bone
September 12, 2009 2:20 pm
The backstage story at Rag & Bone is essentially the same very year. The hair and makeup team of Teddy Charles for Frédéric Fekkai and Revlon’s Gucci Westman are out to create the quintessential Rag & Bone girl: “rock and roll, sexy, laid back,” as Charles put it at yesterday’s show. In beauty terms, that translates to rough and tousled hair, which Charles created using a few spritzes of Fekkai Tousled Wave Spray to make hair piece-y and Fekkai Au Naturel Dry Shampoo for a matte finish, and makeup that “enhances the girls’ natural features,” said Westman, who crafted a matte brown eye and a matte nude lip, which she added to a canvas of “squeaky clean skin.” This season, Westman also incorporated a “British bit” to the overall look, a touch of irreverent London street style to remind designers David Neville and Marcus Wainwright of home. Hence the acid yellow nail, a surprising embellishment that seemed to work well with the label’s utilitarian feel. Less surprising was the bottle of neon lacquer used for the effect: that would be Essie’s Funky Limelight, your favorite neon chartreuse and mine.
tags: Essie, Frederic Fekkai, Gucci Westman, Rag & Bone, Revlon, Teddy Charles
All Hail The King Of The Transformative Haircut
September 10, 2009 5:31 pm
As readers of this blog know, I am a long-haired girl—the kind of girl who asks for just a trim at the salon and feels out of sorts when a mere inch and a half of length goes missing. Due to some unfortunate traumas in the past, including a childhood spent with a short bowl cut equipped with rattail (my mother insists it was “sooo cute,” but photos suggest otherwise) my raven locks, which have dangled around my mid-back since I was a teenager, have always been a power source and a defining characteristic of who I am as a person. Or so I thought. Recently, I had something of a hair identity crisis. I went to get a routine cut from a self-important stylist who shall remain nameless and he refused my “just a trim” request. “People with long hair are either misinformed about what their hair should look like or simply don’t know themselves as well as they think they do,” he said to me, explaining that in his not-so-humble opinion, hair should “drip” past the collarbone. Somewhat taken aback, I listened to more of his unsolicited suggestions before leaving, with not so much as a hair out of place. It’s unclear whether his words—which lingered in my head for weeks to come—or inspiration images of Ashley Olsen at the CFDA ultimately got to me, but two days ago I took the plunge and cut all my hair off. And strangely, I feel no less powerful, no less myself—in fact, I feel liberated. That is due in large part to the loving and exceedingly talented hands of Thomas Heinz, who has become the “transformative haircut” king in my small circle of editor and publicist friends, all of whom have had equal success at his Meatpacking salon. A small, unassuming space lined with Moroccan Oil and Davines products, Heinz listened to me go on about my sordid past, my current fears, and my future ambitions and somehow managed to make complete sense out of the emotional ramblings. I had way more than an inch and a half cut off—probably about ten inches total—and haven’t for a second mourned the loss. And for the record, I know exactly who I am: a long-haired girl who needed a little time to figure out that her hair looks better short.
Thomas Heinz NY, 308 W. 13th St., NYC, (212) 414-1500.
tags: Blackbook, Hair, Thomas Heinz
Good, Clean Labor Day Fun
September 4, 2009 11:19 am
Staying in town this weekend? Make a getaway to Red Hook, where the quirky handmade soap and flower boutique Saipua is celebrating its new-and-improved store in its new location, which happens to be just two blocks from its old one. Co-owners and couple-since-college Sarah Ryhanen and Eric Famisan have been making soaps in the Hudson Valley since 1999, using old-school methods to hand cut, air dry, and cure their olive-oil based bars. With guidance from Ryhanen’s mom, they then doctor them up with normal things like fresh herbs and essential oils, and less predictable ingredients like coffee grounds and chai tea. The results are beautiful—and affordable: at $8 each, you can stock up on scents like Frankincense & Myrrh, Coffee Mint, and Red Currant, all of which come wrapped in papers printed with Ryhanen and Famisan’s own designs. The new storefront, designed by Jeremy Barbour (the architect behind Phillip Lim’s Soho boutique), is a freestanding box in an old warehouse with a sliding barn door from a seventeenth-century Amish farmhouse. Once pulled back, a series of well-planned nooks becomes visible, designed to hold Ryhanen’s unusual flower arrangements, which are available by special order or, if you’re lucky, by thoughtful gesture.
Saipua, 147 Van Dyke St, Brooklyn, NY 11231, (718) 624-2929, saipua.com
tags: Eric Famisan, Jeremy Barbour, Phillip Lim, Saipua, Sarah Ryhanen, Skincare
Winning By A Hair At The U.S. Open
September 2, 2009 3:24 pm
Tennis enthusiasts with a mind for beauty are likely interested in more than just a killer backhand when they watch the U.S. Open. With each serve and volley, they are presumably examining the headband-clad ponytails and braids that move with every swing of the racquet. (How do they stay so perfect?!) In addition to ice running through your veins, good hair is key to advancing to the next round of the tournament, as a stray wisp could blur the kind of perfect vision needed for triumph. With this in mind, the U.S. Open actually has an official hairstylist on hand in the player area of Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, N.Y., to help athletes secure their locks on-the-court and pamper them when they come off. That would be Julien Farel, the one-time cutting designer at Frédéric Fekkai who went on to open his own Feng Shui-influenced oasis at 605 Madison Avenue. For the third year in a row, Farel and his team have been offering players a full range of services, including hair-threading (a weaving technique that secures strands without the use of pins or elastics), haircuts, styling, and conditioning; nail care; and makeup applications. Yup, that’s how Maria Sharapova always looks so good—grunting, sweating, and all.
tags: Frederic Fekkai, Hair, Julien Farel, Maria Sharapova, US Open
Vidal Sassoon Gets a New Home
August 28, 2009 12:46 pm
You’re likely familiar with the name Vidal Sassoon—champion of the bob, creator of the “wedge,” not to mention personal stylist to Mary Quant, among other fashion and entertainment notables. If you’re less familiar with the brand’s Sassoon Salon in New York, that’s because it’s been tucked away on the second floor of Fifth Avenue’s Crown Building for the past decade. But starting today, Midtowners will become better acquainted with the landmark destination when it opens the doors of its new ground-floor digs around the corner at 7 W. 56th Street. Sassoon has hired Germany-based architects Frick und Frick to revamp its image with a series of minimalist, white-walled beauty havens that “whisper effortless sophistication.” In line with the Boston location’s reopening last month, the nearly 3,000-square-foot New York space features 25 styling stations, an open color bar where guests can witness the computerized formulation and subsequent hand-mixing of their customized dyes, lighting that has been designed to mimic natural daylight, and free Wi-Fi access—an amenity we think should be standard at all salons at this stage in the game. For more information or to book an appointment, call (212) 535-9200.
tags: Hair, Mary Quant, Vidal Sassoon
