Seek adventure in America’s own backyard: the endless, endlessly inspiring West. Vogue picks five of the best destinations to break a sweat in the great outdoors.

The Life Aquatic
California’s Channel Islands

A cluster of five pristine islands a stone’s throw from Los Angeles forms Channel Islands National Park, an ocean enthusiast’s easily accessed paradise. Dolphins, whales, and inky-eyed seals inhabit the islands’ wind-sculpted coves and aquatic archways, and their spindly hilltops are often blanketed with wildflowers. Take a guided kayaking tour with the Channel Islands Kayak Center through the waterways (above) or discover marine life in miniature in the incredible tide pools, populated with everything from octopuses to pillowy anemones. Pitch a tent for an overnight stay so you can snorkel the next day or surf—it is California, after all.
cikayak.com
(805) 644-9699
Full-day tours from $179.95 Continue reading ›

A quick survey of Parisian artist Nathalie Lété’s recent work is enough to leave one feeling breathless:  Her whimsical, vintage-inspired illustrations, which conjure up a fairy-tale world inhabited by poetic butterflies, botanicals, and rosy-cheeked creatures, have been commissioned for haute ceramics  (Astier de Vilatte), cotton-voile bedding (Anthropologie), and even children’s picture books (this month’s Le Petit Chaperon Rouge coffret from Éditions Thierry Magnier).

This month, she’s dipping her brush into the realm of beauty by teaming up with Bourjois cosmetics for their limited-edition Rendez-vous à Paris eye-shadow collection (above). The historic French makeup line—which became a fast favorite among the capital’s stage actresses upon its creation by Alexandre Napoleon Bourjois in 1863, and is now owned by Chanel—is, like Lété, deeply enamored of the City of Light. (The artist has sprinkled everything from handmade postcards to paper-wrapped chocolates with iconic images of Paris.)  Accordingly, each shadow pot (featuring the company’s silky “baked-powder” pigments in shades of violet, silver, beige, and black) features a beloved local landmark on its face—the towering obelisk of the Place Vendôme, the melancholy banks of the Seine—as seen through Lété’s quirky cool, fruit-punch-colored lens. This writer’s favorite: a scenic street map of the Rue St. Honoré that recalls victorious shopping trips and breezy outdoor cafés with a smattering of Lété’s lucky ladybugs and four-leaf clovers.

$14 each, debuting this week at Ulta stores and ulta.com.

—Catherine Piercy

Breast Cancer Awareness Month may have drawn to a close, but researchers never stop looking into new ways to fight the disease. Vogue talked with Peter I. Pressman, M.D., co-author of Breast Cancer: The Complete Guide (Bantam Books), about three promising new findings. 

MORE SENSITIVE SCREENING

THE CLAIM: An alternative to MRI, molecular breast imaging, using radioactive tracers that concentrate in tumor tissues, is a less expensive and more accurate screening tool.
THE TEAM: Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. A study supported by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation will begin enrolling 1,000 women in a few months.
EVIDENCE: While research is still preliminary, molecular imaging has so far shown promise in detecting cancers in dense breast tissue.
TAKEAWAY: Pressman calls this less expensive (it costs about $500 versus $1800 for an MRI) screening method exciting; while molecular breast imagining is currently limited to select hospitals, it is expected to be more widely available in the near future.

A BIONIC BIOPSY

THE CLAIM: Using a mechanical arm to perform needle biopsies could make the procedure faster, more comfortable, and more accurate.
THE TEAM: Roberts Research Institute;  University of Western Ontario; and London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario, Canada.
EVIDENCE: During preliminary tests, the success rate using the mechanical arm was 95.9 percent compared with 91.3 percent using the freehand technique, and it took only ten seconds for experienced radiologists to perform a biopsy versus 31 seconds for freehand.
TAKEAWAY: Needle biopsy, as opposed to open surgical biopsy, is already the “preferred approach,”to making a diagnosis according to Pressman, and should be the standard in hospitals. The mechanical arm “represents a refinement.” Continue reading ›

The clothes that went down the runway Friday afternoon in the garden at the Chateau Marmont—in front of guests like Diane Kruger, Jessica Alba, Eva Mendes, Russell Simmons, and M.I.A.—were only half the story at this year’s CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund show. Backstage, a team of Frédéric Fekkai stylists, led by editorial whiz Renato Campora, was whipping up the other part of the spectacle: the hair.

The challenge: creating two distinct styles to fit—and flatter—the work of ten diverse designers, from Sophie Theallet and Ohne Titel to jewelers Monique Péan and Waris Ahluwalia. “With a group show, we’ve always done ‘pretty hair’ you don’t notice,” says Vogue West Coast Fashion Editor Lawren Howell, who produced the show along with Lisa Love. This time, however, the idea was hair that made an impact. “How do you do that without taking away from the clothes?” “We thought it could be a texture story.” Wet and dry were the winners. Continue reading ›

My nail fantasies have always been simple: that image of Helena Christensen’s dark, chipping polish in Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” music video. It wasn’t only about the color (a deep, blackish-blood red) but also the seductive look of a slightly imperfect, several-day-old manicure that screams, This girl lives! And so, since the mid-nineties, I’ve been a Chanel Vamp girl. I have seven bottles hoarded in my vanity; over the years, as thick layers have coagulated in the older bottles, I’ve never been able to let go of my supply. Nail polish is like wine, right? 

But this fall, I fell for what can only be described as polish that’s the color of concrete. Think all shades of pale gray, especially Orly’s Mirror Mirror and Lippmann Collection’s Untitled. It’s an unexpectedly elegant alternative to pale whites or pinks, yet it preserves the punk edge of a cracking purplish-black. The new pavement polishes work with my pale skin and match all my gray Rick Owens sweaters (when I like something, I go all the way). A few days into a gray manicure, it looks even more amazing as it begins to peel in a subtler way than its darker cousins. And still, despite its rather understated effect, people notice. “Was that color you were wearing last week Essie’s Chinchilly?” E-mails a friend from a nail salon downtown. “Yes! Am obsessed! I have it on my fingers and toes!” I type back, gray fingertips flying. An hour later (presumably when her polish has dried), I receive a reply: “Me toooooo!”

Lady Gaga, whose closet seems to closely resemble a costume box, albeit one of couture proportions, has set the bar for transformational, theatrical dressing—makeup and hair included. From gilded masks to black geisha lips and her signature faux doll lashes, Gaga knows how to camouflage. This Halloween, take a cue from the queen of disguise and schedule an appointment with masters in the art of metamorphoses. Whether it’s fluttery, feathery lashes (Shu Uemura), high-concept body paint (Make Up For Ever), out-there hair (Butterfly Studio), full-face fantasy makeup (M.A.C.), or just a lesson in the ultimate cat eye (Sephora), there’s a pro for that. Lady Gaga, consider the gauntlet thrown.

—Christina Han

BUTTERFLY STUDIO SALON: NYC
149 Fifth Ave.
(212) 253-2100
-    Special Halloween rates
-    Hair only, $150
-    Makeup only, $200
-    Hair/makeup/prop (lashes, feathers, etc.), $300

LAURA MERCIER LASH BAR: NYC
Henri Bendel
712 Fifth Ave.
(212) 904-7965
-    Free application with the purchase of Laura Mercier Faux Eyelashes.
-    Application + lesson, $25

M.A.C. BOUTIQUES: NATIONWIDE
- Call ahead for appointments
- Makeup applications from $50

NYC
7 West 22nd St., 2nd Floor
(212) 229-4830

148 Columbus Ave.
(212) 769-0725

113 Spring St.
(212) 334-4641

1 East 22nd St.
(212) 677-6611

Chicago
910 West Armitage Ave.
(773) 327-4902

40 East Oak St.
(312) 951-7310
Millie Vidal

Continue reading ›

On March 14, 2006, Roz Savage’s one-woman rowboat landed on Antigua, making her the first woman ever to finish the Atlantic Rowing Race solo. This month, Rowing the Atlantic: Lessons Learned on the Open Ocean (Simon & Schuster), her book about the life-altering experience, hit stores nationwide. Vogue talks with the record-breaker about what inspired her to take to sea.

Why did you decide to move from land to water?
 
Life before ocean rowing was remarkably conventional—well-paid job, married, mortgaged. But I realized that money wasn’t making me happy.
 
There followed a period of intense soul-searching, during which I shed all the trappings of my old life—job, house, husband, little red sports car. I needed a project.
 
I had rowed before, at Oxford, where I rowed crew. I’d always been an armchair adventurer, admiring people who climbed mountains, trekked to the poles, or sailed around the world. I’d never thought I could have an adventure of my own, but in ocean rowing I thought I’d hit on something that would be challenging, but doable.
 
How does it feel to be a world-record holder?
 
I still feel uncomfortable with the mention of records. It seems to smack too much of ego. Continue reading ›

The $800 haircut still exists, but at the country’s best salons, so do its $20 and $40 cousins. The next generation of top stylists need to hone their scissor skills somewhere, and training nights—common weekly practice at most salons—are where it all begins. Under the guidance of a senior stylist, apprentices and assistants go beyond the basic blow-dry with the most current cuts and color. There’s nothing to lose—except a few inches. See the list below for participating salons—call ahead for appointments.

—Christina Han

Continue reading ›

I get starstruck over makeup artists the way most people do celebrities. But there’s nobody who sends me into a blushing, stammering stupor like editorial star Dick Page, whose discerning eye makes him a regular presence on major photo shoots and backstage at runway shows like Narciso Rodriguez and Michael Kors.

So it’s not entirely surprising that when I heard Page would be making a rare appearance at Bloomingdale’s Fifty-ninth Street location tomorrow, I greeted the news with the kind of piercing shriek more often heard in the footage of a Beatles concert. After all, how many times in a woman’s life can she book a personal color consultation with Page, who, as Shiseido’s artistic director and one of the fashion industry’s top talents, regularly advises the most beautiful women on the planet?

For a $100 reservation fee (which must be made in advance by calling the Shiseido counter at 212/705-2890), Page will deliver practical beauty advice and inspired product recommendations (including those from the company’s new “Rich Rocks” holiday collection) with a characteristic dose of his dry English wit. Afterward, one of his talented team members will perform a flawless makeup application, the price of which is redeemable in Shiseido products at the store’s slick new counter space. Good news for groupies who, like me, plan to hang on his every word.

—Catherine Piercy

Those who know me know that I have two obsessions: candy and rabbits! But lately, I’ve discovered a third: eyelash extensions from Lashtique, the Murray Hill salon owned by certified “lash stylist” (and registered nurse) Ria Hountas-Pagliara. My friend Amanda Freeman introduced Ria’s extensions to me, and it was love at the first sight of seeing them on her.

I am not a high-maintenance beauty girl—I prefer the natural look. My dad always taught me that women look better, and younger, without a lot of makeup. But in the past, I’ve always felt I needed mascara at least to look awake and to bring out my eye color. But I hate mascara. It irritates my eyes and makes me look tired.

Lashtique’s Xtreme Lashes—applied to lashes one-by-one by an aesthetician—are awesome because they make my eyes pop yet still look super natural, and they last a full month, falling out with my natural lash cycle. The process takes about an hour and a half, but it’s painless and you’re lying on a comfy bed, listening to great music. I look refreshed every morning when I wake up, and I don’t have to take the extra time putting on makeup. And they’re noticeable enough that you’re sure to get compliments for the extra twinkle and glamorous flair.

Speaking of flair, lash styling is a highly individualized enterprise, customized for each client. You can play it safe with Lashtique’s Hint of Flair (30–40 lashes per eye to give a light enhancement to length, volume, and curl); go for the Signature Set (65–85 lashes per eye—enough thicker, darker, perfectly contoured lashes to forget about mascara and curlers); or go all the way with the Glamour Girl—serious lash-batting power with 100–120 lashes per eye. These are guaranteed to get you noticed.

—Dylan Lauren

Lashtique
192 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10010
(718) 974-2821
Lash extensions $280–$525; house calls available for an additional fee.