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It only took 15 years after the inception of Caudalie, a French skincare line based entirely on grapes, for kin of a homegrown vintner to get with the program and invent his own products. For his Davi line, Carlo Mondavi (grandson of Robert Mondavi, of fine wine fame) just released four epicurean beauty concoctions each for men and women made from the fruit of pedigreed vines. Nine sets of discriminating eyes examine every single grape before it goes into Le Grand Cru, the line’s benchmark face cream. $175 for 2 oz, at Bergdorf Goodman... Fellow inebriant heir Kilian Hennessy recently entered the beauty biz, too. Arriving first from his By Kilian line is L'Oeuvre Noir, a collection of six fragrances adorned with the cursive-letter melodrama of a vampire novel written by a French poet. Flavored his, hers and orgy (for both), the gorgeous bottles come locked in black lacquer wood boxes lined with black satin, refillable from a one-liter fountain ($2500) that, in a nod to his heritage, resembles a cognac barrel. Our favorite scent is Cruel Intentions, of course, a woozy floral that wears a soft, velvety mask, but climaxes in a spike of woody heat, luring the mind to lascivious recess. $225 for 50 ml, at Printemps in Paris and Bergdorf Goodman in New York.
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When Jil Sander came out with its Style women's fragrance last year, folks were treated to a frolicky, floral brew, nothing like the label's other fragrances—or its garments, for that matter. Now, barely a year later comes Stylessence eau de parfum, a more intense, opulent and tenebrous interpretation of the original, created by perfumer Bernard Ellena. Gone is the fruity undercurrent, replaced by a musky thicket vibe. $70 for 30 ml, exclusively at Saks Fifth Avenue. Also available as a pink bath powder to sweeten your otherwise questionable bath water.
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If you’re like us, you think of serums and you think: sticky. You think of anti-aging mega-moisturizers and you think: greasy. You think of olive oil and you think: not on my face. So what lunatic would go for a product that’s all of the above? Well, we would, as long as it’s RéVive's Intensité Fluide Superbe. While we'd normally raise an eyebrow at any American company that would add an E at the end of everything, just to make it look fancy, this product has earned all its extra vowels. A true step forward in the field of age-defiance, the fluid’s barely leaves the geeky-chic dropper before instantly sinking in, thanks to nanospheres that boost cell-regenerating, leaving even the most weather- and bender-damaged skin silky and supple. $400 for 1 oz, at Barneys New York.
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Holiday collections and sparkle go hand in hand like vanilla custard crème and marshmallow whip: it’s really just too much. Fortunately, there's Laura Mercier. For a pretty face that doesn’t gleam like a four-year-old princess in drag, her sleek, limited-edition holiday Face Palette combines tasteful shimmer-lite shadows softened by smoky mattes, plus two delicate, balmy lippies and a forgiving blush in exclusive golden-harvesty fig and berry colors. $50 at Saks Fifth Avenue... On the other hand, when we do want to go over the top, we do it right. No pussyfooting around little pots of glitter, thank you—just give us the Goyard Makeup Case (left) that mega-makeup artist Gucci Westman stuffed full of 36 of Lancome’s best products. Of course, such a sacred union of Gs doesn't come cheap, so expect to fork over $18,000 to Bergdorf Goodman for the privilege.
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If the Detox Face Mask ($38), the latest hit from generic-chic apothecary line Malin + Goetz, were the invention of any other mad scientists, it’d be attacking you loudly from the advertising pages of every beloved snotty magazine. But no, the humble New York duo secretly hatched their evil plan to destroy everything you’ve ever thought about a face mask and kept it quiet—until now. One of the most inventive products of the year, the mask pumps out into a cream, then puffs up like fake snow in a tawdry winterland window display abd releases a faint whiff of marzipan. And poof! Like hair mousse, it oxidizes itself into thin air. Another shout-out to the nebulously sweet Neroli and Cannabis pair of candles ($48), as well as the Rum Hand Wash ($20), which provides a handy excuse (get it?) for smelling like booze.
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Hooray for our ravaged hair! It means we get to use Hamadi’s Healing Serum ($24 for 4 oz), a mostly organic and sensually fragranced potion boasting ylang-ylang essential oil to seal and shine the hair matrix. Available on their website or at Fred Segal in Los Angeles. And when our ends frizz out like dead dandelions, we reach for Joico’s KPak Split End Mender ($14.95), which actually fuses together divergent tips to further prolong a visit from the scissors.
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Shoptart
01, 22, 16. Nope, it’s not bingo night; it's the numerical filing system at Maison Martin Margiela. Adding to the mathematical fun is a new line of fine jewelry in absurdist proportions and scale. Also this month: Comme de Garçons for H&M, Louis Vuitton and more. By Franklin Melendez Message Boards
"Madonna starves herself on a raw macrobiotic kosher vegan kaballah diet and works out three hours a day to maintain the physique of a 12-year-old gymnast boy, and then has the cheeks of a 300-pound woman implanted into her face. And her forehead is like a plastic baby's bottom. It's like Nicole Kidman's forehead at the height of her botox addiction, and we all remember how unfortunate that era was."  Hint Shop
If Rad Hourani were writing this blurb, it would be over already. That's because, for the soon-to-explode French-Canadian designer, it's all about extreme minimalism. Thus, the concept behind this one-size-fits-all, unisex, sleeveless T-shirt—printed with the dates and times of a calendar—is that it can be worn by anyone, anytime. |
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