How toally freaking rad is this editorial from Vogue Germany? Polish model Magdalena Frackowiak has one of the best heads of hair I've ever seen. Who knows if it's all hers, but it hardly matters. I love shoots like this — why not let hair steal the show? The fashion's cool too (hello, sequin suit), but all the action is clearly happening up top.
Speaking of awesome hair, I'm really digging Chloe Sevigny's new bob in the campaign for Korean brand Tomboy. In fact, I might have to copy it for summer.
Can't get enough of this wickedly beautiful editorial from FASHIONTREND, an Australian quarterly magazine. The unabashedly kinky '80s hair, jet-black eye makeup and agressive accessories feel so modern and bold. And it still mantains an all-over glamorous vibe.
Have you ever thought about getting a perm? I still remember, quite clearly, in 1993 when my best friend, Sam, permed her hair. She looked so cool. Back then, my hair wasn't thick enough to be eligible, but now it's filled out and I've consider committing to curly. In fact, a few haircuts ago, I asked my stylist what she thought, but she said that because I color my hair, I can't perm it too. It'd get fried and could possibly fall out — in other words, the stuff of nightmares. Not worth the risk, if you ask me.
Oh man. I just stumbled across the Environmental Working Group's database of beauty products tonight and it scared the hell out of me. Why aren't more news outlets writing about this? The EWG, a DC-based nonprofit that advocates for health-protective policies, has rated the safety of over 69,000 products on a scale of 1-10 based on their chemical ingredients, and let me just say, the results are SHOCKING. For example:
Softlips Vanilla Lip Protectant SPF 20 lives in my pocket. I use it probably 10 times a day. I wrote about it here. Apparently it contains a bunch of ingredients linked to cancer, developmental and reproductive toxicity, allergies and other scary stuff! I had no idea! Granted, I've never looked at the ingredients before, but even if I had, they're just a bunch of weird 12-letter chemicals that don't tell me anything. I guess that should've been my first warning.
How is this possible, you guys? We live in the United States, a relatively safe, first-world country. Surely the government wouldn't let us unwittingly poison ourselves.
Wishful thinking. The beauty industry isn't regulated in the same way as the food and drug industry (which definitely gets away with selling us some shady stuff in its own right). In fact, companies can legally market a product as organic without it actually being organic, which would mean it's been certified by the US Department of Agriculture. Watch this video:
Think about all the creams, serums, soaps and sprays you use every day. Without realizing it, many of them are full of toxic chemicals that could be the reason you develop breast cancer when you're 50 or give birth to a baby with developmental problems or suddenly develop a new allergy. This is serious shit, you guys!
I strongly recommend searching for your beauty products in the EWG's cosmetics database. You can read about the safety of each ingredient. Here are some other popular products that got scary ratings:
I'm kind of freaking out about this. How am I possibly going to stop using SoftLips? I just bought three new tubes! I can't bring myself to look up any of my other favorite products. Not until I can come up with a game plan (and the funds) to switch to an all organic regiment.
This feels rather overwhelming. I've always known that beauty products contain tons of weird chemicals, but I've never known just how ridiculously COMMON it is for so many MAJOR brands to use ingredients that are directly linked to health concerns. Cancer, you guys! Birth defects!
I took in a bit of Aveda's 2011 Congress at the Minneapolis Convention Center on Sunday. It's the brand's annual hair show, demonstrating the latest trends, products and techniques to thousands of stylists, all dressed in black.
This was my first time at Congress, so I didn't really know what I was doing. I showed up right at the start of the show — 9:30 AM — not realizing that it goes all day and culminates in a big, theatrical spectacle. So, I only saw some of the first few demos and models. It was still super interesting though! The updos and colors were particularly striking.
Half the fun of attending the shows at New York Fashion Week is dressing up and getting snapped by street fashion photographers, which happens pretty much every time you walk in and out of Lincoln Center (at least if you're wearing something interesting). But it's impossible to keep track of which photographer is shooting for which blog/magazine/website.
Most notably, I was shot by Tommy Ton for Style.com (I recognized him, and he only shot my torso — his signature move — while I was wearing this outfit) and by Marco Scozzaro for Vogue.it, but neither of the photos made it online. I now have Scozzaro's business card though, which features a photo of a naked fat man on one side.
Here are a couple shots I've managed to find:
This one's from BeautyBlitz.com, a national beauty website. They wrote:
"You could spot Mary O'Regan's vibrant red hair from a mile away. She accessorized with a vintage scarf tied as a headband and a rosy lipstick - the perfect combination!"
I'm flattered to be featured alongside some of my favorite bloggers, including Kelly Framel of The Glamourai and Christina Caradona of Trop Rogue. My entire outfit is vintage, except for the necklace, which is by Bionic Unicorn.
The shot above was taken by Mayuko, a Japanese fashion blogger. She wrote:
"I first missed her in taking a photograph. However when I saw her again, I spoke to her immediately. She is very fashionable, she knows how to match her clothes and also she is a fashion blogger."
This outfit is also all vintage, except for the same Bionic Unicorn necklace, which — let's face it — I wear with everything. I'm actually wearing it with a t-shirt as I write this!
Monday, January 30, 2012 at 10:23PM 
