Hat's All, Folks

A hat is one of the best ways to prevent sun damage to your face (along with sunscreen, natch!). But it always seemed somewhat dorky in a "Britney Spears rockin' the cowgirl hat trend way too long" kind of way.

Well, celebs are coming to the rescue, with a plethora of top toppers they've been toting all over the globe–Cameron Diaz in L.A. with her man Paul Sculfor at the Getty Center, Uma Thurman's fiancé, Arpad Busson in Saint-Tropez trying to stay wrinkle-free for their wedding, and Beyoncé watching Jay Z at the Glastonbury festival.

And hats are taking over TV-Land, too. Even Blair Waldorf seems to be on board; that's Chuck Bass's chapeau she's stolen in a scene from upcoming Season Two of Gossip Girl, filming now in the Hamptons.

Animal Retraction

Remember on Friday when Lilly Allen and I asserted that the only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize? Well, the pink bow sported by Maui, Ashley Tisdale's pup, at L.A.X. this weekend clearly proves us wrong. We'll have to discover some other distinction...like opposable thumbs or the ability to speak. In the meantime, Maui, our sincere apologies for underestimating you. Lookin' good.

Give Us Some Lip--Please!

Has the recession now caused a lipstick shortage? Why are so many gorgeous girls out and about wearing lipstick the color of Silly Putty? Trust us, a hint of colored gloss never hurt anybody.

Have You Notithed...

an increase in lisping lately? It may be that those late-onset speech impediments are a result of Invisalign, the plastic non-braces braces that grownups are wearing to perfect their teeth. You really can't see them at all (check out the comparison to old-school braces on the right)...but sometimes, you can hear them as wearers occasionally sound like Cindy Brady. Still, everyone and their very lovely mother seems to be wearing them...and if Invisalign had existed back in the day it might have made puberty a whole lot of easier for some of us!

Weekend Poll: Just Wondering...

as I head out to enjoy this June, and undoubtedly wedding-filled, weekend, how many of you have been 'maids to a Bridezilla so controlling she specificed what nail polish you should wear on fingers and toes?

Extra pity points if she insisted on the dreaded French Pedicure...

If YOU are said Bridezilla, look ashamed! And find solace in the company of others at www.bridezilla.com.

Matchy, Matchy

Did Lilly Allen coordinate her lips to her hair or vice versa? Can you be too matchy matchy when it involves your hair? Or is this just an extreme interpretation of the classic Steel Magnolias aphorism, "The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize"?

Out, Out, Damn Spot!

Not to get all Lady MacBeth on you, but summer does drive me a little crazy. Why? Because while I love, love, love the sun, I hate hate, hate my melasma. For those of you who don't know, melasma (from melani, the Greek word for ink--now go impress your friends with that tidbit!) is a big brown spot of sun damage that is caused by hormonal-induced sensitivity to the sun; women often get it when they're pregnant or on the pill.

But the thing is, I bet most of you do know what it is because so many women have it. Mine looked like a world map on my forehead (see photo, above; it's particularly visible here because I was in the sunlight). I had it lasered off (thank you, Fraxel laser!) but now I have white spots in its place, and they show up even more in the sunlight. As a result, I live in fear of the sun, even though I slather myself with mexoryl, helioplex, titanium dioxide–any UVA and UVB blocking ingredient they've come up with, I've slapped on my face. And most women I know in their late 20s/early 30s suffer from some form of it, although I didn't really notice adults having it when I was a kid.

Is there a melasma epidemic? Al Gore, is this global warming thinking globally but acting locally, all over my forehead? Do any of you out there suffer from it, and if so, have you found any solutions? If so, PLEASE, I beg of you, write in and let me know what they are. And if you have a happy ending, send in a photo–I've shown you mine now you show me yours...

Is It Shampoo or Is It Salad Dressing?

Not even her hair dresser will know for sure. At summer's end, we'll be seeing an organic harvest...of hair care, fragrances (excuse me, aromas), lip balms, and body washes from Intelligent Nutrients, the latest brainchild of Horst Rechelbacher, who founded (and later sold) Aveda. Horst is a purist; he's sick of the "greenwashing" going on in the beauty industry where products call themselves "natural" and "organic", but there's no real governing body to police them. "Certified Organic" labels are reserved only for foodstuffs–so Horst developed these personal care products using food grade ingredients.

He's also a control freak, bless him; most of the ingredients are grown on his own farm. The hair cleanser alone contains apple fruit water, and seed oils from black cumin, pumpkin, red grape, red raspberry and cranberry.

Last but not least, he's a bit of a showman. Demonstrating his theory that anything you put on your skin your should be willing to put in your mouth, he drank his own hair spray at the line's product launch. I became a convert right then and there; when he drank the hairspray, I drank the Kool-Aid.

Thirsty? You can reserve your hairspray now on their website Intelligent Nutrients.

Stroll Down Memory Lane: Do You Remember Your First?

My mother has a theory that every woman remembers what she weighed on the day she was married. I've seen her ask a table of women whose weddings were two or three decades ago and they are able to come right up with a number. I'm hoping we've come a long way from being that weight-obsessed, baby.

But I do have a little theory of my own: that every woman can remember the name of the first lipstick she ever bought. Mine, which my best friend discovered and turned me on to during freshman year, was Revlon Fawn Fatale. The company no longer makes the shade (or the long, slim, early '90s packaging it came in), but I found out from Makeup Junkie's archives that L'Oreal has their own Fawn Fatale, so I might have to try it and see if you actually can go home again.

But enough about me. What was YOUR first lipstick?

Eau de Summer

We're grateful to Coppertone. Not only did the company launch Jodie Foster's career (She's not the butt-baring baby in this ad, contrary to popular opinion, but she did have her first acting job at the age of three in a TV commercial for the brand).

But even more important, without Coppertone, how would we know what the beach smells like? We would think the shore smelled like fish or salt, when we all know it's really a magical, cocoa buttery delight. The imagined smell of the beach is our second favorite in the world (after clean laundry) and right now we're loving a more sophisticated version of that scent, Fire Island by Bond No. 9. When it came out last summer the fragrance was marketed as unisex–I guess some men want to relive their summers as a lifeguard. But we, dear reader, are a lady and we are wearing it all over town. And to our surprise, there's no cocoa butter in it at all, just cardamom, neroli, white musk, skin musk (whatever that is), tuberose and patchouli. We'll have to abandon it come fall, but we'll return to it every season. After all, a lady always feels good in a classic–just try and talk Jodie out of her Armani's.

Lunchtime Poll: Just asking

Would you let your husband wear as much eye liner as you do?

Would you make him stop once he becomes your babydaddy?

Karolina, You Still Rock a Pool Party

We were a little down about all the hoopla surrounding those Brazilian newspapers calling Karolina Kurkova fat after her appearance in a fashion show last week. We were even more depressed when the readers of the Huffintonpost seemed to agree.

And then, this morning, we found this comment, posted on the HP by Kestrel9000 of Fall River, Mass: "This hacks me off more than I can adequately express in polite company. I live in Fall River, MA, where there are a lot of Portuguese people, and I am a butt-watcher. Sheer joy. One tendency I've noticed about those Portuguese ladies' posteriors in general, they swing when they walk! Baby got BACK! THIS IS AS IT SHOULD BE!!!!!!
And my superficial is healthier than that other superficial. OK?
I never really did go after skinny girls. It just looks fake and unhealthy to me.
FEED THOSE WOMEN, DAMN IT! FEED THEM!!!!!"

If we had a nickel for every time we thought "my superficial is healthier than that other superficial, OK?" we'd have the $30 we need to buy the Clarins Self-Tanning Gel that reminds us why tan love handles look better than love handles. But since we don't, we'll just remember Kestrel's advice that sometimes a little jiggle is the best beauty accessory there is. Kestrel, we'll see you at the beach. And yes, we will have some fries with that shake!

My Heart Will Go On–But Not My Jowls

Kate Winslet is a good friend. When her Titanic co-star Leonardo di Caprio had to shave his post-millennial facial hair to be period-appropriate for their upcoming flick Revolutionary Road (the pair pay a unhappily married couple in the clean-shaven world of 1950s suburbia), he was feeling a little, well, puffy. (It happens to the best of us, Leo!) So she turned him on to Tracie Martyn, the British-born, New York-based aesthetician whose re-sculpting facials use massage and mild electric current to lift and smooth saggy skin. (The best/worst part of the treatment is midway through the facial, when the aesthetician holds up a mirror and your face is uneven–half is smooth and sculpted and the rest is sag city.) Leo loved it so much that he's put Martyn in touch with Vegas bigwigs who are looking to bring her electrifying machines and organic products to the Strip.

How do we know this? Well, maybe we were walking into Tracie Martyn when Kate was walking out, having had her face, and, perhaps, her body sculpted. (One friend of ours has been known to get her butt "lifted" before a bikini vacation.) And maybe we're good listeners. And good watchers–if you must know, Kate looked so good, with her tousled blonde hair and "serious actress" reading glasses that it almost hurt to see her.

The flick won't come out until December. But when you notice Leo looking surprisingly chiseled, remember us!

Flying the Liquid-Free Skies

Am I the only person who thinks that FAA regulations penalize women? And do I have to stop calling myself a feminist if I admit that I simply have more liquid lotions and potions to pack when I go on my summer vacay than the average man does when he goes on his? But enough complaining. (I know, if I whine about the time the customs officials seized my Art Luna Healthy Highlights, the terrorists win. But it was such a magical product–it's like Sun-In for grown-ups, and when it was discontinued I bought five tubes to hoard. And it was my. last. one. Sigh.)

Anyway, I'm trying to move on and be positive and proactive, like the pioneer women who dyed their clothes with berries and whatnot. Only instead of berries, I hunt and gather products that act like liquids, only aren't. My latest find was a tip from celebrity makeup artist Tina Turnbow: Too Faced Mineral Water. Here's the twist: it's a pencil. An eye brightening pencil, so it acts like a tube of liquid concealer only it cools the skin as it covers dark spots and blemishes. And because it's a solid, it doesn't take up any room in the Ziploc baggie that has to contain all of life's other little necessities. Like lip gloss and moisturizer.

Oprah's Got Bigger Fish to Fry

Personally, I kind of wish she had run for president. But Perez Hilton seems to be somehow offended by Oprah's bunions. Having taken a close look at the photo, we say, kudos on the lovely pedicure, O! Anyone whose toes look that good (and in a dark color, too) is on top of her game; clearly the bunions must not bother her enough to have them removed.

What was more interesting to me than the photo...or even the fact that Oprah took her shoes off while leaving a benefit in London Wednesday night (and who hasn't)...were the readers' comments about their own bunions and surgeries. Thanks to Gerti for her tip about Yogatoes easing bunion pain–it's worth a try. This is what we love. Bloggers soothing each others beauty woes. And, once again, somehow, we owe it all to Oprah.