August 2010
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Anna Wintour is Charming in Miniature
In honor of Fashion’s Night Out, Brooklyn artist Andrew Yang created these limited edition rag dolls of Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington for Barney’s. The sweetly old-fashioned dolls have a wide-eyed Coraline aesthetic but a tailored uptown polish. Anna Wintour is infinitely more appealing in rag doll form - perhaps because Yang left off her trademark withering stare. As for Grace,...
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Beach Getaway Essentials
If there was a theme to this weekend’s Montauk getaway, it was SPF. (With biking and ice cream running a close second and third.) Friends had rented a big house, complete with kitschy nautical paraphernalia, just steps from the beach, and we hunkered down with plenty of books and board games. Makeup was forbidden but that doesn’t mean we came beauty empty-handed. Essentials:
Kate...
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Birchbox Update
Behind the scenes at video shoot #1
We’ve been busy.
1. We almost have a website. The folks at Copious have been working their tushes off on a new & improved Birchbox.com. In the process, we’ve been learning all about what goes in to creating a website. It’s not quite sausage but there are fun words that fly around: cookies, crumbs, and the like. Get excited - we are.
2....
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K-Town Field Trip
Face sheets in Korea Town
My friend Kim, the fabulously talented designer behind the Yumi Kim clothing line, is always perfectly pulled together. I’ve never seen her without immaculate eyeliner and blush, even on days when she’s dashing between showrooms, fabric shops, and the office. And so, when she has a beauty tip, I grab it and run. Her latest obsession is The Face Shop, a...
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Obsession: NARS Funny Face
Weeks ago, when it was too hot to even contemplate cold weather clothes, my most fashionable friend was already raving about J.Crew’s fall collection. The brand’s creative director, Jenna Lyons, has a loyal (nay, obsessive) fan club that covets her girly but chic mashups. The fall collection has Lyon’s trademark soft meets hard, tailored meets sparkly aesthetic but what we...
InStyle Thinks We're Genius (!) →
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Try it: Cake Liner Press Wiggle
Cake Liner Press Wiggle. That’s what Katia calls her favorite eyeliner application technique. I simply call it genius. You’ll need a flat, stiff brush and dry cake liner (Katia has a super special one from India but I like Laura Mercier). Dampen the brush with a little water and swipe it through the liner to pick up color. Now comes the exciting part: lifting up your top eyelid,...
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Name that Tool: Teasing Brush
During our shoot this week, Jeff Chastain demystified back combing for us (video to come). The technique is so easy (and the results so cute) that we were all inspired us all to buy teasing brushes. Available for less than $10, this boar bristle brush is the key to successfully backcombing hair for buxom ponytails and buns. Jeff says it’s possible to tease with regular fine-tooth combs but...
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Video Shoot Recap
Voiceover magic! Ben Spell and our improvised soundbooth
You may have noticed that our videos are of a much (much) higher quality than the average scrappy startup. The reason? Katia’s husband Greg and his company, Red Productions, have been bending over backward to help us. They’re the rock stars behind our snappy Master Highlighter video and sexy animation.
Yesterday, we had an...
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Lost in Sephora Land
Via Flickr
Last week, Thanh and I went to Union Square to meet with hair stylist Jeff Chastain, who is being kind enough to lend us his gorgeous penthouse salon for a video shoot. While we were waiting, we did what any self-respecting beauty peeps would do: headed to Sephora for market research. I hadn’t been in the beauty mega-store for awhile and had forgotten how intimidating it can...
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Friends with Style →
My friend Julia (she of the Chanel red lips) is Castor & Pollux’s latest fashion muse. And she’s a worthy one: the girl mixes vintage and indie designers with ease, throwing in little tailored equestrian prep for fun. She’s also a lipstick expert - not a week goes by without her telling me about her latest crimson or fuchsia find.
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Dear Birchbox: Dealing with Splotchy Skin
Dear Birchbox,
I’m getting over a cold and have to look picture-ready this weekend. Any tips for hiding red and splotchy?
Love,
Ashley
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Dear Ashley,
Colds are such a nuisance. Not only are you sneezy and snuffly, but your skin gets majorly irritated and flaky. We have just the thing for you. We’ve been testing Dermalogica’s latest line of results-oriented skincare...
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Obsession: Molton Brown Pink Pepperpod
I’m not usually one to go all spendy on bath products but I can’t resist Molton Brown. The UK company creates delicious scents with equally delicious brit-fab names (Blissful Templetree, anyone?). For years, my favorite has been the Re-Charge Black Pepper, their bestselling men’s scent that has a cult following among women too. It’s wonderfully spicy and clean without...
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AquaFresh Look, Modern Tech: Stila's One-Step...
Does this
remind you of this
?
Maybe it’s just me. But I digress. Stila is known for fun, innovative products — witness the mindblowing Custom Color Blush. (Do they just have a cadre of mad beauty scientists running quirky experiments around the clock?) Their latest, One-Step Correct, is a multitasking primer that uses classic color theory to address three skin woes: green neutralizes...
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Getting Lippy: Jouer Lip Enhancer
Counter-intuitive beauty truth: licking your lips makes them dry out. As someone with chronic parched lips, I am always on the lookout for a good lip balm. Criteria: non-sticky, lasting without being gummy, and low-grade shiny. My hall-of-fame includes Fresh’s Sugar Lip Treatment, Rosebud Salve, and good old-fashioned Chapstick. Lately, I’m adding a new balm to the rotation:...
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We Have Members!
With our new website still under construction, we’ve slowly started to roll out membership invitations. And the response has been amazing! So much so that we’re starting to get pretty nervous about promising to do a pushup for every new customer … we’re going to get pretty buff. And tired.
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All Tied Up: Katia's Runway-Inspired 'Do
What appears on the runway or a magazine spread is typically light-years from what you’d see in real life (though in New York you see some pretty ballsy outfits). But there’s nothing stopping you from using high fashion as inspiration for everyday looks. Case in point: Katia loved this ultraglam look (makeup by our fave artist, Nam Vo):
She immediately created her own version of the...
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Dear Birchbox: Brow Tinting
New York’s Warren Tricomi salon
Dear Birchbox,
Here’s a question for you: I’m thinking of getting my eyebrows tinted. Crazy idea? Where should I do it?
xo
Wide-Eyed in Manhattan
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Dear Wide-Eyed in Manhattan,
Eyebrow tinting is a fairly tricky thing and can be dangerous if not done properly. First things first, it should never - never - be done at home. If you’re...
