Luxist loves DKNY, and DKNY loves us, and our readers, right back. So much so that in celebration of the launch of a brand-new digital community for fans of DKNY fragrances, aka the DKNY Fragrance Facebook community, DKNY is sharing one bottle of Be Delicious, its first highlighted fragrance, with us to give away to one reader. Read more about DKNY Fragrances at the Delicious Core Club, which will house fresh content, interview series, behind-the-scenes, interactive contests, and more.
Log on, become a fan, and read all about the new community. Then to enter the contest, follow these rules:
* Leave a confirmed comment below.
* The comment must be left and confirmed no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on September 10, 2010.
* One entry per person. Multiple entries will be disqualified.
* One winner will be selected in a random drawing and notified by e-mail.
* One winner will receive one bottle of DKNY Be Delicious 5th Anniversary Edition eau de toilette, valued at $60.
* Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia.
There’s little we don’t love about cult-fave makeup line Le Métier de Beauté, but their latest collaboration, inspired by Marchesa’s Fall 2010 RTW line, takes the cake. Packaged in a sleek credit card-esque case, the gem of the collection is a compact perfect for a night on the town - pressed powder, concealer, lip gloss in a cherry shine (La Cerise Noir), a cream blush in a peachy pink (La Peche) and a blue-black shadow (Le Minuit). The design of the compact - a sleek mercurial silver hue - was even inspired by Sandra Bullock’s Marchesa dress for the 82nd Academy Awards. The collection also features highlighting and concealing pens, double-ended lip gloss and another mini compact.
“Each season,” explained Georgina Chapman, co-founder and designer of Marchesa, “Keren and I introduce a new collection, but with the classic and consistent signature that is Marchesa - we transport our customers back to a time when luxury fashion meant the best in tailoring, design, fabric, etc. When it came to launching a cosmetics collection, we wanted to do the same and we found immediately that Le Métier de Beauté shared these same core values.”
“The Collection takes the unparalleled textures and formulas Le Métier de Beauté is known for and transfixes them with the essence of Marchesa,” says Joanna Vorachek Austin, President of Le Métier de Beauté. “From the sleek packaging and the innovative formulas to the flawless application, the Marchesa for Le Métier de Beauté collaboration brings the best of both brands to the forefront of luxury.”
Make no mistake. The tidy little space where aesthetician Madeleine Friedrich does manicures, pedicures, facials, and waxing is something of a time warp. Her studio is on the second floor of an old building and looks as if nothing has been changed for at least 25 years. So why do high profilers who could easily book their bikini waxes at Bliss or Lucy Peters return month after month to this simple place. Friedrich, who has a PhD from her native Romania, is a perfectionist. She also knows more about waxing that probably anyone in Manhattan. Her secret: “take the root out,” she says showing a client the difference between waxes which break the hair and her special honey was treatment which evicts the hair roots from your skin.”Many clients have troubles with in-grown hair which has to be treated with special care,” she says
Working alone or with an assistant using only natural products, Friedrich specializes in Brazilian waxing but as one client says, “You get waxing and an hour’s psychotherapy all in one visit. Although she is a well-guarded secret among women and some men (clients’ boy friends or relatives only), she does facials and everything else the old-fashioned way. Many facial treatments today consist of multiple massages, creams, and masks. Not chez Friedrich. “I have a medical background so I do extractions with sterilized needles,” she explains adding that no one is going to leave her tiny studio with so much as a blackhead, an errant eyebrow, or less than perfect pedicure. Madeleine Europe Spa is at 1095 Second Avenue between 57th and 58th Street: by appointment only 212-593-5297.
QUA Baths & Spa at Caesars Palace Las Vegas is bringing new meaning to “reading the tea leaves” with their unique tea sommelier program. Every therapist at the spa is required to undergo a special training program, conducted over a four-month period, each focused on a different type of tea.
“Tea is the number two consumed beverage in the world,” said Chrystal King, QUA Spa Director. “We think of this program as … another form of education for our guests.”
Trainings focus on the practical - steeping times, proper water temperatures, and properties - as well as the historical background to each tea and the proper tea for certain conditions. At least twice yearly, therapists undergo updates to the treatments as new teas are added to the program.
Co-branded with Art of Tea, the spa offers 22 unique blends in categories like black, white, green and oolong to pair with the 72 different treatments on their spa menu. Some treatments, like the spa’s “Hourglass” signature service, aren’t branded with a specific tea, but therapists consult clients to design both a treatment program and a tea that will pair well with client’s specific requests.
For example, a client looking for a boost post-facial might opt for a collagen-enhancing white tea, says Angela Tedesco, the spa’s tea program director. Of course, they can also pair the teas with a specific concern unrelated to the treatment, Tedesco adds.
On a recent visit, my facial/massage combination was topped off by a detoxifying tea featuring ginger and lemon - the perfect Rx after a long night at the hotel’s famed nightclub, PURE.
Clients looking to take the relaxation home can also purchase the teas from the spa’s boutique.
The writer’s travel and expenses were sponsored by Harrah’s Entertainment, but her opinions are completely her own.
Is your skin in need of a little TLC after a long hot summer of gelatinous humidity and city soot? The spa at the Trump Soho has just the cure.
The newly opened spa has nine treatment rooms within its well-appointed 11,000 square feet, but what really sets it apart is its take on the hammam - the traditional bathhouses of Morocco and Turkey. The Trump folks claim it is one of just two authentic luxury hammams in the U.S. (the first being at the Mandarin Oriental in Las Vegas) and the only one in New York. Ok, apparently there are other hammams in the Big Apple, but none whose tiles and materials have been sourced exclusively from Turkey and Morocco or that feature a domed ceiling and tiny pinhole lights that mimic the pin pricks of natural light found in many traditional hammams.
So, on a late summer day, I headed to Soho to check it out. Stefan Drobel, assistant spa director for The Spa At Trump, led me through the spa, stopping at the Tepidarium, a chamber where one is supposed to warm up before entering the baths. The steam and sauna facilities, alas, are still awaiting a final green light from city health inspectors. Then it was on to my Turkish hammam treatment, which Stefan assured me would detoxify and purify my skin. I changed into a robe and was led to a black- and white-tiled room - one of two hammams at the spa. Wearing nothing but the disposable mesh undies provided, I was instructed to sit down on a heated marble “belly slab” (which is big enough to accommodate couples, if you so desire). The mosaic tiles shimmered in the dim light and the little pinholes of light glittered like stars in the sky. My “hammam attache,” Jenny, was wrapped in a towel from the waist down — my first clue to what was to come. She promptly commenced filling silver bowls with warm water and pouring them all over me. That simple act elicited a surprisingly soothing, almost primal, sensation of warmth, and I felt the tension in my body melting away. I laid down and more bowls of water cascaded upon me. Then she donned a slightly coarse “kesa” mitt and gently exfoliated my skin, first front, then back, and always followed by more nurturing water.
It was a beautiful day at the Curacao Marriott, and an hour-long massage had been booked for me at the spa. When I arrived at the spa, I was delighted to hear that my massage would take place right on the beach. How fabulous!
I followed my masseuse, who carried a large pile of towels, across the property. I assumed we’d be going to a secluded cabana somewhere, but as we continued walking, I found we were headed toward the side of the resort where my room was — and there was certainly no cabana there. We approached a sunlit area with a few ineffectual bushes and a gazebo-like structure (above) where I understand weddings are often held. Weddings, as in, declaring your love for all to see in public. We entered the gazebo and I examined the roof and sides. There were no shades, no blinds; there was absolutely no privacy. People were lying on the beach (and even on the deck) on three sides of the gazebo, and the fourth side faced the open ocean, where resort guests were swimming and playing paddleball. I pretended this was normal to me for as long as I could.
It was only after she had covered the table with towels and said, “Okay, lie on your stomach facing this way,” that I blurted out, “Um, I don’t have any clothes on under this robe, you know, right?”
Frank Miller, co-director of the super-stylish, ultra-violent 2005 film Sin City based on his neo-noir comics series of the same name, has produced a commercial for Gucci’s new Guilty fragrance. The latest in a line of fashion label film collaborations, it comes on the heels of Martin Scorsese’s video for Chanel’s new men’s fragrance that we wrote about the other day. The Gucci spot, set to debut Sept. 12, stars Evan Rachel Wood as a femme fatale with a passion for fast cars and handsome fellows, and a soundtrack by Friendly Fires. Done in the same black-and-white with slashes of color style as SIn City, the spot aims to position Guilty as the “scent of defiance”. The perfume comes in a gold-colored container featuring Gucci’s signature interlocking G’s motif.
Luxist Awards Expert Panelist Harry Slatkin is best known for the home fragrances he has created. Slatkin is founder of Slatkin & Co., the premier home fragrance brand celebrated for its scent experience and design (now a division of Bath & Body Works). He oversees product development for all the home fragrance brands under Bath & Body Works, the country’s largest bath and body retailer with over 1,650 stores.
In this video, Slatkin explains how to give home fragrances
as gifts.
“They are great because they last for so long,” he says. “Plus, it is a gift that people can enjoy instantly.”
Slatkin says he may bring a fragrant candle, long with a bottle of wine or a box of chocolates, but the candle will last longer than either of the other alternatives. “A box of chocolates might last a week, but a fragrant candle will last a lot longer.”
Slatkin explains how he goes about selecting the scents of the candles he gives to friends.
“I always try to think of the personality of the person, but I also make it seasonal,” says Slatkin. “If it is holiday time, I will give a scent that is more wintery, with tree-like scents. If it is spring time, I will select more floral scents like jasmine. If it is summer I will give cleaner scents.”
When you go to a spa, you expect a few nods to modesty — a private room, for instance, and artful draping of your naughty bits, which are usually Not to Be Touched. And while spas that cater to Westerners around the world do tend to observe these protocols, there are a few entirely legit spa treatments that make these modesty-preserving measures entirely counterproductive.
Here are five spa treatments for which you’ll just need to let it all hang out.
1.Turkish Hammam: A Turkish Hammam is sort of a like a communal bath, where you spend time in rooms of varying heat. The highlight is having your skin nearly flayed off with a loofah. (Some people call the resulting ribbons of removed skin “spaghetti”.) In a traditional hammam, this scrubbing is administered by a person wearing a bathing suit, and usually within few view of everyone else. My observation has been that people mostly avert their gaze from the scrubee, these are rarely attractive angles for anyone.
There are spas that offer a more modest variation on a hammam treatment. The spa at La Mamounia, for instance, has a shared steam room (which you enter wearing a bathrobe, leave it on or take it off as you wish), and then a private room for the scrub-a-dub, with private shower. The post-hammam moisturizer is applied in a communal relaxation room, so gaze aversion strategies are still a must if you don’t want to get an eyeful.
Just when I think I’ve seen it all in the “celebrity” fragrance world there’s something new. Now Smell This alerted me to the Star Wars Slave Leia perfume, one of two limited edition fragrances introduced at Star Wars Celebration V earlier this month. The Slave Leia is described as having notes of white peach, lily, bergamot, heliotrope, jasmine and musk. The bottle is adorned with a chain reminiscent of the ones Carrie Fisher wore (along with her metal bikini) when she was imprisoned by Jabba the Hutt. The other scent, for men, is Eau Lando, a tribute to the Lando Calrissian character played by Billy Dee Williams. It includes mandarin, incense, lotus flower, violet and musk. The scents sell for $39.99 each.
The world of luxury hair dryers just got a serious upgrade. Conair’s BaByliss Pro line has come out with the Volare model which uses real Ferrari parts. The Volare comes in two sizes, a medium and a compact one, and in two colors, black and Ferarri red. It is the world’s first professional luxury hair dryer driven by a Ferrari engine. The dryer has been constructed to maximize its airflow for fast drying and comes with a one-year guarantee and ann extension of the one-year guarantee on engine. The AC V12 engine is 2200 watts and it has a very long life, up to 2000 hours. The dryer’s turbo shot boosts airflow pressure up to 15 percent. It sells for around $400 and is for pros only.
Odin New York has a new fragrance, Odin EDT 04 Petrana. Presented in a simple bottle with crisp, functional lines and colored a spicy, mesmerizing shade of brown, it’s meant to evoke a Jordanian desert landscape covered in blooming black iris. The scent starts off with base notes of wild orris root, earthy vetiver, and white musk, leads into middle notes of black iris, violet leaf absolute, and garden heliotrope, and finishes with top notes of deep purple cassis, pink pepper, and herbaceous coriander. Sounds like a unique scent experience to be sure. $110
Traditionally in the world of spa and beauty treatments the most exotic treatments have been the most luxurious, but recently the local food craze has spread to the spa world and the demand for treatments using locally grown fruits and herbs has increased dramatically. The Ojai Valley Inn in California is a good example, it offers a Pixie Tangerine & Pomegranate Scrub for $145 that involves using locally grown tangerine halves to scrub the body with a sugar-based exfoliant mixture. “When they put this stuff on, I can smell fresh juice,” said one guest.
It’s that freshness, along with feelings of social responsibility and a love for unique experiences that’s driving the trend. “People don’t necessarily want to have the same experience in Florida as they have in New York as they have in California as they have in Dubai,” says spa consultant Matt Wuttke. And because locally sourced spa treatments support nearby farmers and reduce the carbon footprints of transported goods there’s even more warm fuzzies to be had from what is often considered a guilty indulgence. The only downside? In many parts of the country ‘local’ also means ’seasonal’ so you’re favorite Elderberry Facial ($190, Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake) probably isn’t available year round.
Pop star Katy Perry is following in the footsteps of Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce and so many others by launching her own fragrance. Katy Perry Purr was inspired by Perry’s love of cats and a catwoman costume she wore on tour. An early report from WWD indicates we’ve got another fruit bomb on our hands, the scent will have peach, apple, jasmine, freesia, Bulgarian rose, vanilla, orchid, white amber, green bamboo, sandalwood and musk notes. The cat-shaped bottle will have jeweled eyes and metallic accents. Pow, sounds as sweet as the whipped cream bra she sported in her “California Gurls” video. The scent will cost $36-$65 and will be available at Nordstrom this fall.
I’m really tragically neglectful of my skin in-flight, and as the sands of time have certainly not stopped flowing just for me, I am aware this habit requires changing. So when Naturopathica offered to send me this product to test on my next trip, I readily accepted.
Still, I nearly forgot all about it — it was only after I popped my sleep aid that I remembered to remove my eyeshade, and hastily applied some of this serum to my eye regions. It’s thick but not goopy, and smells like chamomile — it has “cape chamomile”, grown in South Africa, which is meant to be an anti-inflammatory.
When I fell asleep I dreamt that I was actually supposed to put it on my feet. But that was just a dream.
When I arrived in Morocco, I inspected my under eye area. It looked pretty good — I lacked the punched-in-both-eyes look that I typically sport after less than five hours sleep, and those little lines that I assert come from a life filled with laughter seemed less evident.
The rest of my skin, on the other hand, was, in patches, dry and blotchy. The overall effect was rather Picasso-esque. If this cobalt blue 15 ml tube of eye serum will live permanently in my zip-top bag, I probably will have to extend my in-flight skin care regime a great deal beyond the under-eye border.
Model-turned-actress Diane Kruger will be the face of Calvin Klein’s newest fragrance, “Beauty.” The fragrance’s notes are a mystery, and will remain so until fall, when the line launches. Kruger will star in the global print and television advertising campaign. Here’s a sneak peek at the ad. Kruger, known for her style perhaps more so than for her acting, also is the face of L’Oreal Paris, representing the brand’s hair care, hair color, and makeup, in particular its latest foundation, Mat’Morphose.
Luxury health care? You don’t hear the term very often. From a social perspective it is a bit of a tricky concept. To imply that some types of health care and medical treatments are ‘excessive’ and for the well-to-do only seems to contrast with the humanitarian concepts of treating the ill or injured. In fact, luxury heath care has been around for eons. The tonics a king would drinks, the ointments of an emperor. Things not necessarily meant to cure, but enhance or enliven.
Today luxury health care often falls under the category of “elective procedures.” A rather tedious concept probably coined by insurance companies. It implies that you don’t need it, or rather that the patient, versus the doctor is prescribing the treatment or procedure. We often look down upon things like cosmetic surgery publicly - although it is so much a common practice world wide. So back to the initial question - are such ‘elective procedures’ all that is encompassed under the umbrella of luxury health care? No. In fact luxury health care is probably what health care should be in an ideal world. Proper attention, good doctors, and the time taken to properly diagnose and treat, whatever the problem may be - whether it is necessary to sustain life, or elective to enhance it.
I travel to Switzerland and visit the Clinique La Prairie (CLP) to see if I can answer my question about luxury and health care. The Clinique is a rather famous (if you swing in the right circles) “wellness center” that has been around for about 80 years. Located right on Lake Geneva in Montreux Switzerland, CLP is nestled away in a small, but highly desirable location near France. The beginnings of the Clinique are rather retro sci-fi in concept. I will let CLP give you its full history, but a doctor had an interesting idea of injecting people with young organ cells collected from sheep. The theory was that these early organ cells would stimulate cellular rejuvenation and offer a series of “wellness” benefits meant to make you feel younger and stimulate the immune system. Sounds a bit mad scientist-ish, but people much more picky than I swear by it.
Paris Hilton has quite the perfume empire. The indomitable heiress is releasing her tenth scent this month. Tease was inspired by another showy blonde, Marilyn Monroe. The box features a black and white image of Paris posed as a blonde bombshell. The pictures were shot in Los Angeles by Tony Duran. “I am all about being alluring, but with a wink, and a fun, fresh take on all that is enticingly feminine about a woman today,” says Hilton in a press release.
Tease is a good name for this scent, it’s not a sugar slam like many of her other scents. Sure, the fruity sweetness is there but it comes on soft in a powdery whisper. The scent starts with fruity notes of fresh Fuji apple, sunny sea mist accord, white peach nectar and Sparkling Bergamot. The heart is full of white florals: frangipani petals, night-blooming jasmine and creamy tuberose. Even the base is soft, winding up with golden amber, blonde woods and warm sand accord. It would be hard to dislike this one, Hilton has called the scent sweet and flirty and it is but like a flirt it disappears before you have time to really consider it, leaving behind just a fluffy warm memory.
The scent was created for Parlux by Steve DeMercado who has spent 20 years in the perfume business.
I’ve had my sniff, want yours? I’m giving away my 3.4 ounce review bottle which retails for $55.
* To enter, leave a confirmed comment below.
* The comment must be left and confirmed before July 23, 2010 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
* You may only enter once.
* One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
* One winner will receive one 3.4 ounce Paris Hilton Tease eau de parfum valued at $55.
* Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia.
You can get a facial at almost any spa, and even in some nail and hair salons. But will it be platinum?
If you visit the spa at the Ritz-Carlton in NYC, it can be. Since the spring, the spa has been offering The Platinum Rare Facial, a 90-minute treatment that is priced at $410, typically including product samples. Add a 20% tip and you’re at $500.
According to the “Vain Glorious” department in The New York Times’s T Magazine, “This ultra-pampering facial is more like a spa manicure and pedicure, massage and facial in one. It’s performed by both a nail technician and an aesthetician — the former soaks, scrubs and swathes the extremities in the brand’s lavish products while the latter massages the neck and shoulders in between steps of the main event: a customized facial using La Prairie’s Platinum Collection (including Cellular Cream Platinum Rare, which retails for $650 per ounce).”
Before the treatment, guests are invited to relax in the upscale locker room and lounge, outfitted with cool and soothing marble, a steam room with a tub of ice and cucumbers waiting outside, and a corner with chairs, fresh fruit, and dried snacks. Then guests select the music they wish to be played during the treatment. The signature seems to be the application of Cellular Cream Platinum Rare at the end of what the the Ritz calls “an experience that transcends the ordinary in every way with age-defying benefits.”
The Terranea Resort in Palos Verdes, California isn’t just a place to go visit for a getaway, it now also offers boot camp classes. The Terranea’s Boot Camp Resort Package offers an hour-long, “military-style” workout that makes use of the resort’s 102 coastal acres, followed by access to Terranea’s luxurious oceanfront spa facilities for a relaxing post-workout cool down.
The workout begins at the fitness center at 6 a.m. where participants warm-up with traditional calisthenics by the pool deck. After that either a short jog to get to the next location or, on a particularly hard day, lunges up a steep coastal hill. The class eventually makes its way down to the beach cove to begin speed and agility drills in the sand. Along the way, the class stops at various points for a variety of exercises including tricep dips, push-ups and sprints. The class concludes back at the fitness center where participants are guided through mat work targeting abs and arms, followed by stretching.
After the workout, participants can grab a meal at the spa café or enjoy the steam, sauna, swimming pool, outdoor hot tub and cold plunge. For an additional fee, guests can order services including massage, body treatments and facials.
Terranea’s Boot Camp is offered throughout the year in six-week intervals with the next session beginning July 26, 2010. The program is open to both resort guests and non-guests who can either drop by for a single workout or participate regularly throughout the session. Participants can purchase either the Basic Boot Camp which is workout only for $20 per session, $325- three days a week for six weeks and $395- five days a week for six weeks. The Resort Style Boot Camp with spa access cost $40 for a daily drop-in with $650 for three days a week for six weeks or $795- for five days a week for six weeks.
Luxist Giveaway: DKNY Be Delicious Fragrance originally appeared on Luxist on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Make no mistake. The tidy little space where aesthetician Madeleine Friedrich does manicures, pedicures, facials, and waxing is something of a time warp. Her studio is on the second floor of an old building and looks as if nothing has been changed for at least 25 years. So why do high profilers who could easily book their bikini waxes at Bliss or Lucy Peters return month after month to this simple place. Friedrich, who has a PhD from her native Romania, is a perfectionist. She also knows more about waxing that probably anyone in Manhattan. Her secret: “take the root out,” she says showing a client the difference between waxes which break the hair and her special honey was treatment which evicts the hair roots from your skin.”Many clients have troubles with in-grown hair which has to be treated with special care,” she says 
o “reading the tea leaves” with their unique tea sommelier program. Every therapist at the spa is required to undergo a special training program, conducted over a four-month period, each focused on a different type of tea. 
Luxist Awards Expert Panelist 
Just when I think I’ve seen it all in the “celebrity” fragrance world there’s something new. 
Traditionally in the world of 
