Month of hair

This Month of Hair Calendar features a gorgeous hair idea every day this month. Today's the last day, so get inspired! Genius. xoxo

DIY wedding hair: Pretzel braid

I'm excited to share another hair tutorial! My friend (and hair genius) Caroline adores this gorgeous pretzel braid, which she says is easy enough for brides to do themselves. So, we met at our favorite wedding shop, and Jamie Beck took photos. Doesn't her hair look breezy and romantic?

Here are Caroline's steps, if you'd like to try it out...
"I have a friend who was an Irish dancer, and she would always wear her hair in amazing elaborate braids. This one is not-too-fussy (my favorite way to wear my hair) and would look so pretty for an evening wedding or outdoor summer party."--Caroline

1. Start by making two pigtails, using rubber bands. Make them a bit higher up on your head.

2. Braid both pigtails...

3. ...and secure ends with a rubber band.

4-6. Remove the top rubber bands from the pigtails.

7. Cross one braid over the other.

8. Starting with the braid that's now on top, create a sort of "C" shape and pin. It doesn't have to be precise; you just want to have a nice curved shape from the braid.

9. Make the same curved shape with the other braid and pin. Curve it up and over the top of the braid you just pinned down.

10. Ultimately, you want to get a nice sort of pretzel or knot shape from the two braids. Tuck the ends of both braids behind the knot and pin them down securely.
Voila! Isn't it gorgeous? Would you wear it to your wedding (or a summer party)? This is one of my favorite hair tutorials of all time! Please ask any questions in the comments below; the instructions are a little tricky...

P.S. Seven genius hair ideas.

(Photos by Jamie Beck for Cup of Jo. In the step-by-step photos, Caroline is wearing an Eberjey robe. In the wedding photos, Caroline's wedding dress is by Ivy & Aster from Lovely, a gorgeous bridal boutique in the West Village. Her jewelry is from her own line, Brvtvs, and her lip color is lipstick is NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Damned.

Found! The perfect wedding nail polish

I finally found the perfect pink. You know how pink polishes can end up looking grey, which makes your nails look dull? Instead, I wanted something bright, clean and pretty--finally, when my friend Elizabeth came to visit this month, she told me about Fiji, and it's beautiful. Honestly, this sounds ridiculous, but every time I look down at my toes, I feel a little thrill.

Now I wear it everyday, and if I were getting married all over again, I would wear this in a heartbeat! I'd highly recommend it, ladies. :)

Wednesday giveaway!

Today's giveaway is near and dear to my heart. LovingEco is an amazing new flash-sales site, like Gilt Groupe, focusing on eco-friendly and natural fashion and beauty brands, at discounts of up to 70% off.

This week, their sale is a huge discount on Josie Maran Cosmetics. (I wear her concealer and blush everyday!) Josie created her signature line of responsible, Argan Oil-based skincare and cosmetics after the birth of her daughter. So, the giveaway winner will receive a set of Josie Maran Cosmetics, including an eyeshadow kit, mascara and lip stain.

To enter, become a member on LovingEco and tell us your favorite item from their sales in the comments below. A winner will be chosen at random on Sunday (so you have four days). Good luck! xo Update: Lariss Walker is our winner. Thanks for playing.

Do or don't: Guys with beards

When Alex accidentally grew a beard three years ago (he had the flu), I told him he looked rugged and handsome. Surprised, he said I was the only women he'd ever known who actually liked beards. But doesn't everyone love a good scruff? I'm curious: Do you prefer guys with beards or definitely not?

Today Alex wrote an article about what it feels like for a guy to have a beard. It was funny to hear a man's perspective! Read it here, if you'd like.

P.S. Before and after.

The reason why Sarah Palin constantly places the importance of appearance over substance revealed!

For those who have often wondered why Klondike Kardashian wears unnecessary glasses to disguise her lazy eye, receives occasional cosmetic surgery to improve her appearance, and periodically dons a padded bra to accentuate the "girls" (And how THAT could possibly help her politically), this study should provide an "aha" moment for you.

Courtesy of the Science Blog:

Using data from the 2006 U.S. Senate and governors’ races, the study shows that for every 10-point increase in the advantage a candidate has when rated by voters on his or her looks, there will be a nearly 5 percent increase in the vote for that candidate by the uninformed voters who are most firmly planted on their couches. Yet that same advantage in looks is worth only about a 1 percent increase among low-information voters who watch little television.

“It’s not that this effect influences all voters exactly the same way,” says Chappell Lawson, an associate professor of political science at MIT and a co-author of the study. “Voters who watch a lot of television but don’t really know much about the candidates, besides how they look, are particularly susceptible.”

In other words you don't HAVE to demonstrate any intelligence, or hide your batshit craziness too carefully if you can throw on enough high definition make up, tease you hair, and pump up your boobies, to look like this:

All the simple minded, couch potatoes need to know in order to throw their support behind Sarah Palin is that with the right lighting and makeup she can make herself look like somebody they would want to masturbate to.

Or dress up to look like.

Or dress up to look like and THEN masturbate to.

And it seems to work.  The first thing you hear repeated over and over again about Palin is how attractive she is, as if that were the single most important factor in choosing a person to lead this country.  Everything else that her supporters cite as reasons to support her are a litany of talking points about freedom, taking back this country, and making government smaller, all of which sounds as if they read it off of the back of a red, white, and blue box of Frosted Freedom Flakes.

However what is obvious is that if Palin were not able to make herself look like a Constitution misunderstanding, Civil War re-enacting, Teabagger's wet dream, she would NEVER have received the kind of attention and blind allegiance that she has enjoyed thus far.

Well hell, if you can't beat'em you might as well join'em!

I give up. If all anybody wants to know about Sarah Palin is what she LOOKS LIKE I might as well give the public what they want.

So without any further ado here is Sarah Palin in all of her glory for you Teabaggers to feast your eyes upon.

No, no, no don't bother thanking me, I know when I am beat.

After viewing the above images of their idol (By the way just so you all know NONE of those were photoshopped in any way), I am positive that the Palin supporters admiration and support for Sister Sarah has now become all encompassing.

Poor Barack Obama. The super competent, unbelievably intelligent, goofy eared bastard never had a chance.

Temporary tattoos!

These days, I'm smitten with all the clever tattoos out there, but I'm too wussy to get a permanent one. So I was THRILLED to discover tatt.ly, a new online shop offering awesome, designy temporary tattoos.

Which would you wear?

Sarah and Bristol Palin prove we learn what we live.

Are there any among us who doubt that THIS...

has EVERYTHING to do with this?

When we are raised to believe that appearances are everything, and it feeds our insecurities about ourselves, is there ANYTHING that we would not do to feel comfortable in our own skin?

Sexy eyebrows (yes, eyebrows)

Oh my goodness, how gorgeous are these dramatic eyebrows? When I saw these stunning photos of Oscar de la Renta's recent runway show, my jaw dropped. Makeup artists often insist that eyebrows are the most important part of your look, since they frame your face and can make your eyes look bigger and make your face look younger. Wouldn't you love to recreate these sexy bold brows for a night out?

Happily, my make-up artist friend Suzy Gerstein shared the two steps to getting the look: "The secret to a gorgeous full brow is to layer products. First, sketch in any sparse areas with hairlike flicks of a brow pencil. Use the skinniest, pointiest pencil you can find, so your drawn-in 'hairs' will look natural. My favorite is the Kevyn Aucoin Precision Brow Pencil. Then layer a powder color over the pencil. Two colors that work well for brows: MAC eye shadow in Brun (for brunettes) and Concrete (for blondes)."

What do you think, my lovelies? Would you dare? xoxo

(Photos by Jamie Beck. A similar red lipstick is Rouge Dior in Red Muse)

Do or don't: Pale skin this summer

As summer approaches, I usually get a little shy about wearing shorts and exposing my so-white-they're-almost-blue legs. When I was in college, I even went fake tanning (yikes!) and slathered on orange self-tanner (not a good look).

But this summer, I've decided to embrace my pale skin and freckles. We've recently discovered two great natural, chemical-free sunscreens: Badger and the Babo Botanicals stick (which is super easy to apply on babies!), and wear them everyday.

My darlings, this summer, will you rock the pale look? Would you prefer to get a tan? Have your feelings on tanning changed? What kind of sunscreen do you use? I'd love to hear...

(Photo by Garance Dore)

Tattoo girls

Although I'm not a tattoo girl myself, I'm loving these clever and charming tattoos. What do you think?

P.S. Nine awesome tattoos...
P.P.S. New Yorkers, come join me at this bike ride this Thursday! xo

(Via Tattoologist)

DIY wedding hair: Gibson roll

My dears, I'm excited to share our second wedding hair tutorial! My friend (and hair genius) Caroline adores this elegant twisted roll--and swears it's easy enough for brides to do themselves. So, we met at my favorite West Village wedding shop, and the wonderful Jamie Beck took photographs. Doesn't her hair look straight from the 1940's? So romantic.

Here are Caroline's steps, if you'd like to try it out...
This hairstyle is perfect for a black-tie wedding or to show off a pretty neckline--and it's great for girls with curly hair. It's super easy; I promise with the teensiest bit of practice, you'll be able to do it in less than five minutes!

1. Gather your hair into a low ponytail and secure with a rubber band. You want the ponytail to be pretty tight.

2. Next, slide the rubber band down the ponytail a little, so there's space between the rubber band and your scalp.

3. Create a little "hole" in the area above the rubber band. Make sure not to poke all the way through; you just want to make a little "nest" in your hair (which you'll use in step 5).

4. Twist the length of your ponytail, like you would if you were making a bun.

5. Begin tucking your ponytail down into the little nest you made for it. (To make mine a little different, I tucked the hair off center, so it was slightly asymmetric.)

6 and 7. Keep tucking and rolling your ponytail into the nest...

8. Once you have all your hair hidden and tucked away, pin it in place with bobby pins. Don't forget to pin the sides of the hairstyle as well. Then spray your hair with some hairspray, and take along extra bobby pins for touch-ups!

Voila! Isn't it beautiful? Would you consider this wedding look? If you're already married, how did you wear your hair at your wedding? xo

P.S. More pretty hair tutorials...

(Photos by Jamie Beck for Cup of Jo. In the step-by-step photos, Caroline is wearing an Eberjey robe. In the wedding photos, Caroline's wedding dress is by Ivy & Aster from Lovely, a bridal boutique in the West Village. The hair piece is by Untamed Petals, available at Lovely, as well.Her jewelry is from her own line, Brvtvs, and her lip color is NARS lipstick in Manhunt--appropriately!:)

Random beauty tip

I used to be so sleepy at the end of the night that I'd skip washing my face and just tumble into bed. But then a friend recommended these cucumber towelettes, and, I have to say, they've totally improved my bedtime routine. You just wipe your face (no water required), and they remove makeup, moisturize skin, smell amazing, and make you feel fresh and revitalized.

Have you ever used them? What's your bedtime beauty routine?

Lilac polish

Toby and I went on a walk early this morning and spotted this beautiful lilac nail polish on two different gorgeous women. (Maybe it's the new "it" color?) It looked so light and lovely, and was a nice change from red and pink. I'm going to pick up a bottle today and plan to wear it all summer. What do you think? xo

P.S. I never used to be that into nail polish, but the colors are so amazing this year.

(Photo by Sparkles and Bows)

DIY wedding hair: Chestnut bun

When I got married, I never would have thought of doing my own wedding hair, but my friend (and hair genius) Caroline swore this beautiful chestnut bun was simple enough for brides to do themselves. So, I invited her to a West Village wedding shop to explain the steps (and play dress up), and the wonderful Jamie Beck took photographs. Doesn't the elegant bun look like something Grace Kelly would wear? Would you wear it?

Here are Caroline's steps, if you'd like to try it out...
1. Gather your hair into a high ponytail and secure it with a rubber band. You want the band to be pretty tight (otherwise the sides of the ponytail will droop after you do step three).

2. Next, slide your rubber band down a little so it's no longer tight against your scalp.

3. Create a little "hole" in the loosened part of your hair (between your scalp and the rubber band).

4. Pull your ponytail through the hole you just created.

5. Note: Be sure to pull the ponytail UP through the hole (instead of DOWN through the hole, like the topsy-tail we used to do in the 80s:)

6. Pull the ponytail all the way through so it hangs over the top of the rubber band. You may have to fan out the ponytail a little to create an even shape.

7. Next, loop the end of the ponytail under, towards the rubber band. If your hair is super long, you may have to wrap the ends of the ponytail around your hand a few times before you tuck it under. (I did!)

8. Pin the ends that you just tucked using a few bobby pins. Make sure it's pinned very securely. Then keep pinning the sides and bottom of the bun until it feels secure. You can spray with hairspray for extra hold, and feel free to bring some extra bobby pins for touch-ups throughout the night.
Voila, that's it! What do you think, my dears? Would you do your own wedding hair? Isn't this surprisingly simple? xo Thank you, Jamie and Caroline! And most of all, congratulations to all you brides-to-be out there!
P.S. More hair tutorials...

(Photos by Jamie Beck for Cup of Jo. In the step-by-step photos, Caroline is wearing an Eberjey robe. In the wedding photos, Caroline's adorable wedding dress is by Ivy & Aster from Lovely, a bridal boutique in the West Village. Her jewelry is from her own line, Brvtvs, and her red lipstick is Rouge Dior Lipcolor in Red Muse.)