Madonna's make up artist, Gina Brooke was in town recently to introduce the latest edition to the Make Up For Ever Aqua line - Aqua Rouge Waterproof Liquid Lip Color - $27 - in 12 shades: 1 Nude Beige; 2 Rosewood; 4 Chestnut; 5 Beige Brown; 7 Pink Brown; 8 Iconic Red; 9 Burgundy; 10 Raspberry; 11 Dark Raspberry; 13 Purple; 14 Light Rosewood; and 15 Pink - in particular, she was excited to present her collaboration with the line and the official lip colour for Madonna's MDNA tour which is, no surprise #8 Iconic Red!
#8 Iconic Red was born from Gina's desire to come up with a perfect, pure red lip colour that would exude confidence and beauty. She thinks the shade looks iconic, hence the name and the perfect word to define Madonna and her career. #8 is a true, classic red that brightens the entire face and is universally flattering on all skin tones. As with all of the shades in the new range, it's a high-impact liquid lip colour that delivers the intensity and long-lasting coverage of a lip stain, with the eye-catching shine of a gloss. It offers high pigmentation and is smudge-proof, sweat-proof and most importantly (especially if you are Madonna) dance-proof!

And if it's Madonna approved, you know it has to be good stuff - that lady does not strike me as someone to suffer fools (or bad lipstick) lightly!

Available now at Sephora stores and Make Up For Ever boutiques across Canada.

Madonna - her name conjures up so many things for me: super star, business woman, innovator, chameleon - I've followed her career since the beginning and have always admired the way she has changed with the times and kept herself relevant. So when I heard she was coming out with her first fragrance I was pretty excited - I figured it would be hot, spicy, exotic, sensual, daring - any or all of the above. Even the advertising lends credence to my assumption.

What I certainly wasn't expecting it to smell like was old lady. It's meant to be a contemporary and sexy reinvention of a classic white floral but all it conjures up for me is talcum powder, acrylic sweaters in colours that begin with the word "powder" and sensible orthopedic shoes. I guess the whole "Madge" thing was a harbinger of geriatric events to come...

With top notes of rich gardenia, creamy tuberrose and dewy neroli; heart notes of jasmine, benzoin tears and white lily petals; and base notes of vanilla absolute, caramelized amber and musk aura - it may just be your thing, or make a heck of a Christmas gift for grandma!


Truth or Dare by Madonna - 50ml EDP - $65, 75ml EDP - $75 - is available at The Bay, Sears, Sephora, Shoppers Drug Mart and Jean Coutu.

As well there is a 200ml Body Lotion - $39, 200ml Shower Gel - $35 - at The Bay, Sears and Jean Coutu.

Be sure to pick some up the next time you are in the store for your weekly supply of Depends!

Madonna's first fragrance - Truth or Dare by Madonna is coming our way and I have to say, as Madonna is quite the brilliant business woman, I'm surprised it has taken her this long to put one out. As she explained to Women’s Wear Daily, "I have always been obsessed by fragrance and for years wanted to create something personal that was an expression of me but that other people could relate to as well. Something honest, and yet daring, hence the name Truth or Dare.”

Scent wise, it will be a signature floral fragrance. With a unique blend of narcotic florals, balanced with addictive woods and vanilla, to create a scent that is timeless, yet contemporary, simultaneously dark and light.

Most interesting to me is that Madonna will be featured in a global print, television, and online marketing campaign produced in collaboration with Fabien Baron of Baron & Baron who she has worked with on many projects including “Sex,” her renowned 1992 pictorial essay on sexuality. It boggles the mind to imagine what kind of campaign this will be!

Just don't look for it anytime soon, it will debut exclusively at Macy’s in April 2012 in the United States, with global distribution beginning in May.

Gina Brooke and Machael Varricchio - both have great skin!

Madonna's Makeup Artist, Gina Brooke was in Toronto last week to promote Intraceuticals - the Australia brand she discovered in 2004 and has been using ever since to make her celebrity clients look fabulous!

We have all heard talk of the "Madonna facial" - and actually I thought I had gotten one a couple of years ago but as it turns out, not all oxygen facials are created equal. While blowing some oxygen on your skin feels good, it doesn't actually do much if that's all they're doing. What's different about the Intraceuticals Infusion  is that it uses therapeutic-grade oxygen and Hyalouronic Acid to deliver specialized active serums deep into the skin's structural layer giving you impressive immediate and long-term results, which are: stimulates cell renewal, strengthens collagen and elastin fibers; immediate and intensive hydration to leave skin fresh, radiant and with a visible, firming lift; and the super-hydrating serums stimulate an osmotic response so skin gets steadily firmer, brighter, and refreshed within 24 hours following each treatment.

This all sounds great in theory but I wanted to try it for myself so went down to GEE Beauty to have a Intraceuticals Infusion. Machael Varricchio, whose company Beauty Mark is bringing Intraceuticals into spas actually gave me my facial - and I must admit that was my first experience getting a facial - or any kind of spa service from a guy! I have no complaints, he did a great job! If facials make you nervous or you find them too invasive, this is the treatment for you! No extractions, scrubbing, rubbing or anything else you might find objectionable - just some very light pressure and coolness from the oxygen.

I'd like to give you a thorough and vivid description of what the facial feels like, but it doesn't actually feel like much of anything, if I hadn't been talking to Machael during it, I could have fallen asleep. What I can tell you is how my skin looked afterwards - radiant! My skin was visibly plumped, smooth and glowing. What's really cool about this facial though is that your skin looks even better the second day - and mine sure did. Added bonus, a pimple that was coming on when I had the treatment was pretty much healed day 2! And Gina was absolutely correct when she told me to wait and see how well my makeup would go on after having the facial - it's true, it just glides on and really looks all kinds of amazing - I can see why this is the perfect tool for a makeup artist!

There are 3 kinds of treatments:
Rejuvenate - promotes natural collagen and elastin production to improve skin texture and smooth fine lines and wrinkles - 50 minutes for $175
Opulence - a botanical brightener that helps reduce hyper pigmentation, and lighten dark spots, scars and other imperfections for a refreshed, radiant appearance - 50 minutes for $200
Atoxelene - an alternative to injections, it targets expression lines and wrinkles while re-firming and re-filling under the eye and contouring lips - 30 minute express treatment for $150
And you can help keep the results going with the line of home-care products - it was recommended to me that I do a daily three step process consisting of a Daily Serum, Hydration Gel and Moisture Binding Cream.

I highly recommend you get yourself to GEE Beauty and try one out for yourself!
Discover Intraceuticals at GEE Beauty - 2 Roxborough Street West in Toronto - 416-486-0080

Kelly Osbourne, I think you're swell, I really do. From what I've seen of you on TV and such (maybe minus The Osbourne show) you seem really sweet, friendly and real. So last night I thought I would find out for myself if my perceptions were reality and attend Kelly's in-store appearance at The Bay on Queen Street for the Material Girl clothing line.

The event was scheduled for 5-7 which means with my little neurosis that showing up any time past 4:55 would deem me late. I wasn't late but I wish I could say the same thing about Kelly...

I would have liked to have spent my waiting time checking out the line but the crowd was too big to really get a good look at it - from what I could see on the mannequins, it looks fun!
Kelly finally shows at 6:45 - looking cute as a bug - I wish I could tell you what she had to say but she showed up just as I had to leave to catch my bus. And just so you don't think I was still there because I'm super patient, at that point it was sheer stubbornness - there was no way I was leaving without the satisfaction of getting a picture!

It was nice almost meeting you Kelly - let's work on that punctuality thing, kay?!

As I've already mentioned a few days ago, Madonna and her daughter Lourdes are working hard on promoting their new clothing line for Tweens. Lourdes has even started her own blog. I got my hands on a few pictures and the line does have an 80's vibe to it. And you know you're getting old if you can remember when a trend first came out...

We've known about Madonna & her daughter Lourdes' clothing line for a while but Macy's released a bit more info this week: the line called "Material Girl" will be available on August 3. The designs target Tweens and each design will cost less than $50. I would have loved to see real pictures (err...I mean, more like extremely photoshopped pictures of Madonna) instead of sketches because it's kinda hard to form an opinion based on these drawings. It probably won't matter, mind you, all her fans will most likely buy the entire collection in every size and in every color known to Man. Yes, even if they are over 30... or guys!