At Prada, You're Never Fully Dressed Without Smile #151

Uniform. The word does not ususally inspire…well, much of anything. But what if the uniform was dictated to you by Miuccia Prada? Then it wouldn't be so bad, would it? But this brilliant arbiter of style - or at least her company - didn't stop at clothes for this particular uniform. She went all the way to the sexy red lips. 

I discovered this quite by accident while browsing the Prada boutique for Things I Cannot Afford in the Temple of Happiness (Bloomingdale’s), where I was chatting with a lovely young woman (Danielle, pictured) with fantastic red lips and asked her if she happened to know what color it was she was wearing. I do this all the time with total strangers, but her answer surprised me. “Lancome #151,”’ she said definitively. I couldn’t believe she knew the number so I probed further. You know the number?? “Yes," she said. "It’s the same one we all wear,” at which point I glanced around the boutique and noticed that everyone, irrespective of age, haircolor or ethnicity, had the same red lips. All the salesgirls are handed a tube when they are hired along with their Prada patent bow belts. 


I had never heard of such a thing! I had heard of wearing uniforms to work, of course, but never of dictating the makeup of one's employees, particularly something that is such a statement as red lipstick. What if it didn't look good on everyone? But this one did! Here was a diverse group of women, and yet #151 (Avant Garde Red, by the way) looked great on all of them. How could there be a universal red I had not yet stumbled upon? 

After asking Danielle if I could take her photo and write about her, I immediately searched online to try and find something about this fascinating phenomenon of making lipstick part of a uniform - or about Prada doing it first - and found virtually nothing. Why not, I wondered? Red lipstick is strong, powerful and makes a statement. Why not make something like that part of the image you are projecting for women's clothing, accessories and fragrance? 


Anyone who reads this blog (or who even knows me, for that matter) knows that I think red lipstick is appropriate for everything from a night on the town to taking out the trash, so it should absolutely be part of a day at work at a fashion house. And to make it a required part of the uniform? Well, that just ensures that everyone looks equally fabulous. 

High Tea with Jo Malone

I am reminded now of how remiss I've been in never writing here of the fragrance genius that is Jo Malone, the British maven of natural fragrance blends, but going to the launch event for her new Tea Fragrance Blends at Bloomingdale's has slapped me on the wrist for my oversight.

For this was no average launch event. This was High Tea, complete with reserved invitation, service of three different teas, scones, finger sandwiches, waiters, china, silver and three-tiered dessert stands. Here we were, a group of Jo Malone groupies, all chit-chatting with one another about favorite Jo Malone fragrances, least favorites, what had been discontinued and what was best as a gift. All this taking place in a beautifully appointed tiny corner of Bloomingdale’s on the main floor while the rest of the store was a veritable zoo.

Enter Shaun Rowan, a Brit, of course, who explained the importance not only of High Tea, the inspiration for the new Limited Edition Tea Fragrance line comprising Fresh Mint Leaf, Earl Grey & Cucumber and, my personal favorite, Assam and Grapefruit – but of tea in general to British culture. While he gave us a verbal history of Jo Malone and her various inspirations, we were given an olfactory history with paper strips, often being asked to guess the fragrance (being groupies, most of the women knew immediately what they were smelling). The suspense was building. What is Jo Malone's most popular fragrance to date, he asked. Well, I knew that one...mine...English Pear and Freesia, which I stumbled upon as a sample merely two weeks after its introduction while buying a holiday gift for a friend. This was important because the same perfumer, Christine Nigel, who developed English Pear and Freesia, developed the three Tea Fragrances. He definitely had our attention.

Now this is where Blogger needs a fragrance function...how to describe them. They do, in fact, smell like tea...all of them. But, like all Jo Malone fragrances, they are so much more complex than that. If you simply went by her names you would be doing yourself a disservice because there is such complexity beneath the name. The Fresh Mint Leaf smells like, well, fresh mint leaf and will appeal to those who like an herb aroma on themselves, but underneath it is a little violet and water jasmine for depth, so on the skin it doesn't smell like a tea or cooking herb at all. When you first smell Earl Grey and Cucumber you do get the Earl Grey, but then you get the coolness of the cucumber, but it's anchored by vanilla and musk. The Assam and Grapefruit is, in my opinion, the most complex. It wasn't just that I was served some Assam Black Tea while smelling the aroma on a strip, but then I actually tried the scent, and it was intoxicating. As with all of them, you do get the tea scent, but underneath this one is some star anise, almond and vanilla (which I usually find too sweet but in this case works just fine), as well as cardamom, almond and a touch of patchouli, which Shaun kept describing as the "follow me, young man" factor in Jo Malone's fragrances. I'll take that.

That said, the wonderful thing about all Jo Malone scents is that you don’t have to apply them and then walk around a department store for two hours waiting for them to dry down, change and possibly turn on you. Her fragrances are so natural and pure that what you spray on and love is likely to turn into something you love even more. In fact, if there is any change in the fragrance at all, it's usually for the better (I’ve been seen on the subway voraciously smelling my own arm on the way home). Good thing, since Shaun taunted us by saying there were only 10 bottles of this one and 8 bottles of that one left of these limited edition fragrances. The stampede was real. Don't let these get away from you.

From Selma’s Chic Green Fingertips Straight to Your Heart

Selma Blair (and her chic green nails) with my friend Christopher (Tofer) Matthew Papish

Most women herald the arrival of fall with a new sweater, an on-trend bag, maybe a new pair of fabulous boots. Me, I’m looking mostly at nails and lips. By August I pretty much know which two or three new lipsticks I’ll be carrying around with me for the Season, as well as which nail colors I’ll be waiting for, as I always assume my good taste will align with that of other New York women and that I will be waiting for something.


I had heard about my soon-to-be new favorite color before Chanel even released it, but I couldn’t tell from their ads and promos if it was really something I couldn’t live without. The color of which I speak is Khaki Vert, an indescribable creamy green and one of the three new Khakis that also includes Brun (a gorgeous rich greenish-brown) and Rose (a woodsy rose). But it wasn’t until I saw it for the first time gracing the beautiful hands of the resplendent Selma Blair that I realized what a knockout it was…and that I could not, in fact, live without it.

But here the actress was, graciously hosting the Chernobyl Children's International Project (CCPI) auction of Helena Christensen’s photography at Stella McCartney on Fashion’s Night Out, wearing a gorgeous white dress, emerald and diamond ring, with her fingertips freshly painted in Khaki Vert. My friend Christopher (Tofer) Matthew Papish, President of Water, et al., Inc. and Selma were discussing the Fund and its founder’s Angels, both here and abroad. They also stopped to note each other’s outfits. She loved his vintage swank bolo tie over an Oscar de la Renta necktie, and he – being a little like me about these things – was stunned by her perfect nail color.

But I digress from the real point of the evening, which was to benefit Chernobyl Children's Project International, founded in Ireland by the incomparable Ms. Adi Roche, the organization’s Executive Director, who has tirelessly worked since 1990 to provide aid to the children of Belarus, Western Russia and Ukraine. She, along with CCPI, film director Maryanne De Leo, and Kathy Ryan, of CCPI’s U.S. Division, are the forces behind the truly incredible Oscar-Winning Short Subject Documentary Chernobyl Heart.

Now, for the record, my life is not nearly as interesting nor as humanitarian as either Ms. Blair’s or Ms. Roche’s, so I satisfied myself with looking through Tofer’s photos from the event, which included the above – at least to the nail-color obsessed – show-stopper of an image. The very next day I headed off to my Temple of Happiness, the Bloomingdale’s cosmetics floor, where I was able to score the last bottle they had on hand of Khaki Vert.

I have never – and I do mean never – received as many comments on my nails as I did during the week I wore it. Some people said nothing and just stared while I did mundane things like swiped my debit card and signed receipts. Whenever it seemed appropriate, I mentioned where I first saw it, what the event was and who was wearing it. And now that you’ve read this and you know what I know, and how to get more information, you may decide you want to donate your time or resources to the cause where I first saw it make its public appearance.

Can a nail polish be a gateway to doing good for humankind? If it’s this one, it can.

Special note about this post: this would not have been possible without the tireless help and dedication of my dear friend Tofer, my new friend Angela Trofi, whom I am honored to know now because of writing this, and Kathy Ryan herself, who approved the text despite her relentless schedule. If you read this and are moved to action, please consider contacting and donating to CCPI and sharing this information with your friends. Makeup enhances our beauty and confidence, but it's our beautiful deeds that make a better world.