It's a Green! It's a Blue! It's a Gray! No, It's...Black Pearl

If you're suffering from the least little bit of black nail polish malaise, which I assure you I am, there is salvation in this little bottle. Two coats of Chanel's new spring color, Black Pearl, and you have several colors in one. It's like those old-fashioned postcards that give you one view of a landscape and then with a tilt of your hand a completely different view. That's just how this is, except your color choices range from a wonderful pearlescent-seafoam green to an indescribable shade of blue to - finally - an enigmatic grayish black.

With all this versatility of color, you'd think this would be a totally wearable shade for day and night, but I didn't find it to be so. I found it to be great for evening, but pretty heavy for day, and I say that with a lot of snow on the ground in New York, walking around pretty bundled up, so I can only imagine I will feel less like wearing it during the day once the weather warms up. I had a couple of evening events that it was perfect for, but during the day I confess I thought it actually looked a little silly. That said, it is a nice departure from the pinks and lavenders so common in springtime so I'm looking forward to trying it again then.

Now, I have no problem dropping $25 on a Chanel polish (for me it's worth the quality of everything from the lacquer, pigments and brush to the way it lasts), but I do acknowledge that others may not feel the same way. So for those people, this is an especially good color because you literally do get several colors in one. For my money Black Pearl just may be a new and wonderful twist on the black manicure, which has grown so tiresome of late. Why, Black Pearl may be the new black!

Holiday Lips: No Time to Be Shy

The holidays are no time to be shy about lip color, and to me they mean it’s time to break out the reds and berries. If you are a neutral-gloss-wearing type who never wears a strong color on your mouth, now’s the time to upgrade to muted red or a berry stain. If, on the other hand, your makeup bag is already bursting with saturated these colors, now is the time of year to go full-on, especially at night and especially for parties, or to even deepen your shades with a bit of black.

My all-time favorite red, as I've said here before, is Giorgio Armani Rouge d’Armani #400 (not 401 as inexplicably recommended by Lucky in their September 2010 red lipstick piece – it’s way too orange). A close second and quite an unsung hero among reds is NARS’s Red Lizard. While everyone is falling all over themselves over Lancome’s Absolute Rouge, NARS’s Jungle Red and MAC’s Russian Red, Red Lizard is an incredibly flattering shade and a much truer, richer red than these, although its texture is just a tad dry. Further along the glossy spectrum, one product stands alone (please forgive me, I've said this before, too): Chanel’s Dragon Satin Lip Lacquer. Applied generously with the wand, it’s rich, saturated and striking. Patted down with your finger or a tissue it’s muted more like a stain. A more recent addition to my makeup bag is a lifesaver for on-the-subway-on-the-way-to-the-party touchups: NARS’s Cruella Velvet Matte Lip Pencil. So quick and so easy, I often wear it during the day, but I have long extolled the virtues of wearing red lips all the time so if you're not up for this don't despair. If you have a darker complexion or are a woman of color, MAC’s Ruby Woo will be a knockout on you. For fairer-skinned among us, this color looks clownish, but I have literally stopped Asian and African American women on the street and asked them what they are wearing and often this is the color.

In the berry family, the home run in my opinion is Chanel’s Lune Rousse. As a member of the Rouge Coco line, its texture couldn’t be more perfect, it feels like a dream going on and lasts seemingly forever. Despite all the press about Ballet Russe (it has seemed to show up in every magazine lately), I find it too severe. Other lovely berry shades are MAC’s old standby Diva and Lancome’s Le Rouge Absolu in Merlot.

If you’ve already ventured into red and berry territory and want to turn it up a notch, add a dab of MAC Lipmix in Black to your lipcolor. Lipmix is the next generation following Mattene lipstick in Midnight Media from a couple of years ago that sold out so fast everyone’s heads were spinning.

If all this is still too much for you and you still have the urge to leave your lips neutral, I’ll leave you with one idea that I stumbled upon last New Year’s: swipe a bit of sheer orange gloss over your usual lipstick for a festive pop of color that will go with just about anything but will help your look stand out. My personal favorite – because it’s not too orange-y – is Smashbox’s Alluring. Use it over a neutral pencil, on top of your usual neutral color, or even combined with a stronger color (I use it in the center of my top and bottom lips even over red when I’m going out at night).

Happy holidays!

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.

The Red Lipstick Hall of Fame: Part I

I know for a fact that I am not the only woman who has long wandered the vast desert of red lipsticks, searching for "the one" - the one that isn't too orange, isn't too blue, isn't too pink, the one that looks glamorous enough for a night out on the town with a date or for a special party but could also be worn straight out the door for no other reason than it just makes you look great.

I also know that I am not the only woman who has bought, sometimes at ridiculous prices, the red lipstick that, in the store, appeared to be "the one," only to come home and find out that I was dreadfully, horribly wrong. I know now (as should you) that most department stores will take back these bad decisions - even if used - particularly if you are willing to exchange it for something else. The best advice for anyone searching for a red lipstick is to do it during the day, try one on and then step outside and look at yourself in natural light. SMILE. If you like what you see, you're in business. That said, several years of research has led me to develop what I will affectionately refer to, going forward, as The Red Lipstick Hall of Fame.

My current favorite, which has sent all the other reds rattling around in my makeup bag to the Makeup Purgatory of my bathroom drawer, is Giorgio Armani Rouge d'Armani #400. It's a true red with just enough blue, just enough pink and no orange whatsoever. The texture is a dream and it lasts, while maybe not the advertised six hours, longer than most products with this texture. Availability on this is pretty good now, although when it came out a few months ago I was waitlisted along with a lot of other people. It should be available on their website, if not at your nearest department store.

If this red doesn't strike your fancy, runners up that I've tested, purchased and used during the past couple of years that are also worth mentioning are:

• Chanel's New York Red, a gorgeous color although its texture is a bit on the dry side. I used this faithfully, day and night, until Armani #400 came out. Also by Chanel is Rouge Allure Lacque #75 in Dragon, a notable exception to my no-lip-gloss rule. The color is divine, and you can glob it on if you are a fan of the I-just-ate-some-greasy-fries look, or you can blot it so it comes up more as a stain (my personal preference). 
• Nars Red Lizard is quite cherry and quite matte...a lovely, lovely color all the way around though some may find it a bit dry.
• At the drugstore, you can find Max Factor's #44, an inexpensive alternative and quite a nice red with a good texture. Revlon's In the Red, also available at drugstores, and Mattese's Approachable, available at Ricky's, are both brick reds that I would highly recommend. In fact, I mentioned Approachable on Facebook the day I found it, and at least three friends are still using it!
• If you have a darker complexion, you can skip all of the above advice and go straight to MAC's Ruby Woo. I have long wished I could wear this color, but alas it looks terrible on me, as I am fair-skinned and light-eyed; however, on darker complexions this shade is a knockout. I have literally stopped Asian and African-American women on the street or in stores and asked them what lipstick they are wearing, and in many cases this has been the answer. 

While we're on the topic of MAC, you may be wondering why more of them are not in my Hall of Fame. Much has been written about MAC's reds (Russian Red, MAC Red, Brave Red, etc.). Women everywhere, Madonna and Gwen Stefani included, have sung the praises of Russian Red in particular. If it works for you, that's great, I've just never found that they've worked for my complexion or coloring.  

Let me know what your votes are for your personal Red Lipstick Halls of Fame, and in the meantime, I hope you're wearing them during the day! Red lips are not just for evening...they are for any strong, sexy, confident woman, and if you think you are none of these things, I swear, red lips will turn you into one!