Came across this lovely shot from a past issue of Vogue while tooling around online for cool images for an upcoming post. Wish I could jump inside of this photo and be Kirsten, just lounging in a beautiful floral sundress with lush green grass all around.

Thank you Vogue

Devoted Sparkles & Fun readers, I apologize my absence over the course of the past week. Two very wonderful opportunities have arisen for me to write in other platforms and due to those and my day job, it’s been tough to carve out the time for my own blog. No excuse! This is just a quickie to say I am a very tired girl indeed, and off to bed quite soon. But surprisingly, the most tiring part of my day came this morning, when I was tasked with correcting my most recent beauty adventure.

Everyone has been raving about these new at-home nail decals. As you know by now, I am a nail addict and am always up to try the latest and (not so) greatest. Last week I snagged a pack of Sally Hansen’s bright pink, sparkling (!) Nail Effects decals and skipped home with them, ready to give it a go. The application was surprisingly easy and mess-free, and I was able to drift right off to Dreamland within minutes of buffing my last one, sans impressions left from sheets on drying nails. They lasted about ten days and could have probably gone on longer if I hadn’t gotten really sick of my Pepto-Mirrorball-80s-inspired diva nails by the time I woke up this morning.

They look so pretty all lined up, don’t they? $10. Drug stores.

The problem, though, is the removal process. It took five full minutes using traditional polish remover to take off the decal on my thumb. With precious few cotton balls and even fewer minutes left, I had no choice but to resort to full-on pure acetone soakage for the remaining fingers. Most of you do not even own this product and I only do because of my recent obsession with the gel manicure (whose removal is a nightmare of its own tiring, skin-parching variety).

After I finally rid myself of the ticky-tacky decals, my nails were dry and lifeless, even a little thin. I hesitated to put any polish on them and instead opted for a simple buff-and-run. As much fun as it’s been playing with the newest nail toys these past few months, I think Jensy is going back into the wonderful world of plain old polish. At least until I remember to finally schedule that Minx appointment…

Yesterday my colleagues and I were strolling towards the subway at the end of a long day and the topic of hair came up, as it’s wont to do among three image-obsessed twenty-somethings. One of us was moaning about her hair–curly but thin–while the other two tried hopelessly to convince her that she’s adorable the way she is. Try as we might, we could not dissuade her from her determination to seek out hair extensions. The problem with girls is, once we have a new beauty solution in mind, it’s tough to kill the lingering hope that it might be the one answer we need. In other words, it was impossible to dissuade our young comerade, but even as we tried, I wondered why we should be. Friends, some thoughts from either side of the fence:

PROS


Beautiful long hair always rocks the runways

Hair extensions will make you feel prettier. Nothing gives a girl confidence like long, bouncy hair. And nothing makes a boy swoon like it either.

CONS
Extensions can be pricey, damage your hair, and become a nightmare to keep up. Then there’s the fact that you have fake hair on your head.

This is downright creepy, no?

SOLUTIONS
We convinced our little cutie that while she might covet long and luscious locks, there is no sense in spending the time and money, or causing the damage necessary for traditional extensions. However, here is a super-cute alternative that can be inserted for a night–or a weekend. First-date ready, without the regret!

Clip-on extensions are cheap, quick, and cute!

I had honestly hoped to be posting photos of all my cute spring outfits by now. But here we are on the last day of March with rain and even snow in the New York City forecast! I’m bereft, I’m over it, and I’m dreaming of sundresses. Until the day comes, though, here is a bit of bright and fun inspiration.

Celebrity beauty product lines always give me the creeps. I don’t care if it’s Kim Kardashian or Sean Combs–no matter what you’re famous for, I don’t think you should be putting out a fragrance unless there is a real reason. Like… you are a descendent of one of the great noses and you have a keen understanding of the business, have traveled the world researching ingredients, and your perfume is actually going to make an impact on the industry. Clearly, very few singers/actors/models can say any of the above is true of themselves. Putting out a fragrance, or a lipstick, or whatever random cosmetic initiative it is, tends to be simply one more way for “celebs” to rake in dough off slapping their name onto a product. (Sarah Jessica Parker, I understand, can be excused from the above generalization as she actually did the proper work to put out a product worth standing behind–even if the scent itself is eh).

For the most part, if there is a celebrity name attached to any cosmetic product, I won’t go near it. The same can’t be said for clothing and accessories (under the right circumstances!) but that is a topic for another post, on another day. However, when my friend Christie recently posted on her Facebook wall that she couldn’t get enough of OPI’s new polishes by Katy Perry, I was intrigued.

I googled the line and found a refreshingly adorable collection of colors. Named after Katy’s catchy hits from the past year, each one packs major girl-power punch. From the iridescent, silvery, salmony pink of “Teenage Dream” to the mellow, opalescent mint green of “Not Like the Movies.” A friend who’s bought all of them reports that “the crackle sucks.” That would be the black shellac that can be applied over any of the shades to create a fun pattern. But, I’m happy to skip the crackle anyway (who needs chipped chunks of black polish obscuring the view to her lovely shimmering nails?) and just go for the colors. For whatever reason, this is one instance where the celeb cosmetics line gets away with being downright cute and fun. Here are the colors–get them before summer hits and metallics give way to flourescents!

I know I wasn’t the only little girl in pearls who grew up loving Elizabeth Taylor. The dark hair, the shocking blue-violet eyes, the voluptuous figure that actually looked like it belonged to a woman, not a starved preteen. The glamour, the eccentric nature, the jewels. I devoured every page of her famed book, “My Love Affair With Jewelry,” wanting nothing more than to grow up to become as chic, as beautiful, as bedazzled, as the inimitible Ms Taylor. Tough luck, Jensy.

I don’t possess the esteemed knowledge or multitude of facts that her many internet and print biographers in the coming days surely will, nor do I feel that being merely a fan entitles me to say much on her passing. But I will say that this girl is very sad today at having lost a personal hero–an icon of beauty, style, and class. I’d like to share a few of my personal favorite photos with you. May the lady live on in our glamorous little hearts forever. Rest in Peace, Liz Taylor.

Flaunting the Krupp diamond (33 Karats!) 1968



The BODY.

Book Cover: My Love Affair With Jewelry

Accepting one of her two Academy Awards



A few years ago I bought a dress. It was a black, Victorian-esque collared, button front mini-dress with half sleeves and a sash. Its cotton voile was of my favorite, stiff, almost-linen (without the wrinkle of linen) and it had a glorious dual ruffle effect from collar to hem. It was my favorite dress for several months, and I wore it from Indian Summer (bare legs, Ferragamo flats) through one tough winter (thick Wolford tights, long wool cardigan, Frye boots with wool socks underneath), and into that following spring (bare legs again, Ferragamo flats again). It was chic, it was seasonless, and it was $39. At Target.

Then something bad happened. I won’t name names, but someone in my life misplaced the dress, accidentally giving it (and some other fab items) away in a bag of clothes intended for dry cleaning–that instead went to charity. Now, I am all for giving away glorious clothing. But your very favorite, adaptable little dress? That was available for a mere four weeks and is completely un-findable at this point? That you still wear lovingly all the time? Sad. Very, very sad. And a little pissed, to be honest.

I had long since gotten over the loss of this dress. It was, after all, merely an article of clothing. But every once in a while there would be a moment, or an entire morning, spent wishing I had it to wear for the ocassion at hand. And then, a small miracle occurred. A commercial came on that stopped me in my tracks. Aren’t we all really attracted to Target commercials? They use great music, images of happy babies, sexy couples, attactive older people, and delicious little kids romping around using super-cute products and wearing great clothes. You always know it’s a Target commercial from the first second because you actually want to watch it, not mute it and leave the room to grab a soda.

Anyway, this particular one brought some news so thrilling, so unexpected, that I nearly dropped my soda on the floor. Target GO International bringing back former items? Every dress you’ve loved from the limited edition high-end designer collaborations available once more? No need to drive 45 minutes to Jersey or Long Island to find said pieces–because it’s all up on the website?

Here is my delicious dress. Don’t be jealous, get your own!