When I hear that a new product is multipurpose, I usually think of some chemical, irritating cleaner that I use to scrub down my apartment (Cleans your toilet and sink!). But when I tried Philly native Kristin Moses Murray’s Bordeaux Balm, multipurpose never felt so good. This tiny tub is filled with subtle-smelling skin soothing essential oils like grape seed—a salute to her family’s Charlottesville VA winery — cotton seed, soybean and coconut oils, that literally fix any dermis drama: On a recent sojourn to the cooler climate of the Pocono Mountains, it kept my cuticles and nails shiny, my dry elbows smooth, my lips hydrated and my razor burn at bay. Now only if it could clean my apartment. — Andrea Carayiannas
Among Philly Mag’s greatest hits of local designers, the peeps behind Two Paperdolls/Louella Press might as well win a lifetime “Best of Philly” for overall adorable-ness. The cutie-pie card makers always came up with the winning-est wedding invites, the darling-est holiday cards, the perfect-est baby greetings.
The sole caveat to their impeccable style record: The “dolls’” Wayne studio is just too far from our Center City offices. Never could we pop in on a Wednesday for the perfect gift enclosure or drop by on a Thursday for a most merci-ful thank-you note or swing in on a Friday for a preppy b-day cake on thick cotton stock (see here).
Until now. Now, with the launch for their new e-tail store, Louella/Paperdolls makes their irresistible stationery as close as the computer. (Which, for we office-bound editor/writer types, means always very close.)
Louella Press, 5 Louella Court, Wayne, 610-293-3690; louellapress.com
According to the countdown on my iMac, there are exactly 128 days until my wedding. Back when that number hovered around the 250s, I’d check the countdown and frown with impatience, willing the months to pass. Now that we’re inching closer to the two-digit mark, I check the countdown and begin to panic. Not because there are still approximately 9,732 things left for me to do, but because I have a mere four months left to whip my bod into wedding-worthy shape.
So, I’ve started running, which, in my case, is more like a semi-fast walk with a bounce to it. With some tough love from my superstar friend-coworker Jane (who forces me to lug workout gear to the office and then drags me on a post-work run by the river) and lots of support from my fiance (who stands next to the treadmill while I’m running and reads aloud from my US Weekly to distract me from the burning pain in my legs which, I’m told, is some horrible sign that my muscles are working), I’ve gotten better at the whole “breaking a sweat” thing.
Now, I’m also told, I need the proper footwear so that I can pound the pavement without hurting my knees, joints, and back. Over the next few days, I’ll be visiting specialty running shops and sports stores to find my perfect pair (hint: they probably won’t look like Pierre Hardy’s fanciful, heeled kicks, shown). Check back next week for my findings, plus tips on how to score the best sneaks for your feet.
Photo, Pierre Hardy
Spring is coming. I’m sure of it. The sun is getting stronger every day, and one of these mornings we are all going to wake up and find that we can, at long last, reach for that darling little sundress we bought when it first hit the racks in February, and has been taunting us from our closet ever since.
While spending Easter in Florida, I noticed one other thing, apart from my wildly untoned arms and winter-pale skin that was somewhat hampering my enjoyment of wearing such dresses: those blemishes that pop up on our shoulders and backs, after months of super dry skin being cooped up under heavy body creams and heavy fabrics. Good thing Clinique recently sent me their Acne Solutions Cleansing Body Bar, which has nicely promised to rid me of these particular troubles, that I may enjoy the clothes I blew my spring budget on that much more.
So far, I’ve only tried it a few times — but it’s got a surprising lather, and I must say, my skin feels literally squeaky clean after using it — it’s almost strange. And the results look promising: as I put on my daily white tank top this morning (sadly, the first of what would be many layers, now that I’m back in Philly), the coast was happily clear.
As much as I’d love to be the girliest of girls when it comes to skincare, my challenging outer layer — annoyed at the slightest dab of perfume, the merest swipe of scented lotion — dictates that I tend to it in much plainer ways. And, of course, it rages against the dry, cold East Coast winter, which this year doesn’t seem to be letting up.
My rescue has come in the form of the Atopalm lotion line. The maker says its power comes from some multisyllabic breakthrough technology, but I’m just satisfied that my skin is slaking its thirst — irritation-free.
Available at Pickwick Pharmacy, 1700 Market Street, Philadelphia, 215-563-4860.
In celebration of Converse’s 100th birthday, we at Good Life would like to highlight some of our celebrated Philadelphicons who rock out these most iconic, trend-enduring kicks. — Luke Sirinides
Julius Erving
He spent the last ten of his fifteen-year basketball career playing for the 76ers. And always in his Chucks.
M.I.A.
Although this hottie funk/rap artist is Sri Lankan-born and London-raised, she did actually live here for a while. Local DJ Diplo mixed tracks on both of her albums.
Will Smith
Admittedly an often-referenced icon. “West Philadelphia born and raised”…and all that. Nevertheless, Will keeps it real in his chucks.
Benjamin Franklin
Were he’d born 200 years later, you know he would …
Tina Fey
Obviously this Philly goddess of comedy rocks Converse.
You
If you’d like to join the hip parade, Converse is unveiling their Century footwear collection, featuring throwback designs and re-vamped classics. Also, the company is teaming up with (PRODUCT) RED and The Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Help your fellow man and look good doing it. Now that’s cool, man.
I can take a hint. When publicist extraordinaire Jamie Joffe “suggested” I “see” stylist Alan Gold, I realized it had come to this: My mop required outside intervention. Possibly of the divine variety.
Could Jamie see into my office window? Was that her in the back of my yoga class? Or, could it be that my brown mop had gotten so direly bland that word had spread across the Main Line and she felt it her civic duty to take drastic measures?
Possibly. Or, it could have been that she wanted to give me a scoop. Two scoops, actually. A double scoop.
Scoop # 1: For decades, Alan’s been doing the hair of best-kept Main Liners, Paris runway models, national beauty editors, and, according to rumor, the world’s most successful talk show hostess. Nonetheless, he adeptly, purposely, and, most of all, graciously flies under the radar.
Scoop # 2: As of a month ago, Raya Haig is Haig & Co. Gone is the oddly placed boutique. In are Alan’s very own elegant, in-the-work décor transformations, including a gold-leafed reception area, hardwood floors, birds-eye maple stations, and, coming soon, German salon chairs and new-and-improved wash, mani-pedi and waxing/facial areas. Sorta makes a girl wanna move in.
No such luck, though, as Alan expertly executed an impeccable quadruple-process color, cuticle-strengthening and softening treatment, a stragglers-banishing blunt cut, and laid out a top-of-the-line Japanese care regimen, all in — pay attention here, fellow color addicts — an astounding 2 hours and 30 minutes. There is a hair god. And his name is Alan Gold.
(If you, like me, are a first-timer, some directions: Next door to Saks, behind Chops, hidden in the rear of the BankNorth building — better to hide from the public, my dear.)
Haig & Company, 401 E. City Line Avenue, 610-668-5373
I spent last Tuesday at the Old City studio of our beloved photog Brett Thomas, where we shot items for the editor’s picks page I’m putting together for our summer issue of Philadelphia Home. Actually, he shot them, and I sat around and drooled over my picks.
What really caught my fancy was this totally-Anthro (but even better because not everyone’s got it!) plate by Abington ceramist Linda Johnson. Johnson sent over a whole boxful of adorable wares from her yet-to-be-released spring line (I almost bought the entire lot), but it was this cutie that had us all cooing, “Oooooh, how sweeeet!” (Well, except Brett. He’s a guy, after all, and guys typically don’t get as squeal-y over these kinds of things.) But creamy white stoneware paired with supercute, hand-etched details? Girls, get ready to squeal.
Salad plate, $40, Little Flower Designs, 215-939-4923, littleflowerdesigns.com
Photo, Brett Thomas
Every woman has that one item of makeup that she simply won’t leave the house without. For me, and my blond eyelashes, it’s mascara. I look naked and weird and well, about four, without it.
So I was delighted to find, after opening my mail yesterday, that Prescriptives makes about a billion different kinds of mascara, all of which purport to do different things. There are base coats and plumpers and lengtheners and volumizers and ones with staying power — and I’m going to give them a whirl, then report back in a week or two with my findings, so that you may go and simply buy the one that sounds right for you.
It is my happy duty to perform as makeup lab rat.
So let me get back to you on this one.
Prescriptives cosmetics, Bloomingdale’s, King of Prussia, bloomingdales.com.
The best thing about being invited to do a reading at a wedding? You get to wear your own clothes — and it’s the perfect excuse to buy a brand-fancy new dress. Because you will be briefly on display. Because then even if you trip over a few words or make the microphone screech shrilly, they’ll only remember what you were wearing.
I questioned my sanity of sleeveless in March, on a weekend when torrential rains were expected. But too late! I had already fallen in love with this Calypso dress for all its periwinkle-ness and ruffles. And, I reasoned, the bride’s florist was calling the event her “first wedding of the spring season.” The true score? It’s perfect for two more weddings this spring — with nary a guest overlapping but me.
Knit Wit, 1718 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 215-564-4760, knitwitonline.com.
When I hear that a new product is multipurpose, I usually think of some chemical, irritating cleaner that I use to scrub down my apartment (Cleans your toilet and sink!). But when I tried Philly native Kristin Moses Murray’s Bordeaux Balm, multipurpose never felt so good. This tiny tub is filled with subtle-smelling skin soothing essential oils like grape seed—a salute to her family’s Charlottesville VA winery — cotton seed, soybean and coconut oils, that literally fix any dermis drama: On a recent sojourn to the cooler climate of the Pocono Mountains, it kept my cuticles and nails shiny, my dry elbows smooth, my lips hydrated and my razor burn at bay. Now only if it could clean my apartment. — Andrea Carayiannas
Among Philly Mag’s greatest hits of local designers, the peeps behind Two Paperdolls/Louella Press might as well win a lifetime “Best of Philly” for overall adorable-ness. The cutie-pie card makers always came up with the winning-est wedding invites, the darling-est holiday cards, the perfect-est baby greetings. 
According to the countdown on my iMac, there are exactly 128 days until my wedding. Back when that number hovered around the 250s, I’d check the countdown and frown with impatience, willing the months to pass. Now that we’re inching closer to the two-digit mark, I check the countdown and begin to panic. Not because there are still approximately 9,732 things left for me to do, but because I have a mere four months left to whip my bod into wedding-worthy shape. 
Spring is coming. I’m sure of it. The sun is getting stronger every day, and one of these mornings we are all going to wake up and find that we can, at long last, reach for that darling little sundress we bought when it first hit the racks in February, and has been taunting us from our closet ever since. 
As much as I’d love to be the girliest of girls when it comes to skincare, my challenging outer layer — annoyed at the slightest dab of perfume, the merest swipe of scented lotion — dictates that I tend to it in much plainer ways. And, of course, it rages against the dry, cold East Coast winter, which this year doesn’t seem to be letting up. 
Julius Erving
M.I.A. 
Benjamin Franklin
Tina Fey
I can take a hint. When publicist extraordinaire Jamie Joffe “suggested” I “see” stylist Alan Gold, I realized it had come to this: My mop required outside intervention. Possibly of the divine variety. 
I spent last Tuesday at the Old City studio of our beloved photog Brett Thomas, where we shot items for the editor’s picks page I’m putting together for our summer issue of Philadelphia Home. Actually, he shot them, and I sat around and drooled over my picks. 
Every woman has that one item of makeup that she simply won’t leave the house without. For me, and my blond eyelashes, it’s mascara. I look naked and weird and well, about four, without it. 
The best thing about being invited to do a reading at a wedding? You get to wear your own clothes — and it’s the perfect excuse to buy a brand-fancy new dress. Because you will be briefly on display. Because then even if you trip over a few words or make the microphone screech shrilly, they’ll only remember what you were wearing.