Juicy couture

If Kimora Lee Simmons boasts that she has the biggest collection of LV in the western world (wonder if she beats LV super-heir Delphine Arnault?) then I may have the city’s most comprehensive unofficial collection of Juicy Tubes. I have a box full of them like a child might have crayons or baseball cards. Airports are the chief culprits, where you can buy limited-edition flavors.

Considering I travel close to four times a month, you can just imagine the damages I have accrued through lipgloss. I even have a carrot-flavored one – my favorite, actually, from a special Paris cocktail collection.

For many it’s just gloss, but Juicy Tubes have elevated the art of smack (the flavored fashionable kind, not the street version) into an addiction. I try to outdo the hoi polloi with exotic limited-edition blends, but of course no one notices but me. But isn’t that what true luxury is? The private thought that you are indeed a winner.

Lancome, the alchemist of Juicy Tubes and the best mascara collection in the world (according to Allure, every rock-star makeup artist says so) launches their July to August Fantasie Collection. Think elfin urchins gone glam with colors of petals and the texture of morning dew.

A must-have is the Juicy Rouge lip palette signed with a declaration in French of joy and optimism: "Voir la vie… en couleurs! (See life… in colors!). A palette of fruity pastel colors are warmed up by a touch of orange sunlight. Four easy-to-wear lip shades are encased in the white floral palette: salmon, raspberry, cherry, and brown. The colors go on sheer and light, perfect for the strong eyes of the upcoming season.

My Juicy Tubes are offered in limited-edition shades with the same decorative floral-and-vines packaging – the first Juicy Tubes that have the power to influence your mood through the tested association of color and fragrance! Now, that’s a challenge.

The glosses are available in tonic pink with a rose lychee scent, relaxed green with a tea flower scent, vixen red with a tart cherry-pulp scent, sexy lavender with a caramel scent and rejuvenating orange with a distinct apricot scent. Breaking the bank has never been so therapeutic.

Aside from Juicy Tubes, the venerable house is also known for its meatpacking mascara. Pros swear by it, and so do the rest of the beauty-counter addicts.

The latest harvest is the Hypnose Waterproof Mascara. Pump up the volume up to six times with 24-hour hold! Luscious shades from blue to green to purple to more basic black and brown are available in the Crayon Khol Waterproof eye pencil, which draws a precise line on one end and offers a smudging tip on the other for a smoky-eye effect. Color Dose Cream color offers a delightful metallic texture and intense effect.

The rainy season is upon us and this make-up is definitely for every kind of weather.

Every season has its own drama. For Lancome it’s Gosford Park glam with the innocent blushes of rose and other deceptive tones.

Gucci Westman, Lancôme’s international creative director, creates the Fall-Winter 2005 collection for the brand: Rose Mystere. Inspired by Oscar Wilde’s novel, Portrait of Dorian Gray ("She was a woman of violet eyes and a serious expression, with thick brown hair and marvelous curls, whose head, like a flower, leaned like a bouquet. She was the picture of that English countryside which reveals singularity and romanticism."), Ms. Westman reinterprets the different colors of love. The flushed complexion of a first kiss, the fuchsia lips of passion, the smoky eyes that mesmerize. The collection’s cult object, an eye and cheek palette called Le Carnet de Velours, is a testament to the spirit of the collection. Available in two colors for the two facets of love: Vanity is a sophisticated palette with metallic textures in gray, black and pink; Verity is a sweet palette with soft shades of blue, peach and green.

A radiant complexion, rose cheeks and plum lip color complete the elegant sophistication of the look.