Hasta La Ideas

The occurrence of the words “festive” and “beauty” in the same sentence may stir up a few painful memories of that time you went to school on St. Patrick’s Day in head-to-toe green, complete with clover-colored eyeshadow and lipstick (it’s okay – you sooo did not look like a leprechaun). And yeah, that time you showed up at a Halloween bash with a full-on clown face (only to find out the hard way that it wasn’t a costume party) wasn’t too hot either. But seriously, no matter what bad experiences you’ve endured and beauty faux pas you’ve committed in the past with occasion-coordinated makeup shades, a festive face doesn’t have to be obnoxious, nightmarish, or costume-y! With the right products and tints (and the correct doses of them!) you can look great for your Valentine’s Day date without resembling a page off the calendar. For one, it’s vital to remember subtlety – with Philosophy’s candy heart-inspired lip gloss and Sephora Valentine’s chocolate-scented bath scrub and body butter, the whole world may not be able to read all your V-Day enthusiasm like a sign on your forehead, but you and the one you’ll be cuddling up to will get to enjoy the celebratory scents! Also, while bright red lips and harsh fuchsia blush may set off a warning alarm in your brain, don’t shy away from the right shades of pink! With the Laura Mercier First Blush Palette, you’ll be surprised at how far a gentle rosy glow can go in creating a softly feminine and flirty look. For the perfect pucker-upper, take a look at Clinique’s Kissable Six set of lip plumping glosses, complete with six different pink, plummy, and nude shades, so you won’t have to spend hours in the store trying to pick the perfect tint! And, if you’re feeling just a tad bit bold, try for a more season-suitable smokey eye in a plum-pink shade like Make Up For Ever’s Plum 39 (just make sure to go nude on the lips for balance!). As long as you don’t try to use all eight festively fabulous products at once, these candy-colored goods are bound to help you look cuter than Cupid… and way sexier too, I hope. Check out the slideshow for the rest of the Valentine’s Day-influenced beauty sets and shades!

pimg src=http://www.productdose.com/images/products/draft_5159.gif
alt= //ppPretty much over anything else, even sex maybe, I enjoy reading the most. I have thousands of books. And there are thousands more I would love to own. And I do read them so I’m not just a book fetishist. When I first heard about the Kindle I was skeptical that an electronic book would be an enjoyable reading experience. But now that I’ve seen the new, slimmer Kindle released on Monday, I’m reconsidering. Imagine having 1,500 books in the palm of your hand. And the device is now only 0.36quot; slim. It will also read aloud the text to you, though I can’t imagine any serious reader would use that function (except for the blind). But my favorite feature is the built-in dictionary. This alone makes it worth considering. When reading, there’s always a word I encounter that I want to look up. A lot of times I just continue reading because the act of flipping the dictionary open takes me out of the narrative. With the dictionary built-in, the Kindle makes the time to look up a word almost negligible, keeping the reading flow running smoothly. I don’tnbsp; know if I’d pay the $359 for this … but I’m tempted./p

New York magazine. Art director: Chris Dixon

Last week, CR attended the first birthday party of the Editorial Design Organisation (first covered here on the blog) writes CR art director, Paul Pensom. The EDO is a group formed to champion editorial design and provide support for students wishing to enter the industry. MagCulture’s Jeremy Leslie is chairman for 2009 and he used the party to introduce the EDO DIY exhibition: a selection of tear-sheets from some of the most notable editorial design from the last year, as chosen by EDO members.

We were pleased to see the variety of work on show – big publishing houses and indie titles alike were represented.

Pentagram’s Luke Hayman had a number of pieces exhibited, as did Wink projects’ Monocle and Case Da Abitare, though perhaps the most popular choice was Scott Dadich’s infographic-heavy work for Wired magazine.

L-R: Esquire UK subscriber-only edition (art director: David McKendrick); Camouflage (art director: Jon Butterworth); Guardian G2 (art director: Richard Turley); New York Times magazine (art director: Janet Froelich)

L-R: Guardian G2 (art director: Richard Turley); New York Times magazine (art director: Janet Froelich)

Spreads and pages from FUTU, the Polish magazine that teams up with a different design team for each issue. Art director: Matt Willey

L-R: Spread from Monocle (art director: Ken Leung); cover of Case Da Abitare (art director: Kuchar Swara)

More on the ENO, can be found at the website, editorialdesign.org

Back in early 2007, we had the chance to sit down with automotive design legend and General Motors‘ vice chairman Robert Lutz, who went on and on, in his very jovial but firmly-grounded way, about how design was the only way to save the company (and you tend to listen very closely to a man who helped deliver to the world one of the greatest cars ever: the BWM 2002). But while his hopes that the company had a new future ahead of it, the financial ruin of the company he was now helping to lead seems just outside the crystal ball for everyone in the industry. Now, apparently fed up with the whole business, he has announced that he will be leaving the company at the end of the year. Surely this is another sign that G.M. has a very, very tough road ahead. Here’s a bit with the specifics:

Mr. Lutz will give up his duties as head of global product development on April 1, but will remain a vice chairman and senior adviser until the end of the year.

G.M. said its board has elected Thomas Stephens, currently an executive vice president for engines and quality, to be Mr. Lutz’s successor.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media

Want to stand out on your special day in an awe-inspiring way? A look at Claire Pettibone’s wedding gown collection will be sure to incite gasps from all who lay eyes on your majestic matrimonial vision. This Beverly Hills designer puts her best creative work into all her dresses, making each one a work of DaVinci-like proportion — it’s no wonder she’s a daughter of artists! Her two collections, both her continuing and her new Rockstar Collection, feature gowns that seem non-traditional if only for their rare exquisite nature. Really, the classic feel any of her pieces are such a perfect pick that they’d be fit for royalty. The continuing collection, which looks more like a collection of costumes that could be displayed at a museum, is full of empire waists, embroidery, and gaud. Her new line is edgier, as the Rockstar name insinuates. Its contemporary nature makes it host to novel fashions such as short, unique dresses, but just as fine in origination as the time-honored looks. Take a peek at just how vintage and dream-inspired these pieces are by glancing through this gallery of Claire Pettibone’s works!