Staff’s freaked because this post has a Friday “F is for” headline and it’s Wednesday. She knew I was waiting for a related link to go live before publishing, but still she’s all jangly about it. She amuses me.

Anyway, I had some digi-camera fun last week, thanks to a visit site to read more]

Even now, into the second week of March and after a day of 13-degree-celcius pleasantry in Toronto, I’m a tad wary of making a Spring-is-here declaration. (I remember snow and hail in late April of the year we moved to Canada.) Perhaps it’s safer to say that if not now, soon? Either way, it’s a good time to buff away the last dry flakies and hydrate skin in prep for a warm-weather … [visit site to read more]

Despite what bronzaholic-commentator-designer Randolph Duke had to say about Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock’s choice of bright pink-red lipstick with her pale metallic Marchesa gown, … [visit site to read more]

Peter Philips, Global Creative Director of CHANEL Makeup, has made a bold move. “I would like to seduce women back into using lipstick again,” he says in the first video below. And to do it, he’s replaced the brand’s Rouge Hydrabase lipstick with Rouge Coco ($38), a new long-lasting moisturizing formula in a range of pretty hues and a luxe case made of lightweight metal rather than plastic. … [visit site to read more]

Staff felt I needed to give you a heads-up about the publishing delay in today’s “F is for…” post, mostly because it gets her goat when I do a Friday F-is-for post on a Monday. For some reason announcing the intention will make her feel better. Me, I’m going along with the idea because it floats my goat to do a “Failure to Launch” post … [visit site to read more]

Is it wrong that my favourite part of this Montreal Fashion Week F/W 2010 is my beautiful new Charlotte Hosten necklace? Mine is the same style as these two above, part of the jewelry designer’s permanent prêt-a-porter collection, and it means I can now stock my wardrobe with … [visit site to read more]

“The inspiration came from a Lady GaGa picture,” said Catherine Laniel, Creative Director of Makeup for Montreal Fashion Week in Collaboration with P&G Beauty, about last evening’s beauty look for vampy-sweet line Coccolily. “Eyes were very two-tone — white, black, very simple, and very precise.” In fact, that GaGa Flare cover served as reference on the beauty boards (see below). … [visit site to read more]

Last night’s Marie Saint Pierre beauty at Montreal Fashion Week F/W 2010 was about ice and shine. Denis Binet, Creative Director of Hair for Montreal Fashion Week and Consulting Stylist for Pantene, played off the soft-yet-structured lines of the collection (which he called “a step before haute couture”), and drew inspiration from the serpentine coils of a nude fabric neck accessory. … [visit site to read more]

Yesterday was the first day of Montreal Fashion Week in Collaboration with P&G Beauty for Fall 2010, held at Marché Bonsecours in Old Montreal. I played beauty spy at a few shows, testing out a new Fujifilm F70 EXR digital camera and checking in behind the scenes to see what Catherine Laniel, Creative Director of Makeup, and Denis Binet, Creative Director of Hair and Consulting Stylist for Pantene, were up to. … [visit site to read more]

So you think the skincare you get from a dermatologist is better than the stuff you get from the drugstore, right? Well, maybe it is. Or maybe it isn’t.

Some skincare brands sold only through dermatologists do indeed contain higher levels of active ingredients. Some brands are exactly the same, sold by derms as well as by drugmarts. Some companies, such as … [visit site to read more]