RANDOM AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL QUOTE OF THE WEEK:George Wayne: You look like the Queen of Sheba.Furonda: I've never been to Sheba.George Wayne: I'm sure you're a lioness.Furonda: Rroaarr!!--Bizarre encounter between Furonda and Vanity Fair columnist, George Wayne. It's unclear whether Furonda was being facetious with that Queen of Sheba crack.Hey Ladies,Hiii! Oh, you don't know how I miss my pretty girls all week long! Thank God I have your sweet words and hilarious running commentary to keep me giggling, engaged, and sane. As the July 18th deadline for the first book in my teen series approaches, I'd be tempted to run screaming out of the house, naked and crazy-faced, if it wasn't for you encouragement (wait--have I told you about my teen book? Hyperion/Disney approached me to write an updated Fame-ish story about a group of kids at Manhattan's Performing Arts High School! it'll hit shelves in June '07). Speaking of your darling comments, it seems like everyday I get a shout-out from a long-lost person from my childhood who's seen my commercial! What a thrill to hear from the long-ago likes of Jenny Tollus, Kanani Miranda, Mark Shields, Jim, Carrie, and Brandi Kirskey (omigod, you're so taking me back to Bremerhaven, Germany circa 1985...me in coke bottle glasses and mint green Reeboks, you with your Moonlighting fetish)--but SWEETHEARTS, you must leave me your email addresses, or I'll never be able to hit you back and tell you how eternally blessed I feel to have rediscovered you in my feeble old age!! Oh, and do keep the beauty questions coming because next week'll be dedicated to solving todos tus problemas (so hold on just seven more days, Sunges, DD-Nice, Porsche and Stargalcarla!).Girls. It's almost unnatural, the amount of fun I've been having as co-host of "Wake up with Cosmo" on Cosmo Radio (Sirius Satellite Radio, channel 111)! No jobby-job should be this entertaining, but it is! I mean, can you imagine getting PAID to discuss America's Next Top Model contestant Jade's embarassing and obvious lack of education, the outrageous number of icliterate men out there (and no, I did not mean "illiterate"), Britney Spears' curious lack of maternal instincts, your worst and best "walk of shame" stories, why "Grey's Anatomy's" Meredith is such a slutty neurotic, the least charlie-horse-inducing Kama Sutra positions, the delights of "My Super-Sweet Sixteen," and the various ways to cajole your man into doing exactly what you want in bed (or on the kitchen counter, or in the bathroom at Bungalow 8--however you roll) It's good times. And you wouldn't believe the amount of exquisitely juicy beauty nuggets that've popped up during our on-air chats with celebrity stylists, makeup artist, manicurists, Cosmo's own beauty and fashion editors, and on and on. Which leads me to today. Because I think you're so cute (and I realize so few of you actually own Sirius Satellite Radio), I've been keeping a mental note of all the cult-favorite products that've popped up during "Wake up With Cosmo!" conversations, both on-air and behind-the-scenes. Ooh, this stuff is good (wait, that reminded me of the old Al B. Sure song, "Ooh, This Love is So"). Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!!xoxo,tiaP.S....please join me in a round of applause for Chloe, the winner of the "How can Tia Lose Ten Pounds Without Breaking a Sweat?" contest from SHAKE YOUR BEAUTY'S first anniversary post! Miss Genius explained that, in order to lose one pound, you must burn 3500 more calories than you consume, so I have to cut down on calories. She suggested replacing one carb serving per day with a fruit or veggie, drinking a ton of water...and WHOA, I already notice a difference. Chloe, drop me a comment with your email address--can't wait to send you your custom-made, special edition "Billie" lipgloss inspired by the plucky heroine you know so well from "THE ACCIDENTAL DIVA!TIA'S TOP FIVE BEHIND-THE-SCENES PRODUCT FAVES FROM "COSMO RADIO"
1.) CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY ESSENTIAL OIL ($7.50 for 4 ounces): Okay, I'm usually not one for foodie-scented beauty products. But something deeply transformative came over me when we invited Marie Scologna, owner of
Spa Chicks on the Go (a "mobile" spa company! Meaning, Marie and her gang can meet you anywhere--work, vacation, your house--to give you manis, pedis, reflexology massage, whatevah. Brilliant!) on the air to chitchat. Marie was TO DIE--there's a reason her company was asked to set up a treatment room at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, and starlets like Kelis and Kelly Clarkson are obsessed with her otherworldly fingers. But the added bonus of her visit was that Marie actually gave me and Taylor foot massages while we talked. As soon as she started with all that blissful toe-kneading, I became overwhelmed with a scent so luxurious, so rich and yummily sensuous, I began to stutter. "What it that wondrous fragrance?" I asked her, ever-so-breathily. Turns out, she's been whipping up her own lotion for years, using the following recipe: She adds six to eight drops of this chocolate-raspberry essential oil into a
lavender body lotion, shakes the bottle, and voila! The results are so delicious smelling--and not in a teenagery chocolatey way, more in a deeply decadent, sexy-grownup way, if you can dig it--that Marie ended up leaving her prized lotion with me (resulting in my obsession with slathering it on every exposed inch of skin as I ramble on-air). And now, you can make this addictive lotion, yourself!
2.) TED GIBSON HAIRSHEET TREATMENT ($35): Today on the show, we had the pleasure of dishing with Ally, the famed celeb haircolorist from Fifth Avenue's super-fancy Ted Gibson Salon (A-list devotees include the delicious Joy Bryant, Kiera Knightley, Ashanti, and Eva Longoria). When I asked Miss Ally how to protect one's relaxed-plus-highlighted hair from the ravages of summer--ie, sun overexposure, salt water, chlorine--she whipped out an adorable silver packet and slid it over to me. I'm like, what? Turns out, the mysteriously chic little packet contains five absolutely genius, single-treatment sheets, each infused with an amino complex, wild orchid extract and natural botanicals to add moisture, strength and elasticity to even the most overprocessed hair. Here's how it works: In place of a weekly deep-conditioner, simply massage the hair sheet over dry hair once a week, at bedtime. I'm on it like Big Boi's on Kryptonite, ya heard?
3.) ANASTASIA FIVE-PART BROW KIT ($65): Have you guys heard of Anastasia? This woman practically created eyebrow grooming as an art form, okay? From her Beverly Hills salon headquarters, Miss Anastasia has perfected the arches of goddesses like Madonna, Jenny from the Block, Naomi from Anger Management, Sharon Stone, Penelope Cruz, and Jada Pinkett Smith--basically every hottie in Hollywood. And now us normal folk can benefit from her expertise with her top-selling product line! Here's the story: Taylor Streck, my lovely-but-virgin-brow'ed co-host on "Wake up With Cosmo," is terrified to pluck, so I enlisted the help of Cosmo's darling Associate Beauty Editor Andrea Lavinthal to help me convince TayTay to finally go there. She suggested Anastasia's amazing brow kit, which is in the beauty bag of every top makeup artists for a reason--it comes with tweezers, four brow stencils, one duo brush, clear brow gel, and brow powder (choose between ash blonde, brunette, strawburn, and medium ash). The kit is a tad expensive, but its so thorough, so incredibly goofproof, that you'll save millions in salon appointments! At least, that's how I justify it.
4.) LAURA MERCIER TRANSLUCENT LOOSE SHIMMER POWDER IN SUN DUST ($34): Last week, Kate White, the illustrious editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, threw an almost unbearably glamorous dinner party for the May cover girl, Mandy Moore. The dinner was at La Esquina, the hottest, most impossible-to-get-into restaurant in Manhattan (after you basically show your BIRTH CERTIFICATE to the bouncer, he clicks his fingers and some chick takes you through a secret door, down thru a huge kitchen--very Goodfellas!--and then, whoa! You're in a dark, cavernous, sexy palace...and if you look closely, you can see Sienna Miller and Lindsay Lohan lounging ever-so-chicly in a distant banquette. Not together, of course). Of course, the Beauty Ho was seated next to Mandy's makeup artist (he's also Angelina Jolie's personal beautyfier--he only had GLOWING things to say about her, by the way. Apparently all that I-believe-the-children-are-our-future ish is real), and we proceeded to have a torrid affair over the next three hours, all of it based on a mutual love of bronzer. He raved and raved about Laura Mercier's Sun Dust shimmer, a translucent setting powder with a hint of bronze sparkle that he uses on all his fancy clients, no matter their skin color, for a very subtle radiance. And guess what? The next day, I had my very own Sun Dust waiting for me by my front door--the darling man had sent it to me! I wear it every day now, just a light dusting allover my face after I've applied concealer, and EVERYONE asks me if I've just had a facial or some particularly enthusiastic sex. Good times.
5.) NEUTROGENA MOISTURESHINE LIP SOOTHER COOLING HYDRAGEL IN SHINE ($6.99): Taylor and I just got our pictures taken for the Cosmo Radio website, and being a total control freak, I did my own makeup. But then my lipstick fell in the toilet. I'm serious. So the makeup artist lined and filled in my lips with some lovely nudey-brown pencil, and then layered an insanely juicy, fruity-smelling clear lip gloss on top. By this point, I was asleep (I wake up at 4:30am to be at the studio by 6am, folks), but the amazing fruity goodness of the gloss jolted me awake. I begged to know the name of this Vaseline-slippery, tasty-delicious gloss, and would you believe it was NEUTROGENA?! It's a brand-new collection of sheer moisturizing lip balms that come in fun colors and are infused with real, natural fruit juices. Fabulous layered over your favorite lipstick for a hint of yummy shine.
