Adamant About Beauty

BeautyView: Yolanda Yoh Bucher, CCO & Editor in Chief, NewBeauty

May 25, 2012April 27, 2018All, Beauty, Beautyviews, Industry newsLeave a Comment

When I met Yolanda, she was Yolanda Yoh. While we had known each other through the industry for a couple of years, and shared a love of the DC region, it is really over stories of love, engagements, weddings, and soulmates that we really connected. She is the perfect illustration of why I love the beauty industry: it is dominated by smart, beautiful, powerful women that are not afraid to admit they still ice skate most week-ends!

AP: What city were you born in? YYB: Silver Spring, MD.

AP: What city to do you live in? YYB: West Palm Beach, FL.

AP: What is your middle name? YYB: Elizabeth.

AP: What is your astrological sign? YYB: Scorpio.

AP: What is your favorite thing about being in the beauty industry? YYB: Getting the facts about new products and treatments straight from the experts, it makes a big difference in understanding how something works and if it will be effective or not.

AP: Least favorite thing? YYB: My husband is now a product junkie.

AP: What is your most prized possession? YYB: My engagement and wedding rings.

AP: What is something about you most people don’t know? YYB: I go ice-skating almost every weekend.

AP: Do you wear a watch? If yes, what model? YYB: Yes. Kreiger and Breitling.

AP: Diamonds or pearls? YYB: Diamonds!

AP: If you could have dinner with the person of your choice, who would it be? YYB: The Dalai Lama.

AP: What is your secret to work/life balance? YYB: I’m still working on finding the right balance!

AP: What are your three top tips for travel? YYB: 1. Get enough sleep. 2. Try to work out while traveling even if it’s just a walk in the morning. 3. Get a duplicate travel sized set of the products you use every day, it helps keep your skin on track.

AP: What is your favorite book? YYB: Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield.

AP: What is your cocktail of choice? YYB: I prefer a glass of wine.

AP: What is your #1 beauty secret? YYB: I have to choose one? It changes over time and depends on what is going on with my skin and hair…

AP: What fragrance do you wear? YYB: I love anything with Gardenia or jasmine.

AP: Botox or not? YYB: Not yet!

AP: Hair color: natural or not? YYB: Lighter than natural.

AP: 3 songs on your ipod right now. YYB: I listen to Pandora, but the stations we most listen to are Andrea Bocelli, Sting and Meditation music.

AP: Quote to live by. YYB: “A 1000 mile journey begins with one step” by Lao-Tzu.

AP: Who is your mentor? YYB: My mother and father have always been my main mentors.

AP: Words of advice for young women starting their careers today. YYB: Always think outside the box… Come up with new ways present your ideas.

What do your lips and lip contour say about your age?

May 22, 2012April 27, 2018Alchimie Forever, All, Beauty1 Comment

One of the questions I get most often about caring for one’s skin is if it is ok to use an eye contour cream on the lip contour. Indeed, both contours give away our age: the former (eye) through the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, droopy eyelids, and dark circles; the latter (lip) through the appearance of those “smoker’s lines,” bleeding lipstick, loss of volume and sometimes even loss of color. How can we best protect and enhance our lips and lip contour?

First, a review of vocabulary:

– The vermilion border is where the lips (upper and lower) meet the surrounding skin of the mouth

– The vermilion border of the upper lip is often referred to as Cupid’s bow (given its shape)

Second, an anatomy lesson:

– The skin of the lips is much thinner than any other skin on our body, containing many fewer layers

– Because it is so thin, the underlying blood vessels are highly visible, which is what gives lips their pinkish or reddish color (this effect is less pronounced on darker skin types)

– The skin of the lips contains fewer melanocytes (cells that produce pigment) than the rest of our skin (again, this is less true of darker skin types)

– There are no hair follicles on the skin of the lips (gross!)

– There are no sweat glands on the skin of the lips (re-gross!)

– There are no sebaceous glands on the skin of the lips (ok, stopping with the gross now)

– As we all know, the skin of the lips is very rich in nerve endings however…

Because of all of these differences (fewer layers, no protection via sweat or oils), the skin of the lips dries out faster.

The skin of the lip contour, however, is not that different from the rest of our facial skin. It is, however, much thinner than the skin of the eye contour area. While using an eye contour cream in the lip contour certainly will do no harm, it is not that different from using your anti-aging facial moisturizer on your lip contour.

In terms of protecting and enhancing lips and the lip contour area, here are a few of my father’s (dermatologist Dr. Polla) favorite tips:

Lip contour

Avoid smoker’s lines by not smoking
Don’t drink with a straw: did you ever notice the shape your moth makes when you drink with a straw? Very comparable to the shape you make when you smoke… (the same thing could be said, although to a lesser extent, about to-go cups with lids)
If need be, don’t hesitate to turn to electrolysis or laser hair removal (rather than plucking any pesky hairs in the lip contour area)
When need be, given the potential appearance of the vertical lines in this area, do go to your dermatologist to explore the option of filling in these lines

Lips

Exfoliate your lips with your facial scrub, as you do the rest of your face
Protect your lips with an SPF during the day, as you do the rest of your face
Don’t lick your lips repeatedly, as this will dry them out
Don’t believe the myth that is you use lip balm regularly, your lips will end up drier than if you didn’t
When need be, given the usual loss of volume with age, do go to your dermatologist to explore the option of adding volume back with fillers
Do not go overboard with fillers and end up with “duck lips”

And, as my Mom always said and continues to believe, when all else fails (bad hair day, bad heart day, overall bad day), wear bright red lipstick. My current favorite: Cruella by NARS.

BeautyView: Bryn Kenny, Public Relations Director, Dior Beauty

May 14, 2012April 27, 2018All, Beauty, Beautyviews, Industry newsLeave a Comment

The first time I met Bryn Kenny she was writing for WWD Beauty Biz (now WWD Beauty Inc). I remember we met for cocktails in New York City, and she interviewed me, one of my first real interviews, the one that led to what I consider as my first piece of legitimate trade press… In preparing this blog, I looked back to figure out what year that was – 2007 in my mind, maybe 2008. Well, that was 2004, which means I have known Bryn for eight years… how time flies! She has continued to follow Alchimie’s progress, and I to follow her career, which led her to the other side of the press desk when she joined Dior Beauty as their Public Relations Director.

AP: What city were you born in? BK: I was born in New York City but I grew up in a little town called Remsenburg, near the Hamptons.

AP: What city to do you live in? BK: New York! West Village.

AP: What is your middle name? BK: Ann, after my father’s mother.

AP: What is your astrological sign? BK: Taurus.

AP: What is your favorite thing about the beauty industry? BK: The creativity and the people—there are so many interesting, inspiring personalities to discover in the beauty and fashion industries. I love working for a beauty brand that’s tied to an iconic fashion brand because there are endless stories to tell.

AP: Least favorite thing? BK: Anything that involves an excel spreadsheet.

AP: What is your most prized possession? BK: I guess my French Bulldog Binx, although he is more of a “being” than a “possession.” I grew up with Black Labs but I discovered Frenchies after I moved to New York. I saw one refusing to cross the street—his owner was literally dragging him across Greenwich Avenue—and I thought to myself, “There’s a kindred spirit.”

AP: What is something about you most people don’t know? BK: Most people don’t know that I was an ocean lifeguard for six years. I was the only female lifeguard with a bunch of hooligans, which probably explains my somewhat warped sense of humor.

AP: Do you wear a watch? If yes, what model? BK: I got a Dior watch when I first started here almost six years ago. It’s from the Cristal collection and it’s way fancier than anything else I own. But it’s also kind of punk—silver with black crystal studs.

AP: Diamonds or pearls? BK: Ahem—diamonds.

AP: If you could have dinner with the person of your choice, who would it be? BK: Amy Poehler. I’m a huge, huge fan.

AP: What is your secret to work/life balance? BK: Keep calm and carry on? Problems always arise. It’s the way you deal with those problems that matters in the end. Anxiety and stress only complicate matters.

AP: What are your three top tips for travel? BK: I don’t really have any tips! I’m not a big planner in general and probably less so when I travel. I like to land in a new place and kind of wander. I think it allows for a lot of interesting surprises.

AP: What is your favorite book? BK: It changes all the time, but right now Youth in Revolt by C.D. Payne. Also—I could read Just Kids by Patti Smith over and over again. She’s an incredible writer.

AP: What is your cocktail of choice? BK: Anything spicy and tart with Don Julio tequila.

AP: What is your #1 beauty secret? BK: Not sure if this is a secret but exfoliating is so important (Dior Peeling Lumiere).

AP: What fragrance do you wear? BK: For day, Diorissimo or Narciso Rodriguez. For night, Hypnotic Poison.

AP: Botox or not? BK: Never say never.

AP: Hair color: natural or not? BK: Not since I was 11 and discovered the magic of Sun-In.

AP: 3 songs on your ipod right now. BK: This question is a very slippery slope. Currently on my “Recently Played” list are “Jolene” by Ray LaMontagne, “Shake It Out” by Florence + The Machine and “Good Feeling” by Flo Rida. I also listen to a lot of old school hip hop.

AP: Quote to live by. BK: “I’m tough, ambitious and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a b*tch, okay” by Madonna (this quote is next to my senior year high school yearbook photo).

AP: Who is your mentor? BK: I have been lucky enough to have several over the years. Pete Born at WWD is an incredible mentor. My current boss Dianne Vavra is one of the best in the business—patient and kind. She could teach a class on mentoring.

AP: Words of advice for young women starting their careers today. BK: Keep an open mind. I was extremely focused starting out. At first, there was only one career path I could envision for myself, but my job has taken me in several different directions. As a result, opportunities have come my way that I never could have dreamed of. The important thing is to figure out your passion (what excites you? What scares you a little bit? What’s the one thing you could talk about forever?), whatever that may be, and stick with it on some level, even if it means taking classes at night. Be patient—and resilient. Passionate people always rise to the top.

Vidal Sassoon: A Legend Remembered

May 11, 2012April 27, 2018All, Industry news1 Comment

A couple of years ago, during Neill Corporation’s Serious Business conference, I had the pleasure of meeting Vidal Sassoon. This week, as the entire beauty industry mourns the loss of this legend, I realize how lucky I am to have met this industry legend. While I am no hair industry expert, I did know that he was the one who had been responsible for Mia Farrow’s hair in Rosemary’s Baby, one of the scariest movies I had watched as a teenager. We chatted briefly at a cocktail reception – a conversation I am sure he would never remember, but that I have re-lived in my head a few times this week. We talked about contemporary art and about our “Harvard” connection (he told me he always thought of his Academies as “the Harvard of hair”).

Any “rags to riches” story fascinates me, and his is certainly that. He was born on January 17, 1928, in Hammersmith, London, and spent his early childhood in extreme poverty. His mother placed him in a Jewish orphanage early on, where he stayed for seven years. He left school at age 14 to start a hairdressing apprenticeship, eventually training under flamboyant hairdresser Raymond Bessone. Sassoon opened his own salon on Bond Street in the 1954. In 1957, he began a collaboration with Mary Quant, the British fashion designer widely known as the “mother of the miniskirt.” Moving to the US, he opened his first US salon in New York in 1965. From there, he built a multi-million dollar hair corporation, whose slogan “If you don’t look good, we don’t look good” is said to have inspired L’Oreal’s “Because you’re worth it” slogan. In 1982, he sold his business to to Richardson-Vicks, which was then bought by Procter & Gamble in 1985.

What Vidal Sassoon may best be remembered for will be liberating women from weekly trips to the salon and hours spent under hair dryers. Indeed, when he created his iconic geometric “Bauhaus inspired” five point cut in 1963 (first modeled by Grace Coddington), he brought freedom to hair – no longer did hair sit atop the head like a hat. His “wash and wear” philosophy meant that hair could now move with its owner. He brought hair’s natural movement and shine to the forefront, revolutionizing the hair industry, and the lives of women everywhere.

BeautyView: Macrene Alexiades-Armenakas, Director and Founder, Dermatology and Laser Surgery Center, New York, NY and 37 Extreme Actives

May 4, 2012April 27, 2018All, Industry news1 Comment

It is easy to see why one would be impressed by Macrene Alexiades-Armenakas. First, she is striking. Second, her official title is so long I couldn’t fit it all in the title of this blog: Assistant Clinical Professor, Yale University School of Medicine and Director and Founder, Dermatology and Laser Surgery Center, New York, NY and 37 Extreme Actives, NY Derm LLC. Third, the 5 letters that come after her name in her email signature: MD, PhD. I also love that she is Greek (I am fascinated by Greece and Greek culture); now I can add to the list of things about Macrene that intrigue me the fact that she is an artist and almost became a sculptor. Of course, given her involvement in the beauty industry (whether on the treatment side or on the product side), her artistic eye and interest in aesthetics is not surprising. She is an artist…

AP: What city were you born in? MAA: New York, NY.

AP: What city to do you live in? MAA: New York, NY.

AP: What is your middle name? MAA: Renee.

AP: What is your astrological sign? MAA: Virgo of course – perfectionist!

AP: What is your favorite thing about the beauty industry? MAA: Beauty itself, I am an artist.

AP: Least favorite thing? MAA: Greed; it is the ugly underbelly.

AP: What is your most prized possession? MAA: My children, if you can call them possessions until they are 18! And my husband, who is locked up for life!

AP: What is something about you most people don’t know? MAA: That I almost became an artist and a sculptor, not a doctor and a scientist.

AP: Do you wear a watch? If yes, what model? MAA: Two watches – one a gift from my husband a Patek Phillipe 5600; the other a gift from my good friend Elle Editor-in-Chief Robbie Myers – a Michelle watch Urban in rose gold and diamonds. I get a ton of compliments on that one. She has such an eye.

AP: Diamonds or pearls? MAA: Both.

AP: If you could have dinner with the person of your choice, who would it be? MAA: Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt and Adam Riess, the three shared Nobel Laureates in Physics 2011.

AP: What is your secret to work/life balance? MAA: Make boundaries, force yourself to be the one who drops off and picks up.

AP: What are your three top tips for travel? MAA: Minimize. Keep the travel to a minimum so you do not deprive your patients and family from your care.

AP: What is your favorite book? MAA: I just re-read Gone With the Wind. I am always reading something. Margaret Mitchell’s prose is unparalleled.

AP: What is your cocktail of choice? MAA: I do not drink cocktails, but I do juice! I like carrot, apple, beet, ginger, pear and cucumber.

AP: What is your #1 beauty secret? MAA: 37 Actives has saved me from needing to do a lot of things I could do.

AP: What fragrance do you wear? MAA: Chanel no 5. Still!!

AP: Botox or not? MAA: Do not need it quite yet but have no problem with it whatsoever.

AP: Hair color: natural or not? MAA: My colorist Alexis at Oscar Blandi has matched my normal youthful highlights for over a decade. You cannot tell my hair from my daughter’s apart when we are side by side. Without her highlights, I would be much duller.

AP: 3 songs on your ipod right now. MAA: Do not use an ipod. I am an opera fanatic. My favorite operas at the Met this year included Anna Bolena, Manon, both with Anna Netrebko and the most incredible production of Faust with Jonas Kaufmann. Superb.

AP: Quote to live by. MAA: “Everything in moderation” (in Greek, “Pan Metron Ariston”).

AP: Who is your mentor? MAA: My most important mentors were: Carroll Williams PhD in insect molecular biology; Lawrence Bogorad PhD the discoverer of chlorophyll – my mentor in plant molecular biology; Dan Goodenough PhD and Dean Federman MD both mentors at Harvard during my MD PhD.

AP: Words of advice for young women starting their careers today. MAA: Focus on your studies – strive for excellence in everything you do.

Book Club: Mortal Friends by Jane Stanton Hitchcock

May 1, 2012April 27, 2018All, My lifeLeave a Comment

One of my New Year’s resolutions this year was to read more. As I was taught in business school that goals need to be quantifiable and measurable, I decided that I should read one book per month. And as my Mom taught me that nothing gets the job done more effectively than having to answer to people you respect, I decided to start a book club with a group of BFFs to help me be true to my goal.

Tonight was our second meeting. In theory, it was meant to be our third (it’s our third book), but life happens. We decided early on that our theme was going to be DC (DC author, DC personality, DC story, DC character), and that we would alternate a fiction book with a non-fiction book.

First book: I picked Right as Rain by George Pelecanos. My Swiss uncle, of all people, had been asking me about this author, saying he had read all his books and wondered if DC was as it was portrayed in these crime stories. I didn’t know how to answer him until I read this introduction to Derek Strange and Terry Quinn. After reading the book, I emailed him to let him know that these are not the areas in DC or MD that I usually hung out in.

Second book: Jack Kennedy, Elusive Hero, by Chris Matthews. If you read my blog regularly, you might remember that two years ago during my week-long vacation on the paradisiac island of Tinos, the theme I picked for my beach reading was the Kennedys. I read eight books about the Kennedys, many of them recommended by my literary connoisseur BFF Stephanie, many of them recommended by equally Kennedy-fascinated BFF Judith. I loved them all. Adding to this fascination, reading the Chris Matthews biography, I for the first time grasped JFK’s constant physical pain, on-going loneliness, and PT 109 rescue story.

Searching for another fiction book with a DC-theme, Stephanie again recommended a winner: Mortal Friends by Jane Stanton Hitchcock. I love Stephanie, I listen to Stephanie. Always. In particular when she says she might be able to get the very Jane author to stop by our book club get-together.

Which brings me to tonight. I grew up with art, with parents who owned (still own) a contemporary art gallery. That is where my appreciation for art comes from – from the ability to speak to living artists and better understand from them directly, what it is they wanted to create, what message it is they wanted to convey to the world, what difference it is they wanted to make with their art.

I never have had the opportunity to have such a connection to a living author – that is, until tonight. Jane arrived promptly at 6 pm, dressed in a gorgeous black cocktail dress. I couldn’t quite believe it… For three hours, she regaled us with stories about how she started writing (her first book was Trick of the Eye), and how she started her career as a playwright and screenwriter (including a comedy directed by Harold Pinter). As soon as I am done typing this, I will be ordering her New York-based Social Crimes and its sequel One Dangerous Lady.

Given that tonight’s book club meeting was about Mortal Friends, of course we chatted about the DC social scene (per Jane, “there are only two reasons to go to a party: to get a job or to get laid”). We also talked about girlfriends, about the relationship between Reven Lynch and Violet Bolton. About whether or not you ever get to know anyone for whom they really are. About whether you tell your deepest secrets to your BFF. About whether you would tell her something that might hurt her, but that she would want to know. We talked about the difference between “social friends” and “best friends.” Jane said that her loftiest goal was loyalty. She talked about how loyalty with girlfriends doesn’t (typically) get side-tracked by the physical relationship typical of complicating things between a man and a woman. “In love, I can forgive anything.” In BFF relationships, without sex to confuse things, loyalty should be first and foremost and unending – as the friendship between Reven and Violet illustrates.

After such a fabulous evening, I want to:

Read all of Jane Stanton Hitchcock’s other books.
Continue book club forever.
Let all of my girlfriends know how much I love them and how I will always be loyal to them.

Thank you Jane.