Vibrating Mascara: Is It Worth It?

Call us 16, but we found it hard not to giggle when we first heard about vibrating mascara. Do our lashes really benefit from the extra sensation? Then we remembered we had similar doubts about our Venus Vibrance razor when it first came out, but now we swear by it for the cleanest, closest shaves.

With this in mind, we tested out Estée Lauder Turbolash Motion Mascara. The Estée Lauder website promises: Volume. Length. Curl. Separation. All at once.

Does it live up to the hype? While we would love to tell you no, and that you should save the $30 in favor of your favorite drugstore brand, Estée Lauder Turbo Lash is all that and a bag of chips.

The vibrating motion of the wand really does help separate lashes to coat every single lash individually. The formula volumes and lengthens and is the next best thing to fake eyelashes.

Our only gripes: We wish we could turn the motor off for when we use hold it vertically for our bottom lashes. (Once you take the wand out of the tube, it’s on.) It’s a little tricky to get these shorter hairs without making a mess. Less of an issue is the curling claim—it does help curl lashes, but we’re not giving up our Shu Umera eyelash curler just yet.

As for the price tag, there is hope. We have it from an inside source it will be less expensive in the future. And it is $4 less than the Lancome Oscillation Mascara, which we haven't tried. For now, we’re saving it for nights on the town and our next girls’ getaway.

Budget Travel Tips

With all the upheaval in the stock markets, taking a girlfriends’ getaway may be the last thing on your mind. But as a result from all the stress of watching your 401K funds dwindle, a vacation is exactly what we all need. Now, we’re not suggesting you go and spend two weeks on a bender in Dubai, but a long weekend at a favorite destination is in order. Here are a few of our favorite top budget travel tips:

1. Shop around for plane tickets. Don’t just look at Orbitz and pick the lowest airfare you see. It pays to look at individual airline websites. In fact, we've bought our tix direct the last couple of trips.
2. Find a good hotel deal on a site like Travelocity but it’s non refundable? Call the hotel and ask them to match it. 99 times out of 100 they will and you can generally cancel at larger hotels up to 48 hours ahead of time with no penalty.
3. Always book a car rental directly with the car rental dealer, not through Orbitz. Say no to insurance if you have car insurance or your credit card covers it (our Amex Blue does). If you agree to bring the tank back full; be sure you do. We paid $6.99/gallon this weekend because we were running late to the airport and didn't have time to find a gas station.
4. Avoid the minibar—go to the drugstore for water, Vitamin Water, Advil, Pringles, Twizzlers, etc. Every time we go to Vegas we have the taxi make this key pit stop on our way to our hotel.
5. Go with more friends! Four girls to a room keeps costs down.
6. Go a day less. Hope recently had a fun time in Charleston on an overnight trip
7. Chill out with wine while you’re getting dressed to save on bar bills when you head out. (Buy the vino at a nearby store—don’t order it from room service.) Our favorite hotel chain, the Kimpton Group, offers a free wine hour at most of their hotels. Drink up!
8. Don’t drink and shop—it always leads to regrets.
9. Carry on your luggage. With most airlines charging for even your first bag, it pays to be a smart packer and fit everything in your carry on.
10. Go now! October is a quiet month for travel in the U.S. Hotel rates go up starting in November and December in resort towns.

Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Mask

The Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Mask was just what we needed last night (and not what the SO had in mind). Our face was a little worse for the wear and definitely dehydrated after two days at the beach, a couple of quick plane flights and a couple too many glasses of red at our cousin's wedding.

The Triple Oxygen Mask is the take home version of Bliss' most popular facial, the triple oxygen treatment, which promises to release more oxygen to your skin and is especially important if you're over 30. Apparently something else that slows down (along with metabolism and collagen production) is your skin's oxygen levels. This mask makes your skin "cleaner, brighter, fresher and younger-looking." So, how did it work?

You first apply the mask generously on your face. It's a liquid soap consistency; but moments after you put it on, it becomes the fluffiest foam and then starts fizzling and popping. Remember Pop Rocks when you were a kid? It's like that on your face. It was tingling and refreshing and fun. It also has a great citrus-y smell like other Bliss products. After five minutes rinse off the product and apply toner and moisturizer.

The results: our face definitely felt refreshed and it was smooth, pink and glowing. We'd like to say we looked younger; but that would be a stretch. We would definitely use this again. The only distraction would be the price tag. At $52, it's not cheap but much less than a spa treatment. Available at Sephora (where it was a "Best of Sephora" winner this year) and Bliss.

Chanel in Central Park and Tree Huts in Madison Square Park

We can only hope this tops the major disappointment of David Blaine's non-magic trick over Central Park's Wollman Rink and the semi-lameness of the waterfalls (though we have kinda grown used to them over the past few months in the same way we get used to tacky red and green ornaments every December). Last week on Twitter, the bloggers over at Racked.com let us know it was time to sign up for free tickets to the Chanel Mobile Art Show in Central Park, which starts on October 20. We had no idea what they were talking about, but put "Chanel" and "Free" in the same sentence and we're so there. Who doesn't like something free these days?!



We’ve since learned that the pop up museum is celebrating the 50 year anniversary of the 2.55 handbag and features works of art inspired by the bag by 15 artists. The space ship pod has already landed in Hong Kong and Tokyo. While tickets to the NYC exhibit are all snapped up there’s still time to catch it in London, Paris and Moscow early this year and later next. For the official website and making of vid, click here. We'll be going on October 29 and will report back.

Tree Huts in Madison Square Park
A few miles south and open to all, Japanese-born artist Tadashi Kawamata is installing tree huts in Madison Square Park, set to debut on October 2. We find the renderings oddly soothing. There's something so playful about the idea of hiding out in a tree house in the middle of Manhattan--if only we could hide out in one and get Shake Shack to deliver us a Shnack Burger and Rootbeer Float! Follow the blog on the installation of the tree huts on Madison Square Park's website.

Pollution Around the World and What We Can Do About It

Every once in awhile we take a break form our regularly scheduled programming to get on our soapbox. We were so moved this morning when watching Thomas Kostigen, author of You Are Here talk about how pollution is affecting the world on the Today Show. Not only is pollution is harming the air that we breathe and our waterways (as if that's not important enough), it's also affecting our world monuments like Jerusalem's Western Wall and Dome of the Rock. We remember seeing this type of decay with our own eyes when we saw the deterioration of Luxor Temple in Egypt (above) and were not surprised to hear Kostigen say that monuments like these in Israel and Egypt are decaying at a faster rate than ever before.


The book goes on to cover a village in Alaska that may soon be under water, the Eastern Garbage Patch, which we alerted you to earlier this year, the Amazon and other areas at risk.

Have we depressed you? Take heart, there are small everyday actions you can take to help save our beautiful world. You've heard it before, but one of the simplest and most effective things you can do is to stop using plastic bags in favor of a reusable tote.

One of our favorites is the Sephora Project Tote. The bag is made of recycled plastic bottles that have been turned into fiber and $6 from the purchase of each $12 bag goes towards Girls for a Change, a national organization that empowers girls to promote social change.

awesome movie poster friday- the RAY HARRYHAUSEN edition!

There's no snarky commentary to accompany these beauts.

Okay, the fourth 20 Million Miles to Earth poster kind of looks like the monster is peeing. But that's it!

Clearly I need some CotT.

edit: oh, and there'll be more Harryhausen goodness next week!

Turn Down Service: Total Beauty Style

Beauty Anonymous reviews La Mer The Hydration Infusion.

"_blank">Enter to win Y.E.S. skincare products valued at $98 from Girl-Woman-Beauty-Brains-Blog.

Beauty411 shares the best online beauty shopping websites from the NovemberShopSmart by Consumer Reports magazine! Did your favorite site make the list?

Monique at Beauty Girl Musings has tried Kinerase Under Eye Rescue, and is surprised at what she discovers. Find out what she thinks.

Alison of the Advice Sisters is blogging about the hair, makeup and nails backstage at Fashion Week fromVera Wang to Carmen Marc Valvo, and gives readers a birds-eye view of the American Express Skybox.

The Jet Set Girls are giving away Crest Weekly Clean. Stop by and register to win!

MissWhoever YouAre reviews the forgotten Rich & Ripe lipgloss from MAC's Cult of Cherry collection for her Pucker Up Wednesday series!

The Makeup Divas reviews Make Up For Ever HD Invisible Cover Foundation and tells you why they love it.

Boutique Flair's fab finds will help you get fall's decadent dark lips. Is the power pout beautifully romantic or tragically goth? You decide!

Butterfly Diary wonders why the heck Sarah Palin is promoting a lipstick for an environmentally friendly company. Heard of the word "oxymoron"?

What anti-aging skincare brand does Beauty Blogging Junkie swear by these days? Find out here!

Latest Hair Trends Seen at the 2008 Emmy Awards-by Talking Makeup!

Meg Ryan is looking better than ever in the new movie, The Women! Find out what hair products help her create those gorgeous waves on A Mom in Red High Heels!

Jenn from Beauty in Real Life has found a new moisturizer perfect for Fall. Click here to find out what it is.

Glossypink has a hot new look and has an awesome Dita Von Teese photo gallery!

On Our Radar: Stowe Mountain Lodge

Typically hitting the lounges on South Beach’s Ocean Drive or fending off a would-be suitor's advances at Pure in Vegas is more our speed for our girlfriend getaways, but every once in a while, we like to get out there and see the scenery. That’s exactly what we’ll be doing next weekend when we head up to the Stowe Mountain Lodge in Vermont.

The 139-room resort opened last summer after a decade in the making. With oversized windows in every room; we’ll hardly have to leave our room to see those maple leaves turning that gorgeous crimson and with a bathroom the size of our bedroom at home (below), why would we even want to? We’ll feel like we’re in nature, too, with all the eco-friendly steps the hotel has taken, like using salvaged trees to build tables for the restaurant or lamps designed by Simon Pearce who uses energy from waterfalls to power his glass blowing furnace and potter’s wheel. In addition the Solstice restaurant prides itself on a “farm to table” philosophy and uses local fruits, veggies and, our favorite, cheese as much as possible.



We do plan on leaving the hotel at least once. We’ll be taking part in the River and Spirits tour. This is a canoe ride down the Lamoille River to the Boyden Farm and Winery for wine tasting. That’s our kind of workout!

Our trip also gives us the chance to fly Jet Blue out of JFK and visit the much ballyhooed new Terminal 5 that previewed this week. As our flight leaves at 9 am on Sunday, we won't have time to sip a glass of wine at Piquillo or sample the sushi at Deep Blue (below), but we hope to try it out on our return. Oh, one other thing: our Jet Blue flight to Burlington is an unheard of $150 round trip! When was the last time you flew anywhere roundtrip for under $200? It may cost us more to get to the airport!

UPDATE: Turns out we won't be getting to see the new Terminal 5, after all. The opening has been pushed back to October 22.

childhood nightmares: MEDUSA

Medusa, Clash of the Titans (1981)

Stop-motion or not, this Gorgon broad absolutely scared the bejesus out of me when I was a wee bonny lass. With all those writhing snakes atop her head, Medusa was a nightmare brought to life courtesy of animation guru Ray Harryhausen. Frightening to behold (aduh- so much so that she'd turn you to stone), she was also a crackshot archer- if only she were prettier, she might've been Olympics bound- and she'd kill you before you even knew you were dead.

That doesn't make any sense.

Or does it?

No, it doesn't. The point is, she's all ten kinds of stealthy ninja, as she slithers around her underground temple, only the occasional soft rattle of her tail giving her away.

Director Desmond Davis plays it smart, building tension by introducing her via a shadow on the wall- and man, is it effective. Medusa was the Universal Monster of my childhood...she gave me nightmares, but not so much that I couldn't watch Clash of the Titans over and over and over...

Sure, Perseus defeats Medusa, as heroes are wont to do. She may have even deserved that beheading...and to a nine year old, the animated blood oozing out of her neck stump was beyond grody in the most awesome way.

Still, I've always had sympathy for Ol' Gorgie. I mean, it's not her fault she's so hideous- in fact, she wasn't even born that way. Rather, being transformed from a beautiful maiden into terrifying, scaly, snake-haired beast was her punishment for...for...well, for being raped, essentially. I bet she was wearing a low-cut blouse!

Medusa just wants to be left alone, just wants to hang out all by her lonesome in the dark, when along comes the handsome young hero to take her head to us as a weapon in his bid to save a beautiful young maiden. Ain't that always the way?

It's best not to think about it too much. The important thing here is that she's scary.

Watch her battle with Perseus via YouTube!

Hotels for Girlfriends' Getaways

While we appreciate that hotels are catering towards women business travelers, as reported by National Geographic's Intelligent Travel, why stop at yoga mats, fluffy socks and cookies? If JSG were to plan a hotel for women travelers on vacation, our floor would include eyelash curlers (ours never makes it into our carry on, somehow), Jimmy Choos in our size to borrow for the night, free flowing Veuve or Perrier Jouet, 24-hour on call hair stylists and our elusive fantasy of hot shirtless guys offering us foot massages. Did we miss anything?

American Express Lambertson Truex Limited Edition Bags for the Whitney Museum

We first spied the Lambertson Truex "Index of Happiness" bag in the American Express Sky Box over fashion week. It immediately caught our eye as an attractive bag we would like to own, but little did we know it was so much more than the rhetorical pretty face.



The canvas and leather trimmed bag is actually a functional piece of art. The mixed media print was created by artist Donal Baechler. Donald is a world traveler who draws inspiration for his art from a collection of slides from his many trips It's signed by Donald, along with Richard Lambertson and John Truex. There are only 200 in the world and 15 percent of the proceeds go towards the Whitney Museum of American Art's Photography Program, Collection and Special Exhibitions in a partnership sponsored with American Express and Vanity Fair. It sells for $1,000.

For those who want to support the Whitney, but have a little less cash to spare, the Gertrude tote is another option. Named after Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, the tote is canvas with leather trim. It's $120.

For more info, check out Vanity Fair Campaign NY.

briefs

There's a particularly cracked-out column by yours truly over at AMC today, talking about...err...imaginary TV shows for horror icons. Or something like that. Read, comment, recommend, read and comment and recommend! If we all band together, I'm sure The Leatherface Show can become a reality. Let's dare to dream, kids!

Providing further proof that he is the man, Arbogast has a wonderful post today suggesting that all you Californians vote A BIG FUCKING FAT NO on Proposition 8 come election time. For those of you not in the know, that's the proposed amendment that would ban gay marriage. I'm not one to blog about politics, but you know...I'm pretty sure gay marriage won't 1) affect or "demean" the marriages of heterosexual couples, and 2) bring about the end of the world...unless, of course, Alucarda is one of the brides. That might very well signal the end of times, but that's got all to do with her Beelzebubbin' ways, not her lesbionics!

Vote NO for the lesbian vampires of the world! Vote NO for the dads in Sleepaway Camp! Vote NO for Michael Myers and Dr Loomis!

Vote NO because it's the right thing to do.

Diane von Furstenberg's Packing Tips

We realize our obsession with Diane Von Furstenberg is close to bordering on creepy and stalkerish, but we can't help ourselves. We just love 99.9% of everything that she does. So naturally, we were thrilled to read her packing tips in the September issue of Travel & Leisure.

No surprise that the designer picks her own jersey silk dresses for travel. As Diane points out, they never wrinkle, can be dressed up or down and can be worn practically anywhere. No surprise, JSG agrees that it's the perfect travel dress.



We like this dress available at Bloomies, because the long sleeves make it warm enough for the plane and the print will hide our figure flaws. We would rock it out with a wide belt, brown tights and some booties.

For the rest of Diane's packing tips click here.

Can You Do a Girls' Trip in 24 Hours?

Yes, you can, if fact we just returned from one. Last week, we flew to Charleston, S.C. with our BFF Heidi for a quickie girls' trip in the middle of a very busy month. Why so short? Well, with a couple jobs and five kids between us (not to mention a continuing ed class and back to school night), there wasn't much time left. Heidi wanted to check out the quaint Southern city that was voted America's friendliest by Travel + Leisure readers. She asked us to give her 24 hours and naturally we couldn't refuse.


To make a 24 hour trip work for you, three things have to happen. First, you have to go somewhere close. Charleston was an hour and a half away by plane. The downtown is only a few minutes away by cab and the shopping was right outside our hotel. We stayed at the Charleston Place Hotel which occupies a big block right in the middle of everything (shopping, restaurants, nightlife) that way we could drop our bags and head out to the boutiques.


Next, you can't expect to accomplish too much. Our main objective was to spy the downtown and hit the shops, have a great dinner, and laugh over a few cocktails. Heidi accomplished the most (no surprise to those that know her well), coming home with a suitcase full of new dresses, tops, and shoes she found on King Street. After a little catnap, we had a lobster dinner at the Peninsula Grill topped off with their fantastic (and mail-order) coconut cake. We finished the night at the rooftop Pavilion Bar with its 360 views of downtown and the harbor.


Finally, a little luck never hurts. On this trip, our flights were on time, even arriving early both ways; our hotel room was ready at 10 a.m.; and the weather was perfect (not too hot and no rain).

While 24 hours seems so short, it was plenty of time to catch up with each other without any distractions. On the plane home, Heidi was setting the stage for our next adventure, "You know, I've never seen Montreal."

Editors' note: Thanks for all the great suggestions from our fab readers. Love to get insider info!

i've got all the patterns down up until the 9th key

Since last week's AMPF, I've been virtually unable to stop thinking about The Boneyard. Any movie that combines Phyllis Diller, Norman fell, living corpses, and poodles (both living and zombied) is really nothing more than one of my wet dreams caught on film.

Yes, I went there. Don't judge me!

My Boneyard fever (which, surprisingly enough, is remarkably similar to Pac-Man fever) only intensified after I sought out the trailer. Pay extra special attention around the 1:28 mark- if that's a reanimated Phyllis Diller, then honestly...Hollywood can just shut the fuck down right now. The greatest movie that could ever be made has already been made, and it is The Boneyard!



I'm digging on that trailer big time. Maybe it's the narrator's voice, maybe it's the title font...whatever "it" is, that trailer has a definite 70s vibe, which is surprising considering the movie was made in 1991- not exactly a banner year for horror. I don't know how I've managed to exist so long without seeing this movie. My life, clearly, has been lacking!

Crest Weekly Clean: At-Home Teeth Whitening Made Better

After a combined 5 years of braces and countless dollars of our parents' money (thanks, mom and dad!) we try hard to keep our smiles bright. We've both had in-office teeth bleaching (it works!) but rely on at-home trays and products to keep our pearly whites exactly that. Here's a way to make at-home bleaching more effective: Brush first with Crest Weekly Clean Intensive Cleaning Paste. The paste has more silica than regular toothpaste, which gets our teeth extra clean--like we've just been to the dentist or eaten a crunchy apple. That way your teeth can absorb the peroxide in your bleaching product more regularly and evenly for even whiter teeth.

The paste IS safe to use everyday, but it doesn't have fluoride, so you'll still need to brush with a conventional paste.

In a special offer for JSG readers, we're excited to be giving away 10 .85 oz tubes of Crest Weekly Clean. Just email us your name and address to jetsetgirls@gmail.com by Monday September 29 and you'll be entered to win.

Nars Jungle Red and The Women

We couldn't do a better job of writing up the history of Nars Jungle Red nail polish than the lovely ladies at Sephora's Beauty and the Blog already did. In brief, the color has a starring role in The Women (both the original play, movie and now the remade movie).

We were inspired to try this polish for our change-of-season pedicure and took it over to our local salon. If you looked up True Red in the dictionary, you would find a photo of Nars Jungle Red polish, meaning it's not a berry red we might wear in summer and it's not a burgundy we might wear in winter.

Our original plan was to do our fingernails in Sephora by OPI's Metro Chic, thinking the red/gray combo would be eye-catching, but once we saw Jungle Red on our toes, we knew we had to try it on our hands, too.

The funny part is, just like in The Women, Jungle Red caused quite a stir at our local nail salon. A fellow salon-goer wanted the color for her own mani, but was dismayed to find out the salon didn't offer the color. Not to worry, unlike some of the women in the movie, JSG definitely are not the type about whom you would say: "There's a name for women like that that's rarely used outside a kennel." (If that doesn't make sense, see the movie.) We happily let her borrow our polish.


We checked in with our favorite manicurist, Erica Marton of the Sally Hershberger Face Place. She tells us that the color is a top pick at her salon, too: She only has a small amount of the polish left and it's still September. She recommends using a top coat 2 or 3 days into the mani to keep the color from chipping. And for those looking for a less expensive option (it sells for $16), Erica recommend Essie's Bordeaux (a bargain at $8).

Musings on Fall Fashion

Eighties influences are all over these days from slouchy boots, balloon skirts and shoulder pads to Katie pegging her jeans and Mary Kate wearing leg warmers. This summer Chanel gave us florescent nail polish and Marc Jacobs gave us the perfect purple handbag. Now, we're nervously wondering, who's bringing back paisley? Trust us if you can't remember yourself, there was a time in the late 80's when everyone was wearing what looked like shower curtains and bedspreads. Hell, we had our own pair of Guess jeans with a faded teal paisley print and skinny zippered ankles.

Here's how it could happen: DVF will show a beautiful flowing dress in a just passable light blue paisley, and instead of letting that dress stand alone, everyone is going to copy her, especially Liz Claiborne and Ann Taylor.

Funny thing is we found this top at Banana and, well, it's totally do-able. Who's a slave to fashion?

A Peek Inside Nicole Darmanin's Carry On

JSG has a mutual love affair going on with Nicole Darmanin, publicist for Mario Badescu. We adore the legendary New York facial emporium, their gentle products, which magically fix every skin problem under the sun and the charming Nicole, herself. And we're proud to say, Nicole has been a loyal JSG fan from the beginning!



Nicole has been traveling a lot recently, from glamorous Istanbul to the decidedly less Indianapolis. Here's what we found in Nicole's Carry On:

I purchased 21:Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich on my way back from Turkey but when I got on the plane that’s the movie that was playing! I saved it and am going to read it on my flights to and from Indianapolis this week.



I felt like I was 12 when I asked for then received a Nintendo DS last Christmas, but it totally saves me on the subway, on airplanes and at the laundromat. My favorite games are Brain Age, My Spanish Coach, Professor Layton and the Curious Village and anything Super Mario!


I put on Mario Badescu Herbal Hydrating Serum before I fly then again when I freshen up right before I land. It keeps my skin hydrated without clogging it skin. I can sometimes be prone to breakouts. I also love the Mario Badescu Lip Wax SPF 15 with Rose Hip Oil.


I try to fly with no makeup on except concealer. Right before landing I wipe my face with an Anti-Bacterial Wet Ones and reapply Herbal Hydrating Serum and Lip Wax then just a little makeup so that I look as bright and shiny as possible.

I blend a little of Three Custom Color Water Colors in Pink Hyacinth onto the apples of my cheeks. The emollient formula and pretty pink shade brighten and give a dewy highlight.


I love Armour Lipglosses! The Gypsy shade is a sheer and fleshy with the finest gold shimmer and makes my lips look pouty and perfect.

In lieu of eye makeup I throw on an oversized pair of sunglasses. The pair that I wore out this summer, but am still wearing, are Burberry.


Finally, after two horrible ‘flying while sick’ experiences in a row, I’ve begun taking preventative measures. I drink Airborne for 2-3 days before I fly then again while I’m flying. The On-The-Go little packets are easy to carry along.