For years, I was the victim of the Revlon hair relaxer, tortured by suburban haircuts where I ended up resembling a trapezoid, and a woeful witness to my hair falling out in chunks after an at-home color (post relaxer) that went awry. In 2000, I resolved to get serious about having healthy, shiny hair [...]

Can a perfume’s scent simply be reduced to a spritz on a paper strip? Can we savor a luxe perfume and still be eco-conscious and philanthropic? Can a fragrance be perceived as a work of art? Recently, I sat down with self-taught botanical perfumer, and founder of Strange Invisible Perfumes, Alexandra Balahoutis, a vanguard [...]

WMC is part of my sartorial A-team. She is a risk-taker, an occasional renegade – mixing the usual with the eclectic. But her look is always effortless, sometimes romantic, utterly chic, and unbelievably affordable. I’m always in awe of her clever outfit choices whether it be a cameo necklace or fox chunky heels. After [...]

I spent today with two of my favorite people. And what better way to usher in residual holiday madness then by feasting on buckwheat crepes, prancing with pooches in the park, gossiping on the Macy’s escalator, followed by a long coffee with your best friend, and finally, riding and old-school F train – snapping [...]

I have a mantra when it comes to styling tools and products as it relates to my hair – actually, it’s more like an incantation: If it can straighten and smooth my hair, which practically requires a village of stylists to maintain, then I’m a believer. Since my current dryer and Sapphire flat iron [...]

“And then I was sick. I ran to the bathroom as fast as I could, a dirty little bathroom in a dirty little bar, and I threw everything up – and is it strange if I say it felt wonderful? I threw up until I felt empty inside. I stood up from the toilet, [...]

After six years of anusara yoga and four-day-a-week workouts, I felt sufficiently smug when invited to sample a class at Physique 57 – that is until I nearly keeled over during the 10 minute warm-up. Forty-seven minutes of toning, stretching, pulsing, squatting began. And trust me when I say that my thighs, backside, abs, [...]

Believe me when I say that I don’t own jewelry. Friends have had to literally drape necklaces around my neck for events, push rings on my fingers for weddings, all the while I shook my head and said: no, no, no. I like the feel of bare skin. I don’t wear jewelry!
Ever since [...]

My flight home from Rome was chaotic, and that’s putting it mildly. There was a near riot at both the Cairo and Casablanca counters, while Alitalia reps were sipping cappuccinos at the bar. As my flight suffered one delay after another, and no information was delivered to us poor passengers, I was trying to [...]

I was the girl who watched The Shining when she was five, dragged her best friend at the time to the London Dungeon of torture in 1994, and will never shy away from watch vivisections, dissections and the like. Suffice to say, I like the innards. I revel in the macabre. I don’t question [...]

Typically, photographs and videotaping with flash are absolutely verboten in The Sistine Chapel, however, I queried the guard, showed him my camera, and explained that no flash would appear. He approved the use (although that didn’t stop rotten people blatantly taking flash photography), and here is a brief, albeit crappy, video from the Sistine Chapel.
Check [...]

Check out my snaps from today’s trip to Naples & Pompeii. I also visited the small towns of Lazio, Campania, and MonteCassino. I was slated for a 3.5 hour trip to Florence tomorrow, however, I don’t think that’s going to happen. I have yet to see The Sistine Chapel, and clearly I have [...]

If there is one thing I’ve learned from the uber-chic Roman women is that they adore splashes of bold and vibrant color. Whether it be a magenta silk scarf or a plum leather satchel, they celebrate color with confidence. However, as a New York black-wearing minimalist, where pink can render vertigo, I try to [...]

I’ve rhapsodized on the darling, affordable handbag line that is local designer, hayden-harnett. I’ve scored a few bags from the line, and I’m delirious over the high quality of the bags – can we say butter?! – and the unbelievable white-glove customer service. To get personalized tweets in my mailbox is pretty sweet. Hayden [...]