Beaufille backstage beauty: The ’90s chola girl is reinvented with monochromatic makeup for Fall 2014

If you describe the beauty look of a ’90s chola girl—that is, dark-lined lips and pencil-thin brows—it doesn’t exactly match up with what’s on-trend for 2014. Right now, the bushier the brow the better, and lip statements are more ombré than tattooed on. But with girl gangs as the official inspiration for Beaufille’s Fall 2014 look, Maybelline New York lead makeup artist, Grace Lee, couldn’t help but reference chola style in the makeup. “Really, when I think of girl gangs I think of cholas. I’m gonna say it: We are going chola chic.”

Lee started the look by blocking out models’ brows with Maybelline New York Instant Age Rewind Dark Spot Concealer + Treatment—“ we don’t want them to look alien-like!”—and then focused on contouring around the eyes. Chola chic is, as it turns out, a very monochromatic look. Maybelline New York SuperStay 14HR Lipstick in “Beige for Good” was applied with a soft bristle brush to the crease and under the eye, the formula providing a dewy finish worthy of any cream eyeshadow. Cheeks were also dabbed with the lipstick, and then contoured with a second colour, Maybelline New York FaceStudio Master Glaze Blush Stick in “Warm Nude.”

However, it was the Beaufille lip that pulled the whole chola chic style together. Lee used Maybelline New York Color Show Kohl Liner in “Chocolate” to line the lips, but avoided a precise line. Next, Maybelline New York ColorSensational The Buffs Lipstick in “Bare All’” and “Blushing Beige” were blended together on the lip, applied with an ombré effect in mind. For that final push of chola style, Lee went back in with a neutral lip liner and slightly defined the darker outer edge “to give it that ’90s Linda Evangelista spice lip” look.

While the hair could have been equally as chola-inspired, with slicked-back, tight ponytails, it was a much more relaxed affair. Redken artist Jorge Joao said the look was intended to be “model off duty” with hair having day two, lived-in style. After prepping with Redken Pillow Proof spray, he added movement to random sections with the flatiron. Redken Fashion Waves sea salt spray provided a final blast of texture and models were good to go.

Firdous Korean Lawn 2014-15 | Korean Lawn Collection 2014

3 pieces of evidence point to Malaysian jet´s takeover

There are three pieces of evidence that aviation safety experts say make it clear the missing Malaysia Airlines jet was taken over by someone who was knowledgeable about how the plane worked.



One clue is that the plane´s transponder — a signal system that identifies the plane to radar — was shut off about an hour into the flight. In order to do that, someone in the cockpit would have to turn a knob with multiple selections to the off position while pressing down at the same time, said John Goglia, a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board.



That´s something a pilot would know how to do, but it could also be learned by someone who researched the plane on the Internet, he said.



Another clue is that part of the Boeing 777´s Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) was shut off. The system, which has two parts, is used to send short messages via a satellite or VHF radio to the airline´s home base. The information part of the system was shut down, but not the transmission part.



In most planes, the information part of the system can be shut down by hitting cockpit switches in sequence in order to get to a computer screen where an option must be selected using a keypad, said Goglia, an expert on aircraft maintenance. That´s also something a pilot would know how to do, but that could also be discovered through research, he said.



But to turn off the other part of the ACARS, it would be necessary to go to an electronics bay beneath the cockpit. That´s something a pilot wouldn´t normally know how to do, Goglia said, and it wasn´t done in the case of the Malaysia plane. Thus, the ACARS transmitter continued to send out blips that were recorded by the Inmarsat satellite once an hour for four to five hours after the transponder was turned off.



The blips don´t contain any messages or data, but the satellite can tell in a very broad way what region the blips are coming from and adjusts the angle of its antenna to be ready to receive message in case the ACARS sends them. Investigators are now trying to use data from the satellite to identify the region where the plane was when its last blip was sent.



The third indication is that that after the transponder was turned off and civilian radar lost track of the plane, Malaysian military radar was able to continue to track the plane as it turned west. The plane was then tracked along a known flight route across the peninsula until it was several hundred miles (kilometers) offshore and beyond the range of military radar.



KUALA LUMPUR: Airliners normally fly from waypoint to waypoint where they can be seen by air traffic controllers who space them out so they don´t collide. These lanes in the sky aren´t straight lines. In order to follow that course, someone had to be guiding the plane, Goglia said.



Goglia said he is very skeptical of reports the plane was flying erratically while it was being tracked by military radar, including steep ascents to very high altitudes and then sudden, rapid descents. Without a transponder signal, the ability to track planes isn´t reliable at very high altitudes or with sudden shifts in altitude, he said.

Sonam say's "The bikini was my idea, not Aditya Chopra's,"

You'd think that Sonam Kapoor is only carrying forward the illustrious Yash Raj legacy by getting into a bikini for Bewakoofiyan. After all, we've seen number of Yash Raj heroines from the old Sonam in Vijay (1983) to today's Sonam Kapoor in Bewakoofiyan don the bikini.



But Sonam springs a saucy surprise by saying the bikini was her idea. "It wasn't the producer Aditya Chopra or the director Nupur Asthana's idea that I wear a bikini. In fact, the director suggested a one-piece bathing costume. But I thought a bikini was fine. If you see the trailer there are two young people going for swim. It's perfectly natural for the girl to be in a bikini. It's not Halle Berry in a James Bond film or Bipasha Basu in Dhoom making a splash. The bikini blends naturally into the scene. And I am very happy to be wearing one. Having a female director around helped. But I wasn't really tense about wearing a bikini."



Sonam's father Anil Kapoor has apparently said that Sonam's bikini shot would get Bewakoofiyan a good opening. Sonam completely refutes any such statement from her father. "My father never said that. All that I said at a press meet was that my father feels the film would get a good opening. That statement found itself bonding with the bikini in the newspaper headlines. I've realized I have to be very careful in what I say. I speak my heart out. Such honesty is not appreciated in the film industry. Instead, it is twisted and distorted. A lot of what I say is lost in translation."



Sonam is very happy to have done a frothy feel-happy film like Bewakoofiyan. "Finally! I've been doing too many intense films from Saawariya, Delhi 6, Mausam and last year there was Raanjhanaa and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. After doing Bewakoofiyan I realized I hadn't done any conventional films at all."



Bewakoofiyan helped Sonam to relax. "I needed to unwind, just have fun doing a role. Also, some of my films have taken longer to be completed than usual. This one took only 40 days to shoot. It wasn't a marathon race but more like a quick run. It was chicken soup for my soul. It was a very easy smooth slip-in-slip-out kind of shoot. I never realized when we started the shooting and when it ended."



The other factor that Sonam found relaxing in Bewakoofiyan was the rom-com format. "I have two heroine-centric films Khoobsurat and Dolly Ki Doli lined up. Before I went into these films where I had to shoulder the film's weight, I needed to do something where both the leads had equal responsibility to share. Bewakoofiyan was liberating."



The film's sensibility is very close to Sonam's personality. "Bewakoofiyan is a frothy American rom-com kind of film about urban kids. Since both Ayushmann and I are urban youngsters it was relatively easy for us to identify with the situations in the script."



Remind her that Ayushmann is from Chandigarh which is not that urbanized a background and Sonam protests, "Oh, you'll be surprised at how urban Chandigarh has become. I've shot there recently. Believe me, it is no longer a small town. And besides, Ayushmann has spent most of his life in Delhi. So his sensibilities are very urban. I had great fun shooting with him."

Bewakoofiyaan Review

On face-value, BEWAKOOFIYAAN may pass off as yet another love story in a middle class setup, with the [tyrannical] father of the girl throwing a wet blanket on their plans. While the subject matter is as old as the hills -- haven't we watched a concerned/over-protective parent opposing his kid's choice of spouse in dozens of films earlier? -- BEWAKOOFIYAAN also drapes a thorny issue that plagues the world: Recession. However, what could've been a serious take on relationships and economic decline is punctuated with several laugh-inducing moments by Nupur Asthana.



One expects BEWAKOOFIYAAN to be a joy-ride, since Nupur's big screen debut MUJHSE FRAAANDSHIP KAROGE was padded with intelligent humor, clever lines and charming moments. And Nupur and writer Habib Faisal make sure they give the cliché-ridden plot a new spin altogether.



Mohit [Ayushmann Khurrana], a marketing whiz kid, and Mayera [Sonam Kapoor], a financial brain, are a much-in-love couple. They work hard, they party harder. Their belief is simple: You can live on love and fresh air… But there's an obstacle: Mayera's wilful bureaucratic father V.K. Sehgal [Rishi Kapoor].



The obstinate man believes that only a rich man can bring Mayera happiness and a mid-level executive like Mohit simply isn't good enough. Who gets the last laugh when recession strikes and the lack of money tests love?



BEWAKOOFIYAAN brings back memories of Anubhav Sinha's AAPKO PEHLE BHI KAHIN DEKHA HAI and Rahul Dholakia's KEHTAA HAI DIL BAAR BAAR, besides FATHER OF THE BRIDE and MEET THE PARENTS, of course. Having said that, Nupur and Habib pepper the plot with some cleverly penned sequences, but stray episodes apart, the writing maintains a strong grip from commencement to conclusion [the run time -- less than 2 hours -- makes sure the film never overstays its welcome]. Also, the writer slips the after-effects of recession smartly in the proceedings, without deviating from the core issue, that of a love story.



There's a lot to like in BEWAKOOFIYAAN. The makers know well the flavour of humor they wish to peddle to the spectator -- witty and subtle -- shying away from the slapstick and buffoonery one has come to expect in Bollywood comedies. It won't be erroneous to state that BEWAKOOFIYAAN makes a genuine attempt to entertain beyond tested flavours and it succeeds in evoking genuine laughs at regular intervals. Also, Nupur and Habib invest heavily into the characters and the screenplay to keep the interest alive. Additionally, the film works for two more reasons: Sharp dialogue and spot-on performances by its protagonists.



However, there are hiccups too. The conclusion is foreseeable given the genre of the film, hence Habib should've ensured that the sequences leading to the climax were hatke completely. The soundtrack [Raghu Dixit] is plain ordinary and though it's not right to draw parallels, one misses a 'Paani Da Rang' kind of haunting melody from Ayushmann yet again [that song has become a yardstick, frankly]. Notwithstanding the blemishes, what needs to be appreciated is the chance YRF has been taking lately. While the premier production house is synonymous with biggies like JAB TAK HAI JAAN, EK THA TIGER and DHOOM: 3, they aren't shying away from making 'smaller films' with interesting concepts such as ISHAQZAADE, MERE DAD KI MARUTI, SHUDDH DESI ROMANCE and now, BEWAKOOFIYAAN.



Editing [Antara Lahiri] is crisp, while the DoP [Neha Parti Matiyani] paints a vivid portrait of the capital as well as Dubai.



The film relies completely on three central characters -- Rishi Kapoor, Ayushmann and Sonam -- and the performances are indeed commendable. Especially Rishi, a gifted actor, who's finally getting roles that do complete justice to his talent. Ayushmann is charming, confident and far from shaky in sequences with the veteran Kapoor. That's no mean achievement! Sonam has evolved tremendously as an actor of late. Films like RAANJHANAA, BHAAG MILKHA BHAAG and now BEWAKOOFIYAAN only cement her status as a fine talent. Also, she goes all out this time around, flaunting the oomph factor quite abundantly. The supporting cast, in limited roles, deserve a special mention too, especially Gurpal Singh [as Gursharan] and Pratap Hada [as Immy].



On the whole, BEWAKOOFIYAAN springs a pleasant surprise. Watch this wonderful slice of life film for the super performances of Rishi, Ayushmann and Sonam, watertight writing, skilled direction and dollops of humor.

Are shoppable videos the future of fashion?

The fashion world is made of trendsetters, early adopters, and well, we’ll just skip all the rest. Without us, sneakers would be for gym use only and wearing white after Labour Day would still be considered taboo. When it comes to technology, recent developments (Opening Ceremony’s collabo with Intel for one) have shined a light on our innovative knack as well. But amidst all this forward thinking, one element still has a big question mark hanging over its head: video. First came the fashion week livestream. Then came the fashion film craze. Now, there’s another burgeoning fad: the shoppable video. What does it all mean for fashion’s tech future?



In 2012, Ssense launched the “world’s first shoppable music video” starring Iggy Azealia, Diplo and Fki in the shopping site’s designer wares. Since, its been tried by Gucci, Juicy Couture and last year, added as a functionality on Youtube. And while one would think this technology would have major retail implications (if someone had given me the direct path to Gwen Stefani’s bindi, lord knows I would have traded my life’s savings), the shoppable video still seems like somewhat of an enigma. Are people actually clicking?



According to Google, 1 in 3 shoppers use Youtube to shop for apparel and 4 out of 10 people who watch a shoppable video will check the items out online or in-person.



Recently, Sport Chek partnered with YouTube for a shoppable video featuring Team Canada athletes Jon Montgomery, Maëlle Ricker and Meaghan Mikkelson in Olympic performance wear. “Our goal was to create an online experience that combines our brand messaging and product support in a more dynamic way for the customer,” says Frederick Lecoq, VP marketing and e-commerce at FGL Sports Limited (The umbrella of Sport Chek). “Our use of experiential videos was so successful that we’re already looking for the next evolution of shoppable integration–one that creates an even more seamless connection between Sport Chek’s brand and the products we sell.” Did it work? “Canadians have responded well to the shoppable video and it has surpassed our expectations from a measurement perspective—three times the average click through rate of the average digital media banner,” he says.



Adding fuel to the fire, LVMH-owned content site Nowness launched a balletic shopping video this week featuring dancers moving through looks by LVMH-owned brands Maison Martin Margiela, Haider Ackermann, Kenzo and Louis Vuitton. It’s a creative feat that gives readers insights into fit amongst other vibe-y qualities. It’s also a pretty slick way of tying it all back to monetization, while keeping things interesting.



So, are there silver screen fashion automats coming to a mall near you? With so many big named businesses behind the shoppable video, its rise seems inevitable. However, as demand for high quality video production also rise, it remains to be seen whether such intricate works of tech art will become mainstream.



If the future is defined by the past, here’s hoping Clueless is shoppable.

Pizza, Perfume And Pinterest: We chat with Amy Adams about her red carpet beauty secrets and more

Should you click over to Amy Adams’ IMDB profile, it’s pretty clear why she’s been such a staple at awards shows for, oh, the last seven years. From her first Oscar-nominated role in Junebug to this year’s award-winning double header (American Hustle, Her) Adams’ resume is dotted with critically acclaimed films that include a range of compelling characters.



It’s this versatility that landed Adams a contract with Lacoste as the face of its women’s fragrances, including Eau de Lacoste Pour Femme and Eau de Lacoste Sensuelle. It’s a seemingly perfect match: the fragrances are all about femininity, confidence and natural elegance—which could just as easily describe Adams’ own effortless style. But don’t let us convince you! We caught up with Adams last week and after chatting about everything from red carpet style secrets to fragrance facts, it’s clear that she’s as charming and down-to-earth as they come.



I mentioned to a few friends that I was talking with you and almost every single one gushed about your glowing skin. So! What are your skincare secrets? Are there any products that you’re obsessed with?

Thank you! I’ve been a long time user of La Mer, I have to say. I have really tricky skin. And there was a period of time I was having a hard time keeping it balanced and I was getting really dry skin. Someone recommended La Mer and I started using [the cream and the lotion] and it kind of saved me. I was shooting in New Mexico at the time and I’ve kind of been a loyal user of La Mer since.



Are there any skincare rules that you follow? Like never going to sleep without washing your face or always wearing sunscreen?

All of those. I tend to follow the traditional ones: wearing sunscreen, drinking water and washing your face. But, you know, I make mistakes, sometimes it happens—I fall asleep with my makeup on, the night gets away from you.



Do you enjoying wearing and applying makeup?

I do, I have fun with it. But on a day-to-day basis I tend to get really busy so I try to just have my core products that I use.



I’ve heard other actresses say that makeup now seems like more of a job-only thing.

It’s funny, when I put makeup on now, my daughter asks if I’m going to work.



When it comes to red carpet hair, do you let your stylist determine the look or do you have, say, a secret Pinterest board of hairstyles that you want to try?

Pinterest is awesome, isn’t it? I’ve definitely gotten ideas from Pinterest, but I get inspiration from lots of different places. Sometimes I tell my hairstylist it’s a freebie, do whatever you want—which I think I’m probably going to start doing more and more. I feel like I’ve tried everything I’ve felt like trying and they’re such amazing artists. I’m curious to see what their vision is now.



Is strawberry-blonde your natural colour or do you do anything to enhance or brighten it?

I do. My natural colour is strawberry blonde but it’s a lot ashier now because I’m a normal human being (aging!) and so I do, I get an assist with the hair colour. To brighten it, I use a semi-permanent or temporary, I like that. It washes out, it’s more natural.

You’ve been working with Lacoste since 2013. What have you enjoyed the most about being the face of their fragrances?

They’ve really taught me a lot about how you build a fragrance and it’s been really fascinating to learn. [Also] their approach to femininity: how much they really protect the Lacoste woman [and how they see her] as being confident and driven by simplicity. I really respect how much they value that ideal of woman. It’s attainable.



If you had to pick one of the gowns that you wore over the past awards season to best represent the Lacoste fragrance woman, which look would you pick?

I really did approach this year with a sort of simplicity [in mind] but I wanted to have fun with it at the same time. So although [all the dresses] had this simplistic line, there was something about each one that I found unique. But probably the one that I wore to the Oscars, I feel had something unique about it, but it’s very you know, straightforward and well tailored.



Sticking with the Oscars theme, you’ve said that “fragrance is incredible in how it can instantly trigger an emotion or memory.” Is there a smell or a fragrance that will bring you right back to the 2014 Oscars in an instant?

Pizza! Because they were passing pizza around while I was getting ready to present and I missed the pizza and I could smell it, and I was so hungry.



You didn’t get any backstage?

No, the pizza guy didn’t come backstage! Meryl Streep got pizza. But did I get pizza? No.



Bad pizza timing.

That’s right.



I know that you love singing, so if there was a song that you’d want to film a Lacoste fragrance commercial to—and you don’t have to be the one singing it!—what song would you pick?

It’s probably been done, but “Natural Woman,” has that been done for a fragrance commercial? If no one’s done it, then Lacoste should do that. I would not be singing it, however. I have a friend, Jessie Mueller, on Broadway right now—I’m doing a pull for my friend!—in the new [Carole King] musical Beautiful, who sings it amazingly. So, if anyone gets a chance to go, watch that musical!