You know, I can’t say I’ve had the most productive Friday…

Good grief, lady! — I have not been able to concentrate for squat!

It’s called “Friday brain,” and symptoms include an inability to concentrate on important tasks, like bill paying, making phone calls for work and catering to your cat’s weird whims (such as carrying him up and down the stairs), and an enhanced ability to focus on frivolous, fun tasks, like looking up movie times, doing the robot to that catchy Bruno Mars song (Locked Out of Heaven) or going to Sephora.

DO THE ROBOT!!

Which reminds me, I ran into Sephora earlier this afternoon to grab a new bottle of Living Proof Restore Shampoo, because it keeps my hair from acting wonky, and I spotted a couple of new things while I was there.

Like these new Stila Beauty Balms…

Stila Beauty Balms from the left: HD Beauty Balm With Broad Spectrum SPF 30, Illuminating Beauty Balm and Bronzing Beauty Balm ($38 each for a 1.5-ounce tube)

I seem to recall Stila having another beauty balm, but I don’t think that one contains SPF. All three of these new ones do — broad-spectrum SPF 30 — which means they protect against UVA and UVB rays.

The one in the white tube on the far left, HD Beauty Balm — I think that one is supposed to work like a straight-up primer; Illuminating Beauty Balm, the one in the peachy tube, is supposed to give a brightening glow to the skin; and the Bronzing Beauty Balm, the third one, is supposed to impart a bronze tint.

All of them also claim to do a bunch of other cool things, like priming the skin for makeup, mellowing out imperfections and fortifying the skin with antioxidants…

I didn’t try them on my face in the store, but I did swatch, and based on the swatches, I liked the texture. They felt fairly light, not overly greasy or heavy (all three are oil-free), and when I rubbed them in, my skin had a slight sheen (but still looked pretty natural).

Should be good for girls who don’t like to wear a ton of foundation.

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Issey Miyake’s Pleats, Please! I was at Nordstrom last Saturday looking for a birthday gift for my mom (she just turned 64, happy birthday, mommy!), and while I was looking around, I stumbled on to a perfume I’d never seen before called Pleats Please, by Issey Miyake.

First thing that caught my eye was the bottle. Look at it! It’s almost like someone was holding it in their hand and crumpled it like a piece of paper. Anyway, I thought it was just really cool, and so I gave it a sniff.

It’s like a white floral, and it totally reminds me of Michael Kors — mostly plumeria, light and effervescent, but with a musky feeling to it.

When I got home I did a little research on it, and I guess it launched in September. I just hadn’t seen it here in the United States until now.

It’s based on a fashion collection — Issey Miyake is a fashion designer from Japan — from 1993, and apparently, the clothes had lots of pleats and colors, and the pieces had/have a sense if movement to ‘em.

And, ya know, I can see those same traits in the bottle. That same flow.
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All aboard the Chanel No. 5 Trolley, bound for San Francisco’s Union Square!

Toot, toot! Now boarding the Chanel No. 5 Trolley.

Chanel created the Trolley as an art installation of sorts, filled it with stories and lore about the iconic No. 5 fragrance, parked it in front of Macy’s in San Francisco’s Union Square last weekend and opened it to the public for free…

Come on! Let’s check it out. I booked a ticket and saved you a seat.

Our destination today? The world of Chanel No. 5…

What’s that, you ask? Can you take a picture with the male models before we board? Of course! By all means.

[SNAP!]

Um…just so you know, you’re grinning like a Cheshire cat in that picture.

Oh, hai!

Unfortunately, Brad Pitt couldn’t make it today, so we’ll be on our own. It would have been neat to bend his ear about No. 5, but apparently he’s on location filming a Chanel commercial with Tabs…

The trolley from the front

Picture Mr. Pitt behind the wheel…

Feel free to move about the trolley, and check out the different exhibits and Chanel-esque details…
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The new Benefit Crescent Row Limited Edition Set for Holiday 2012

Each of the four tiny 0.34-ounce bottles in the new $36 Benefit Crescent Row fragrance set is small enough to bring in a carry-on bag on your next flight (TSA rules limit liquids to 3.4 ounces or less).

Choose from Laugh With Me Lee Lee (a woody floral), My Place or Yours Gina (a woody oriental), Ring My Bella (a fruity floral) and See & Be Seen Sasha (a captivating floral).

I like my cats big and my perfumes tiny, so every year when Benefit rolls out their little fragrance kits I get really excited! — and then I pop open one of their caps…

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It’s her smile you notice first.

You’re strolling across the Pont des Arts bridge in Paris on a crisp, clear spring day when you see her standing by the railing, a shy smile on her lips, her hair swept in a chic chignon. A scarf is draped effortlessly around her neck, and she’s holding a bouquet of violets by her side.

She pauses to take in the City of Light and the River Seine below, leaning against the railing with her hands tucked beneath her chin and staring off into the distance, her eyes faraway and dreamy.

Ah, you know that look…the look of first love, when the mere thought of your beloved awakens every cell in your body with a tingling that begins at your toes and works its way up through your spine.

A breeze turns toward you, bringing with it an intoxicating aroma of vanilla, rose, musk, black currant berries and violet.

The girl breaks from her reverie, caught by your gaze, and smiles warmly. You return the feeling, knowingly, as you pass her along the bridge, recalling another time, so many years ago, when you, too, stood in almost the same spot, basking all-too-briefly in the same glow with your American writer, so tall and beautiful, with his brown hair and hazel eyes.

Whatever happened to him? you wonder. Does he still think of you, like you think of him?

Almost across the bridge now, you close your eyes once again and breath deeply, drawing in as much of the scent as you can, letting it sweep you up in its loving embrace.

Another happy girl on the Pont des Arts bridge in Paris, 2005
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