Wednesday
Apr302008
Dirt Candles
April 30, 2008 Here's a great gift idea (also good for Mother's Day). Made with organic soy wax and undiluted essential oils, Dirt candles make a stylish green statement. The packaging is also made with recycled glass and paper. Good for you and the enviroment. Available in 20 unique scent blends (I like the floral Best Friends and minty fresh White Wedding), these long-lasting eco-candles burn for about 60 hours and contain 30-100 fragrance notes each.
A portion of all proceeds go to select charitable causes (National Cancer Society, Susan B. Komen Foundation, World Wildlife Fund, Nature's Conservancy, City of Hope, and Make a Wish Foundation, etc.).
Shop at www.dirtcandles.com
-Tami
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There a couple of great eye color duos. Portobello is a matte ecru and a soft mushroom, giving the lid a very natural wash of color for an everyday look. Unconditional Love (duo cream eyeshadow) has a lovely cream to powder feel, with delicate shades of seafoam and shimmery copper. This is great for those sizzling days at the beach. Galapagos, a bitter chocolate with flecks of gold, is really awesome for a dramatic smoky eye.
I love the buttery smooth glide of the velvet matte lip pencils. The Dolce Vita is a pretty dusty rose, while Roman Holiday is a pale pastel pink. Both are nice by itself, but to make it punchier add a touch of the sparkly Supervixen lip gloss (sheer mauve). You can pretty much add Supervixen to every lip color and it will shine. This will definitely stay in my on-the-go makeup bag!
The Mindgame lipstick (sheer warm brandy) is now my fave neutral lip color. It gives the face a nice polished feel, and with Misbehave gloss, you will get the desired come-hither effect with the cherry red glaze dusted with gold shimmer.
The first few readers to correctly answer the following question will win either of the prizes mentioned above: Which Wong Kar Wai film featured the music of both Shigeru Umebayashi and Peter Raben?
Send your answer to: feteafeteswag@gmail.com
Alas, this contest is for U.S. readers only, sorry!
Check out the soundtrack here:
Single mother Adela (Sonia Almarcha) leaves her provincial town in search of a better life in Madrid with her infant son. Struggling with a bland job, she moves in with Carlos (Lluís Villanueva) and Inés (Miriam Correa). The roommates become friends and open up to each other about their personal lives over shared meals. Inés’s mother Antonia (Petra Martínez) soon becomes an indirect acquaintance. A widow with three daughters, Antonia is literally the rock in the family. Dealing with one daughter's cancer prognosis and manipulated by another to help supplement her selfish ambitions, the normalcy of daily life unexpectedly ends for these these women when tragic events occur. The survivors have to find the strength to carry on, and the viewer is strongly drawn to the well-being of each character. I liked how certain silent scenes reflected the inner strength of the main characters. Lonliness, grief, and isolation surround them like an invisible wall yet they manage to maintain their dignity as life goes on, with or without them.
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One day in an old music room, Lun encounters Lu Hsiao-Yu (Kwai Lun-mei) playing an alluring tune. This melody and the coquettish Yu begin to haunt Lun day and night. Eventually Lun discovers a photograph of Yu with his father (the matchless Anthony Wong), and the plot rises to a very dramatic and supernatural turn. Delicate and sweetly mysterious, Yu is the film’s emotional center as she and Lun performs their magical symphony for all time.
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Director Lone Scherfig does a fine job of painting a tableau of a conservative society as the residents struggle with the rumor of a male streaker in their midst. A local pharmacist opens up an anonymous hotline to find the culprit and calamity ensues as the townsfolk use it to air their grievances. Despite their initial misgivings, the hotline volunteers learn to find their voice, help each other, and heal the community. If you've seen "Italian for Beginners," you will want to check this out.
For tickets and information: go to 
The smell of constant fear permeates the palace in everyone's effort to win the emperor's favor. Rigid court rules strip off the spirit of the maids as they work within the thick confines of the palace. After one of the maids is found dead, female court doctor Chun-ryung suspects foul play and decides to expose the murderer. Risking her position and her life, she soon digs up an ugly mess of deception as the battle for ultimate power unfolds. The acting is well done, as well as the costume research and set design, but the special effects are a bit too dramatic for Western viewers.
"In the City of Sylvia" (Spain) presents the idea of possible romance as a young romantic (Xavier Lafitte) searches for Sylvia, the would-be lover he met from several years before. Beautifully set in Strasbourg with gorgeous-looking stars, Lafitte resembles a version of Gael Garcia Bernal, while gamine Pilar López de Ayala steals the limelight. The film is a simple pleasure to gaze at. Director José Luis Guerín encourages the viewer to engage themselves to sound and light, paring down the dialogue significantly. The sense of city life is heightened, with the everyday sound of locals strolling, students chatting, and the sound of a tram ambling around the winding streets.
"Glasses" (Japan) is a zen jewel of a story, about an uptight teacher visiting an idyllic island retreat. Upon arrival at the Hamada Inn, Taeko (Satomo Kobayashi) is subjected to the peculiar business habits of the owner (Ken Mitsuishi) because he doesn't want too many guests. Fellow guest Sakura (Masako Motai) leads the townspeople through daily “merci exercises” and all the guests practice 'twilighting' in the evenings.
Through the seemingly strange practices of the local inhabitants, Taeko learns to let go literally and figuratively, changing in small degrees with each passing day at the beach. Western audiences might not be used to the quiet pace of Naoko Ogigami's direction, but this is a great example of how in slowing down one's life, one might actually see the gems within.
More film reviews to come - stay tuned!
For tickets and information: go to 
Place blueberries and lemon pieces in a mixing cup and muddle to juice both. Add agave nectar and vodka, and then top with ice. Shake vigorously for 10-20 seconds. Place one small sprig of Thyme in the palm of your hand and slap it to release the oils. Twist it and place at the bottom of a 10 oz glass (highball or old fashioned bucket) and fill with ice. Strain the drink over the ice. Take a nice big, pretty sprig of Thyme and slap it again before sticking it into the drink as a garnish.
www.elixirsf.com
-Tami
Shifting his focus to a Western landscape, he returns with "My Blueberry Nights." It's a debut for Wong in many ways. It's his first English language feature, and the lead actress (singer Norah Jones) is a fresh visage on the silver screen. It's also one of the rare instances that Christopher Doyle isn't present for this project, welcoming instead cinematographer Darius Khondji. The result is a beautifully tailored dance of color, light, music, and passion that lingers within you long after you leave the theatre.
The story opens up with Elizabeth (Jones), a heartbroken young woman drowning in the sorrows of her recent breakup. She befriends cafe owner Jeremy (Jude Law), eating blueberry pie and taking refuge in his romantic outlook. With the pain so close to home, she takes off on a long journey across America, trying to forget her past.
Along the way she witnesses other troubled souls battling their own relationship demons. In Memphis she gets caught up with a forlorn alcoholic cop (David Strathairn) and his hot-headed estranged wife (Rachel Weisz), then ends up with a flirty, fast-talkin', double-your-money-back-or-bust gambler (Natalie Portman) in Nevada. These characters are somewhat of a mirror image to her loneliness within her long inner journey.
For a first timer, Jones is valiant in her attempt to convey her emotional range, but it comes off a bit awkward. Portman's spunky performance provided the sizzle the film needed, and it's a darn shame she didn't have more screen time.
The soundtrack, as usual, is a work of art in itself with Wong at the helm. His extremely deliberate choice in music heightens the entire experience, and sometimes the tracks themselves do enough emoting for everyone and beyond. With Ry Cooder (Buena Vista Social Club) scoring, you get to cozy up to sultry croons from Norah Jones, Cat Power, Otis Redding, and the like. For "In the Mood for Love" fans, you will find a treat here - a harmonica version of "Yumeji's Theme."
The ArmaniSilk Caffè lipsticks have a special new formula to perfect the balance between high color and long lasting comfort. Available in eight easy to wear brown-beige shades, I liked the No. 59 Caffè Granita - a frosty mocha that can be worn alone or with a gloss. The star shade, No. 62 Ristretto, is a bit too dramatic for me, so I toned it down with Lip Shimmer No. 45 - a beautiful shimmery bronze that is also great for a nude lip.
A tribute to the historical origins of perfume, the new Armani Prive – Les Eaux collection is inspired by the legendary gardens of the world. Rare and exquisite, the notes are selected with great care. Vétiver Babylone is a lavish interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's love for his wife Amytis, who dedicated the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to his beloved.
The perfume opens up with bright bergamot and citron notes, blending with juicy mandarin. Spicy green cardamom, coriander and pink pepper excite the senses, echoing the primal energy and heat of the desert. Earthy patchouli rounds out the base note, reminiscent of the intermittent shade within the sparse trees. It's a sexy fragrance that is mysterious, seducing you into the lush gardens of paradise.
Available at: Select Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Barneys and 
www.coco-luxe.com
-Tami