Iron Man 2 made its big premiere last night in Hollywood.  It was originally supposed to debut in London but had to relocate because of the volcano ash cloud that has been disrupting worldwide travel.  But, as they say in the biz, the show must go on!  And go on it did as the stars hit the red carpet in their all-white-glory.   Gwyneth Paltrow is back for the franchise’s second go-around and she chose to play with fashion by pairing a white blazer with white shorts:

I have to admit:  I remember very clearly the summer of ‘08 when Gwyneth burst back onto the fashion world radar with her super-short minis and her new bobbed haircut, when making the press rounds for the first Iron Man movie.  I wanted everything she wore.  But this look?  Not on my all time favorites list.

Scarlett Johansson has joined the cast of the Iron Man sequel as the villainous Black Widow and last night she matched Gwyneth’s color scheme with a structurally intriguing white dress:

Scarlett wins this fashion round for me.  Not that we should necessarily pit the leading ladies against one another, but if I were choosing an outfit to wear to the premiere and I had to choose between only these two options….I’d pick the dress.

But that is just my opinion….I’m much more interested in yours. Tell me…..

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If you’re in the Los Angeles area on Sunday April 25th, please check out the Beauty Bus Foundation Event.  There will be celebrity guests and a fabulous silent auction, in addition to a gourmet brunch and cocktails.  Guests will be able to indulge in a variety of beauty treatments at the drive’s “stations” which will include make-up applications, manicures, and a hair show featuring Hairron Salon owner and celebrity hair stylist Janine Jarman of Bravo’s “Shear Genius.”

About Beauty Bus Foundation: The Beauty Bus Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for homebound, terminally and chronically ill people and their primary caregivers by bringing beauty into their lives. Beauty Bus Foundation provides in-home beauty and grooming treatments, free of charge, to empower their clients, help them maintain dignity and give them respite during a difficult time. Services are focused on people with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), cancer, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, stroke and their primary caregivers. Beauty Bus reaches out to compromised and isolated individuals and brings beauty into their lives. For more information please visit www.beautybus.org.

Celebrity Guest List Includes:

• Catherine Dent (from FX’s hit drama “The Shield”)
• Jaime Gomez (from CBS series “Nash Bridges”)
• Omari Hardwick (film & TV actor)
• Lisa Sigell (KCBS/KCAL Reporter) hosting the event

The Beauty Drive will also be holding an exclusive silent auction featuring:

• lunch with Amber Valetta
• 2 VIP tickets to the Indianapolis 500
• amazing sports and beauty packages
• and much more!

Event Details:

April 25, 2010
11:30 am - 2:30 pm
The Mark for Events
9320 West Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035

You can purchase your tickets here.

Los Angeles-based American Apparel is pretty much hipster central. I’m not a huge fan myself, but it’s hard to throw a rock in this town without hitting someone clothed in the brand’s leggings, body suits, or ’80s-inspired skintight dresses. I will admit that their T-shirts are very soft and have just the right level of stretch, but that’s about as far as my interest went…until now. AA has just unveiled a collection of nail polish in “18 unique shades of high-quality color,” and I have to admit I’m intrigued. I’m loving Hunter, a dark green creme, and Factory Grey, which is pretty self-explanatory. Passport Blue also nails that exact shade of, well, passport blue. No word yet on formula or application, but at $6 each, it seems like a risk worth taking. Also, with Christmas just two days away, these would make excellent stocking stuffers! Just sayin’…

Holidays are stressful, y’all.  There are all the parties, the gift giving, the holiday cheer, the elbowing in the stores.  And you often feel like you’re being pulled in ten different directions so that you can get everything just right.  I can feel the tension building just thinking about it.  We are in the midst of Hanukkah and Christmas is next Friday….do you think you can squeeze in a little R&R for yourself before the end of the year?  Because if you can, and you are in the LA area, then you need to check out this rundown of spa specials that expire at the end of the year.  If you don’t think you can fit in some “me” time, you might change your mind when you read about some of these tantalizing treatments.  I am totally getting the Rock Star treatment over at El Leon Spa on Beverly Blvd.   Here’s the rundown:

El Leon, a Spanish-Moroccan oasis, and its sister spa the Raven, inspired by the jungles of Thailand, offer $50 off a treatment they call the Rock Star: more than two hours of services featuring a Dead Sea salt and lavender oil hand/foot massage, a full-body Thai massage, and a head, neck and face massage ($135, regularly $185).

TWO HOURS of services for what some spas charge for one hour??  And I have been dying to try a Thai massage.  Mama needs to be stretched.  Seriously.  Now I know what to tell my husband to get me for Christmas.  Heck, we should go together as a holiday treat for both of us.  Which means my shopping for him is done…ooh…I can already feel the tension slipping away…

If massages aren’t your thing, there are plenty of spas offering deals on facials and pedis and more.  Treat yourself.  You deserve it.

If you’re looking for a really special holiday gift for someone and you live in the L.A. area, may I suggest a custom perfume? According to a recent article in the L.A. Times, making a custom scent for yourself “offers the experience of creating something tailored to your favorite notes and a chance to focus on the intimate details of who you are as a person.” In other words, not only will the finished product smell amazing, it will also make a statement about the very fiber of your being! Pretty awesome. (Of course, this also means that if you are thinking of giving one of these custom perfumes as a gift, you’ll probably want to bring the person along with you for the creation process!) There are a number of different perfumers in Los Angeles who will create personalized scents, each with their own aesthetic - and price range. Smell Bent has a playful, cheeky vibe, with custom perfumes starting at $200 for a quarter ounce, although you can buy one of their pre-mixed scents starting at just $20. Strange Invisible Perfumes, on the other hand, is impossibly swanky and luxe…with the price tag to match: A custom blending session and a quarter ounce of your signature scent will set you back a cool $6,000! To my mind, the best bang for your buck can probably be found at Memoire Liquide,  where a quarter ounce of custom perfume starts at a reasonable $45. (Also, I love the gorgeous fancy/antique-looking packaging!) At these prices, custom perfumes are unlikely to take off as last-minute “impulse buys,” but for the true perfume connoisseur, I can’t think of a better gift.

It has been chilly here in Los Angeles the past few days and it really is “beginning to look a lot like Christmas,” to quote the holiday song.  However you celebrate this time of year, tomorrow is the perfect day to get some of your holiday shopping with done with the 2nd Annual Holiday Walk on the Avenues.  From 6:00 - 9:00 on Dec. 10th, participating businesses in West Hollywood will be offering shoppers special discounts, hors d’oeuvres, beverages, and signature gifts.  There are even going to be roaming carolers and Santas throughout the Avenues and personal shoppers to help you get all you need on your list.  The Avenues of Art and Design consist of Melrose, Beverly and Robertson, with the Pacific Design Center as the district’s anchor.

This sounds like a great way to get into the holiday spirit.  I plan on grabbing a few girlfriends and making an evening out of it.  I can already picture us sipping our hot cocoa, walking along with the holiday lights twinkling and scoring deals at stores like  Kitson and Coco de Mer.  Fa la la la la, indeed!

Anyone who lives in L.A. will tell you that “mobile cuisine” is all the rage right now. It all started with taco trucks and hot dog carts, and before long you could find basically any type of food under the sun being sold from a vehicle of some sort somewhere in the greater Los Angeles area - everything from sushi and ice cream to Indian dosas and Korean BBQ. (Check out this article on the phenomenon for a detailed rundown on the trend.) Of course, this led me to wonder whether anyone has had the brilliant idea of putting beauty services on wheels, and a quick online search indicated that, indeed, they have! Call a number and you can have a mobile spa roll right up to your house (or office!) to give you a quick massage, facial, or mani/pedi on your lunch break. Pretty awesome, right? It’s not quite the same as a food truck - you make your appointment in advance and tell them where to go, as opposed to finding out their latest location via the Web. Still, it’s the same concept: Can’t make it to the spa or salon? Then make it come to you! You can even hire these mobile beauty gurus for your next party. Here are a few to check out in the L.A. area:

• GreenBliss EcoSpa - combines “green lifestyle and wellness trends with authentic spa rituals”
• Serve the Goddess - “offers pure indulgence and exquisite pampering with massage and a wide selection of spa treatments”
• SQ Nails Mobile Manicures & Pedicures - lets you sit “in the comfort of your own home or office and [have] a professional manicure or pedicure done”
• Spa-Go’s - “a luxury mobile day spa and lifestyle company” founded by a massage expert

Has anyone ever used the services of a mobile beauty expert? I would love to hear how it went!