Day Two: Forbidden City & A Fashion Shoot

We’re starting the day with a little culture, via a trip to the Forbidden City. First, breakfast in the lobby restaurant. Determined not to eat like a tourist, I order congee, the popular breakfast dish that resembles soupy oatmeal. Everyone meets up, piles into the mini-van and we merge into the heavy Beijing traffic. There’s so much to take in as we drive through town--shopping malls, bike riders, pedestrians, government buildings, soaring hotels.



We arrive and join the tourist throng. The Forbidden City, a stunning, sprawling place, once served as the Chinese imperial palace. Construction began there around 1400 and more than a million laborers were required to complete its 900+ structures. It’s awe inspiring. The only downside? IT’S FREEZING OUTSIDE! Our hosts and the Chinese tourists don’t seem to notice. Some aren’t even wearing gloves. I’m chilled to the bone and wish I had packed a big Norma Kamali sleeping bag coat.



Michelle’s cold too, but she’s not complaining. She stays close to our tour guide who explains the history and symbolism behind everything. The color red symbolizes happiness, yellow symbolizes power, dragons represent strength, cranes (the bird) represent longevity. I find this fascinating about the Chinese culture. There’s no such thing as a random detail. Everything has meaning.



Next up, a famous roast duck restaurant for lunch in a private room. We’re greeted by a dozen pretty young hostesses in long dresses with their hair pulled into high chignons and mink stoles around their shoulders. Lunch is fun and each dish is beautifully presented, even the scary-looking sea cucumber, which tastes like a cross between a portobello mushroom and eggplant.



Back at The Opposite House, Michelle films a video that the local Lancome team has requested. Called “China Girl,” it’s four looks layered upon each other: natural, office girl, romantic and party. Michelle uses the Asian versions of her favorite Lancome products: for example, Hypnose Precious Cells mascara instead of Definicils Precious Cells, and Stylo Sourcils Design eyebrow pencil in lieu of Le Crayon Poudre. (We need this product in the U.S.! It's a retractable version of Le Crayon and just perfect. No sharpening required.). Jerome heard that Michelle loves the Genifique masks, another product we don’t have in the U.S., so he brought a box of those for her too. (If you live in Europe or Asia, you have to try these!)



There’s a video crew and a photographer documenting Michelle’s every move while she films the video on her tiny Canon camera. She finishes and we take a quick break for cupcakes and cappuccino at the mall across the way. We hurry back upstairs for a shoot with the Chinese edition of Self Magazine. There’s a handsome hairdresser, a beauty editor not wearing a scrap of makeup, a tall photographer who doesn’t say much and lots of assistants. Sound familiar? We could easily be back in New York.



They take several pictures in Michelle’s hotel room then it’s back downstairs to a bar called Punk for one last photo. The shoot wraps, we grab our coats and head to dinner with Joy, who, when she’s not teaching yoga, is a member of Jerome’s PR team. Which explains why she’s in killer shape. Dinner is at Din Tai Fung, a dumpling restaurant on the top floor of yet another luxury mall. We’re glad to see it’s not touristy in the least. We happily, sleepily stuff ourselves with hairy crab soup dumplings and a lovely dessert of almond gelatin squares and shaved ice flavored with condensed milk.



Back at the hotel, I’m so tired I can barely wash my face. I skip my beloved Collaser serum, slap on a little Secret de Vie and climb into bed. Big day tomorrow. We have a photo shoot with Ray Fashion Magazine then Michelle has to pick the winner of Lancome’s China It Girl contest. Bon nuit!

Pictures: The dumpling restaurant, the Forbidden City, Jerome and I, Michelle filming her video, cupcakes with Beijing PR dynamo Katrina, the cupcake options in Mandarin and English, shooting at the Punk nightclub, hairy crab soup dumplings, happy Michelle.

Mark Your Calendars! We Need Your Help.

Did you hear that Lancome has a great one-day charity fundraiser in the works for Friday, Oct. 22nd. One week away! This is taking place in the U.S. only. (Sorry to our international friends.) It's called Genes Day and we're donating $7 from the sale of every bottle of Genifique Youth Activating Concentrate to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.



We have a lot of Genes Day posts planned for next week. We'll be talking about St. Jude, the amazing charity that provides FREE care for children with cancer and other catastrophic illnesses. Patricia on the PR team (we call her PR) went to Memphis, Tennessee, last week to see first hand the good work that St. Jude does. She came straight home and hugged her beautiful twins (who turn 10 this weekend. Happy birthday, you two!) PR will be writing a first-person report for TLB. We'll also have a Q&A with the St. Jude team, information on how St. Jude was founded, what kind of work they do and more.



We'll of course be talking about the award-winning Genifique serum. I had no idea that Genifique has so many famous fans until I started working on this project, but I'll let you know who uses it and how.



A few Lancome friends will be doing special videos for us and we'll share those next week too. In the meantime, we have a video from our good friend Tory Kirby of Makeup.com. (Have you checked out Makeup.com lately? Make sure to do so if you haven't. Tory's a great writer and knows so much about the beauty biz and makeup artistry.) Take a look at her video above to learn more about Genes Day.



If you have questions, let me know. Mark Oct. 22nd on your calendars, in your computer, on your BlackBerry, wherever. We've promised St. Jude that we'll donate $100,000 from the one-day event! Help us double or triple that amount.



Have a great weekend.

Meet Yokoo, Our Fave Designer on Etsy! Enter to Win One of Her Creations Plus Lancôme's Newest Skincare--Rénergie Volumetry

As I mentioned last week, we're dedicating this week on the blog to a few of our favorite entrepreneurs, artists and designers. It takes a lot of courage to do your own thing, especially when the economy isn't so great, so we wanted to spotlight some creative people we admire. Lancôme was founded 75 years ago this year by a young entrepreneur named Armand Petitjean, so you never know where something will lead!



The first person we're spotlighting is Yokoo. She's a young woman from Atlanta who specializes in knit items and has a great online boutique on Etsy. (Do you know about Etsy? It's essentially a giant online flea market populated by artists of all kinds. You can find everything from stuffed animals to leg warmers to homemade bath and beauty products.)



I've been meaning to write about Yokoo forever. I first ordered some of her pieces last winter and was amazed at how well made, warm and whimsical they were. Most of her pieces are best suited to fall/winter (I know, I know, it's 90 degrees outside...), but she has some seasonless pieces too. And she's branching into jewelry, which is exciting to see. Look how fab that necklace is in the picture above.



You'll have fun looking at Yokoo's Etsy boutique and at her Flickr photostream. She uses her Flickr pages to spotlight everything from new creations to DIY clothing projects to her favorite things. She's so creative and she has such great personal style. We hope you find her as inspiring as we do.



For today's giveaway, check out Yokoo's Etsy boutique, pick one thing you'd love to have and tell us why. We'll pick one name at random and you'll win that item plus our newest skincare, Rénergie Lift Volumetry Lifting and Reshaping Cream SPF 15 and Rénergie Lift Volumetry Eye Cream. The idea here is firming. (The cream comes in two options--normal/combination and normal/dry.) I've been using Volumetry all summer (with my fave Collaser serum. If we ever discontinue Collaser I will seriously fall apart) and was happy to have that extra oomph in the firming department.



Please comment by end of day Wednesday. Good luck.



Tomorrow: our favorite fashion illustrator!

Linda Wells? ALT? Orlando Pita? Reality TV Steps It Up...And In Support of Serums!

It's a beautiful night in New York City, but I'm stuck inside. Some sneezy, sniffly allergy thing. I'm on the couch with my wonton soup watching reality TV, which I pretty much never do. First up, "Shear Genius," and who's on there, but Orlando Pita and Linda Wells!! Wow, Allure comes to life. Then I flipped to "America's Next Top Model" and there's Vogue's Andre Leon Talley and fab fab fab 70s supermodel Pat Cleveland! I love that Tyra respects the industry icons. Andre's great, predictably, and breaks out some kooky fashion speak. "You are the blase broken doll." "You have double entendre eyelashes."

And then "High Society." Has anyone watched this? Talk about a hot mess. This show has to be scripted. Somewhere, Grace Kelly is cringing.

Anyway, I meant to blog tonight about the recent Consumer Reports study on serums. Not only did they pooh-pooh serums, they kind of dissed the serum I have been using for THE PAST TWO YEARS. (High Resolution Collaser-5X, in case you're wondering.) I think they tested it for 21 days. (21 versus 365x2? Anyone?)

I love my Collaser. Any time I stop using it, my skin does not look as good. (I layer it under Secret de Vie moisturizer morning and night.) Interestingly, they didn't test Skinceuticals. A lot of people, beauty editors included, swear by those serums. And several girls in the office layer it with their Lancome moisturizer.

Any serum users out there? Feel free to weigh in.

People always ask me about skincare. If there's one thing I can definitively say, it's that people who take care of their skin have better skin. It's that simple. Whether this means eating right, limiting your sun exposure and using only moisturizing, or layering six different products, serum included, a.m. and p.m. is up to you. But do something and find the routine that works for you, your skin type and your pocketbook. You'll notice a difference.

Fab Over 40's Fave Lancome Products! Visit Kari's Website Tomorrow to Win Everything!

I arrived at work a little early this morning (that never happens) so I surfed around and checked out my favorite beauty blogs. I almost dropped my soy latte when I hit the Makeup and Beauty Blog. But ha ha, Karen was pulling an April Fool's prank on all of us. Good one, Karen, but we're glad it's not true!! : )

Then I came across an AMAZING post from our friend Kari at Fab Over 40. She listed her favorite Lancome products and why she likes them so much. I asked if we could share the list with you and Kari was gracious enough to say yes. So here it is. I have to say, Kari did a great job editing and found the best of the best! Kari, thank you again and thank you for taking care of the 40+ beauty audience on your blog!!

FAB OVER 40'S FAVE LANCOME PRODUCTS

Hypnose Drama - The latest addition to their ever-famous mascara collection. This one curls, thickens and gives “wow” lashes.

Absolue Ultimate Night Bx Serum - This is one of the products used on me during a facial and I buy it over and over again and use it nightly. Besides being good for my skin and reducing the look of wrinkles it smells lovely.

Tresor Fragrance - I love the floral combination of this fragrance. It’s not overpowering so it can be worn during the day, yet pretty enough for evening.

Miel Glace Blush - After reading that this was a blush that was used on Kate Winslet for a red carpet event, I thought I’d check out the blush. Only I thought I wouldn’t like it once I saw it. Then the sa tried it on me and I instantly fell in love. It’s that perfect shade of warmth and color without being bold. You ought to give it a try.

Sheer Amourose Blush - a soft, sheer rose blush that adds a hint of rose color to the cheeks, but keeps it sheer so it doesn’t scream color. Perfect for a polished look.

Tropiques Minerale Loose Bronzing Powder - Alex Sanchez, one of Lancome’s makeup artists, used this on me during a makeover and I had to buy it after seeing it on my face. It adds that “just been at the beach” glow to my face. I use the Natural Golden shade.

Absolue Precious Cells - This was sent to me by Lancome to try out when they first released it. I was worried that it might be too heavy as it is a thicker cream for day (the one I use has SPF 15), but I love it. It’s not too heavy, keeps my skin moisturized and I swear wrinkles at bay too.

Absolue Premium Bx- I heard that this was one of Sandy Linter’s favorite products, so I figured I HAD to give it a try. I keep this in my rotation of moisturizers as it’s lighter weight than Precious Cells, smells divine and gives my skin the perfect amount of moisture from hot humid summer days to cold dry winter ones.

Color Design Eye Shadow- The shade Vue is a pinkish sheer shimmer eye shadow that adds a nice veil of color. It stays put, the shimmer is the right texture, and it works with many other shades of eye shadows for blending.

L’Absolu Rouge Lipsticks – I’ve raved about this formula many times and I’ve bought many, many shades. It’s a perfect texture, the shades are plentiful, and once you’ve given them a try you’ll know why I love them because you will too!

Oscillation PowerFoundation - I admit, I had a not so great preconceived notion about this foundation. Vibration (really?) and a mineral powder which are typically not my favorite. Lancome sent me this to try and again I was pleasantly surprised. I actually like the fact that you don’t have to swirl and swirl a powder brush – the sponge applicator does it all for you. It gives my skin a smooth look, and it doesn’t discolor on me like many mineral powders do.

BiFacil Makeup Remover - Doesn’t every woman who wears any type of eye makeup use this remover? I’ve tried others that claim to be better than this and they actually were so drying to my eye area that I ended up having more wrinkles than I ever had! Yep, I immediately went back to BiFacil. Lancome always has a mini version of this in their GWP and they are perfect for travel.

Kari is doing a giveaway of all these products on her website tomorrow, so make sure to visit. (Kari didn't write the post knowing there would be a giveaway! We just offered it to her today!!) Tell her we said hello.

Rachel Zoe Likes Our Absolue Face Masks! You Will Too, So Let's Do a Giveaway

Does everyone read The Zoe Report? The Zoe Report is Rachel Zoe's daily post on all things fabulous--fashion, beauty, accessories and more. Rachel, I'm happy to report, is a Lancôme fan. I remember the first time we met her and she had three Juicy Tubes in her bag, all used almost to the bottom.

Well, today's Zoe Report is about our Absolue Premium Bx Cloth Masks. Thank you, Rachel!

The cloth mask is one of my favorite Lancôme products. If you and/or your skin are feeling blah, you take one of these out of the packaging, arrange on your face and relax for 10 minutes. You and your face will feel much better. You can massage the leftover product into your skin. (Just a warning. You will scare whoever is in the immediate area when you wear these. The look is ghost/scary hockey player. There's no way to make this pretty. I've actually worn my glasses over the masks so I could read or watch TV--definitely not a pretty look.)

So many people are fans. Joanna, the editor in chief of Marie Claire, got hooked after a model sat next to her on a flight to Europe and wore one through part of the flight! A major celebrity makeup artist (I can't mention her name because she works for another beauty brand) uses them on her clients before doing their makeup.

Let's give away a box of them so one of you can see for yourselves. Just post a comment and tell us your facial philosophy. Do you always get facials? Never? Do you give yourself one every Sunday? And what products do you use? Please post by Friday night and we'll pick one post at random. Good luck!

More From Paris! And a French Skincare Giveaway!

Faubourg-St. Honoré
Originally uploaded by Adam Chin

Hi, everyone. Day Three in Paris. I went to the Lancome boutique this afternoon on Faubourg St. Honore for the Genifique facial, which was really amazing. I never walk around without makeup if I can avoid it (insecure quirk of mine), but my skin looked and felt so glowy, I couldn't bear to put makeup on afterwards. The esthetician used Galatee Confort cleanser, Secret de Vie cleanser, Tonique Douceur cleanser, Exfoliance Clarte scrub, Genifique Youth Activating Concentrate, Genifique Eye Cream and Genifique Day Cream (which isn't available in the U.S., so I bought one to try at home!). The facial included some ultrasound, lots of massage and some steam. It took an hour and a half total. I haven't had a facial in years, so this was a nice treat. Not to mention insanely relaxing. I think I might have fallen asleep for a little while. Speaking of sleep, it's way past my bedtime. More Paris talk tomorrow.

Let's give away all the products I mentioned above (except the Genifique day cream-sorry!). Just post your must-have skincare product and we'll pick one post at random. Please post by Wednesday night. Talk to you soon!

It's Friday, So Let's Give Away a Bag!

Very happy Friday is here! Terrible weather in New York. Oh well. Hope it's a little nicer wherever you are. Let's talk about bags and bargains for a minute. If you're shopping this weekend for yourself or someone else--maybe for the holidays--stop by your nearest Lancome counter and ask about our holiday bag stuffed with five deluxe samples and a full size of our cult Black Coffee eyeliner pencil. Five of the products have won Allure Best of Beauty Awards. And one product, the mini Juicy Tube in Spring Fling, won a Cosmo Magazine Beauty 100 award.

(By the way, Spring Fling happens to be the shade worn to the last Academy Awards by the very hot and very philanthropic actress who happens to be married to a very hot and philanthropic actor who was up for an award.)

The bag, $29.50 with any Lancome purchase, is available at Saks, Bloomie's, Macy's, Belk, Dillard's, Bon-Ton, Nordstrom, Von Maur and Lord & Taylor. Hope I didn't forget anyone there! And it's available while supplies last, of course. The bag comes folded nicely in a big red holiday box. That's blogger extraordinaire and Lancome intern Miss Whoever You Are above, with the bag, looking chic in the rain as she hails a taxi--all for the sake of a good blog photo!

Let's give away one of the bags and all the goodies inside. Just post and let us know what your fantasy bag is. If you could carry any bag in the world, what would it be? We'll pick one post at random. Please post by Monday night and good luck!

Make sure to stop back next week. We'll have the winners of all our recent giveaways, plus some very special news that involves the First Lady of France, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy! Have a great weekend!!

A Little Sumthin for Them, A Little Sumthin for You (It's a Giveaway Alert, My Beauties!)

Does it drive you crazy when stores start promoting the holidays before Halloween even begins? I don't want to see Christmas ornaments and candy corn or tinsel and turkey at the same time. But then there are lots of organized people who don't mind because they like to get their shopping done early.

Whether you're an organized holiday shopper or not, you'll enjoy our Lancome.com holiday gift guide. Why? Because it features options at lots of different price points and four of our favorite people: designer Chris Benz, mua Daniel Martin, spokesmodel Arlenis and sweet sweet Evelyn Iocolano, who created the Lollipop Theater Network charity. Each picked a few Lancome products that would make perfects gifts for their friends, family and other loved ones.

Make sure to take a look. You might get some cute ideas for stocking stuffers or little gifts or even, to quote fashion blogger Bryan Boy, a little sumthin sumthin for yourself. Let's do a fun giveaway. Tell us what gift you'd like to get right now and we'll pick one post at random to win all the gifts on Arlenis, Chris, Daniel or Evelyn's page. (Just tell us which page is your fave.) Please post by Sunday night. Good luck!

Tell Us What Truly Works (And Win Our Amazing New Eye Cream, Which Really Works Too!)

Here is a list of things that truly work, according to an unscientific survey of the Lancôme P.R. department:

1. Spanx
2. Band-Aid Blister Block
3. Static Guard
4. Mr. Clean Magic Eraser
5. Tide to Go pens
6. Swiffer cloths

You can add our new Génifique eye cream to that list. Erin and I decided to road test the new potion--but just under one eye. The results were pretty impressive. In just one week, you could tell which eyes we were using it under. It's a fantastic gel-like formula that actually works on dark circles and brightens your under-eye area. You might even need less concealer. And it's good for a variety of ages. I'm using it, but so is our intern Madeline, who at 22 years of age is slightly more fresh faced than I am.

It's also great for guys, especially those with dark circles who wouldn't use concealer in a million years. Plus, the packaging is really unisex for those sensitive about such things.

We're giving away a jar of Génifique eye cream. Just tell us one thing that you think really really works and we'll pick one post at random. Please post by Sunday night. Good luck!

Harper's Bazaar Precious Cells Giveaway!

Make room in that medicine cabinet! We just launched a new supercream you might find interesting--Absolue Precious Cells. Billed as our "advanced regenerating and reconstructing cream," this high-tech moisturizer helps restore skin density, reduce wrinkles and boost radiance.

The beauty editors at Vogue, Elle and More have written about it and it's already out of stock at several counters. Would you like to try it? Well, Harper's Bazaar is giving away a set of Absolue Precious Cells day cream, eye cream and night cream every day in October. I know, I know. The month's almost over. But there are 11 days and 11 chances left. Each day's prize is worth $385.

Click here to enter and good luck to you and your skin!

Do You Take Good Care of Your Skin? Plus, A Customized Skincare Giveaway!

Back in August, we invited several beauty editors to our boutique for a preview of Oscillation Powerfoundation. Andrew Sotomayor, our fave mua, was there to do the demo and the editors' makeup. One of the things we couldn't help but notice was that every editor had a great complexion.

Were they born that way? Maybe, but this is a group that takes care of its skin. They have skincare regimens, many of them stay out of the sun, etc., etc. I know a few who took Accutane in the past to deal with bad acne.

Then there's blogger Julia Coney of All About The Pretty. Julia (above top pic) has the most amazing skin I've ever seen in my life. Celebrities would kill to have what she has. But boy does that girl work for it. I did a little interview with Julia that I've been meaning to run forever, but in the meantime you can check out fellow blogger Felicia Sullivan's post on Julia and her routine.

Here are a few simple, universal skincare rules. How many do you follow?
--Limit your sun exposure.
--Wear sunscreen.
--Don't smoke.
--Drink a lot of water.
--Wear moisturizer!
--Take off your makeup before you go to bed.

Sandy Linter, our beauty at every age expert (above bottom pic), has another great piece of advice. You should not use the same skincare you were using 10 years ago. Your skincare needs change, so make sure to update your product.

Sandy's a huge fan of Absolue Lotion, so I recently switched from Secret de Vie (which I absolutely love) to that product. I was kind of dying to try it because she uses it on all of her celebrity clients. (I know. Lame reason.) I have to say it's a very cool product. It leaves my skin very glowy and it does something miraculous with my makeup. It's almost like my makeup sticks to it like a primer and lasts longer. Maybe Sandy can weigh in with a comment later.

Anyway, because we're all skincare junkies around here in the P.R. department and we really believe in our skincare products, let's do a giveway. To enter, tell us what skincare advice you follow or any advice you'd like to share. We'll pick one post at random and that person can pick any two items from our skincare range on lancome-usa.com. Please post by Sunday night. Good luck!