PURPLE BLAB

I’ve been chomping at the bit, impatiently waiting for the release of Mockingjay, the third of the Suzanne Collinis fantasy sci-fi Hunger Games series.

And it’s out! I just ordered it, mandatory office reading, today!

If you haven’t read the series, you’re missing what may just be the best books ever written. It’s like Lost meets Gladiator – gripping, dangerous, violent, sweet at times, romantic at others, and completely addicting.

I poured through the first two books of the series in two days and I am not a fast reader. I just couldn’t put it down. And I need to share the love.

What I’ll wear on HSN is always the most stressful part of going on air for me. I can deal with the pressure of being on TV in front of what could be 10 million people. But the outfit, that’s another story. TV clothes are tricky. I can’t be as over the top as I am in real life (i.e. no million layers of accessories… no major hats… no feathers). I have to think colors, what will pop. And remember, the camera really does add 10 lbs.

I am totally obsessed with Foursquare right now in my personal life. I can’t quite explain it but there’s an odd satisfaction I get when I check in. And an even bigger one when I become mayor (BTW, Ashley is currently mayor of Purple Lab! We keep ousting one another).

Follow Purple Lab on Foursquare here!

To make the use of the platform fun, the Purple Lab team and I added tips to all of our favorite spots so that if you check in, you can see what we recommend… what to have for brunch at Pastis, the best flavor of Pinkberry, where to get into sartorial trouble in Soho (Hi Kirna Zabete!), whose class to take at S-Factor.

It’s been a long time dream of mine to be in the business section of the New York Times, the ultimate authentication and validation for any entrepreneur. I have always visualized a big, splashy feature on how I built a business in a new, innovative way… perhaps that I sold it to a major company for unheard of amounts of money… maybe a little bit about it happening before I turn 40. And when I woke up yesterday morning, this is what I saw!

I have been wanting to do kamakazi street-interviews with women for a long time and ask them questions inspired by Purple Lab products. Here’s what happened when we grabbed the camera and went to the one place we knew we’d find a hot bed of girls… The Tory Burch sample sale!

Mwah!

Karen

Purple Lab Creatrix

Every season, fashion designers have a look book, a book that’s curated to perfection, showcasing the collection. It’s not something beauty brands would typically do. Being that I’m such a fashion girl at heart, I was a little jealous! I wanted one!

Today we launch our look book (the cover image is above)!

So I asked some of our favorite bloggers and F.O.P.L. (friends of Purple Lab) to strike a pose. We turned my apartment into a photo studio.

The kitchen was the Dolce Gusto coffee and muffin “craft station” as they say on movie sets.

Guess what we did yesterday? All the girls in the office and I went to the Sex & the City 2 world premiere. Sort of. Crashed is more like it. It was time for some serious guerilla marketing action at Radio City Music Hall.

Our girls dressed in their cute Purple Lab tees, skinny jeans, and one key accessory: retro style cigarette trays, wrapped in purple velvet and harnassed to their bodies. A moving beauty counter of products!

A close up of the trays:

I have a pile of WWDs stacked up to my knees. I can’t quite find the time to go through them all but yesterday, I stopped dead in my work-tracks when I noticed the cover of Monday’s issue.

The makeup! I die! It was calling my name!

It was an image from Dior’s resort 2011 collection and the eye, which may be hard to really tell in the photo, was deeee-vine! A gray winged cat eye just below a pink liner that started at the corner of the eye by the nose.

When I was little, I told my mom that when I grew up, I wanted to find things and tell people about them. That’s part of the reason I became a journalist and one thing I miss about not being one now.

So I thought I’d take a moment to share what I’m totally crazy obsessed with at the moment. Below, my ten favorite things.

The Spanx Bras. OMG! Have you worn one yet? The most comfortable bra I have EVER worn. The material is like Wolford hosiery soft and is made so that the surface is totally smooth, no matter how tight your top is.

I’ve been sharing what goes on behind the scenes when I’m at HSN but I want to give you a sense of how intense it really is.

This is what I see day in and day out while I’m there. Even in my dreams.

Imagine doing five shows over a 36 or 48 hour period. Now, I have to be at HSN in my green room two hours before each show so in essence, I’m there for 15 of those hours, not including the times I’m there for meetings in between.