PURPLE BLAB

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!

After months of patiently waiting, it finally arrived. It arrived on an ordinary Thursday, when I least expected. When I first saw it I wasn’t quite sure it was it. It wasn’t until I saw those three words GUINNESS – WORLD – RECORD that I immediately knew. That’s right folks, Purple Lab is officially in the books as the record holder for the Largest Speed Dating Event in Guinness World Record History.

Guinness World Record!

If you’ve never been to a major designer sample sale, it’s something out of the Discovery Channel wild kingdom shows – a stampede of starving lions chasing its prey. And the lines of hungry girls typically wrap the corner.

I sent the Purple Lab girls on a mission last week – crash DVF’s sample sale for some street team marketing. Here they are en route (thanks to Todd, who drove them).

Ashley was the fearless leader, a true alpha lioness. Here is her story!

Because I shared 25 things you don’t know about Todd and me, I want you to know 25 things about Sharon! So this is her story!

1. I like cats better than dogs

My kitten Willougby Ann!

2. I live with my boyfriend Josh and he is my best friend (aww)

3. On that note, I met Josh at a bar… so ladies, there is hope!

4. My favorite movie (right now) is The Proposal (I know lame.. but it is so funny)

5. I have a girl crush on Jessica Simpson

Start at the Hearst building – midtown and way, way west. Then head all the way east for a meeting at Meredith’s HQ. Back to hearst Then down and a little east for Conde Nast. Over to Meredith again before American Media. Oh yeah, Time Life Building was in there at some point. One more Conde Nast stop.

This is a close up of what we leave behind with each editor.

The security at all the buildings knew us by name today! Every time you go in, you give your ID, they call up and you get a pass to get in to the inner sanctuary. These are the remnants of the last 28 hours.

Yesterday was a nonstop meeting marathon with beauty editors. Eight of them to be exact. They’re called desk sides (Last week, I wrote about how Sharon made this happen here). It’s when you bring your products to the editors at their desks, which makes their lives a lot easier.

This is Sharon getting our presentations ready.

Looks are everything with these things. You have about 10 to 20 minutes, 30 if you’re lucky, to make a good impression.

Monday and Tuesday, Sharon and I will be doing “desk side,” which are one-on-one meetings with magazine editors at their desks.

The beauty editors – all editors, really – are inundated with event invitations, appointments, and deadlines. When you go to them, it helps make their lives easier.

This is the cute e-vite we did to get them on the books.

It’s not easy to get their attention and PR is really all about relationships at the end of the day. Lucky for Purple Lab, people love Sharon! 

Sharon, Purple Lab rock star Communications Queen, managed to do something I cannot imagine anyone else in PR accomplishing.

She secured a placement (translation: a piece) in the new Cosmopolitan Magazine!

Now… the reason it was an amazing feat.

Here’s the story. Sharon pitched the beauty editor at the magazine in the fall, when we thought we’d have the product in question… Luvah, the sexiest 3D lip color (both a stain and a gloss in one compact) infused with Dong Quai (an ancient Chinese herb known as a libido stimulant), Ylang-Ylang (used as the floral remedy for sensuality), Vitamin E (a nourishing antioxidant), vanilla mint scent (the better to kiss you with, my dear), and a double plumper I call “Complex OO.”

Not a moment of rest since HSN went down. We’re in the midst of planning the next group of shows for the April, for which I’ll be bringing contest winner Jessica Harlow with me! (I’m meeting her this week  – so excited!)

Plus, the manic manufacturing phase for Pearlesque Show has begun. Below, a comp of the design for the componentry.

Sharon and I are furiosly planning PR and marketing – desk sides with the major magazines, adding content to the site, starting to shoot how-to videos, and a special initiative for Pearlesque Show’s launch (cannot give deets yet – but it will be fierce).