If you are passionate about travel, learning foreign languages and hanging with celebrities, Nadine Jolie is your girl! Here is why we love this lifestyle blogger…

1. I was born in New York City, spent my childhood in San Diego and Dallas, grew up in Atlanta, graduated from boarding school in Santa Barbara, went back to New York City for college, studied abroad in Paris, and then spent my mid/late 20s in Palm Beach, London and Los Angeles. Next up: San Francisco!

2. I didn’t have my 1st kiss until I was 17 (and a half) years old.

3. I don’t eat cheese. (No, not even on pizza. Yes, I’ve tried it. No, I’m not lactose-intolerant. I just really, really hate the way it tastes!)

4. My all-time favorite movie is The Sound of Music.

5. I am hopelessly, shamelessly, pathetically obsessed with Pearl Jam: the musical loves of my life.

6. On my 3rd day in LA, Sean Penn gave me a ride home from the Chateau Marmont to my new apartment.

7. Speaking of, some people collect stamps; I collect celebrity stories. (Apologies in advance for the name-dropping!) I’ve (chastely) spent the night in Josh Hartnett’s hotel bungalow, had Max Azria lend me his limo, danced at a party in the Valley with Jimmy Fallon, hot-tubbed with the cast of Glee, and sped away from the paparazzi in a car with Jason Statham.

8. I nursed the world’s dorkiest crush on a skater named Matt from the ages of 12 – 16 in Georgia. I once gathered up the courage to call him and ask him out, and he turned me down cold.

9. At our 10 year reunion, said crush Matt told me I looked “smoking hot” and that he’d made a big mistake by not dating me. Dorky vindication!

10. I type 90 words per minute.

11. Although I speak it very poorly, I can read and write Arabic and studied it for 5 years with a private tutor. I’ve also studied Italian, German and Spanish.

12. As a kid, my dream was to win the National Spelling Bee Championship: I won my school bees in 5th, 6th and 7th grade, but could never make it past county!

13. My favorite sport is polo, thanks to 2 years spent in England and Palm Beach working for the one-time best player in the world, Carlos Gracida.

14. Between kindergarten and college, I attended 12 schools, including three 3rd grades and three 7th grades.

15. In July 2005, I lost 2 jobs in 24 hours because of my anonymous blog Jolie in NYC.

16. I went to a French kindergarten in San Diego and wet my pants on the 1st day of class because the teacher would only respond to my “Can I go to the bathroom?” inquiry in French. (My parents = not so happy about that one.)

17. I’ve flown on the Concorde twice.

18. In 2006, I briefly worked for Sarah, Duchess of York—who is incredibly cool, funny and kind-hearted.

19. I’m a practicing Buddhist.

20. I believe in intelligent life other places in the universe and frequently dream of UFOs.

21. I believe in ghosts and am terrified of seeing one of those, however. (Mom, love you and miss you, but please stay away!)

22. My younger brother is my favorite person in the world.

23. The night my little brother was born (I was 9), my uncle taught my chess, and until I left for boarding school, my father and I would have weekly chess tournaments for my allowance money.

24. When I lived in the English countryside while finishing my 2nd book in 2007, I ran out of money and spent the summer (illegally) working as a bartender in a pub on the town square. I can now pour a perfect pint of Guinness.

25. Speaking of my books: I’ve written 2 of them! Check ‘em out: Beauty Confidential and Confessions of a Beauty Addict. They’re written under my “real” name, which I jokingly call my maiden name: Nadine Haobsh. (Hey, plenty of people change their names when they get married; I just changed mine when I got married to my career!)

Follow Nadine on Twitter!

MWAH!
Karen
Purple Lab Creatrix

A. I would never say no to helping children
B. I will do anything HSN ever asks of me
C. As a Jew who never had the joy of her own tree, I was ecstatic!

This was our creation, thanks to Todd, who gets all the credit for the design.

Our original idea included scaffolding and crystals that streamed to the floor but Todd, being that he has experience with Christmas and building things, assured me that it would not work.

So we went with an ombre metallic purple, oversized Mwah lips in our signature hot pink and Swarovski white crystal lightning bolts.

I am in love with it – and a Channukah bush is now in order!

There was a recent event in New York to launch the collection and so many of the HSN experts were on hand – it was like walking into a room to see everyone you think you know but don’t really know. Kind of amazing, the power houses in that room. To be in the space with them was an honor unto itself. Thank you, HSN, for including us!

Please support the cause! You can find all 70 ornaments here.

In case you’re wondering, a few of my faves include:

This stunner by Naeem Khan is like jewelry. I can totally envision a white tree with nothing but these ornaments embelishing it (Christmas Couture, espesh at $300).

This white one by Sean John is so chic, it hurts. Love its subtlty and luxury.

The leopard number by furrier Adrienne Landau is sexy (Marlo Thomas, who hosted the event, actually said “I never saw so many sexy ornaments. They match my panties!” I kid you not!)

Can’t you just see it on a black tree?

The Japanime style of the Harajuku girl-enhanced ball by Gwen Stefani killed me, too!

Give back and have a beautiful holiday!

Mwah!
Karen
Purple Lab Creatrix

1. I’m a junior at Columbia majoring in Comparative Literature & Society.
2. I grew up in North Carolina, but no, I don’t have a southern accent.
3. I’ve been writing for Purseblog.com for over a year as an intern. It goes without saying that I love handbags, and my favorite handbag/luggage designer is Goyard.
4. That said, I have at least three times as many shoes as I do handbags. It’s a paradox.
5. I’m the accessories director for Columbia’s only fashion magazine, Hoot. I love seeing my accessories shoots come alive after long weeks of requesting and picking up accessories all over the city!
6. My favorite color is and has always been purple.
7. I love, love languages. I’m Mexican-American so I grew up with Spanish, I learned French in middle and high school, and I started Italian as a freshman at Columbia. I also took Portuguese for a bit.
8. I love Star Trek, especially Season 3 of The Original Series and The Next Generation. My dad actually got me a sweatshirt that says “I’d rather be on Vulcan.”
9. Science fiction and fantasy reads are my favorites, especially the Ender’s Game saga, Harry Potter (I follow Lord Voldemort on Twitter. If you haven’t read his tweets yet, DO IT.), Frederick Pohl’s Gateway series, and pretty much anything by Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein.

10. That said, I also love my fashion reads – The Fashionista Files: Adventures in Four Inch Heels and Faux Pas by Purple Lab Creatrix Karen Robinovitz and Melissa de la Cruz (love her Blue Bloods series and eagerly awaiting the Witches of East End series!) was the book that got me hooked on fashion.
11. I love writing fiction, but I also write for the Columbia Spectator, the campus arts magazine The Eye, and Seventeen Magazine’s fashion blog as part of the Style Council.
12. I love my friends at Columbia. It sounds cheesy, but I hope we all stay friends after college even after we go our separate ways.
13. The Disney Channel is amazing. It’s so lighthearted – all the shows are a great way to de-stress after a long day studying.
14. Talk of teen shows bring me to iCarly – the writing is so clever and I always love a good laugh from Spencer’s antics.
15. As you can tell, I’m more of a TV show person than a movie person. If I could watch only one series over and over, it would be Avatar: The Last Airbender.
16. I’ve been practicing circus arts, specifically aerial fabric and contortion, for eight years.

17. At college, sometimes I stretch in the hallways for contortion. I get stares, yes, but I’ve gotten used to it.
18. My dad is the one who forced me to get Twitter in the first place. He doesn’t have a twitter himself, though, so he has to search for my Twitter conversations. It seems tedious. He should get a Twitter.
19. I laugh very, very easily.
20. I love music! I listen to anything from Top 40 to alternative rock in Spanish to Miley Cyrus.
21. I love wearing colors, patterns, and a lot of bracelets. What can I say, I’m an accessories girl!
22. I love traveling. I’m (somewhat) close to being a Lifetime Gold frequent flier with American Airlines and I have a 10-year travel plan to become Lifetime Platinum.
23. I interned with ELLE’s web department over the summer. More than anything, it made me want to write every day.
24. I want to meet Simon Doonan and gossip with him about Goyard and fashion.
25. I have a giant imagination and can make a long story out of anything. But the long comments on each of these facts about myself should have told you that, right? ☺

MWAH!
Karen
Purple Lab Creatrix

1. I was born and raised in the big state of Texas, but I’d like to say I’m a Texan in Texas and a New Yorker in New York!
2. In middle school my nickname was Mickey, but in high school it was shortened to Mick.
3. I’ve been dating my best friend for almost three years.
4. With that said, we are both adopted!
5. My dad is Jewish, my mom is Italian and I’m Hispanic. I feel this makes me really cultural and I love the diversity.
6. I have two tattoos, one is my adoption date and the other is a peony flower that gives me good fortune and luck.
7. I’m an only child.
8. We have 5 cats and 3 dogs living in my house (which are like my siblings) is that weird? Haha!
9. I have screws in both my knees from when I tore my ACL and Meniscus. The right leg was in basketball, the left leg was in soccer.
10. I have a HUGE girl crush on Kim Kardashian. How could you not?!

11. I love to eat all kinds of food.
12. My favorite drinks would have to be Dr. Pepper or sweet tea!

13. I reallyyyy enjoy running and do it 5 times a week.
14. I’m a sucker when it comes to chocolate.
15. I would choose to eat my dessert before my dinner.
16. I love ALL music and don’t discriminate against any genre!
17. I’m obsessed with all kinds of makeup and nail polish.
18. Being in the fashion industry is where I want to be for the rest of my life and would not choose to work anywhere else! It’s a dream!!
19. I really enjoy art (probably from the influence of my parents)
20. Honestly, I don’t really enjoy reading books, but I love reading magazines.
21. When I was younger I thought it was actually cool to have braces and wear a cast. Both came true. I had braces for 6 years. Broke my thumb. NOT fun. Though I do have really straight teeth.
22. I’m dieing to have a French bulldog.

23. I’m determined to have a closet like Carrie Bradshaw one day.

24. Nothing irritates me more than food smackers
25. I’m still learning and growing, but am proud or the person I’m becoming!

MWAH!
Karen
Purple Lab Creatrix

As you know, Purple Lab is extremely inspired by fashion, hence our creme blush, Cheek Implants in Six Inch Heels and our Huge Lips Skinny Hips lip gloss in Red Sole!

To celebrate the launch of our new foundation, Silk Sheets, we partnered with Chictopia, the ultimate destination for style-obsessed clothes horses (me being one of them) to launch the “Foundation of Style” contest.

We know that every girl has those key items that make up their Foundation of Style, be it your go to shoes that are impossible to walk in (walking is so overrated!) or a fedora, made chic by adding a broach, feather, or a crystal necklace around the base.

Between now and Oct.27, enter the Foundation of Style Contest for a chance to win the latest beauty must-haves from Purple Lab and a chic Balenciaga clutch makeup bag. Plus, we will be featuring our winners on Purple Blab as the guest beauty blogger for the month of November!

For details on how to enter, check out the contest on Chictopia and a few of our favorite looks!

Slicari

Maryvannotes

Red Lipstick

To celebrate our contest you can receive 20% on Purple Lab products using the code “chictopia” at checkout, now through Oct 27!

Cant wait to see your looks!

Mwah!

Karen

Purple Lab Creatrix

MWAH!
Karen
Purple Lab Creatrix

Here is Amanda’s entry to one of our Brickfish contests.

She hosted a Purple Lab on HSN Screening Party!

Amanda recently traveled to New York City and wanted to make it memorable – including an experience with Purple Lab. So, here is what happened. As told to me…

On a recent trip to New York City, I was asked by my friends at Purple Lab NYC if I was going to see a Broadway show while I was in Manhattan. I was in fact, I had just purchased tickets for “Promises, Promises” starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth. That is when I sent an email to Karen. I came up with a self-imposed “Ultimate Broadway Challenge.” The challenge: would I be able to get Kristin Chenoweth, star of stage, screen and Twitter, a Purple Lab lip gloss? E-mails flew and soon it was arranged that I was going to meet a Purple Lab intern to get the lip gloss that I was going to (attempt to) give to Kristin Chenoweth.

I was as nervous as someone who would be going on the Broadway stage that night during my pre-theater dinner. I was hoping that the timing would be perfect. I did not want to fall flat on my face for Purple Lab NYC, especially when I was the one who came up with this idea in the first place). I am a Multi-tasking Maven and I wanted to complete my mission.

My husband said I had a look of determination in my eyes, but also hoped the night wasn’t going to end with us at explaining Hoodia- infused lip gloss to an NYPD officer.

After the show, The excited crowd waited about 20 minutes before the cast started exiting one by one. Then there she was: the uber-petite Kristin Chenoweth! She was smiling and signing autographs. She was coming down the barricade–making her way along the very rail where I was. I started snapping pictures of her and I got one of the lip glosses in the foreground.

Then it was time to accomplish my Ultimate Broadway Challenge. I gave Kristin Chenoweth a Purple Lab NYC “Huge Lips, Skinny Hips” lip gloss. As she looked at the curvy box, I told her that it is lip gloss that is a plumper and had Hoodia inside to curb your appetite–that’s why it is called “Huge Lips, Skinny Hips”! Kristin’s reaction was priceless–I caught her smile in a classic “open-mouthed gasp” with my digicam. As Kristin walked away, she held a tight grip on her new Purple Lab NYC lip gloss.

Ultimate Broadway Challenge: Mission Accomplished!

Thanks Amanda! You rocked it!

MWAH!
Karen
Purple Lab Creatrix

1. I won funniest in middle and high school
2. I graduated from the University of Connecticut in May with a degree in psychology and a minor in business
3. I worked for ESPN as a reporter for their Campus Connection Show even though I don’t know ANYTHING about sports
4. I was in the Campus Girls 2010 Calendar, Girls of the Big East (representing UConn)
5. Despite their bad rep and my allergies, I LOVE cats
6. I have been dying my hair blonde since 7th grade, but have mixed it up over the years becoming everything from a red head to a dark brunette
7. I love music and my favorite genre is alternative rock, but I listen to and love all types of music
8. I love to read and my favorite author is Harlan Coben; my favorite book is Tell No One
9. My favorite band (right now) is Theory of a Deadman and my favorite singer is Dido
10. My top 3 favorite movies are Dumb & Dumber, The Wedding Singer, and Ever After
11. I want to meet Jim Carey, Adam Sandler, and Will Smith
12. I am a master at making appetizers and no one can top my 7-layer dip
13. Every time I try to bake I do something wrong with the recipe
14. I have 4 brothers and 1 sister
15. My sister Abby is my best friend
16. I love homemade iced white tea and make it on a regular basis
17. My favorite food is sushi (spicy tuna roll…mmm)
18. I have the entire Friends DVD collection as well as Sex & the City and never get bored of watching them

19. I love board games like Monopoly, Boggle and Apples to Apples….I rock at Scene It Squabble
20. I love writing and hope to one day write for a magazine or a television show…maybe even publish my own book
21. I’ve been obsessed with makeup since 6th grade and am always trying new products and looks; I would love to open my own store one day

22. I have two King Charles cavalier spaniels, Lucy and Sunny
23. I modeled in the Muppet’s Big Book of Crafts when I was in 3rd grade and yes, the pictures are still embarrassing
24. I want to try out for American Idol, but still haven’t worked up the courage to actually do it
25. I want Giuliana Rancic’s job as an E! News host

MWAH!
Karen
Purple Lab Creatrix

Name: Katy Atlas
Blog: Sugarlaws

1. I have two dogs named Calvin and Coco. They’re half maltese, half poodle, and I’m pretty sure they’re the cutest creatures on earth.

2. My favorite television show is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. People used to say that I look like Sarah Michelle Gellar, which made me the happiest girl ever.

3. I was an English major, but I’m really good at math. I went all the way through multivariable calculus and linear algebra in college.

4. I was a vegetarian for 13 years, which I finally gave up when…

5. I ran two marathons — New Orleans in 2007 and New York City in 2008.

6. I was a cheerleader at Princeton for football and basketball, and was on ESPN at NCAAs one year!

7. I’m 100% a pool person, although I love walking on the beach.

8. I never leave my apartment without wearing SPF 15. My mom has the best skin in the world, and I’m determined to look like her when I’m her age.

9. Ina Garten sent me a copy of one of her cookbooks as a wedding present!

10. I’m a total candy addict, and black licorice is one of my favorite foods ever.

11. My favorite band is Counting Crows, and I once saw the lead singer, Adam Duritz, in NYC but couldn’t work up the courage to say hello!

12. As of Labor Day, my husband and I have been together for seven years, although we’ve only been married for one! Sometimes it’s crazy to think about how young we were when we met, but I’m constantly grateful to have found him.

13. In college, I used to be able to get ready for a formal in fifteen minutes flat. It takes me a bit longer now.

14. Growing up, I was a figure skater until high school. My poor dad used to take me to 6am practices every Saturday morning.

15. I eat an absolutely ridiculous amount of sushi. It’s not unheard of for me to have it for lunch and dinner in a single day.

16. My husband’s nickname for me is “Small.”

17. I went to high school with Ivanka Trump, and Donald sat right in front of me at graduation one year.

18. My favorite book is The Secret History by Donna Tartt, and my favorite movie is Almost Famous.

19. My dream vacation is to go on an African safari.

20. If I had to pick one single style icon, it would be Rachel Bilson, but I also love Lauren Conrad.

21. I’m currently out in Los Angeles after going to the Emmy Awards, which was an amazing night. I can’t wait to post about it on Sugarlaws.

22. I love horror movies — I turn off all the lights in our apartment and scare myself silly on a regular basis.

23. I’m most comfortable multi-tasking — I have a lot of trouble only doing one thing at once!

24. I once talked my way into an invite-only Christian Louboutin sample sale, and bought two pairs of shoes and a bag!

25. I just signed with a literary agent for my first novel — hopefully we will have big news to announce soon!

Follow @Sugarlaws on Twitter

MWAH!
Karen
Purple Lab Creatrix

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.

Run, don’t walk, to a book store near you. Trust me!

Mwah!

Karen

Purple Lab Creatrix