Name: Nadine “Jolie” Haobsh
Blog: Nadine Jolie

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

Purple Lab’s newest intern is Anna, who I met during New York Fashion Week! Have fun getting to know her and follow Anna on Twitter here.

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

Meet Mikela Lifland, the newest addition to the Purple Lab Multi-Tasking Maven Gang!

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

Attention Fashionistas!

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

And the Multi-Tasking Mavens keep on coming! Meet our newbie Amanda…

1. I’m a Senior at NYU, majoring in Politics.
2. I spent last semester in Prague, Czech Republic and I’m counting down the days till I can go back!
3. I’m obsessed with shoes, especially boots!
4. I love a good manicure. And I’m not afraid of funky colors!

5. I have a mini Golden Doodle named Chase, but I call him Floppy because he loves to cuddle.
6. I’ve been taking Spanish classes since 6th grade and still can’t speak it fluently.
7. My favorite food is watermelon.
8. I have a younger sister and a younger brother.
9. Everything in my dorm room is hot pink (even my dishes and silverware).
10. I started playing soccer when I was 5 years old and haven’t stopped since.
11. I have a trampoline in my backyard.
12. My first concert was the Spice Girls. GIRL POWER!!!

13. My family plays 20 Questions at least once a week.
14. I know every line of Mean Girls. And I randomly quote it just for fun.
15. I don’t eat any dairy products.
16. I’m an Art History dork and can spend hours in any museum.
17. I feel weird if I don’t have my watch on.
18. I love, love, LOVE John Mayer. I listen to his albums on repeat to fall asleep.

19. The next time I travel I want to go to Israel, Greece and Turkey.
20. My favorite museum in NYC is the MoMA but my all time favorite is the Musee d’Orsay in Paris.
21. I wish the The O.C. never went off the air. I love Seth Cohen!
22. When I’m bored or nervous, I twirl my hair. Sometimes I don’t even realize I’m doing it.
23. I love a good movie marathon on rainy, lazy Sundays.
24. I won a contest to meet and hang out with Russell Brand after his show in NYC.

25. If I could raid anyone’s closet, it would be my Nana’s.

MWAH!
Karen
Purple Lab Creatrix

If you are not yet familiar with @MsAmandaGreene or @LALupus Lady you must get to know her. now. She is the sweetest, kindest and spunkiest gal in Los Angeles, not to mention a huge advocate for raising awareness of Lupus (and Purple Lab)! Amanda has been a loyal Purple Lab customer and friend of our brand since our launch.

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

Braniac. Athlete. Fashionista. Chef. We fell in love with her and warning – you probably will too!

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

Don’t let her glossie brunette locks and saucy style fool you. This art history and Renaissance connoisseur will challenge you to a jump rope match and tell you Blake Lively’s secret to getting those long, glistening legs…

Name: Lindsey Calla
Blog: Saucy Glossie

1. I was captain of my High School lacrosse and field hockey teams.

2. I have a killer scar on my left knee from when I tore my ACL playing lacrosse in college. I didn’t completely finish my rehab so now my gait is slightly off…you can’t tell by looking at me but I can tell when the shoe heels on my right foot end up collapsing in.

3. I have a weakness for Chex Muddy Buddies and make them so often that I have the recipe memorized and can eyeball the measurements.

4. My favorite place to get inspired is at the MET in NY looking at all of the ancient jewelry.

5. I’ve spoken at a Renaissance Conference about the history of dress in 15th Century Florentine portraiture.

6. I have a really strong pants complex. I hate any pants that are slim fitting and I rarely wear denim. I only wear pants if they are relaxed fit and loose fitting.

7. If I weren’t in the fashion industry, I would be an archeologist and marry Robert Langdon so we could solve ancient mysteries together.

8. I don’t really get excited when I see celebrities, but if I met Roger Federer I would be like a 14 year old girl who just saw Justin Beiber.

9. I once had to go on a mad hunt in the Lower East Side to find aloe vera gel for Blake Lively’s legs during a photo shoot.

10. I’ve lived in Sydney and my life long dream is to spend 6 months there and 6 months here and have one continuous summer.

11. My bookcase is filled with non-fiction books on ancient civilizations or anything to do with women in the Italian Renaissance. I just can’t get through fiction books because I know they aren’t real (DaVinci Code is the only exception).

12. I’ve held a koala in captivity and been chased down a beach by a kangaroo in the wild. The first: really fun. The second: not so fun.

13. When I was 16, I lit my hair on fire right before meeting one of my favorite members of Nsync.

14. I get night terrors when I’m really stressed out and will scream and think I see animals in my bedroom. Weird and really, really annoying.

15. I drink way too much Cherry Coke Zero but I can’t start my day without one.

16. I studied abroad in London and interned for Lancôme while I was there. It is still one of my favorite work experiences.

17. When it comes to a fitness routine I swear by jump-roping. I could jump rope for days and will challenge anyone to a jump-roping duel.

18. I am very content staying in on a Friday night watching the History Channel.

19. Both my mom and my grand-mom are amazing painters and I can’t even draw a stick figure.

20. I bite my nails and I know it is the worst habit but I can’t get rid of it!

21. I’ve worked at Cosmopolitan Magazine in their fashion department and was featured in a 3-page story in one of their issues!

22. I love driving. I would rather drive all day long in traffic than take the subway or walk everyday. That sounds lazy but I just love to have the music playing and be in my own space.

23. I have an older brother who lives in NYC and works in finance.

24. I don’t hold a degree in fashion but instead studied International Affairs and Art History. All the rest of my classmates went to work at the U.N. and I ended up going into fashion…

25. I thrive off of finding really good deals and shopping sales. I get really excited when I find something I’ve been dying for all season really marked down and affordable!

Follow Saucy Glossie on Twitter!

Mwah!
Karen
Purple Lab Creatrix

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

We recently did a cute segment for Better TV in the Purple Lab apartment (a.k.a. my home/office/warehouse). They shot here once before and I have to say, it’s always fun to have a film crew come over!

The producer, Marianne, is heaven to work with and – I love this about her! – she writes vampire young adult novels (check her out). This was one of her last shoots for the network before she left to write full time (we’ll miss you, Marianne).

The premise of the shoot: Mother’s Day. We had three moms, each a different age group, and I gave them make overs (I have been taking makeup artist lessons).

One quick thing – I wore these super cute harem shorts (right to the knee). Bad idea. Now that I see the pix, well, it looks like I’m wearing Pampers. (Not showing you!)

Anyway, mom in her 30s, was Deena, a friend of a friend. The problem with moms in their 30s? They need quick beauty tips because they’re busy with small kids.

The solution: double duty products save time (and $$$); neutral colors are a must because you don’t have to spend too much time applying, blending out each shade, especially with kids running all over the place.

This was the look I gave her.

All I needed: Four products.

1. Silk Sheets foundation to even her skin tone

2. Cheek Implants cream blush in the shade Backstage Pass. The trick is to use it as a full on eye shadow, the whole lid from the lash line to the crease. It brightens the whole face.

3. Lashionista Modelista, just the mascara. One coat on the top lashes.

4. Huge Lips Skinny Hips in Goji Berry Smoothie (the soft berry shade is out at the end of the month)

Five minutes. Done!

Now on to mom in her 40s (my friend Sally, who I hadn’t seen in far too long). In your 40s, you have a little more time. Your kids are likely in school. You have your days back! So you can play with your makeup.

Don’t be afraid to bring on the glamour with a serious smokey eye – it’s not just for 20somethings. It’s fun to flirt with new looks as you hit your forties, especially when you work with products that have sophisticated formulas but a playfulness to make you feel young and fun.

For Sally, it was all about subtle shine on the lips and rosy cheeks. Here’s her before and after:

Here’s what I used:

1. Cheek Implants in Six Inch Heels. You will feel like a super model while enhancing cheekbones with a pale shade of pink.

2. Lashionista Modelista in After Dark: Just smudge liner with a small angled brush to create a soft yet smokey cat eye. The diamond dust is subtle, giving the eye just the right amount of shine.

3. Luvah in Mama’s Boy. Made to bring out your inner vixen, it’s infused with aphrodisiacs and natural libido stimulants to remind you to feel sensual and beautiful.

For Mom in 60s, we actually played Joan Hirsch, none other than Sharon’s mother! She’s a doll and looks 20 years younger than her age. The issue moms have in their sixties? They want to look younger without going under the knife (well, some don’t mind the knife, not naming names).

The solution? Use beauty products that have anti-aging benefits so you are treating skin all day and definitely do NOT be afraid of color. A pop of color will brighten your whole face and give you a youthful appeal. Lastly, love that highlighter.

Highlighter should be your best friend, especially as you age. It’s the best way to add soft shimmer and draw attention to your best features. Chic tip: A dab in the corner of the eyes by the nose will draw the light away from crow’s feet.

Meet Sharon’s maker – before and after:

Here’s what I used:

1. Silk Sheets foundation equipped with anti aging benefits, thanks to silk, algae, seaweed, juniper, almond seed extract, and more!

2. Luvah in Rich Jerk: Use a bright lip color so lips pop. The double plumping ingredient, “Complex OO,” provides long-term lip enhancing benefits while Vitamin B3 provides immediate plumping, erasing fine lines.

3. Luxury Squared, which is equipped with both an under eye color corrective concealer AND highligher. Both offer skin care ingredients like silk, Vitamin E, carrot oil, antioxidants, algae. And the highlighter’s got my favorite additive – diamond dust!

Happy early Mother’s Day!

Will share the clip when it’s live.

Mwah!

Karen

Purple Lab Creatrix