Donna Karan Woman, A Fragrance as Voluptuous as A Glass of Pinot Noir

I took the elevator with my best friend, Adrienne, to the 44th floor of the Hearst Tower, a building I used to visit daily when I worked at Cosmo... flashback.  This time, I was invited back to attend an event for Harper's Bazaar hosted by their Executive Fashion & Beauty Editor, Avril Graham in celebration of Donna Karan's latest fragrance, Woman.  It was a rainy night in NYC and I was at a wine tasting and fragrance pairing overlooking Central Park.  Yes, I drank to that. The essence of Donna Karan was felt.  Black linens draped the tables, zen music filled the room, candles lit the space and orchids were predominately displayed as centerpieces... never mind the NYC skyline surrounding us.  This was a different experience, not just another event.  Trudi Loren,who is in charge of fragrance development at Estee Lauder was joined by Stephanie Johnson, the Wine Director at City Winery and they took us on a journey of exploration pairing three key ingredients in the fragrance with wine.

In the end, Donna Karan Woman is a powerful fragrance for women, made by women.  Christy Turlington, Karolina Kurkova and Liya Kebede came together for the campaign; all mothers, models and philanthropists to proudly represent what the fragrance stands for. (Watch the video here).

"I believe women are complex and full of emotion and feelings.  We have a unique ability to care and share and make the world a better place," remarks Donna Karan.  When I approached the project I wove this idea of the multi-faceted woman into all aspects of the process."

The fragrance can be summed up in three words: strength, softness and sensuality.  Johnson chose to pair it with a 2009 Pinot Noir from Russian River Valley, California called L'Angevin.  It had depth and richness with soft edges.

Donna Karan Woman can be found at department stores like Saks.  1.7 oz, $85 and 3.4 oz., $115

Redken Reader Makeover: From Sorority to Society

Inspired by Cameron Diaz's hair color on the August cover of Harper's Bazaar, BeautySweetSpot reader, Adrienne, underwent a makeover with Redken Color Consultant, David Stanko at the Angelo David Salon in NYC. "The Fall 2010 blonde will be a California blonde with the base a shade darker to give some dimension to the look," remarked Tracey Cunningham, who transformed Cameron Diaz.

When David met Adrienne and her "washed out" blonde hair he spoke with her about her likes and dislikes of Cameron's color and inspected her locks like a doctor.  His diagnosis – it was fine in texture, below average in abundance, she uses retail hair color and suffers from sun and chlorine damage, which lead to porous hair.

Shape & Prep

Before getting into color, David did a rough cut to rid Adrienne's dead ends in order to achieve a successful color story.  "Because the ends are the oldest and most pores, they will either soak up the most color or reject it," he commented.  Then, he used Redken Chemistry with shots of extreme and protect, which is a treatment made up of ceramides and proteins that fill in gaps in the hair's structure, leaving it smooth and shiny.

Color

Since Adrienne's hair was already in a fragile state, David used extra TLC when coloring and instead of darkening her whole head and then re-highlighting, he saved some of her light blonde hair color, keeping strands as highlights and worked around them.

First, he wrapped about 15 strands in foil using Redken Shade EQ 000 Crystal Clear to provide extra shine (like a top coat for your nails).  While those pieces were being preserved and perfected, David poured a glaze made up of shades EQ 09AA Papaya and 09G Vanilla Cream (the same shades used on Cameron Diaz) over the remaining hair to add tone and deepen the blonde.

End Result

After shaping her ends and blowing out her locks Adrienne looked like a true Upper East Sider.  "I just took you from sorority to society," David exclaimed.  I couldn't have said it better myself.

If you're thinking of going blonde for fall, go for it.  It's all about the shade and how you place it.  If you want to try Adrienne's blonde (the new Cameron), visit a Redken salon near you.