Testing: Dr. Jart Pore Clear Mask

Posted by Lindsay Tucker on 5/17/2012 at 5:26PM | No Comments

It’s no secret among my friends that I’m OCD about enlarged pores and blackheads. Over the years I’ve tried anything and everything from pore strips and home extraction kits to facials and microderm abrasion. And yet dirt and oil continue to take up residence in the crevices of my face, and I keep test-driving new products, wishing for a magic pore-be-gone elixir.

Intrigued by BB creams and the wave of skincare coming out of Asia, I decided to try Dr. Jart’s Pore Medic Pore Clear Mask. According to the package, the mask helps loosen sebum (an oily substance produced by hair follicles, which clogs pores and can cause blackheads) by absorbing it along with dirt and dead skin, hopefully leaving skin clear and refined.

When I opened the package my initial reaction was to abort mission—I was holding what appears to be a cold, slimy folded tissue, which in no way, shape, or form did I want touching my face. But since it was already in my hand (and at this point it looked like it’d be harder to get it back in the bag than on my face), I proceeded in the name of journalism.

I unfolded it, slapped it on my face, adjusted the eye and mouth holes, and smoothed out the wrinkles, slightly amused by my Michael Myers-esque reflection. And then I waited.

The instructions said to leave it on for 15 to 30 minutes, so I sat with it for 20. After a moment or so I could feel the serum seeping into my skin, burning ever so slightly, and I decided it might have been worth it after all. Ten minutes in, it cooled off, and I waited another ten before peeling it off. The package advised to “gently massage the remaining essence into skin,” so I did.

Initially I noticed no change in my pores, but by the next morning my skin was slightly peeling around the T-zone, which continued for a couple of days. Four days later I can honestly say that my skin does look smoother and my pores, smaller. I’ll definitely use the mask again, maybe once every couple of weeks when I can’t afford a facial.

$6, available at Sephora.

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Ten’s a Trend: Peeping Toms

Posted by Courtney Hollands on 5/9/2012 at 7:13PM | No Comments

You can’t walk two blocks in the metro Boston area without spying someone wearing a pair of Toms — the espadrille-esque kicks seem to be a hit with young and old fashionistas alike. This is one trend I can get behind since every time someone buys Toms, one pair is donated to a needy child. Style with a soul? Sole?

Read on for more shots from Harvard Square and Newbury Street.

Continue reading “Ten’s a Trend: Peeping Toms” »

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Stuff We Love: Emerson Fry Bohemian Ring

Posted by Anne Vickman on 5/4/2012 at 10:29AM | 1 Comment

Photograph by Anne Vickman

It’s about time that one of our favorite New England designers added jewelry to an already-fabulous collection. The couple behind Emerson Fry—New Hampshire natives Ryan and Emerson Fry— split their time between New York and a (beautiful) Granite State farmhouse. Last year, they took some time off to travel in Nepal and India, which inspired the design of this marbled turquoise and gold-plated brass ring. “Developing it took a long time due to the hand work, which is very fine. We cast it in gold because it’s an unusual combination with the turquoise,” she says, adding, “a woman has got to have jewels in her life.” We can certainly get behind that statement.

“Bohemian” ring, $128, emersonfry.com.

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Mr. Sid Keeps It Local

The Newton menswear store's "Made in Massachusetts" event features area companies.

Posted by Courtney Hollands on 5/1/2012 at 12:15PM | No Comments

Calling all locavore-leaning dapper dudes: This Thursday (May 3), Mr. Sid is hosting Massachusetts companies New England Shirt Company, Alden Shoe, and Randolph Engineering for a night of shopping, sipping, and slurping.

Bartenders from Hawthorn will be mixing drinks made with Berkshire Mountain Distilling products and Island Creek Oysters will bring bivalves.

Here are all the details:

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Clear Doesn’t Always Mean Colorless

Pick a bright see-through accessory to stay on-trend this season.

Posted by Courtney Hollands on 5/1/2012 at 11:49AM | No Comments

In our May issue, you’ll find some of spring’s hottest see-through accessories.

All of the bracelets and shoes featured are colorless, but I also like a brighter twist on the trend. Here are two transparent picks that don’t eschew hues:


“Invisible” plastic and leather belt, $95, Cynthia Rowley.


Mellina & Company plastic bracelets, $46/each, LIT Boutique.

(Photos by Scott Goodwin. Styling by Liz Teich/TEAM)

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Ball & Buck Now Open on Newbury

Mark Bollman brings his rugged-chic aesthetic to the Back Bay.

Posted by Courtney Hollands on 4/30/2012 at 6:56PM | No Comments

The greeter at the new Ball & Buck at 144B Newbury is a stuffed wolverine. Yes, a wolverine. He watches over the jeans, Oxfords, Quoddy shoes, Otis James ties, and other American-made stock at the 2,000-square-foot shop, which carries more than the original North End location.

There’s also a barbershop in the back — it will be open for shaves and cuts from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the weekend and by appointment during the week.

Here are more photos of the space:

Continue reading “Ball & Buck Now Open on Newbury” »

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Stuff We Love: Patch’s Spring Scarves

Lightweight wraps look dapper as temperatures climb.

Posted by Courtney Hollands on 4/30/2012 at 6:40PM | No Comments

Every good New Englander has at least three or four attractive-yet-practical wool scarves to carry them through windy winters. (I own 25+ scarves. I may have a problem.)

But what about when the thaw sets in? Enter Patch NYC’s airy linen and cotton wraps, edged in bright silk ($104-$195):

And shopping for scarves is the perfect excuse to check out Don Carney and John Ross’s new gallery-like store. It’s in the same building as the old space — the Courtyard at 46 Waltham in the South End — but bigger, with cathedral height ceilings and double the wall surface.

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Sneak Peek: ‘Thread’ at Portsmouth’s Strawbery Banke

The seacoast museum presents fashions old and new through Oct. 31.

Posted by Courtney Hollands on 4/30/2012 at 6:17PM | No Comments

Strawbery Banke’s fashion-forward new exhibit “Thread: The Story of New England Fashion” opens tomorrow. Not only are garments and accessories — worn by residents of Portsmouth’s Puddle Dock neighborhood over the past 400 years on display — but curators also asked big-deal designers such as Philip Treacy, Project Runway’s Rodney Epperson and Austin Scarlett, and locals Carter Smith and Emily Muller to create contemporary pieces inspired by the collection.

The show is spread across Strawbery Banke’s historic properties, and we stopped by this morning for a sneak peek before it opens to the public (Mitt Romney was also in town — but not to browse evening dresses. Flanked by Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, the presidential hopeful talked about small businesses at the nearby fishing pier).

Feast your eyes:

Above: At the Chase House, there’s a silk moiré wedding gown circa 1844 on display (left). Local designer Carter Smith took photos of pieces in the collection and then digitally manipulated the shots and printed the resulting images on silk to create his vivid confection (right).

Continue reading “Sneak Peek: ‘Thread’ at Portsmouth’s Strawbery Banke” »

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Vira Comes to Charles Street

The pretty Beacon Hill boutique carries lines from around the world.

Posted by Courtney Hollands on 4/26/2012 at 7:08PM | No Comments


(Photo by Radhika Rana)

Radhika Rana and Vivek Patel opened the two-level Vira boutique at 107 Charles St. — the space formerly housed a framer — on Tuesday. The FIT alums and Boston-area natives (Rana is from Somerville; Patel is from Burlington) are adding some international flavor to the Beacon Hill retail scene with lines from here and abroad: Masaba (India), Bodice by Ruchika Sachdeva (India), Vertigo (Paris), Kova & T (Los Angeles), AL&ALICIA (Singapore), Yoanna Baraschi (New York), and more.

I was especially taken by Mehak by Mehak Gupta’s dangling statement earrings — and with the giant round light fixture hanging over the entryway.

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Nicole Richie Gives Boston a Stylish Stamp of Approval

"Everybody looks great!" the star designer said at last night's Nation Jean Company fete.

Posted by Charlotte Wilder on 4/26/2012 at 10:41AM | No Comments

Boston rolled out the pink carpet for celebrity Nicole Richie, the special guest at yesterday’s grand opening of National Jean Co.’s Newbury Street store. Richie, the creative director of the clothing lines Winter Kate and House of Harlow 1960, spoke to reporters and posed for photos before a party celebrating the new store and her collections. The champagne flowed as the city’s fashionistas trotted out heels, leather, and jumpsuits — almost as if we had something to prove.

We shouldn’t have worried: When a reporter asked whether she thought Boston was stylish or not, Richie replied, “You’re like the third person who’s asked me that tonight, and I see where you’re going with this. Someone told you guys you’re terrible, right?” (It was GQ, of course, and we’re still smarting.) “Well, it wasn’t me,” Richie continuted. “From what I’ve seen tonight, everybody looks great!” Good to know that we’ve got a celebrity endorsement of how we dress.

I asked Richie about drawing inspiration from the ’60s and ’70s, a fact apparent not only in the name of her jewelry line (House of Harlow 1960), but in the styles she sent down the runway. The gowns were flowing, the sleeves wide, and the hemlines short, all an homage to the age of Aquarius. “I would say, as a whole, I truly am inspired by the 60s and the 70s,” she told me. “I love the music of that time and the overall freedom, the idea that clashing didn’t exist, that you were able to mix fabrics and prints.”

Richie’s own dress last night was made from two different prints; she practices what she preaches.

Here, some photos I snapped of Richie’s clothing and jewelry as worn by models at last night’s show:

 

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