Personal

Miss USA 2010 – Rima Fakih!

June 19, 2011 by Jillian

This past winter I had the pleasure of doing make-up & hair for Miss USA 2010 – Rima Fakih – For the opener to the Donald Trump Roast on Comedy Central.  Rima was a total professional on set, and one of the nicest people I’ve ever gotten to work with. She even wrote me a thank you note, and shouted out my hair skills – Which means a lot to me because hair is my secondary skill, and I’ve been working really hard over the last year to step up my hair game!

Here I am, hooking up her hair and fixing her crown (By the way, the crown is AMAZING):

And here is the thank you note she wrote to me:

It reads:

To Jillian, Thank you for making me look so beautiful…and hooking up my crown with beautiful hair.  Hope to see you again. xoxo Rima Fakih

 

Mom and I. Circa 1983.

May 8, 2011 by Jillian

Confession: I’m A Huge Ricky Martin Fan

February 14, 2011 by Jillian

I even cut school when I was 17 to go to one of his record signings.

I will never forget that day…

My friends and I went with our “WE LOVE RICKY” banner (which was made using leftover costume fabric in LEOPARD PRINT), and braved the crowds, determined to get in to see him.  After waiting for many hours we succeeded (and by succeeded I mean that we rudely pushed our way through the crowd to get closer to the front of the line), and were literally the very last people let in to the signing that day.  Ricky signed my CD (that I still have to this day), and I’ve been a super fan ever since.

So when my friend Adrien recently asked if I wanted to go to see Ricky perform exclusively for the release of his new album – I jumped on the opportunity.

I’ve seen Ricky in concert before, but there’s really nothing more thrilling than standing less than 20 feet away from an artist that you love in a room of less than 300 people….While they perform all of their hit songs.  He was as amazing as ever, and in fact he looks as good as he did 10 years ago (I’m dying to know his skin care routine), and I danced my little heart out to everything from ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ to ‘The Cup of Life’.

You can read more about it (and also see some pictures) by shaking your bon bon over to Adrien’s blog: The Field Notes.

It’s Important to Play Dress Up…

January 26, 2011 by Jillian

Especially when your Sweet 16 dress STILL FITS all these years later!

Recently, while home sick, I was watching ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ (don’t judge me I was SICK)…and I got to thinking about my Sweet 16 dress because it was actually purchased at Kleinfeld, which is the famous bridal dress store featured on the show.

At the time I was just doing me, and wanted to feel like a princess…But now that I’ve seen the show, it totally explains why all of the women in the store cast dirty looks my way every time I went in for a fitting.  I guess the experience of getting a dress at Kleinfeld is a dream for a lot of women…A dream I got to live out at 15 years old.

Kinda glad I did that then instead of now.  To be honest…It’s way cooler to be surrounded by super expensive dresses and be the only teenager in a store with a bunch of women twice my age,…Than it is to be just another woman looking for the ‘perfect dress’.

I should probably thank my parents for that…

The Summer’s Out of Reach

January 25, 2011 by Jillian

NYC is currently in a deep freeze. And it’s not cute.

I woke up this morning, turned on Good Morning America, noticed that it was 7 degrees outside and quickly changed my plans for the day opting for full hibernation mode. I don’t think I could endure 7 degrees if I layered every piece of fur, feather, wool, cashmere and fleece from my wardrobe. Not to mention, combined, my dog and I barely make up 100 lbs. so I decided that since we are both so small and delicate it wasn’t safe for us to go out into such inclement conditions.

I’m glad I spent the day indoors. I hear that it’s no joke out there.

I did manage to be productive from the warm confines of my apartment, which makes me feel extra good about deciding not to brave the painfully low temperatures. I also spent a fair amount of time listening to songs that make me nostalgic for sunshine days…

And suddenly, I found myself longing for the two things that I love most about summer: wayfarers and water…

*Thanks to the awesome and amazing, Ahmed Klink for the photo!

If you’ve had enough of the cold, I recommend turning up the heat and throwing on some summer clothes, all while blasting your favorite songs of summer.  I’ve had this one on repeat all day:

Summer, I miss you!  Please come back to me.  Soonish. I love you so much!

An Open Love Letter

January 19, 2011 by Jillian

Dear H & M,

I don’t always like your clothes.

Occasionally I like them on other people. Unfortunately, they usually don’t fit me that well.  I try not to take it personally since I know that you’re a Swedish retailer, and your clothing is likely made with tall Nordic types in mind – Not teeny tiny Puerto Rican girls with curves.  I also strongly dislike the fact that everything in your store comes in one of 8-10 colors.  I particularly hate the red that you use because I feel like it’s so highly identifiable, and I don’t need the world knowing for sure where I purchased something from.

This past weekend, I was really itching to shop.  I’ve been sick for a few weeks, and I really wanted to indulge in a little retail therapy to lift my spirits out of the shame of sickness.  Despite the fact that I walked all parts of 5th Avenue, as well as  the Bowery, I didn’t have much shopping success that weekend.

Just as I was about to throw in the towel and head home empty handed, I remembered that I always liked your hair ties.  I ducked in to the nearest location and as soon as I entered my eyes were immediately blinded by the “H & M red” that I dislike so much.  This almost made me leave, but I pressed on and made my way to the accessory section.

I didn’t see a single hair tie.  Not a one.  This was highly disappointing.

Discouraged, I grabbed a scarf.  I didn’t really need a scarf, but I told myself that it’s freezing in NYC and that helped me to justify the purchase.  The truth is that I just wanted to buy something – anything – So that my day wouldn’t feel like a complete waste.

Then I got on line behind a bunch of European tourists, and also a woman with a DOUBLE BABY CARRIAGE and also SCREAMING KIDS…And suddenly, one scarf did not seem like a substantial purchase.

Thankfully, you very conveniently place bins full of random things leading up to the checkout line.  That was the moment I began digging…

My efforts produced 2 lip glosses, a bracelet, and a nail polish.  The lip gloss was decent but nothing to write home about, and the bracelet was more of the same…

Now the nail polish?  OMG…Your nail polish is on point.  Not only is the color the prettiest shade of pink that I’ve seen in a long time, but it’s been 3 days and I don’t have any chips to speak of.

This is a really rare occurrence because my nail polish always chips after 3 minutes and I can’t remember the last time I went completely chip free for THREE DAYS.

Basically, I just wanted to let you know that I’m a fan.  I can’t wait to go back and buy it in every color that I can find – Except for H & M red.  Please don’t ever make it in that red.  If you do, I might have to get angry and I don’t want our relationship to turn volatile because I think we’re in a really good place right now.

Anyway, thanks for making ‘I’m A Saint.’

I am in love with it.

xx,

Jillian

Lady Lovely Locks

January 17, 2011 by Jillian

Thank God for emergency clip-on hair extensions.

I normally prefer more commitment from my additional hair, but with it being a holiday weekend, I couldn’t find anyone who could properly hook up my weave.

Clip-on’s are great because they’re gentle on your own hair, and they look really fabulous.  I’ve kept a pair on stand-by around the house for YEARS now.  You never know when you might get a bad haircut (which for me, is every time I get a haircut),  have a bad hair day, or when you unexpectedly have to go somewhere and  need a few extra inches of hair for a super glam look.

I’m currently wearing these clip-ons:  Hair Couture Clip and Go Express Extensions

If you’re interested in trying out some clip-ons these are amazing and come with way more hair than you need.

« Older posts