The Psychology of Sephora

Guys, have you ever ventured into a Sephora store?  I have lived in NYC, but never actually went into one.  I was mostly prepared for the sheer volume and variety of products.  I would bet that their web site is the first to truly use all 16.7 million colors that modern computer monitors can display.  (Many lipstick colors looked basically the same to me, but the ladies inform me that subtle shade differences are really important.  Sorry, but I don't feel deprived that women have a better ability to discriminate colors in the red-orange spectrum.)

But the most amazing part for me was the product names.  They range from fun & funny to incredibly aspirational and emotional.   Guys need to take a graduate course on the psychology of this stuff.  You can't tell me that a product line called "Unconditional Love" isn't setting high expectations from shampoo!  The copy on the bottle uses phrases like "you see all people and all living things as beacons of light" and "you have unconditionally arrived realizing the love you sought was the love you already owned".  Oh.  My.  God.  It is like Barack Obama in a bottle.

The Sephora web site has a fingernail polish selector showing colors with more incredible names:

Finally, when the glitzy creams, shampoos, and makeup aren't enough to make the fairy tale real, one can settle for an Orgasm, Super Orgasm, or possibly the mystic Multiple Orgasm.  Men, take note:  there is something going on here that we don't understand.  However, a good start might be this gift for Valentine's Day that should, um, satisfy both parties:

Food, Shoes, and Clothes

A few of my favorite things...all blended together with amazing creativity and great photography.

Before Lady Gaga was wearing meat to award shows, several other artists and photographers used food to create outfits, bags, shoes, and even jewelry.

Fulvio Bonavia has published a gorgeous book called "A Matter of Taste," where he uses food and plants to create gorgeous accessories. He's an Italian photographer and designer who has also shot a ton of great campaigns for car and beer producers

  

 

 

via Trendland and Designers Block

Ted Sabarese, an American photographer, has shot a few series creatively using food or office materials to create outfits.

     

Check out Sabarese's galleries at Behance for more shots in the two series, and other collections.

His series "Hunger Pains" shows models clothed in the foods they were craving at the time (designed by a team of 15 designers) and "Office Art" shows the models clothed in otufits created from office supplies. The staple-remover trousers are really cool, though I imagine the model having to be extremely careful not to injure himself!

Check out Sabarese's galleries at Behance for more shots in the two series, and other collections.

via CMYBacon  

And the absolutely gorgeous work of Korean artist and photographer Yeonju Sung. I so wish I could see her exhibition in LA...and have dresses this beautiful. Though made out of fabric, so I could actually wear them.... here are two dresses of eggplant and tomato.

 

via Trendland and Feature shoot

Man Purse Math

Herr J is still manpurse-less.

To be honest, we haven't really focused our efforts on the issue. Too many other things to do...vacation, vacation photos, job search (me), german class (again, me), enjoying the wonderful Christmas season in Germany, Christmas shopping, etc.

Though, with winter, a man purse has even greater utility. It's really cold here - cold enough that even I am choosing function over form. yes, cold has brought me insanity and I wear gloves and hats and try to wear warm, flat boots. The point being that now guys also have to carry around gloves, hats, umbrellas, and extra weather-related necessities...greatly weighing down the pockets of the man with no manpurse.

I've been keeping an eye out for good bags for Herr J. The ones I've seen and liked brought up some interesting questions:

• Should a guy have a more expensive bag than his girlfriend?
• Is it OK for a guy to have more bags than his girlfriend? (In most cases, I'm going to vote no on that one!)
• Is there some Maximum Man Purse Ratio? i.e, what's the maximum acceptable ratio of how many bags a guy has to how many his girlfriend has? Is it 1/2, 1/3, 1/4???
• In terms of contents of your bag, is it ok for the guy to have more in there than the girl? (I'd say it depends what's in there....electronic gadgets good, hair care products not so good)
• What's the minimum ratio of electronics to other goods that need to be in there to keep the bag manly?

 This is so much more complicated than we thought

Late Night Shopping Festival

At the end of September, we did something highly unusual in Germany…we shopped at night.  Yes, once a year in central Munich, it's shopping till midnight.

Because the food generally is fresher and has fewer preservatives here (I’m a big fan of that!) and the refrigerators are the size of an average college student’s dorm fridge (not a fan!), you’re at the grocery store/baker/butcher pretty often.  All of which close by 8pm and on Sundays. So, there’s usually a mad rush at 7:45pm to hunt and gather dinner.  That leaves Saturday as shopping day for all your other wants and needs. (I won't even try to describe the chaos of a Friday night when Saturday is a holiday!)

But one night a year, Munich residents can go out for dinner, drinks, and THEN go shopping.  Even better, it’s basically a giant block party so we can do all three at once! With bands, beer gardens, fashion shows, circus acts, and of course portable ATMs since many places do not accept credit cards.

Acrobats above the cosmetics department at Ludwig Beck

I’m not sure why the merchants don’t ask for this more often…nothing helps stimulate consumption like mixing beer gardens and shopping.  Obama wants the Germans to buy more? Talk to Angie about having more “Culture – Shopping Nights” in Germany! 

But this night is more than just later closing hours...it's an event, a real festival to celebrate this ordained breaking of the rules! There are bands, entertainment at many major stores, and outdoor beer gardens. Really, it's a big block party, but with a set schedule of events.  The crowds were quite impressive and in late September you never know if this will be the last warm day of the year or not.

The highlights:

“Authentic American Music” (acoustic country and bluegrass) at Ludwig Beck department store

Cuban and “Fiery Salsa” at the bedding store

“Modern Nostalgia” with lounge music and a vintage VW bus at the Eyewear store

And at the womenswear store, a capella cover versions from Elvis to Michael Jackson.

And “Cowboy and Cowgirl Feeling” with a Bull-riding competition at the denim store

Truly something for everyone…

I've learned to find most of the things I need here, but whenever someone asks me what I miss from home, the answer after "friends and family" is "Wow, I miss going to Target at 10pm and loading up the car with a month's worth of supplies and groceries."  Alas, today you find me walking to the store almost daily and carrying it home in environmentally friendly reusable fold-up shopping totes. But at least I have some cool shopping bags - and, for the record, I never make Herr J carry the pink Hello Kitty one. 

UPDATE:

Apparently Dresden has us beat, by taking it one step further and having an annual Sunday Shopping Day...oh, the heresy....and I so want to go!

 

Man Purses - Part 2

Herr J is beginning to understand female logic.  

Herr J:   I can’t figure out what man purse goes with suits at work and also with jeans/shorts on the weekend

Me:       Well, of course not. That’s why no one has just one purse!

Herr J:   Wow, I understand now!.....umm, I’m afraid.

It was a very proud moment. I didn’t want to scare him, so I kept to myself that the minimum really is 3 bags…both brown and black to match his shoes and belt at work, plus a casual bag.  

Man Purses (or Why Gucci and Prada Should Thank Steve Jobs)

My boyfriend wants a man purse. Let me start by clarifying that he’s a meat-eating, college football-playing, stands-up-to-pee, redblooded American male…nothing girly about him, not even metrosexual.  And he’s decided he needs a purse.  

Despite my initial giggle, his logic makes sense.  Men like gadgets but always carrying a computer bag or a briefcase is a pain.  And their pockets get pretty heavy after adding a wallet, at least one phone, and a camera. Not to mention books, umbrella, ipod, etc…  

Enter the iPad:  This is the game changer.  It may replace your Kindle, your phone, and potentially your camera. But it won’t fit in your pocket. And the smart guys out there will realize they can use an iPad bag to carry the other items normally weighting down their pockets.  Of course since it’s designed to house the latest technological innovation, it’s still manly.

So far, I’m mostly seeing iPad sleeves or mini-computer bags. But the man purses are coming…cleverly disguised as iPad bags!