Magic, Plain & Simple

Hey girls,
I've been looking quite tired lately...you know, spirit-less complexion, wan eyes. Me sans radiance. No matter, I've just found THE cure. Celebrity makeup artist extraordinaire, Mally Roncal (she's largely responsible for Beyonce's whole doe-eyed moment) has whipped up the Mally Beauty New Naturals Eyepopper in Fabulous Summerlight, $15 (the golden one on top). This clever little wand has a concentrated bullet of shimmery golden-bronze eyeshadow at the tip. Either blend it over your lid for a dreamy, sun-kissed look, or use it like I do...swirl the sponge at the inner corners of your eyes. It's an old trick makeup artists have been using forever to make tired, hungover models look instantly radiant! And this particular shade looks dazzling on all skin tones, from the fairest of the fair to the deepest brown. I don't leave the house without it.
xoxo,
Tia

Q&A Monday

SYB BABE: Shy

QUESTION: "I need to find an exfoliator for my face that gives my skin a healthy natural glow in about 7 days, I'm thinkin maybe Sephora? Can you guide me in the right direction?"

ANSWER: Well, of course I can! It's funny, Shy, that you actually specified "seven days," because I believe that the best, best, best exfoliator on the market is Clinique 7 Day Scrub Cream Rinse-Off Formula ($17.50). It's not harsh like most face scrubs--in fact, it's so gentle you'll wonder if it's actually working. But after a week of use, your skin will feel absolutely baby-soft, supple, and flake-free. Here's how to use it: On clean, damp skin, massage in with your fingertips for about 10 seconds (steer clear of major breakouts). You can use it on your lips, too! Then, rinse or tissue-off with warm water and follow up with moisturizer. Try it for a week, Shy. You'll notice SUCH a difference. PS? My favorite time to use Clinique 7 Day Scrub is after a beach vacay, when I start to flake off that un-PC sunburn. It's so non-invasive, and the exfoliant is so fine, that it manages to slough off the dead skin without causing any irritation at all. I use it on my face, shoulders, wherever. Such a cure-all!

SIXTEEN CANDLES excerpt!

Hey girls,
Just found out that TeenReads.com is running an excerpt of SIXTEEN CANDLES! Check it out right here!
kisses,
Tia

Yellow Fever

Hi ladies,
Thanks so much for your sweet emails about SIXTEEN CANDLES! I hope you love it and tell all your 12-18 year old associates to buy, buy, buy! Okay, must back off from the self-promotion for a minute. Lately, I've been trying to give my nails (fingers, not toes) a polish break. They've been getting really brittle and they're peeling and cracking...it's a nightmare. So, I've just been doing a nice buff and clear polish, getting my nails prepped for the onslaught of summery, trashy-bright manicures that'll start happening around May 31st. Here's the problem, though. After a season of dark, vampy polishes, my nails are now a sickly yellow color. HATE. My brilliant manicurist suggested Barielle Nail Brightener ($16), a natural enhancer containing anti-oxidants that cancel out the yellow, while brightening and moisturizing your nails. I'm loving this stuff! You just apply one coat to get a luminous, totally natural-looking sheen (I hear it's also lovely as a yellow-preventative measure, if you apply underneath colored polish). If you've experienced the yellow at all, this Nail Brightener is a must. Thank me later!
xoxo,
Tia

SIXTEEN CANDLES is here!!

Hi ladies,
It's here, it's here! The second book in my IT CHICKS series, SIXTEEN CANDLES (Hyperion/Disney, $8.99) hits stores on Tuesday, May 6th! It’s juicy and fabulous and, despite being a book about a bunch of sassy performing arts school kids, it's total grownup guilty pleasure (over-21-year-olds should not feel bad about buying a paperback with pastel balloons and a birthday cake on the cover)! In lieu of giving the whole delicious plot away, I'll just give you a little update on what's been going on with the It-chicks in the month since all their first-week-of-school drama went down:

SKYE: Everyone's favorite diva is turning 16, and her wildly over-the-top party's being filmed for an episode of"My Super Sweet 16!" Hi-jinx involving a near-fatal wardrobe malfunction, an epic love spat, and an It-chicks performance ensue...

TANGIE: When everyone least expects it, the sophomore dancer's secret fling with senior stud Trey Stevens takes a shockingly juicy turn (don't worry, she's still a good girl)! Will CJ implode with jealousy? Quite possibly...

CJ: Besides feeling lovesick, the adorable, graffiti-loving bad boy is riddled with guilt over a scandalous secret that'll change Tangie's life forever. Let's see if he can keep it.

IZZY: The hot-blooded Ethiopian MC and artiste has been disappearing a lot lately--what's she hiding? Well, besides that naughty past...

REGINA: Skye's former sidekick has a new obsession--the cute cameragirl filming the "Sweet 16" episode! Are they BFF's, or something more? Depends on whether or not you believe Lindsay Lohan and Charlotte Ronson spend their time braiding each other's hair.

NICK: The beyond-gorgeous actor boy reluctantly agreed to be Skye's date for her Sweet Sixteen...apparently, she's the last one to hear those pesky rumors!

Okay, that's all I'm giving away! I can't WAIT to hear what you ladies think of the book, so run out and get SIXTEEN CANDLES right away (buy a couple, give them to your niece, your hairstylist's daughter, whoever)! Honestly, I hope you love the book as much as I did writing it. There are a zillion teen series out there, but very few that have brown characters--let alone, ultra-smart, talented, funny brown characters--so, hopefully, we can make a change. Happy reading and guilty-pleasuring, ladies!
xoxo,
Tia
















PS...How cute's this pic of me, Joanne, and the models from the cover shoot?

PPS...To find out more about SIXTEEN CANDLES (and to see ADORABLE illustrations of all the characters, courtesy of my brilliant designer amigo, Kibwe Chase-Marshall), check out the official Myspace page: myspace.com/theitchicks.

Scalp craziness, solved

Hi girls,
I innocently walked into a Mizani event yesterday--you know, the groundbreaking brown-girl haircare line?--and left with the best hair of my life. So much so that, despite fighting off a deadly stomach flu--hence the sallowness and eye bags--I had to come home and immediately take a pic of my hair for my ladies (excuse the 70's porn quality, I took it with the "Photo Booth" thingie on my I-book). Let's get right to the point. The event was to launch Mizani's new Scalp Care, a new in-salon treatment for all kinds of scalp issues (dandruff, dryness, itchiness, excessive oiliness, etc.). It's absolutely ideal for girls with dreadlocks, braids, and weaves, too, since they tend to get product buildup at the scalp. The service starts off with the Scalp Care Pre-Treatment, an in-salon-only, pre-shampoo treatment that exfoliates dead skin cells and product buildup with salicylic acid, while moisturizing with tingly-zingy peppermint oil (you get a brilliant massage while all this is happening, too). SO exhilarating! After letting the treatment marinate under the dryer for ten minutes, then comes the super-creamy, luscious Scalp Care Shampoo and the incredibly moisurizing Scalp Care Conditioner, both of which contain dandruff-fighting pyrithione zinc, peppermint oil, and tons of hydrators (you can buy these, FYI, just not the Pre-Treatment). Now, most dandruff shampoos and conditioners leave your hair stiff, dry, and totally unmanageable, so I was FLOORED by the glossy majesty that was my hair. I'm talking the shiniest of shiny. Look at it! Also, my hair is usually a severely tangled trainwreck when it's wet, but Gala, the genius stylist/Mizani educator that treated and styled my hair, was somehow able to run a fine-tooth comb (fine-tooth, no less, not a wide detangling comb!) through my crazy wet hair with nary a problem. Girls, I'm sold. And I don't even have scalp problems. To find a Mizani salon near you, call 877-726-3624, or visit www.mizani-usa.com
Happy Hair,
Tia

PS...Huge shoutout to Gala, poor thing, who didn't know what stomach flu madness she was getting into when I sat in her chair. When she first started the treatment, I was fr-r-r-reezing, so she had the salon folks turn off the air. When she started blowing me out, I broke out in this insane sweat. I had the nerve to try to play it off like my early-onset menopausal attack wasn't really happening, but she turned off the dryer and was like, "Girl, you are not going to sit there and sweat out my brilliant blowout!" So she blew cool air on my face, someone handed me a croissant and an Evian, and all was well. Anyway, just wanted to thank Gala for dealing with my flu...and my hair...BRILLIANTLY.

PPS...Stay tuned for Monday, when I tell you all about my new IT CHICKS book, SIXTEEN CANDLES, which hits bookstores May 6th!!!

I Love Your Smile

Hi girls,
I love a double-duty product. Shampoos that double as shower gels, lip balms that also work as cuticle creams, bronzers you can use for eyeshadow...you see what I mean. They simplify my day and make me happy. You can imagine how thrilled I was to discover Enbrightenment Brite Smile Whitener & Tarte Lipgloss Duo ($26), a double-ended pen with a Brite Smile tooth-whitening wand on one side, and Tarte's mint-scented lip gloss on the other! So brilliant right before a sexy date, or a big presentation, or a wedding. Because you can have on the hottest ensemble, but if your teeth suck and your lips are dry, your name is just Twan (showing my age, Ice Cube). Anyway, the whitener brightens teeth up to 8 shades in two weeks (use once a day, and wait a half hour before eating/drinking)! And the gloss comes in two shades, Radiant Red and Pearly Pink, both of which have blue undertones that help make your teeth look whiter-than-white. Love? Love.
xoxo,
Tia

Pearls, Panamanians, and Hook-Ups

Hi ladies,
First of all, thanks for all your inspired emails re: Shnozgate. The whole thing truly threw me for a loop, but I can assure you, the brilliant legal minds in my family will take care of it. As for the legions of Panamanians who believe that I "clipped" my nose into submission, well, I'm going to have to give it up to the Lord.














Something so exciting happened to me last Thursday! I was invited to the Brooklyn NAACP's Third Annual Freedom Fund Awards Program, where I was presented the Valiant Service Award for my contribution to raising the self-esteem of young women in the community. Not bad, right? I was SO flattered. I even theme-dressed in a veddy polite, proper, knee-length frock with pearls, a cardigan, and sensible heels (fine, a part of me wanted to know how it felt to be Mrs. Obama for a day). There I am with my mom, my sister Lauren, and my award, which I've named Lucille. The event was at the Brooklyn Marriot, and it was sooo fancy...all kinds of special politicians and community leaders were there, and even the fabulously naughty Gov. Patterson showed up! It was truly a special night, and I thank Karen Boykins-Towns, the President of the Brooklyn NAACP, for even considering me for such an award.


Apropos of nothing, I absolutely MUST gush a little bit about Mark's new Skincare Hookup Treatments ($8 each). For those of you not familiar with Mark, it's Avon's twenty-something bridge line, and it's delightfully inexpensive and brilliant (total cult favorite among Hollywood types). Anyway, Mark has shrunk their bestselling skincare products into knuckle-size tubes that attach to each other with a 50 cent "connector," so you can customize your own portable, travel-sized skincare regimen. The skincare products available for Hookups include the Get Clearance Anti-Acne Blemish Treatment Gel, Need a Shrink? Pore Minimizing Lotion, Kiss Dry Goodbye Lip Smoother, and the excellent Light Bright Lighten & Depuff Eye Gel. Buy any two Hookups and you get the special connector thingie for free! So easy, so cute, so perfect for on-the-go girls. Enjoy!
xoxo,
Tia