I was browsing the Dana Park web site looking for What’s In Store fodder, when I discovered some great news: Valley-based skin care line Philosophy is opening its second* bricks-and-mortar store next month.

The makers of my favorite moisturizer on earth, Hope in a Jar, plan a May 3 May 10 (thanks to construction delays) opening for the shop at the shopping center, Val Vista Drive and Baseline Road in Mesa. It will join the already-open store at Casa Paloma shopping center in Chandler. (You can also find the line at Sephora stores and Nordstrom at Chandler Fashion Center.)

And here’s the great part about going into the store: The staff is knowledgeable and you can test anything you want.When I brought my friend Michael in, they even demonstrated the Oxygen Peel on him.

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* Well, the third store, if you count the shop on Mill Avenue in Tempe that opened and closed years ago.

ammit

WHAT SAM WORE: 3/31/08
The sweater: Sueded slub-texture short-sleeved shirt by BC Ethic (Last Chance)
The shirt: The Rebel Malcolm dark-wash jeans by Joe’s Jeans (Vivi’s Boutique, Chandler)
The shoes: Velcro-sealed mesh and suede sneakers (Puma outlet store, Palm Springs, Calif.)
The scent: I am going to use up this Paco Rabanne Sport if it kills me.

sammit

Therapy
4228 N. Craftsman Court, Scottsdale
Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday
Information: (480) 947-0901
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I’ve tried not to blog too much about Bravo’s “Make Me a Supermodel” because, well, America votes, and Americans have a propensity for screwing things up. Like I said at the beginning, you and I don’t really know what to look for — a point that was driven home when I watched the second-to-last episode last night, when one of the judges pointed out that one guy’s shoulders were too horizontal to look good in a suit.

That guy — Perry — originally lived in Phoenix (although he’s been an L.A. bartender for a while now) — and the other day when I was in Scottsdale, I found his picture in the “Experience Scottsdale” guide put out by the free Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau.

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I don’t think ASU Gammage knew what it was in for when it offered to give two free tickets to the musical stage production of “The Wedding Singer” to the first 100 people who brought a gently used bridesmaid, prom or even wedding dress to the box office. The dresses were donated to The Cinderella Affair, a volunteer project that provides prom dresses to low-income high schoolers.

“We were overwhelmed, in a good way,” publicist Dana McGuinness said.

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This episode starts out with the girls complementing Aimee in the car after their photo shoot – mostly about her skin, about which the phrase “insanely crazy beautiful” is uttered. That, paired with the fact she had received relatively little screen time before tonight, made me write in my notes: “Toast.”

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From drugstore to department store, hundreds of facial products claim to reverse the appearance of aging. The best way to figure out what actually works: ask a dermatologist. Several East Valley skin professionals are fans of the NIA 24 line, which is sold only at certain med spas and the offices of dermatologists and plastic surgeons.

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So, last year I was browsing on Yoox and found a pair of pants that were supersale — like $25 from $400 or something. And, sure, they were pink, but the photo made them look fun in like an spring/Easter/bleached-pastel/polo grounds sort of way.

As you can see from the photo above, they are definitely more … vibrant than expected.

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I love when new magazines arrive.

Fridays when I get home from work, Entertainment Weekly is waiting for me (and I get testy if it’s not) to wind down the week. And I’ve renewed my love affair with Harper’s Bazaar, which, sure, has its missteps (Amanda de Cadenet’s profile of Demi Moore starts out, “I show up at Demi’s house my usual 30 minutes late,” which may be a new record in the “Who’s this story about, again? And who the heck are you, anyway?” category), but usually balances them out with something awesome in the same interview (Karl Lagerfeld photographs fashion!).

And in this month’s issue, I found these shoes by Sergio Rossi.
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The spring 2008 issue of The Nest magazine includes a feature on jeans, with a “what to wear at work/night/weekend” info/photo package (or “charticle,” as they have become known) … and a Q&A with Eleanor Ylvisaker, the PR director for Earnest Sewn denim.

Most of Ylvisaker’s advice falls on the denim-for-dummies side: Keep your body type in mind; you’ll probably need a few different pairs; good quality lasts longer and usually looks better.

But she really threw me with her answer to “What’s the best way to wash jeans?” She replied: “True denim aficionados never wash their jeans in order to let them wear in and age. The great thing about denim jeans is the more you wear them, the better they get. If things get really unsanitary, you can either spray them with Febreze or hand-wash in cold water and then line-dry them.”

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I got a press release that mentioned that the average American woman owns 30 pairs of shoes. That sounded like a lot of shoes … until I did a count last night.

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