You DID remember it’s Mother’s Day, right?

My problem is that I always remember it from a planning point of view … but then Tuesday or Wednesday rolls around and — what the?! Why is that box still sitting on my couch waiting to be mailed? Why didn’t you buy a card to go with it?

If your mother, like mine, lives across the country, you’re pretty much out of luck except for that mandatory phone call. It is, after all, the busiest holiday for phone calls (but the Monday after Thanksgiving is actually the busiest day of the entire year, according to the Urban Legends Reference Page Web site).

But count your blessings if Mom lives nearby — you’ve got a few chances to pick up one of these last-minute gifts!

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If you live in the East Valley, the folks who run Passage have made it downright inconvenient to get to their gallery-style boutique, which is mired in the light-rail construction along Central Avenue in Phoenix.

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Congratulations to Mike Norling of Phoenix, whose name was drawn as the winner of the product giveaway associated with this article. (Norling said he entered “for the lady in my life,” so maybe the congratulations should go to her, instead.)

If Arizona State University students don’t have great skin, it’s their own fault: Earlier this month, skin care company Kiehl’s erected a “pop-up shop” on campus to promote their line of face and body care products, which despite being sold in stores like Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom, is relatively affordable. And then C.O. Bigelow, another apothecary-rooted line with an even better price point, will bring an Airstream trailer loaded with products to the Student Recreation Complex fields for sampling and free products.

The trailer was on site while most of us were at work, but Bigelow products are sold at Bath & Body Works stores in most malls. Here’s a sampling of your own: some of their best-selling products.

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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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(Read part I here. The short version: I ordered mini-versions of some scents online.)

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For the past few weeks I’ve been thrusting my arms under the noses of unsuspecting co-workers and friends, forcing them to smell the various scents that I ordered from The Perfumed Court, a Web site that sells fragrance decants so you can get smaller quantities of scents on the cheap.

And I’ve also apparently developed a habit of raising the back of one hand or the other to take a quick whiff about every two minutes or so, to the point that one of my friends asked me, “Why do you keep wiping your nose? You’re not even sniffling.”

No, it’s research! My takes on the first two fragrances are after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Another sterling design for Tiffany: The Open Torque necklace ($1,850) by Frank Gehry for Tiffany & Co. definitely makes a graphic statement: Interlinked askew pyramids and cubes of sterling silver seem to tumble into each other repeatedly for 27 inches. They’re asymmetrical but harmonious — just like the architect’s buildings like the Experience Music Project in Seattle and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Luckily, we only need to travel to the Tiffany store at Scottsdale Fashion Square.

Get your minerals for beautiful skin: Scottsdale resorts do a beautiful business in Susan Posnick’s eponymous line of cosmetics, especially ColorFlo mineral foundation ($64), which comes in 13 shades in a self-dispensing, refillable brush. That’s not the only cool packaging, though: I love how ColorEyeDefine ($26) puts a twist-up liner with an angled square edge on one end of a pencil-sized wand, and a harmonious shimmer shadow (that also self-dispenses via spring-loaded sponge applicator) on the other. The line is sold at the Mondrian and Spa Avania at the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale.

Bond No. 9’s sweet Pop Art Perfume: If I had to pick a celebrity who personified Andy Warhol Union Square ($135-$195), the eau de parfum Bond No. 9 introduced this month, I’d say Scarlett Johannsen. Scent and starlet are on the voluptuous side and overtly feminine, but with a cool accord that keeps them from becoming too cloying and sweet.

Inspired by Warhol’s “Flowers” silkscreens, which were created at his studios in (where else?) Union Square and are reproduced on the bottles, the Big Apple perfumers blended lily of the valley, sweet blue freesia and white birch wood with amber and musk. It and other Bond No. 9 scents are available at Moody Blues boutiques in Chandler and downtown Scottsdale.

Want to win it? I’ve got two 1.5 ml samples to give away. Click on this link to send me an e-mail message with your name and mailing address — and the subject line ANDY WARHOL. I’ll pick two winners from the entries received by noon Friday, March 21. Good luck! UPDATE: Congralations to Leanne Lacey and Valerie Gardner, whose names were chosen as the winners.

ammit

WHAT SAM WORE: 3/14/08
The shirt: Olive green polo shirt by Lacoste (Last Chance, 2007)
The pants: Wheat-colored low-rise khakis (Old Navy)
The shoes: Suede chukka boots by RJ Cole (Last Chance, this day)

sammit

I love it when stuff matches. Shirts and pants, sheets and comforters. … Last weekend at the car wash I even passed the time trying to pair up the vehicle with the people waiting. That East Coast mook with the Gotti sons hair, heavy gold chains and sleeveless shirt: It’d be logical if he drove that red Chevy Corvette … but then again, if he sank all his money into that god-awful jewelry, maybe he was tooling around in that beater Nissan Sentra. (My car was done before his, so I’ll never know. Drat!)

I realized this week it may have gone too far when I replaced my shampoo and conditioner and got excited about how well the new bottles coordinated with the shower gel.

No, seriously: I have an Axe product in my shower now. I know — I’ve slagged it in the past as being the favored body spray of fifth-graders everywhere. But one day I was huffing my way through all the different body washes at Target — really, don’t ever go shopping for skin care stuff with me unless you’re willing to lose an hour of your life — and there was Axe Recovery shower gel ($4.79). Now, I don’t believe for a minute that the “invigorating electrolytes” really help you recuperate after a late night out … but the scent alone sold me: not perfumey like most other Axe products, but strictly on the citrus side. It’s like Gatorade for your body — with bubbles.

The citrus scent continues in the Redken for Men items, too. Go Clean Daily Care Shampoo ($9.95) and Finish Up Daily Weightless Conditioner ($10.95) are designed to moisturize and boost shine in normal to dry hair thanks to glycerin (the shampoo) and … mineral oil? (the conditioner). Whatever: It works great. I like the immediate effect, especially for the conditioner. No more “for best results, leave on 3 minutes.” It’s apply, work through and rinse. The line is sold only at professional salons; click here to be taken to a page that lets you find the closest salon by ZIP code.

ammit

WHAT SAM WORE: 3/7/08
The shirt: Four-button henley by Hugo Boss (Last Chance)
The pants: The Rebel Malcom dark-wash jeans by Joe’s Jeans (Vivi’s Boutique, Chandler)
The shoes: 720 sneakers by New Balance (Sports Authority)

sammit

I’m adventurous when it comes to fragrances: the stranger, the better for me. When I read a few years ago that actor Alan Cumming introduced his eponymous fragrance with notes of (among other things) “leather, peat fire, highland mud, burnt rubber and white truffle,” I ordered a bottle without even smelling it.

That’s because I couldn’t smell it – it wasn’t being sold anywhere in the Valley.

It was $69 well spent … that time. But I hate gambling – or more accurately, I hate gambling and losing (I’ve never played even a nickel slot machine on any of my trips to Las Vegas) – so I’m not too keen on the prospect of plunking down a lot of hard-earned cash for something I may or may not like.

And yet, there are so many scents out there I want to try – or at least sniff. How can you not be intrigued by something called “Lady Vengeance” (by a perfume house with an equally entertaining name, Juliette Has a Gun)? Or “Cruel Gardenia”? Or the fact that “888” by Comme des Garçons was designed to capture the fragrance of … gold?!

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When I was at Angel & Wingman last Saturday, I stopped in nearby Glam Lounge to get schooled on one of their newest additions, New York-based apothecary skin care line Malin + Goetz.

We use this as part of our Modern Euro facial (1 hour, $85),” lead aesthetician Leah Alvarez said as she smoothed some Detox Face Mask ($38) on the back of my hand. As it’s manipulated, the thick, clear serum transforms into a sturdy white foam, which uses oxygenating agents to deep-clean skin while amino acids moisturize. Leave on for five minutes — at Glam Lounge they use the time for face and neck massage — and remove with a warm washcloth or, to maintain the mask’s hydrating barrier effect, just a tissue.

At the day spa, “it makes any extractions a breeze,” Alvarez said. At home, use a thick layer a couple of times a week for deep cleaning, or a thinner layer nightly.

A different way to re-create the spa experience: Bergamot-scented Vitamin B5 Body Moisturizer ($36) leaves you smelling like you just dropped a couple hundred on some body treatments. The concentrated formula is designed to balance skin’s pH levels as well as moisturize — and not in a greasy, “maybe if I keep rubbing it in, it will finally get totally absorbed and I can get dressed” kind of way.

Sadly, I do not have the discipline warranted for the equally concentrated Bergamot Body Wash ($18): Only a few drops are necessary, and in the morning shower I’m not lucid enough to mete out such small quantities. I need something I don’t feel bad about glooping out a palmful at a time. Savvier showerers, however, should give it a try — they also have single-serve samples at Glam Lounge, which is at 7137 E. Stetson Drive, Scotts­dale.

ammit

WHAT SAM WORE: 2/22/08
The sweater: Long-sleeved cotton V-neckby Ben Sherman (Last Chance)
The pants: “The Prime” jeansby AG Adriano Goldschmied (Last Chance)
The shoes: Sneakers by Diesel (Last Chance)
The scent: Mentha Body lotion by C.O. Bigelow(Bath & Body Works)

sammit