Makeover Matters
Vanity Makeup Studio co-owners Paula McKenna and Mary Brando took time out from their L.A. makeup studio, packed up their cosmetic kits along with seven of their students and headed out to Venice. Before they came back they had completed beauty makeovers on about 40 residents of the Phoenix House drug rehabilitation center. McKenna says she worked on men and women. For the men, “we just polished up their looks as if they were actors,” she says. “Nobody could tell we’d touched them.” The women, however, wanted their makeovers to show. “I want to look like Marilyn Monroe,” one told McKenna. She says she’s used to requests for Hollywood-style makeup. Tina Turner, Lauren Hutton, Catherine Bach and Pam Dawber are among the studio’s regular customers.
A Sketchy Picture
If it’s not chocolates for Easter, what could it be? Saks Fifth Avenue thinks a sketch of a youngster would be nice, so they are making that gift to their patrons. Saturday, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., artist Ted Jewell--in the children’s department of the Beverly Hills store--will be turning out “realistic” caricatures. They won’t cost a dime, and Saks’ executive Patty Fox says youngsters, who want to give them to their families, are welcome to come in on their own. Jewell, obviously quick on the draw, takes only about seven minutes per person. And when he’s not at Saks for a special occasion, he’s busy getting the essence of celebrities, such as Tom Selleck, down on paper. Wife and business partner Lois Jewell tells us her husband’s caricatures have appeared on numerous network shows, including “Magnum P.I.” and “Simon & Simon.”
Coup de Boutique
Is this the end for Giorgio, the Rodeo Drive boutique with the pool table and cappuccino bar and several best-selling novels and TV miniseries it inspired? “Absolutely not,” Listen hears from Giorgio spokeswoman Katy Sweet, who says the shop will stay put (but may go through a name change) even after Avon takes over the Giorgio company May 7 in exchange for $185 million it will pay Fred and Gale Hayman, who founded and built the fashion boutique/fragrance empire. Even a new fragrance that Fred Hayman has had in the works for months will fall under Avon ownership after the sale details are settled, Sweet tells Listen.
Sweet Smell of Success
What potion interests you most: an aphrodisiac, an energy stimulant, a stress reducer or sleep inducer? According to aroma-therapy expert Judith Jackson, one sign of our times is that most of her clients want the cure for stress. Jackson is author of the book “Scentual Touch,” which explains the benefits of natural essences in smell and massage therapy. In town this week for an appearance at Saks Fifth Avenue, Jackson told Listen that this concern about stress is being voiced across the board--”by women in the bridge club as well as people at the executive desk.” So what are the most soothing scents of all? “Camomile, lavender, vetiver and marjoram,” Jackson says. Listen feels calmer already.
