Good Help’s Not Hard to Find When It’s Actor-Turned-Elf Gallo

He’s a writer-director-actor, and this Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m., Vincent Gallo becomes a sales clerk when he helps out the staff at the Anna Sui Sunset Plaza store.

Sui, known for her ethereal, bohemian designs, is a longtime friend of Gallo’s. (And only a friend would help out during this crazy holiday season.)

Sui had commissioned one of her artists, Ed Tsuwaki, to design a T-shirt with Gallo’s portrait on it. The $55 shirt became one of the store’s hottest-selling items. And the boutique sells posters of Gallo’s movies, including “Buffalo 66,” which he wrote, directed and starred in with Christina Ricci.

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Y2Suds: Last autumn, Bumble & Bumble introduced Dry2K shampoo--dry shampoo in case public water supplies are compromised during a Y2K disaster. Hey, end of the world or not, a girl still wants to look good!

“We only did it as a tongue-in-cheek New Year’s gift,” said Kim Reilly, public relations director. But joke or not, it’s flying off shelves. Sales are “super-dooper,” joked Reilly, whose husband really works with computers and is on Y2K watch as we speak.

Dry2K sells for $27 for a 2-ounce bottle and is available only until the end of this millennium. But the New York-based firm does offer a regular dry shampoo for those of you who want to only massage and brush. The products are sold at select salons or by phone at (888) 728-6253.

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Indie report: Small cosmetics companies are faring well on beauty Web sites, according to Women’s Wear Daily. A list of the top five sellers at five sites includes such small lines such as Three Custom Color Specialists, Urban Decay, Club Monaco and Vincent Longo.

Of course, as WWD pointed out, many of these sites are limited to the independents because the big players such as Estee Lauder and Lancome are exclusive to their own sites.

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Last-Minute Shopping: If you haven’t finished your holiday gift buying, here are two Web sites to explore--https://www.maturemart.com and https://www.charity.com.

Maturemart.com is exactly what it sounds like, a site for that perfect gift for someone who is, shall we say, of a certain age. It might be easy to make fun of a gift basket that includes toenail clippers and a weekly medication tray, but the baskets are actually quite useful. The arthritis basket, for example, includes a soft-grip jar opener and zipper pull.

The other, charity.com, is a clearinghouse for making contributions to charities around the world. So, if you really want to make a donation to the rain forest in your mother’s name, here’s the place. We still recommend an accompanying soap gift.

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Barbara Thomas can be reached at barbara.thomas@latimes.com.