GLAM OR SHAM?: Emma Watson's New Cropped Cut

With the days of shooting Harry Potter officially behind her, Emma Watson has opted for this close cropped (and don't you think cooler!?) hair 'do. She has the perfect face for it and it makes her look much older than what she really is. Or maybe she's prepping for a new, exciting role that's required her to chop her locks!? Here's what she looked like with longer hair:

What do you think, Glamazons? Is this look on Emma Glam or a Sham?

xo

Ferocia

Mary J. Blige Sets New Fragrance Selling Records on HSN With Her 'My Life' Scent

Remember how we told you guys about Mary J. Blige launching her first fragrance, 'My Life' on HSN? Well, last weekend she hit the airwaves and (in true MJB fashion) set new records. According to the article in today's WWD, she sold over 72,000 units of fragrance and ancillaries in 24 hours. That's $3 million in retail sales! Wowza!

And now, the fragrance industry is starting to take note. I mean, it's already a bonkers idea to even think about selling a fragrance on television (how will you smell it?!)

But, apparently everyone (included myself) loves the singer and didn't mind dropping top dollars for her signature scent. Lucky for them that it really does smell divine!

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to fly down to St. Petersburg, FL last weekend and interview the starlet for Glamour.com (click here to check out her beauty faves!)

Did any of you Glamazons tune in and buy the fragrance? If so, were you able to chat with her over the phone? Who do you think will be the next celebrity to launch their scent on the channel?

xo

Ferocia

Magazine Glam: ESSENCE's Best Cover in Months Featuring Iman, Naomi Campbell and Liya Kebede

Iman, Naomi Campbell, Liya Kebede. Now THOSE are cover subjects worth celebrating.

The black supermodel trio graces the September issue, which also happens to be the 'Fashion' issue of most every magazine and ESSENCE's 40th Anniversary cover.

There's something about seeing three beautiful, successful, acclaimed models that just fills me with pride. These women are powerhouses in an industry that has never been too kind to people of color, and that is surely something to celebrate!

Iman has set the stage for how to transition a career as a model to a business mogul with her successful enterprises, Iman Cosmetics and Global Chic. Naomi, with her legal troubles and recent appearance in court over blood diamonds, will be forever lauded as one of the best models to walk the runway, of any color. And Liya Kebede is a global ambassador for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health through the World Health Organization.

This is also the debut issue of ESSENCE's controversial hire, white Fashion Director, Elliana Placas, so I'm sure the inside Fashion pages will receive lots of attention from both sides of the argument. Not certain that Elliana styled the cover (for the last six months while she served as a Freelance Director, and the prior three months where a black Fashion Director was in place, the covers were styled by a freelance stylist), but neutral is inarguably one of the season's biggest, most celebrated trends.

What do you think of the cover?

Discuss.

Kisses,

Coutura

GLAM OR SHAM?: Chris Brown's Louis Vuitton "Kente" Scarf and Leopard Print Sneakers at the Takers Premiere

Chris Brown's stylist must have it out for him. After performing onstage in man capris, he showed up on the red carpet of the Takers L.A. Premiere looking a dusty fool.

Yes, Glamazons, he's wearing a Louis Vuitton scarf that brings to mind the Kente fabric my uncle wears during Kwanzaa ceremonies. (Doesn't he look like he smells like incense? Nag Champa?).

As for those leopard print sneakers, unless it's a tacky, printed Ronald Isley fur (<---kidding!), I am not a supporter of animal print on a man. It's too feminine and fetishized to come off sexy on anything other than a fierce woman. Do you agree?

And to add insult to injury, Chris, you threw on your girlfriend's tight vest on top of a black button-down shirt. What is the purpose of the vest? You can't even see it unless you stare close enough; and it's cinching your waist. Who is responsible for this horrid outfit?

In other news, Chris purportedly has the best scene in the movie, which I can't wait to see! Let's hope he's wearing better clothes.

Kisses,

Coutura

Magazine Glam or Sham: Katy Perry Half-Naked on Rolling Stone, Dolled up on Seventeen

I remember Katy Perry as a wild, free, florescent-light wearing, colored-wig rocking kind of girl. So why is she on the cover of Rolling Stone looking demure and, I guess, normal (albeit the fact that she's in her panties)?

There's hardly any makeup involved, no glitter or flashing lights and her facial expression almost looks uncomfortable. The cover line is just as odd (Sex, God and Katy Perry?). I'm sure the story will dissect the juxtaposition of her "Preacher's Kid" roots and her oversexed, party girl, pop-star image.

Here's another contrast: her Rolling Stone cover in a bra and panties versus her fully-clothed, cleavage-free Seventeen cover.

Even fresh-faced and appropriately dressed for a teen magazine cover, Katy Perry looks more like the star I know on Seventeen. Her makeup is absolutely gorgeous and the buckles, gloves and studs still give a dose of rockstar edge.

Which cover do you prefer? Which is Glam and which is a Sham? Discuss!

Kisses,

Coutura

Madonna Lookalikes Flood Macy's for the Material Girl Launch

If you ever questioned Madonna's iconic status, one sight of the Madonna lookalike Mom and daughter duos that clamored into Macy's for the launch of Material Girl would make you a believer.

According to WWD, the store was overrun with women dressed in blonde wigs, cross earrings, tulle skirts and the like. (Seriously, the line extended from Broadway down to 33rd Street).

The interesting part? Mothers (who partied during the prime of Madonna's career) and their daughters were hand-in-hand on line dressed in Madonna-inspired garb and itching for the chance to shop from Madonna's first fashion line. Surely, that's a testament to the superstar's broad and timeless appeal.

While the launch didn't fare as well in cities outside NYC and LA, Macy's anticipates huge back-to-school sales for the line and accordingly, debuted it in major cities with much fanfare. In NYC, the first 200 shoppers scored a bandeau and were treated to a performance by spokesperson, Taylor Momsen; in LA, fans waiting online were asked Madonna trivia questions, given wristbands and $10 gift cards, and a Kiss FM DJ played Madonna's songs.

Taylor performing.

While WWD seemed surprised both grown folks and teens were dressing up as Madonna, I wouldn't expect anything less. She is a larger-than-life icon whose appeal transcends generational borders. "Vogue" is the most-played song on my ipod, and my younger sister's, and I'm sure my niece will join the party when she gets old enough. Don't you agree that Madonna is just incredibly amazing?

And who doesn't want to dress like her? Ferocia and I took full advantage at The Magazine's 80's party back in the day (see below) because umm, it's fun! If only I was a teenage girl going back to school...

What do you think of the launch pandemonium? And sidenote: was Taylor Momsen the right choice for spokesperson? Teens (or better yet, anyone who can fit it) are you planning on shopping the collection?

Kisses,

Coutura

Coutura Meets Fergie! Designer Crush: Fergie Shoes

As it turns out, Fergie has a lot more rewarding qualities than a great singing voice and phenomenal taste in shoes. She is also silly, down-to-earth and lots of fun.

I had the pleasure of meeting her last Friday and chatting for a bit about her fabulous line of sandals, Fergie Shoes.

The Black Eyed Peas lead singer, who was rocking a pair of black Fergie Shoes stilettos with a rockstar-cool deep blue blazer, says she is very hands on with her designs. "I add studs or a buckle here and there to give my shoes edge," she says. As for her favorite type of shoes? "I love heels," she laughs. "The higher, the better." 

Besides her new fragrance, she says she isn't pursuing more beauty and fashion ventures...yet. "When I do something, I like to give 100%, and study it to make sure it's the right move to make," she said.

As for her first love, music, she's listening heavy to Drake's new album now. "He talks about everything: fame, money, relationships. I think that's cool."

Check out Fergie's edgy, fashion-forward line of shoes below. Which is your favorite?

More Fergie...

Kisses,

Coutura

Watch Ke$ha Rock Out In Glitter and Blue Lipstick Here!

Reason #32,345 as to why I think Ke$ha is awesome? Because she performs covered in body glitter, wearing blue lipstick, a shirt with holes in it and has gay boys in their underwear for backup dancers. Think I'm making all of this up? Then check out clips I recorded from her live performance at last night's Casio Shock The World 2010 event held here in New York on our YouTube Channel. Then tell me that this is not one of the most crazy/awesome performances that you've ever seen in life! (I'm still combing out the confetti she blasted on everyone at the end of it from my hair hahaha)

xo

Ferocia

10 Minutes With: Bryan Greenberg

Alright Glamazons: this one is for all you Bryan Greenberg lovas out there. As part of the Casio Shock The World 2010 event, I was given the opportunity to interview Greenberg before the press conference. That's him pictured above showing off his new timepiece...so cute!

Here's what he had to say:

Ferocia: So, tell us why you're here today.

Bryan: I'm the ambassador for the EDIFICE watch. (whips out his wrist to me) Check it out!

Ferocia: Wow! That's really nice.

Bryan: Yeah. I'm very excited.

Ferocia: So, why are you excited about a watch? Tell me what's exciting about it.

Bryan: Why? [laughing] Well, for me as a guy, you don't really have a lot of accessories, you know. So I don't wear earrings, necklaces or anything like that. The only accessory that I do wear to show off my style is a watch. I like the watch because it takes me through out the day. I mean, I've got so much going on..so many different worlds that I have to step into you know with my music and my acting...nightlife. I can wear this watch in all of those circumstances. Uptown. Downtown. It definitely can go anywhere with this. I can go to a business meeting or jump into the ocean. I can go into the studio with it...

Ferocia: So, wait...you're a musician, too?

Bryan: Yeah!

Ferocia: What do you do? Do you sing? Are you in a band?

Bryan: Yeah, I sing and play guitar. I'm working on a second album right now. Been working on it all month long. This whole month I'm like totally fried because I've been going back and forth from New York to L.A.

Ferocia: How's that going for you? The whole music thing?

Bryan: It's going good! It's so much fun. I love it. Working with some really great musicians and hope to release it later this year.

Ferocia: OK, so now I'm gonna flip the script on you. Let's talk about beauty stuff. Tell me what some of your favorite men's grooming products are.

Bryan: [stares blankly into space]

Ferocia: Are you into men's grooming products? Do you groom?

Bryan: I don't know. I don't groom. [laughing] I mean, I have stuff but whatever they gave me from the makeup trailer is what I use. They'll be like 'Here, take this home and moisturize.' But, I can't even tell you the brand.

Ferocia: Do you feel like before you got into this whole industry that you never did any of that stuff?

Bryan: No, I never moisturized.

Ferocia: I think that's interesting because I meet so many guys that say until some girl tells me this, I don't ever use the stuff.

Bryan: Yeah! Like your girlfriend or something. You know, girls will leave their stuff over and then you just put it on. But otherwise I'm not thinking about that kind of stuff.

Ferocia: What about shampoo and conditioner? Are you into fancy brands or no?

Bryan: Nope, cheap stuff.

Ferocia: As far as what you like to see on a woman, do you like girls with a lot of makeup on?

Bryan: No, no, no. I like the natural beauty.

Ferocia: Do you have a certain scent that you like to smell on a woman?

Bryan: Just no patchouli. It smells like bark. I know, trust me.

Ferocia: Anything else you do? Pluck your eyebrows? Let other girls pluck your eyebrows?

Bryan: Nope. I'm a straight guy. I like bikes and motorcycles. Play basketball. Sorry, I'm not a metro.

Ferocia: Great! So, are you filming a new season of 'How To Make It In America?'

Bryan: Yep, shooting Season 2 in February/March and it should be out by next summer. I'm also shooting a movie right now called 'Friend With Benefits' right now here in the city. And then I've got an indie movie I'm about to start shooting called 'Normals' next month. So, I'm pretty crazy these days. Between that and the music it's insane.

Ferocia: I loved the show 'How To Make It In America.' I always watched and thought that you were probably just as cool as in real life.

Bryan: [laughing] No I'm definitely not as cool as Ben Epstein. I love working on the show. It's so much fun.

Ferocia: What's your favorite part about it?

Bryan: Just being in New York and representing this generation that's hussling and coming up. A lot of people have that in common with the show and what we're trying to say and how we say it in a subtle way. We don't try to beat anybody over the head with it. I just think that it's really real. The writing's really good. I like my character. I like him for his flaws. I like working at HBO. They take risks. I just love my cast. They're awesome to work with. It's one of the coolest things I've worked on for sure.

Ferocia: Do you have any other fave shows on HBO? Like True Blood?

Bryan: No, I haven't watched it yet and don't want to now. I have to start from the beginning with Season 1.

Ferocia: What are some of your favorite shows?

Bryan: The Wire was one of my fave shows of all time.

Ferocia: What kind of music do you listen to?

Bryan: Aw man my taste is all over the place. I listen to a lot of good hip hop. Tons of indie rock. I'm a huge music head.

Ferocia: What kind of music are you working on with your album? Like what genre would you put that in?

Bryan: I'd say laid back. Rock 'n roll. Soul. Kind of like Black Keys.

And there you have it, Glamazons. Bryan is definitely a man's man in that he doesn't have much to say in the realm of anything beauty related. But, he's definitely down-to-earth and a nice guy! And remember to stay away from patchouli if you ever plan on wooing him, ladies hahaha.

xo

Ferocia

Casio "Shocks The World" With A New Roster of Celeb Ambassadors (And Cool New Watches, Too!)

Hey Glamazons! Last night I attended the Casio "Shock The World 2010" event and let me tell you: this is one brand that knows how to throw a party!!

The night started with the opportunity I was given to interview actor Bryan Greenberg (he's on HBO's 'How To Make It In America'..more on that in a bit). Side note: can I just say for the record that he is one cute guy?! Of course, he looked like he was lacking some serious sleep, but what person isn't nowadays? (Me included hahaha)

Then, all of the members of the media were invited into this huge room for the official Casio press conference. Except for the fact that I couldn't understand what the heck the most of the presenters from the brand were saying (they had really thick accents), it was cool to hear more about how the watches from the brand are created. Basically the brand hooked up with these brands to help them create some cool looking watches in the G-Shock and Baby-G collections: Alfie; Dee & Ricky; DGK; Hellz Bellz; In4Mation; and the Surfrider Foundation.

They also signed on a couple of celebs to be brand ambassadors of these collections.

L.A. Laker Lamar Odom (but we know him mostly as Khloe Kardashian's husband) is the face of the G-Shock GX56 timepiece. (He's wearing one of the watches above.) I didn't realize how tall he was until I saw him get up to the podium and wowza! That's a whole lotta man. The only thing I really heard him say was that he and Khloe were going to launch a unisex fragrance together called 'Unbreakable.' (Hmmm...could they be the next equivalency of the Beckhams?!) There have also been stories about them having their own television show swirling around, but he didn't say anything about that.

Ke$ha will be the brand ambassador and watch designer for the Baby-G line of women's watches. The first models from this collection are set to hit stores this summer and range in price from $79-$99.

Bryan Greenberg is set to show off the EDIFICE Black Label...mainly due to his his character Ben in 'How To Make It In America.' (Apparently Casio saw Ben as a perfect representation of their brand and dubbed the character as a man that's "going places." The watches in this collection range in price from $150-$500 and are meant to "take men from day to night, whether going to a sporting event or a night on the town" (according to the press release anyways).

During one point in the press conference, someone from the brand thought it'd be cool to throw some watches out to the audience..which he did. I almost caught one until I realized that I was about to get mauled by the guy behind me, so I let it go. The things people will do for some free stuff..smh.

After the press conference, we all went down to the main floor and drank special cocktails from Absolut Vodka and danced to tunes from DJ Cassidy. Ke$ha then took the stage for a special performance (I'm about to upload that onto GlamazonsBlog TV in a sec for those that wanna have a look) in which she blasted everyone in the audience with gold and silver pieces of confetti. It was pretty great because I totally dance around in my underwear every morning to her music and some of my friends were slightly shocked that I knew the words to all of her songs hahaha.

What do you think of Casio's choice of celebrity brand ambassadors?

xo

Ferocia

Alexander Wang Sample Sale

Alexander Wang Sample Sale

August 5-8, 2010

93 Mercer Street

Between Spring & Broome

Up to 80% Off!

GLAM OR SHAM?: Wedding Weekend: Alicia Keys' Vera Wang Wedding Gown and Tiny's Valentino Wedding Gown

Love, and labels, were in the air this weekend.

As we previously reported, Tiny got married to T.I. in a lavish celebration, one of three scheduled engagements. Her over-the-top, princess Valentino gown did give me a Wow moment minus the chest tattoos (sorry ladies, I just don't love them).

But the embroidered tulle detailing on the bust and ruffles around the bottom of the dress are so gorgeous! Tiny paired it with an elegant diamond necklace and a veil with a crystal headband. She gave long, flowing hair under the veil. Loove! The groom wore an all-white white tux and glasses. Awww.

The bridesmaids wore black strapless dresses with sweetheart necklines and platinum sashes and matching diamond necklaces. Classy and chic.

Alicia Keys also tied the knot with Producer Swizz Beats in a simple, elegant one-shoulder Vera Wang gown that showed off her baby bump.

I love the draping and the silver embroidered detail on the shoulder.

She paired the gown with diamond studs, a beautiful headdress and Christian Louboutins.

The groom wore a pink, ruffled button-down shirt, black bow-tie, Aviator sunglasses, white jacket, black pants and white studded Christian Louboutin shoes. Hmm...ok, what matters is love but Swizz' outfit is giving me Easter Sunday. Yikes.

I DO love that her hair is off her face in an elegant bun. Very pretty!

What do you think of Tiny and Alicia Keys' wedding gowns? Glam or Sham? Do you have a favorite?

Kisses,

Coutura

Photos: AliciaKeysWeb.com; TheYBF.com.