Eyebrows
Pluck, don"t wax. But don"t tweeze yourself unless you are certain about what you are doing. There are definite trends in eyebrows. Bushy brows were big in the eighties; a supernarrow brow look has more recently taken hold. Try to avoid either extreme, instead finding what best suits your face. At the very least, pluck hairs in between your two brows. Not many of us can pull off the unibrow Frida Kahlo effect (but if you are among the few who can, GO FOR IT!) as well as any obvious errant hairs above or below your brow.
Once on the sidelines of a Patrick Demarchelier photo shoot, Kevyn Aucoin took it upon himself to give me an eyebrow lift. He attacked quickly, depopulating all the hairs of my brow below an imaginary but all-important line horizontally across my face. His weapon? The most pointed Tweezerman tweezers I"d ever seen and a furious, almost violent plucking action. Tears rolled down my face as I tried to remain chipper, professional, and grateful. This hurt more than childbirth or the time I broke my nose waterskiing. This pain belongs in a cla.s.s of its own.
Two days later, when the skin finally calmed down, I got it. To match my small-boned face, Kevyn had created a lighter, narrower brow, giving me a ladylike line that I"ve since been able to retain myself. I never let it get so dramatically out of control that I cannot find Kevyn"s original shape. Besides, that would hurt too much. I remain grateful to Kevyn.
Your Body, Ultimately, Is All You Have
I have always been obsessed with exercise. I did power aerobics back in the day with Molly Fox and Jeff Martin. Then, like the other cool people, I switched to the Romanian maniac trainer Radu. I pounded and grunted alongside beautiful people like Cindy Crawford, Tony Radziwill, and his cousin, John F. Kennedy, Jr. When my then boyfriend commented that my legs looked like those of a "soccer player," I converted to the softer, more feminine Lotte Berk religion, source of the long and lean. Next came Pilates. Highly effective after a cesarean. My belly had never been flatter or stronger. Now I"m into Ashtanga yoga, the type-A prescriptive version. To be in my forties and doing splits, headstands, and jumps that I couldn"t have done in my twenties feels good.
So go ahead. Belittle me as the "Forrest Gump of exercise." I did follow the trends. Or accuse me of being shallow and superficial to spend time daily on my body. I"d say you should try it for yourself. Exercise is great for my self-image, it has kept my mood good, and it makes me feel powerful and strong.
On the investment front, strict adherence to exercise has been a key factor in staying the same size for all of my adult life. The size 38 pale pink boucle Chanel dress and bracelet-sleeve jacket I scored at a sample sale fifteen years ago-as well as lots of other Chanel treasures-still fit. I love dragging out my own vintage stuff and refitting my jackets for today.
Makeup Bag
Go visit a MAC store or a Bobbi Brown makeup counter at an hour when they are not busy. Ask for a good office day look. Then, if you can afford it, buy these six most important products to use on your face: The perfect concealer and/or foundation Blush Eye pencil Mascara Powder Lip color If you are very clever, you can try to re-create those products at your favorite discount drug store. The trickiest part is matching skin tone shade, so if you can buy only one great product-make it concealer or foundation that matches your skin tone.
THE STUFF YOU PULL OUT OF YOUR BAG MATTERS.
Status lipstick. Hermes (they only make one), MAC, Bobbi Brown, Dior, YSL, Chanel.
Status compact. Ditto.
Status fragrance. Find something that makes you happy and stick with it. Some of my favorites: Chanel No. 5, No. 19, or Cristalle; L"Air du Temps by Nina Ricci; Joy by Jean Patou; Fracas; Annick Goutal"s Charlotte; anything Jo Malone or Marc Jacobs; Lauren by Ralph Lauren; Hermes Eau Sauvage.
Splurge Beauty = A Skin Care System That Works for You
There"s nothing more beautiful than clear skin. There"s nothing more distracting or upsetting than pimples popping up every time you have your period or you are dealing with a little stress. I never had pimples before I was in my twenties. Then, while working like a dog in my first jobs, well, stress = acne.
Devote the time and money necessary to find a skin care system that works for you, whether it is Neutrogena, Clinique, or Proactiv, whatever. Nothing else matters more than clear skin. Once you find something that works for you, don"t play around with other products. Stick to the one that works.
The key to finding your own smooth skin holy grail is sticking to a routine long enough to allow it to work-say, six to eight weeks. The next magic product is sure to be screaming out at you, tempting you away. Don"t listen. Stick to what"s already in your bathroom. Be absolutely religious about your routine-whether it"s cleansing, toning, moisturizing, or splashing, whipping, and slathering-and you will, well, ... thank me later.
Life in a Four-by-Six Gray Cubicle
You"ve finally made it! Your own office! Well, sort of. Maybe it"s a prison-cell-sized cubicle, but, at least, you have visual privacy. What do you do with it? How do you make it your own? Can this paltry s.p.a.ce express your best fantasy of yourself, your dreams and aspirations?
The first objective must be to clean out the detritus of your works.p.a.ce"s previous lives. On this count, be ruthless. This ch.o.r.e is to be done after hours because it is not directly connected with the business of the office, within the first two weeks of your occupancy.
What is an editor? Someone who decides what to keep and what to toss. Someone who decides what words and pictures fit nicely or provocatively together. You are now the editor in chief of your own desk. Practice editing. Make it work visually and functionally, and from a public health point of view!
THINGS TO KEEP.
Inspiring international magazines.
Dictionary, thesaurus, a.s.sociated Press style manual, Strunk and White.
Usable office stationery.
A complete set of one year"s back issues of the magazine you are working for or catalogs of books your company has published or recent ads your agency has produced. This is the historic memory of your job.
Impersonal supplies: stapler, new box of staples, scissors, paperclips.
Pens and pencils not previously gnawed upon or otherwise contaminated.
DESK DRAWER LIFESAVERS.
These are items that live in your desk: Small flat mirror for teeth check. Life at deadline-driven creative places means eating two, sometimes three meals a day at your desk. You don"t want to walk into a meeting with spinach marring your smile.
Toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, and a small bottle of mouthwash. In their own zip-up opaque container for discreet trips to bathroom.
Comb and brush. It takes a second and makes a difference.
Tampons, Aleve, Tylenol, Motrin, Excedrin, Tums, decongestants. Stocking up on an a.s.sortment of over-the-counter basics a.s.sures fast friends and fewer headaches.
Lip balm.
Hand cream. Anyone working with papers all day long ends up washing her hands with the harsh soap dispensed at most offices. This leads to superdry hands so you need to keep your own personal tube of hand cream handy.
Lint remover. Masking tape-style roller.
Makeup. A separate zippered fabric bag should contain at least the following essentials: concealer, mascara, eyelash curler, pink blush, lip gloss, and/or lipstick in a daytime shade of pink or plum or sheer red. And if you have oily skin, a nice light compact of face powder.
Fragrance. Keep a fresh and light scent for quick spritz pick-me-ups during the day.
Sewing kit. For the emergency st.i.tching up of a falling hem or the reattaching of a popped b.u.t.ton.
An extra pair of stockings or fishnets.
An extra pair of shoes. High heels if you normally wear low, low if you normally wear high.
Gym gear. You never know when the opportunity might arise.
THINGS TO TOSS.
Anything to do with food or food consumption: straws, Chinese takeout mustard, soy sauce, fortune cookies, napkins, sugar, plastic forks, pepper packets, Burger King ketchup packets, and so on.
Anything of a personal nature the previous occupant left behind: comb, brush, cosmetics, vitamins, menus, and so on.
Gla.s.s vases (see below).
Pencils and pens previously used; some would call this spendthrift, but this is about a fresh start so I"d toss out all supplies not coming fresh out of a box.
Business cards with someone else"s name on them (duh!).
Dumping Ground
Most offices have a bin or designated dumping ground where you can leave books, tapes, CDs, T-shirts, and gla.s.s vases for other people in the office to retrieve and use as they wish. Find out where this depository is and use it, often and generously. When I was a beauty editor, we had periodic closet sales, selling lipsticks, compacts, creams, and so on for $1 each. The proceeds, as much as $2,500, went to homeless women"s shelters. The leftover products from the sales also were sent directly to homeless women"s shelters.
Take note: There are often forced office clean-up weeks when the business manager has a Dumpster installed in a central location. Don"t let the invitation to organize your works.p.a.ce get more personal than this!
Acceptable Personal Touches
Strong personalities of the creative inevitably break through even the most formatted office settings. Some nice touches I remember from my earlier Bazaar days included these: A completely out of place, odd antique wooden chair sat in the lifestyle editor"s office.
The features editor, Susan Kittenplan, had on her wall a large framed letter from her teaching days at Dalton. The letter was from her kindergarten cla.s.s writing to wish her well and say goodbye. That struck me as wonderful.
Celebrity wrangler Maggie Buckley had two fabulous orange trees in her office, sent to her by Anna Wintour after Maggie defected to Harper"s Bazaar. A generous and beautiful gift that continued to grow and bear fruit for years, somehow telepathically reminding everyone that Anna and her magazine continued to grow and flourish, thank you very much, without any one of us. Maggie also had a calendar that showed the phases of the moon, which I found weirdly comforting.
Liz Tilberis" large white denim Shabby Chic sofa was the key design element in her room. The inviting comforting side of her personality. Her large gla.s.s-topped Corbusier desk communicated the hard harsh reality of life and business. You knew how serious the encounter was to be depending on whether you were invited to sit on the sofa with Liz or directly in front of her, on the cold metal chairs.
I managed to score two black leather Barcelona chairs for my office at Bazaar. They looked great and, when pushed together, served as a minisofa when during my pregnancies I needed to lie down. Don"t think they made it into the new Hearst Tower, but these iconic chairs look good almost anywhere. Note: Skip knock-off versions of this item; they don"t make it.
The exception to personalizing a works.p.a.ce comes with people in the art department. There"s precious film to edit and scan. Layouts to approve. They don"t have room in the works.p.a.ces or probably their brains for extra images or things. One art director friend of mine has a simple office fantasy: a clean white office with a single flower in a vase. After many years in the business, that"s still her fantasy.
Basic Work s.p.a.ce Rules
Minimize personal effects. What is fine and normal is a small, framed picture of your hunky boyfriend or a framed drawing that your nephew drew. Pet pictures always work. A good black-and-white shot of your family"s dachshund on your desk shows a sense of humor and humanity. Endless sorority pictures, wedding pictures, boyfriend- or girlfriend-on-vacation snapshots, husband- or wife-looking-his-or-her-best seem maudlin and sentimental. Ditto work pictures. Besides, unless you are fabulously interesting, your personal life is probably better left a mystery, no?
Express your creativity with one or two great items. The framed print of a great (not personal) photograph, a cool "found" not-office-y chair, a white or chartreuse beanbag chair, a sketch, a lamp, a tree, a sculpture, a carpet, a chalkboard with colored chalk, a bulletin board that you"ve transformed from a utility item into an inspiration board (see below), or a well-designed office chair that you"ve found or scavenged.
Keep the office clean and hygienic. No food = no rodents. Don"t kid yourself, there are little c.o.c.kroaches, mice, perhaps even rats, in almost every works.p.a.ce. EEEEEEEEK!
Completely clear your desktop at least once daily. No matter how muddled or messy or how many layers you acc.u.mulate over the course of a day, don"t leave at night before you can see the actual surface of your desk. A good practice is to clear off the desk before you leave. Spray your desk along with your germ-ridden phone with your own handy-dandy Mrs. Meyer"s Lavender Countertop Spray. This little ritual makes starting the next day so much easier. (And great for inexpensive holiday gifts, www.mrsmeyers.com) Practice good phone hygiene. I am going to ask that you do something you"ve probably never done before: Smell your phone. Go ahead. Inhale deeply and sniff it up close. Pretty gross, right? The black plastic ear and mouthpieces contain millions of bacteria-filled globules. The seemingly innocuous headset of your phone is your enemy. It contains the olfactory imprint variously of earwax, Chanel No. 5, and Elizabeth Arden Eight-Hour Face Cream. No one other than you is responsible for the smell of your phone. Get it? The office cleaner might pa.s.s his or her dust cloth over it twice a year, but no one ever cleans it. In a perfect world, a plastic canister of Clorox wipes would occupy the spot next to your Mrs. Meyer"s and be used to rid the phone of its nastiness on a regular basis.
Be actively inspired. You need a place to express your ideas, whether it"s a big blank black book, a small black blank book, or a bulletin board. Something that is not directly related to the day"s a.s.signment but represents your bigger dreams. Your own personal inspirational inspiration. When Jackie O died, I bought a hard-cover sketchbook with a brown tie closure. I glued my favorite stories and images about her-one of the last century"s greatest cultural icons-into this book. Besides living out my own personal tribute to her, I created a reference of sorts that I still refer to.
Hang up your coat. Always. Whether it"s somewhere in your own s.p.a.ce or in a communal closet, it"s just civilized and shows self-respect. If there"s no hook on the back of your door, find a way to get one screwed in. Then buy or borrow a nice wide wooden hanger. Voila!
Make sure you have a locked drawer. It"s easy to get lulled into the false sensation that all is good and safe when you are comfortable at your place of work. Make sure you have a safe place to keep your wallet and use it. I can"t tell you how many times, especially around Christmas, people had their purses, wallets, or other valuables stolen. This seems to happen mostly in the middle of the day, though leaving jewelry, cash, or credit cards in your desk at night would be stupid. If your desk doesn"t have a locked drawer or cabinet, ask nicely for one. If you are not heard, then insist. Every office manager can find a way to achieve this for his or her staff.
Almost-dead flowers. How pathetic are the stacks of moldy vases on top of shelves and counters at every magazine office I"ve ever visited. Afraid no one will ever send you flowers again? Get over it. Give the vases away. The instant your blooms droop, whisk them straight to the garbage.