GIFTING SUITE: ROGER NEAL STYLE HOLLYWOOD BEAUTY & COUTURE SUITE CELEBRATING THE 2015 ACADEMY AWARDS

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ROGER NEAL STYLE HOLLYWOOD BEAUTY & COUTURE SUITE CELEBRATING THE 2015 ACADEMY AWARDS

[Note: I made it to six pre-Oscars Gifting Suites this year. As always, each one gets its own write-up. This is the first of them, so please make sure to check back every day next week to learn about all the fabulous-ness.]

Photo by Karen Salkin.

Photo by Karen Salkin.

Roger Neal’s Oscars suites have long been revered for the many glamorous services they offer, to help us get ready for the rest of the parties all week. This year was no different. I definitely didn’t have the time to go to different salons and spas, so I’m very grateful to Roger and his lovely wife Lynn for gathering all the best service people in one place!

That place was the Penthouse of the aptly named Luxe Hotel on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. They used beautiful red and white curtains to create the private cabana-like spaces for us to get pampered in.

Let me tell you what I had done, from first service to last. I did them in the absolute smartest order, so that one service didn’t mess up the one before. I thank Lynn for accommodating me on that plan, and on everything!

I began the day with a very relaxing full-body massage by Brynn Cannon. Boy, did I need it! I only hope that I didn’t wear her out for the rest of the day, with my incredible knots! She said that she learned her craft in Maui, which tells me she knows a thing or two about relaxing!

The completed lashes. Photo by Daniel Dinh.

The completed lashes. Photo by Daniel Dinh.

After I ate a bit, (which I’ll tell you about soon,) I moved on to the service I looked the most forward to—individual eyelash extensions by the incredible Daniel Dinh, using his patented Long Mi Lashes. This time, he patiently applied his new “more volume with multi-layers” lashes. The volume lashes are actually brand-new; they’re coming to his lash salon soon, and I was the first one to try them! I swear, you cannot tell that I wasn’t born with them! But Daniel was born to do lashes! www.longmilashes.com

Karen Salkin's Long Mi Lashes and Shelly Hill nails. (And her own beautiful baby blues!)  Photo by Mr. X.

Karen Salkin’s Long Mi Lashes and Shelly Hill nails. (And her own beautiful baby blues!) Photo by Mr. X.

All relaxed, and good-looking enough now to face the crowd, (with Long Mi Lashes, you truly don’t really need any other make-up,) I moved on to a beautiful manicure by Shelly Hill, of Sparkles Nails, with whom I’ve beautified before. I seriously think that this is my favorite manicure I’ve ever had in my entire life! I put together colors that I wasn’t sure would work, but Shelly applied them so perfectly, that I almost couldn’t even type this because I can’t take my eyes off my fingers!!! I love the nails sooooo much! (Shelly can be found at Simone B Salon in Agoura Hills.)

Finally, I ended with a spray tan from Mia Faire of Tanique. She ‘s usually tanning the good people of D.C., so our perfect weather in L.A. must have been a fun change for her! (SoCal peeps never fear—the company has a rep locally for us!) I was happy to see that she actually listened to me when I asked to go really dark. Most other spray-tanning folk just pooh-pooh me. But I fade fast (both in color and energy,) so I know what I need. And I was staying home on that one night, anyway, to re-charge for the hectic days and nights to come. By the morning, I looked like I had just spent a week on an exotic vacation, even if the vacation was really just an hour’s nap on Daniel’s table while I got my eyelashes done! www.taniqueusa.com

Photo by Karen Salkin.

Photo by Karen Salkin.

So, now to the food. Roger Neal knows that we glamour gals need sustenance while we get beautiful. So to that end, he had Chef Kurt Ehrlich do a buffet of food from Jeanette’s Edelweiss, the new German eatery he will be helming when it opens in Thousand Oaks next month. (I’ll tell you all about it when it happens.) We feasted on three different kinds of sausages, (including vegan ones!, though I don’t even know how that’s possible,) salad, beets, potato salad, and sauerkraut. I didn’t try those last two, but the rest was delish! I only wish I had had time to eat more! www.jeanettesedelweiss.com

The services and food are the main focus of this suite, (along with big gift bags when you leave, the highlight of which this time was a silver skin-rejuvenating pillowcase from Grounded Beauty!,) but there were still some gifts to collect! Here are the highlights:

Photo by Glen Lipton.

Photo by Glen Lipton.

NeuLash—This is the newest entry into the lash-enhancing serum arena, and I understand it’s already a hit in Beverly Hills. The line also includes products for brows and hair, and a skin exfoliator. Their display at the suite was mouth-watering; all blue and silver. I was even impressed with the silver quilted bags they gifted their products in! www.skinresearchlabs.com

Photo by Karen Salkin.

Photo by Karen Salkin.

Niagara’s Honeymoon Sweets—This chocolate company from–guess where?–Niagara Falls, of course, returned to the suite with portraits of the film peeps, all in chocolate! Even the frames were chocolate! Such a shame to eat these mind-boggling works of art. www.niagarashoneymoonsweets.com

Wine To White—This instant teeth whitener from Beverly Hills Orthodontist, Dr. Bruce MacFarlane, is helpful in removing stains from red wine and coffee. If only it worked on clothing, too!!! www.starmakerorthodontics.com

To further help us get ready for the big night, they also had several gown and purse companies there, lending their wares. But I already had my Oscars gown picked-out; it was a blue cotton mini, with moons and stars on it. Yes, it’s my nightgown, because I sat on my couch, live-tweeting my bon mots on the proceedings! I hope you got to read them, but if not, they’re still up there on my page. @MajorCelebrity

Thanks to Roger Neal, I was all glammed-out for the rest of the week’s suites. And I’ll bring you all those deets next week, so please check back for them.

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2 Comments

  1. Yowza! That nails and eyelash photo is amazing. When I saw it, I thought, “When did Mario Testino shoot that picture of Karen?” Then I saw Mr. X did the pic. He has another career waiting in the wings. I never knew you had such beautiful eyes, the color of Windex. I guess I was always too busy staring at your nose.

    • Karen Salkin on

      Hi Curtis.

      Your “nose” comment is hilarious!!!

      And thank for the “eyes” compliment! I really appreciate it. I think I’ll use that pic for my FB profile.

      Karen

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