ROGER NEAL STYLE HOLLYWOOD BEAUTY & COUTURE SUITE CELEBRATING THE 86th ACADEMY AWARDS

 

[Note: Despite just recovering from pneumonia, I managed to make it out to five gifting suites celebrating the 2014 Oscars. Each one gets its own column because I don’t want any of you to miss even one item I’m telling you about. So, please make sure to check back several times to learn about all the fabulous-ness. This is the first of five.]

I was happy that the Roger Neal suite returned to the Luxe Hotel in Beverly Hills, the site where I first met him six years ago. But when I stepped off the elevator in the Penthouse, I was shocked; they renovated the whole place, and it looked like a brand spanking new venue! That’s always fun.

This is more of a beauty suite than a gifting one, and that’s just the way I like it! The beauty services are always top-notch and that’s where I headed right off the bat. After several months with health issues, my looks had definitely gone way downhill, and boy, was I in need of the pampering I received here, courtesy of Roger and Lynn Neal, the most gorgeous couple in the biz! (As a matter of fact, I told all the pamperers to make me look like Lynn!)

Here’s what I had done, in the order that I did them, which was perfect:

Heavenly Hands Mobile Massage—I began with a quick chair massage by Cheyenne, a beautiful girl who knew all the health tricks that I’ve been learning recently. It’s always good to have that kind-of thing confirmed for you.

Long Mi Lashes by Daniel Dinh and Jimmy Dinh—This is the one I was most looking forward to! Not only are the Dinh twins the absolute masters at applying the most gorgeous lashes in town, but they’re so fun and upbeat that it’s hard to keep my eyes form smiling while they’re working! (Jimmy was once on America’s Got Talent, and delivered this brilliant joke: “I’m from Vietnam, but I don’t do nails!” Daniel and I were still talking about it at this suite.) I had the distinct honor of having both brothers work on my lashes! I’m still reveling in that experience. Daniel told me that he was born to do people’s lashes, and I told him that I was born to have him do my lashes! So we were all happy! And my lashes are stunning! They came out just like I ordered—short of a drag queen. www.longmilashes.com

Vertigo Salon—After a very quick break to shove some delicious food down my throat, (which I’ll tell you about in a second,) for sustenance for the rest of the services, I sat down for a manicure with the beautiful Sonia V. Shahnazarian. I have rarely had anybody that pleasant work on my nails. I wish this salon was closer to me, but alas it’s downtown, which is really the hip place to be. It was music to my ears when Sonia asked me if I wanted a regular manicure or a gel one. A gel one, of course! I’m usually the leader in life, but in this case, I asked her to copy her own nail design and make them pale with sparkles, the likes of which I’ve rarely seen. Now Mr. X can find me in the dark without me even having to talk! www.vertigosalonla.com

Tan This LA—I finished-up the day with the service I was in the most desperate need of—a spray tan! The kind owner of the mobile spray tanning company, Ellen Loughlin, didn’t even make fun of my pasty white glow. And she couldn’t have been kinder to me while she was working on my not-as-fabulous-as-it-should-still-be bod. That’s a Queens girl for you! (She also has a really amusing story, that you can read on her website.) Ellen had the perfect color tan skin herself, so I totally trusted her. And I came out the perfect healthy shade, (with somehow softer skin, too!,) and ready to face the world. Well, at least the world of Hollywood because, after all, this was Oscar’s week. www.tanthisla.com

The Roger Neal suite is also known for always feeding us, and this time was no different. I really needed a little lunch to give me strength in-between beauty services, so right after lashes, I headed over to the buffet provided by Chef Kurt Ehrlich of the Wirsthaus Restaurant in Los Angeles. While I had been lying there getting my lashes done, I kept hearing people from the adjoining beauty cabanas raving about his pasta and garlic bread. I was happy just to discover for myself that everything they were saying was correct. Later on in the day, when the buffet was all gobbled-up, they began passing hors d’oeuvres, such as spanakopita and grilled shrimp. It’s a surprise I was ever able to leave that place! www.wh-catering.com

Even though this suite was mainly about beauty and food, there were a few gifts to gather in-between. They even gave us each a little gift bag of more items as we left! Can you see why I love this one?!

Here are the highlights of the gifts in the suite: the most pleasant person I think I’ve ever met in my life is author Nadia Khalil Bradley, who was promoting a book she wrote called Origins of Truth. She was hoping it would inspire people, and if it’s anything like her attitude, I’m sure it will. Gris Gris Jewelry was giving away sweet little silver pendants, Niagara’s Honeymoon Sweets gifted each guest a little bag of their signature chocolates, Drunken Cake Pop‘s spirit-filled cake pops were quite popular, and Dr. Bruce McFarlane was featuring a double-dip: a dental pen to get rid of wine stains, and a wine glass so that you can enjoy getting them in the first place!

Always charitable, the Neals chose two worthy causes to benefit this time:

Beyond Christmas—This is one of the best charities I ever heard of! And it’s so simple. It’s a national organization that does, and promotes, random acts of kindness and spontaneous acts of compassion for strangers, something I wish everyone would do! It’s easy, and I swear it makes you feel great. (I do it all the time, sometimes to amusing results, like the time I tried to give a homeless man my lunch, only to be told he didn’t want “that junk,” but rather cigarettes! And I had left my car in the middle of a busy major street to do it to begin with!) Their goal is to get one million acts of kindness and compassion done by Christmas 2014. This is one everyone should check into. (And by the way, their motto is “Be the reason that someone smiles today.” I absolutely love that!) www.beyondchristmas.org

Heifer International—This organization “links communities and helps brings sustainable agriculture and commerce to areas with a long history of poverty” by donating farm animals that yield food, like cows for milk and chickens for eggs. I hadn’t realized just how much even one farm animal could be of help, but that’s the way it all begins. What a wonderful concept! And it was adorable that they were giving everyone cute little stuffed animals to remind us of our meeting. The girl in charge and I laughed when she named the choices off for me, and I quickly answered, “I’m definitely a pig!” Mr. X, who has to live with my tornado of tossed-off attire, will agree with that. www.heifer.org