pick-of-the-week

friends, compatriots, fellow fashionistas - we've found it. the holy grail.

of mascara, that is.

we pride ourselves on long, dark, thick lashes, and it seems as though it ought to be easy enough to find a great mascara to enhance them. we pore over fashion magazines and best-of beauty sections, wondering who exactly it is that's having so much gosh darn luck with drugstore brands like the ever-popular Maybelline Great Lash or the lower-end Lancome Definicils equivalent, L'Oreal Voluminous.

we've heard all about Diorshow and fumbled around with the Givenchy Phenomen'eyes globe-headed brush, but nothing beats the wide, cone-shaped wand and deliciously thick, full lashes produced by the holy grail itself - Benefit Bad Gal Lash.

Bad Gal Lash, running a good $5-$10 cheaper than its Dior and Givenchy competitors, is around $19/tube, but we've easily located tubes for $10-$12 by using sites like Ebay and Amazon. This puts the price tag on par with drugstore brands, but we can't sing praises long or loud enough for how truly fabulous this mascara is. all you need is one coat to make your lashes thicker, darker and fuller than you've likely ever seen them, and because of the high quality formula, clumping is minimal (and easily combed out). a word to the wise - wait a good 5-10 minutes between coats with this bad boy, as the velvety-smooth formula is not as fast-drying as its stickier competitors.

the other beautiful news? Bad Gal Lash comes in colors!!!

Bad Gal Brown is the perfect solution for a more natural-looking mascara, particularly for our fairer-haired friends. if you'd like to get adventurous, we highly recommend picking up a tube of Bad Gal Blue, a mascara with a cobalt hue so bright and fun it's hard not to want to use it every day. pair this with copper eyeshadow and a deep blue liner for an edgy summer evening. we're also obsessed with Bad Gal Plum, the perfect hue to compliment deep green shadows. this mascara will really make hazel eyes pop!

we are BIG believers in this mascara for just about anyone, and think that you should all immediately treat your eyes to a tube for this weekend and prepare yourselves for the onslaught of cheesy pick-up lines (no doubt about how beautiful your eyes are) that are sure to follow. however, we can also seriously sympathize with the skeptical, having purchased many a tube of ho-hum mascara on the glowing recommendations of our friends. for those of you with reservations, have no fear! Benefit has created a limited-edition, sample-sized Bad Gal Lash (adorablly called "A Litte Bit Bad") for less than half the retail price. a word to the wise - this is not only a limited-edition product, but it can only be found at Sephora (we found it online and in stores as well - if you're lucky, it's the checkout-line sample of the day!) but trust us when we say that once you go Bad, you'll always be glad!

MUST or LUST? swim 2010 edition

(***DISCLAIMER*** we realize that in fashion-season years, this topic is old as the hills; however, true to bay state form, it's only been warm a handful of days thus far, and our true summer has yet to come. it is the perfect time for the beantown beat to outline some safety rules and regulations for boston area beaches, north and south shore alike.***)

something’s happened to swimwear.

suddenly, it’s not about teeny bikinis made up of triangular swatches of fabric too itty-bitty to cover your titties (or anything else, for that matter!). something’s shifted, and now the retro, the funky, the high-fashion, and the asymmetrically interesting are ruling the roost (such as this gorgeous, ruched wrap-around two-piece by Sauvage). our theory is that now that we know there’s no such thing as a "healthy tan," oddly-placed tan lines are a worry of the past. we’re trading in all that extra skin for SPF 70 and some seriously superlative swimwear.

that being said, when it comes to swimwear, we subscribe to the "you get what you pay for" theory; that is, the quality of fabric and construction in a high-end designer swimsuit is going to serve you and your, ahem, assets a lot better than a cheaper knockoff. not only does better quality microfiber hug your curves and boost your bust a lot better, but it will last you a lot longer. there’s nothing wrong with choosing a pricey, classic suit to last several seasons. we figure, the less time we spend in a hideously fluorescent-lit dressing room, yanking all manner of lycra up over our butts and bellies, the better. the bottom line: swimwear is definitely not the place to be cutting cost corners. go ahead and buy the $1.99 Old Navy flip flops and the $4 six-pack of PBR, but please splurge on your suit.

ONE-PIECE SUITS:

There are two types of one-piece; the good-lord-please-work-a-miracle-k-thx one-piece, and the plunging-backless-might-as-well-be-a-bikini one-piece. we love and endorse both. a good awareness of one’s figure is essential for picking the right suit, and the choice to go with a high-fashion, plunging-front or cutout-sides monokini instead of a two-piece is both classier and much more on-trend.

L*Space does some fantastic swimwear, and we particularly love this year’s plunging one-piece choices.

the fringe benefit of the plum suit is its universally flattering color, whether you have a tan or not. it’s soft enough for the palest blondes and redheads, and deep enough for darker, duskier beauties to carry off effortlessly. plus, there’s just something about that fringe that sets our heart a-flutter.

the same can really be said for their aqua-hued suit. the color is flattering on just about every skin type, and the low-slung waistline is a great feature for those of us with slim hips, but no discernible waist.

fabulous news for the beach-shy: Spanx has swimwear! some of the styles are a little to mumsy (even for your mum), like their black "swimdress," but we’re really digging this asymmetrical, ruffled number:

the beauty of this suit is its choice of skin exposure; very few women run around talking about their "shoulder fat" or "collarbone cellulite," so it offers a sexy alternative to plunging-front, opened-backed, or tummy-bearing styles. we love the colorblock look of the white and brown, but if that’s not your thing, it also comes in basic black.

now, we simply can't discuss brilliant swimwear without mentioning our personal favorite designer, Carmen Marc Valvo. this bright coral, retro one-piece has garnered us many a compliment on the beaches of the north shore, and it flatters just about every figure.

TWO-PIECE SUITS:

we concede that you can stay refined and on-trend in a two-piece, but just please try and avoid the ubiquitous teeny-weeny-string-bikini in bubble gum pink (surely a beach staple from 1993-1998). also, if you’re going to wear a two-piece, it’s likely you’re comfortable with your body and will update every year (those ties that bind tend to lose their elasticity after a season), so it’s okay to go a bit cheaper if you go the two-piece route. try to find a sophisticated suit with an interesting detail or embellishment that separates you from the teenybopper crowd, like this racerback bikini from Victoria’s Secret (the ultimate mix-and-match bikini construction site), or this gorgeous rainbow-colored, gold-clipped bandeau suit from Vix swimear.

when in doubt, two-pieces can also go elegantly retro. these options (also found at Victoria’s Secret) are much more flattering and dignified than your traditional bikini, not to mention the miracles they’ll work in the name of cleavage. underwire is your friend!

remember, no matter how you choose to suit yourself this summer, remember that the best beach accessory is neither sunglasses nor sandal, but rather a self-confident swagger and a sexy smile.

our mission statement

friends, the fashion police have arrived in the bay state, and we're ready to start the war on ugly.

to do so, we've committed to four distinct taskforces, each reporting weekly in the fabulogue. combined, we make up the beantown beat, headed up by officer fabulous, fashionista extraordinaire. we're clearing the streets of boston of fashion crimes and misdemeanors, and we're not taking any prisoners.

the beantown beat's fabulogue will be delivered as follows:

monday - shoe day. after a long weekend of excess, one is likely to feel bloated, hungover, and--with any luck--a little ashamed. what better retail therapy than shoe shopping? because it doesn’t matter if you’re having a “fat day,” if your skin is overreacting to that saturday night red wine and breadstick binge, or if you can’t quite look yourself in the eye while putting on your mascara this morning; if you’re gonna keep your eyes down, might as well make sure there’s something fabulous on your feet.

tuesday - DO day. tuesdays are the days we feature someone in the greater boston area community who is either getting it right, almost there, or is a walking disaster. citations may be issued, attention may be paid. either way, we’re going to break down what went right, what went wrong, and how to make it work.

thursday - MUST or LUST? day. thursdays are the days we all collectively tighten our belts and duct-tape our wallets, counting down the minutes to payday--the perfect day to stack up a high-end, high-fashion item against its affordable competitor(s) and weigh the pros and cons, along with possible tips on how to get exactly what you want for less than you think. MUST or LUST days are designed to fine-tune every true fashionista’s inner spendthrift.

friday - pick of the week day. fridays we’ll tell you which beauty, home, or wardrobe item you need to own NOW to make your weekend even more fabulous.

we hope the fashion forward feel just a little safer out there with officer fabulous on the beat. and if you're a repeat offender, your days are numbered. but don't worry; justice will be swift, relatively painless, and totally fabulous.