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Welcome to Beauty Diary: Seven days of getting glam with an industry insider. From publicists to professional makeup artists, this a week in the life of someone who lives and breathes beauty.
- Every five days or so, I pick out some fresh flowers at my neighborhood bodega. Since I'm working from home now it's nice to have a bit of life and color on my desk, creating a little corner of inspiration.
- I write a column for the website Wisdom in Beauty called Beauty Sleuth where I test out new products—this month I'm testing BB and CC creams. I must confess that I'm a little mystified by the whole concept. Wha
- I handle PR for the haircare line Phylia de M and today I'm sending some of their new launch to editors. The products are based on scalp health and totally transform your hair.
- I'm constantly clipping images from magazines that I like and lately I keep being drawn to this super white platinum color in a lot of the ad campaigns. I've been beachy blonde for awhile now and I feel like I've outgrown it. I made an appointment with
- This was at the beginning of the day and I'm already bored, hence the mirror selfie.
- Requisite bathroom selfie with my new hair. It's not only blonder, it's shorter! I feel like a sassier, edgier version of my former self. Blonde is like a drug.
- Since we're on the subject, here are the hair products I can't live without: Pantene hairspray, Oscar Blandi dry shampoo, and Phylia de M Connect.
- I had no idea having your hair dyed could be so exhausting. Whittemore makes their own fragrance that they pump through the air vents—cool, right? They sell it in candle form, so I took one home to add to my collection. The other candles pictured a
- The Nars Bleecker Street store is like a little home. I kind of want to hang out there all day.
- When it comes to beauty, I'm a big copycat. I'm always asking the cool girls on the street what they're wearing, which is how I found this amazing matte purple brown lipstick from Nars called Volga. It's a more wearable version of Lorde's goth G
- I'm meeting with my former boss, Dianne Vavra of Dior Beauty. Dianne has amazing style—she was wearing this incredible gold cobweb ring that covered her entire finger and hinged at the knuckle.
- I find beauty inspiration everywhere. Now I need a lipstick shade modeled after this staircase.
- I'm fulfilling editor requests today—I always include a little handwritten note when I send products. I love the toxic smell of Sharpies. If they made a gasoline-scented pen I would use that, too.
- Around lunchtime I popped into my no-frills nail place on Hudson Street for a quick manicure because my cuticles were a fright! I went for a deep purple shade from OPI called Vant to Bite My Neck because—honestly?—the name made me giggle.
- What's in my purse? Not a whole lot—most of my purses are really small. My essentials are Aquaphor, Dior Addict Lip Glow, Nars Velvet Lip Gloss in Mexican Rose, Rohto Cool Eye Drops (a favorite of makeup artist and friend Sh
- My skin is super dry 365 days of the year. I've been known to use face masks as moisturizers. Tonight I'm going through a little TLC skincare routine: Hydropeptide peel, Dior Super Nutrition Oil, Dior L'Or de Vie for Eyes and L
- I've been collecting fragrances for about 12 years now, ever since beginning my career at WWD. I think Gucci Rush is from that time period, even though it was kind of a throwback even then. I love Stella McCartney's fragrances and
- I'm taking a portrait painting class this spring, so I stopped by A.I. Friedman to pick up supplies.
- Wouldn't paint tubes be cool packaging for a beauty product?
- I poo-pooed SoulCycle when it first came out because everyone was talking about it to the point of being annoying. Then I got a few free passes so I went and of course I loved it. It's fast, super intense, and feels more like a fun dance par
- Sephora Union Square is pet friendly and I needed to pick up a few essentials, so I took my French bulldog Binx along.
- I've never been to this Sephora before and it's like a maze of super cool design-y elements like this huge video board. I felt like I was in a makeup-themed nightclub.
- Stayed in and caught up on my February and March fashion mags while painting my nails. I actually usually do my own nails because I feel like changing them so often. I used a bright orange-red from a brand called Julie that I picked up in Rite A
- Super Bowl Sunday! My friend Mandy and I headed over to Brooklyn to hang out with our friend Missy who lives in Cobble Hill. Missy and Mandy both needed pre-game manicures so I left them at the nail place while I did a little shopping on Court Street.
- Shen was an early supporter of Phylia de M and it's one of their bestselling lines. I've never had a chance to check it out and it's just down the street from Missy's apartment. I'm obsessed now!
- At Shen I discovered this super cute English brand called Figs & Rouge. I picked up their hand cream and lip balm. The packaging is kind of vintage-y and happy. Plus, it smells like frosting.
- I was so psyched to see Piggy Soap, Phylia founder Kazu's line of organic soaps, displayed on the checkout counter at Shen. She started the line as a hobby and they became so popular among her friends that she started selling them.
Before founding her own consulting firm, Bryn Kenny worked as an editor at WWD and W Magazine, then served as Public Relations Director at Dior Beauty. The industry expert keeps busy now running public relations and events for brands across the realms of beauty, fashion, and lifestyle—and taking care of her French bulldog, Binx.
In her week of documented beauty, Bryn reveals the best fragrances she's found during her twelve years in the biz (surprisingly, the scent of black Sharpie is also near and dear), discovers a British hand cream that smells like frosting, and goes platinum ("Blonde is like a drug," she admits). Click through for all this and more.
· Bryn Kenny Creative [Official Site]
· @brynkenny [Instagram]
· All Beauty Diary posts [Racked NY]