At the TMG and Smile Direct Club 16th annual pre-Oscar lounge, celebrities, media and influencers joined in the pre-Oscar beauty treatments such as Smile Direct Club’s Teeth Whitening Lounge, ab-toning and cellulite-reduction treatments by Emsculpt and Emtone, make-up consultations and beauty makeovers by Senegence International, red-carpet express facials by Celebrity Spa Oskin Med Spa, lash extensions and brow services by celebrity make-up artist Shareen Adair of Icandy Salon, massages by celebrity masseuse Cinthia Dahl, blow=outs and styling by Aquage Haircare and manicures by OPI and My Beauty Spot. Above, from top: Anne Winters (13 Reasons Why) gets her smile ready. Drew Seeley and Amy Paffrath enjoy a family outing with daughter Ember Seeley.
Before we get started on our annual post-Oscar pre-show wrap-up, we wanted to extend our congratulations to Taika David Waititi, the first Māori to win an Oscar for best adapted screenplay on a history-making night that also included the multi-Oscar-winning South Korean film Parasite crowned best picture.
Not everybody will agree on whether the line-up of nominees or winners reflected what made 2019 one of the best years in recent movie history—especially when it comes to gender or diversity. However, one thing we all share is necessity of presenting our most winning selves, regardless of who’s voting and what’s being voted on. The sentiment seemed to prevail at a few of the pre-show extravaganzas leading up to the red carpet.
The TMG Pre-Oscar Luxury Suite certainly had that idea down, with their annual chill fest at the Beverly Hilton. It was built around achieving that winning smile with their lead sponsor, the Smile Direct Club. Every guest was treated to that “glow from within” right off the bat, via the opportunity to try out their revolutionary teeth whitening kit, and get sent home with their own compact cosmetic dentistry office. The goods needed to stay bright for a full six months included a whitening device and solution small enough to fit into one’s computer bag or purse, along with a daily whitening toothpaste and sleek electric toothbrush. The whitening device plugs into a smartphone and should be used about 10 minutes twice a day for a week.
At the TMG and Smile Direct Club 16th annual pre-Oscar lounge: Carly Hughes (ABC’s American Housewife) after her teeth-whitening treatment. Sheryl Lee Ralph (Showtime’s Ray Donovan). Peyton Elizabeth Lee (Disney’s Andi Mack) in the Senegence Beauty Lounge. UFC and Celebrity Big Brother’s Chuck Liddell experiences the Emsculpt ab-toning treatment. Vincent Rodriguez (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend on CW, Insatiable on Netflix). Dania Ramirez gets brow and lash services from Shareen Adair of Icandy Salon. Fivel Stewart (Atypical on Netflix). Actor Craig DiFrancia (Greenbook, The Irishman) with Aquage Haircare. Lauren Tom gets an Aquage treatment. Grey’s Anatomy’s James Pickens with Olivia Quido-Co shows off his glowing red carpet facial from Oskin Med Spa. Edy Ganem.
Christine King and Ruben Diaz also picked the perfect cosmetics line, SeneGence, to keep up the smiles with what may be one of the best “kiss-proof” lip colour we’ve tried. There was a process involved with putting it on, demoed by skilled make-up artists on the spot. By following the instructions, one gets all-day colour maintained with a moisturizing top coat–gloss. While the line is not yet a household name, it delivers the goods we want in long-wearing make-up—something that performs at the office or on the red carpet with the wearer leaving the mark instead of the lipstick. This makes us all the more eager to try out the rest of our starter kits, including a neck-lift moisturizer and mascara, and purchase a few more shades of lip colour and eyeliner.
Getting a little more skin deep, we also indulged in collagen facials from the Olivia Quido skin care collection that administered the beneficial creams and serums with a delicious cold press method that brings real refreshment into professional facials.
Like best supporting actor winner Brad Pitt, old favourites were a welcoming presence and hardly showed their age, thanks to new colours, packaging and performance. With an assist from a local manicure salon, OPI nail care took us to México City while moisturizing hair care line Aquage offered new dos and products in festive updated packaging to get that blow-dry bar look every day.
Across town, dynamic event duo Matt and Mark Harris were back on the built-in red carpet lining the halls of (the aptly selected) W Hollywood Hotel for their WOW Oscar Suite. This go-round, the event once again offered some interesting new K- and J-Beauty products (including the posh-but-affordable Vitabrid line, quality wines from the American west coast and Bordeaux, plant-based snacks from Nirvana Bars and some flashy athletic wear from Florida-based Mperial. Donna Leah Designs provided requisite glamour with sequinned accessories reflecting her contemporary eveningwear collection.
That said, the majority of guest vendors were in the business of making the lives of busy people stress-free and more convenient. Instead of finding reps from a luxury hotel or island retreat on hand, Carefree Boat Club promoted their unique offering of yacht and sport boat rentals for executive DIY vacations and functions. Christine Pacheco, founder of Concierge RN noted she was in the process of providing house (and office) calls for post-operative services and other health concerns, while Spring Rayne explained to prospective clients how as she could help them instil healthier sleeping and eating habits as a ‘health coach intuitive’, with an approach mixing her experience as a professional chef, reiki master and herbalist.
As many celebrities and their assistants can always improve organization, Hilton Society (not a Paris Hilton fan club, but a provider of financial advice and budgeting) explained their expertise, while Tix Lover showed them how their company could help them source tickets to the hottest sports events, concerts and theatre productions. With home and office entertaining being an essential part of doing business, Cask Cartel provided a nifty sampler as well as information on their online retail endeavour, which they described as a sort of Amazon for high-end wine and spirits.
The next generation of entrepreneurs was represented by 15 year-old James Cruickshank, founder of TreetingCards.com. With a bit of a writing assist from younger brother, Jack, the concept combines clever greeting cards with attached mini-boxes of candy to convey a very sweet sentiment as well as fundraising for his SOS (Save Our Sharks) initiative to protect the ocean animals from environmental perils of the day.
Earlier in the week, French brand La Roche-Posay was thinking beyond the Oscars and into “rest of your life” territory with the rollout of its Anti-Aging Serum line. The new power trio of retinol B3 pure retinol serum, 10 per cent pure vitamin C serum and hyalu B5 serum, available separately or as a set, can be used in a variety of combinations based on the user’s unique skin care needs. Teamed with the Anthelios SFP 100 sunscreen, any user can mitigate past sun exposure sins while preventing new ones.—Elyse Glickman, US West Coast Editor
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