Keira Knightley's Hair Stylist Dishes with JSG

A few weeks back, we had the chance to meet the totally adorable and ever-so-British Ben Skervin. He’s the genius behind Keira Knightley’s totally covetable hair on the November cover of Glamour. After a glass of champagne, Ben was willing so share his tips on fall to winter styles and dish a little about Keira’s hair. (Sadly we ran out of bubbly before we could get him to open up on her love life.)

According to Ben:
• Fall is a great time to make a change. Get a great haircut and ditch the dry ends.
• For winter, try a rich, dark color. Go three shades darker for a rich look. (JSG note: We’re totally inspired by Keira’s chestnut locks on the Glamour cover.)
• Cold winter air can be damaging. It makes hair brittle and can be hard to style. Use a conditioner. Ben likes Head & Shoulders Smooth & Silky, which is safe for the aforementioned colored hair.
• Wavy hair is a terrific look for this autumn and winter. I love steamrollers, which are gentler than an iron.



As for the dish on Keira—Ben says her hair was in fabulous shape in August thanks to the wigs she wore on The Duchess, Edge of Reason and Atonement. Her real hair was spared daily styling and is in better shape than ever. But you don’t have to tell us the benefits of not washing your hair.

And since, we’re mentioning Glamour, seems like a good time for JSG to brag a little: We’re psyched to be on the Sites We Love Blog roll on the Glamour Girls in the Beauty Department blog. Thanks, ladies! We heart you, too!

For more on Ben, read Beauty in Real Life's 5 Minutes, 5 Questions.

On the Road Again

We're on the road again, this time to Austin, Tx. --live music capital of the world, home to all things organic, and the fabulous Lake Austin Spa. That's the Driskill Hotel where we'll be staying above.

We totally appreciated your suggestions for our trip to Charleston and would love to get some input about Austin. Do you have a fave music venue, restaurant, or boutique? Let us know and like always, we'll give you the low down when we return.

Happy travels!

Fall Travel Deals

Fortunately the stock market seems to have calmed down a bit this week (or not), not that anyone out there will be booking a two week trip to Bali anytime soon. While we don’t usually feature travel bargains (there are just too many to keep up with), we can’t help but notice that plenty of hotels are offering enticements to get you to hit the road these days, including many of our favorites. A few we think that are too good to pass up:

Now through December 20, Playa del Carmen’s chic Hotel Basico (below) and Hotel Deseo are offering a third night free and 50 percent off food and drinks. Both are on the Mexican Riviera, about an hour's drive from Cancun.

Book with an American Express card now through March 31, 2009 to get your third night free at any W Hotel. Use code TNR or TNH.

We can’t seem to log onto Facebook right now without seeing an ad for Iceland. You really can get good deals with the Krona tanking. (We would feel bad for their country if our own weren't overrun by Europeans.) Why would you want to go? JSG’s Annie has been and loved the nightlife, regional cuisine and shopping, but wasn’t a fan of the Blue Lagoon—it wasn’t hot enough for her tastes (admittedly she is a cold water wimp).


Our fave hotel group, the Kimpton, is offering a 20% discount on room rates if you arrive via Amtrak, valid on Friday and Saturday nights through March 31st in Boston, D.C., and NYC. JSG's Hope sees a trip to the Muse in her future!

Visit the Mandarin Oriental Riviera Maya, Mexico and get one night free with a two night stay, now until December 15th, 2008.

Lastly, there's still time to take advantage of the JSG exclusive discount to Escape to Shape Columbia.

DDF Protect and Correct

We have used DDF Protect and Correct Moisturizer with SPF 15 for two weeks as our daytime lotion. It is designed to moisturize, protect your skin from the sun and correct hyper pigmentation problems. It was an effective moisturizer, not too heavy; it contains SPF 15 to protect from UVA and UVB rays which is sufficient for us in the fall, but wouldn't have been high enough in the summer; and regarding the lightening effects, there was not a significant difference with our sun damage (mostly freckles). Other notable characteristics of the lotion are its smell, it definitely has a sunscreen smell to it which lingers for a while after application. We expect that from our products that have over an SPF 30 because we figure the manufacturers are using something strong to protect your skin; but we have plenty of products from powders to tinted moisturizer to lipstick with SPF 15 that don't have an odor. Also, the product goes on with a shine which looks slightly greasy. This doesn't affect us, because we layer on other products that nullify the shine; but expect the effect if you're one that wears less makeup. Will we continue to use it? Yes, it is a quality product and curiosity as to the lightening and correcting claims makes us want to use it longer in hopes that it we'll see improvement. The cost is $58 for 1.7 oz. The price is high; but you can carry it on the airplane!

Sexy Winter Coats

On our recent trip to Vermont we encountered our first chilly weather of the season, a sharp realization that winter is around the corner. And we can’t remember how many years it has been since we bought a new coat.

In fact, just the other day, we were bemoaning the fact that we let a gorgeous Rebecca Taylor funnel neck coat on sale slip through our fingers at the end of last winter. At the time we were being financially responsible (hey-it happens every once in a while!). While our Amex bill breathed a sigh of relief, winter’s almost here and we're still dreaming of a new coat.

Enter Lia Lintern. Her designs are simply stunning—enough to make us ask, Rebecca who?
Each has goregeous details like embroidery, bell sleeves, cording and belts.
The coats are made of cashmere and cashmere-wool blends and are silk-lined. There’s more: Each is tailored to fit your body and takes into account your arm length and bust, waist and hip measurements.

The price tag isn’t cheap—the coats start at $565—but for what you get in style and quality, that is a serious bargain (these coats could easily go for twice that). Plus, you’ll save on tailoring costs. Trust us, we know coats!

We also love the story behind the line. Designer Julia Lintern is a former structural aerospace engineer who worked for Delta and Jet Blue fixing damaged airplanes. Something tells us these coats are as functional as they are stylish! We can't wait for the first snowfall!