It’s off to Venice!

I went to the Venice Film Festival to work with Marisa Tomei for the premiere of her movie ‘The Ides of March,’ starring George Clooney and Ryan Gosling (also directed by George Clooney). Marisa looked spectacular as always and burned up the red carpets all over the festival! The film is fantastic, a real political thriller and what a cast! A must-see in my book.

While I was in town, my friend Barbara Grotto of GAS Jeans invited me to the GAS store and gifted me three amazing pairs of their killer jeans.

I don’t know what the hell I’ve been doing not wearing them for the last three years. You can’t buy them in America, but you can get them online so there’s no excuse for any of us not to be wearing them. The material is fantastic and the fit is divine.

While I was in town, I also cut club impresario Amy Sacco’s hair and went to her absolutely brilliant Bungalow 8 pop-up club in the Philippe Starck-designed hotel Palazzina Grassi.

The only thing that made leaving Venice before the end of the festival less sad was knowing that I was going to meet up with my good pal Natalie Imbruglia to style her in Monaco for the launch of Montblanc’s Princess Grace collection of jewelry, watches and writing instruments.

To match the elegance of both Princess Grace and the event, I used two different curling irons on Natalie’s hair for a soft Hollywood wave. I worked a tiny bit of my Top Coat Serum through her hair before styling to smooth the ends, and the silky waves looked perfect with her gorgeous white Alberta Ferretti dress.

Hopping another plane in 3, 2, 1…

After a quick clothing change in London, it was time for the Toronto Film Festival and the premiere of ‘Anonymous’ starring Rhys Ifans and Joely Richardson. I styled Joely’s hair for both the red carpet (a chic ballerina bun with a braided accent) and a panel (loose, flowing locks). Let’s just talk about this movie for a second. It’s about whether or not Shakespeare actually wrote his own material and it’s very intense. If you miss a second, say, because of jet lag, for example, you could miss the whole plot. Can you guess what happened to me? Yeah. But I am an honest person and fessed up and luckily was able to see the film again as I am working on the press tour! Directed by the super talented Roland Emmerich, Rhys and Joely and all of the actors give incredible performances. I loved losing myself in that Elizabethan London world. It opens in late October so don’t miss it!

Next stop, back to the UK for London Fashion Week, where I styled and sat in the front row with Rosario Dawson (and right next to Bianca Jagger) so I could get the best possible view at Julien Macdonald’s show.

Then, you guessed it, another trip. This time to NYC to speak at the WIE Symposium.

But before I jet to NY, two more things to do. First, I got Rosario ready for the Roberto Cavalli store launch party.  

Rosario looked exquisite wearing a purple Cavalli. The dress was strapless so I kept her hair down and let it fall over her shoulders in soft, flowing waves. No accessories necessary!

Next, I went to the Bungalow 8 Beauty Bar pop-up boutique at my friend Amy Sacco’s hotspot club Bungalow 8 in the St. Martin’s Lane Hotel. I gave tips and styled some top fashion and beauty editors who came in for some primping and pampering in the midst of the London Fashion Week madness. I gifted them som of my Tara Smith shampoos and conditioners and also gave them some of my Top Coat Glosser, my number one pick to add shine and freshen up your hair when you are on the go.

Speaking of on the go – oh hello there, Big Apple!

WIE stands for Women’s Inspiration and Enterprise and is a gathering of creative women all working together to empower women and inspire social change. It’s run by my friends June Sarpong and Dee Poku, and I am so impressed with the great work they did. I attended the symposium last year, which was terrific, but this year I am proud to have been on a panel discussing the business of beauty, something I know a little bit about. Look - someone even wrote a story about me!

Arianna Huffington and Donna Karan spoke at this year’s symposium as well as my fellow panelists makeup artist Sonia Kashuk, Mikki Taylor, Editor at Large of Essence magazine, Ruma Bose, the President of Sprayology and Jennifer Yen, the founder of Purlisse. My friend Tiffany Persons of Shine On Sierra Leone spoke on a panel about new solutions for Africa at the event as well. I am also involved with Shine On Sierra Leone and, as the UK’s good will ambassador, I will go out there at the end of November. You all will hear about it, don’t worry.

After the symposium, June and I went to an event for Row 6 (she is the founder and CEO), an organization and website that demonstrates how we are all interconnected. It collects and shares stories from people all over the world. It was really inspiring. You must check it out.

London calling – again.

I went to the Raisa Gorbachev Foundation’s gala at Hampton Court with the event’s host Evgeny Lebedev of The Evening Standard, Rosario Dawson (whose hair and makeup I did) and Elizabeth Saltzman of Vanity Fair, who was kind enough loan dresses to both Rosario and me. Rosario’s Alessandra Rich pure white dress was so stunning that I left her hair loose and gave her a no-makeup makeup look with good red lips and about 15 individual eyelashes on each eye.

Finally, this whirlwind ended (temporarily) when I was I was also invited to attend the Pure Beauty Awards with Jigsaw ESL at the Savoy. It was my first time back after winning the Best Organic Launch award in 2009 and it was so great to be able to relax and enjoy the company of my talented peers.

Can’t wait to share with you what comes next.

Xx

Tara