This week we are talking hair and nails. If you follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, you've noticed over the recent months that I've been having fun experimenting with braided hairstyles. I've always loved braids (it's the Madame Bohemienne in me!) so I was excited when Ulysses press recently sent me the new book by Abby Smith, The New Braiding Handbook.


Abby Smith is a fellow YouTuber with a wonderful channel called Twist Me Pretty. This book is a valuable resource because while I usually just wing it and create a hit or miss hairstyle, The New Braiding Handbook gives you great step-by-step instruction on creating new and classic braided hairstyles.

A while back on Facebook a reader commented that she liked the braided updo but felt she might be too old to wear braids. I don't think anyone is too old. If you pick the right age-appropriate look, your braided updo can look very elegant. This braided chignon, from the Duchess of Cambridge is a perfect example:



In this week's video I start off in pigtails (which is an age-inappropriate look for me!) but it's for a good reason... I give you a classic milkmaid braid updo tutorial half way through the video.



The milkmaid braid might feel too costume-y for you but I think you should give it a try. You might surprise yourself with how chic you look and I think it makes a great (easy) formal updo as well. There's something very regal about it even though it is meant for the look of a milkmaid.

Here are some of the braided looks I've shared on Instagram over the past few months. Which one is your favorite?



And now let's talk about nails. I've been experimenting with various colors this spring, some of which are out of my comfort zone. I've found some beautiful ones! But I also realize that the neutrals and classics are still my favorite. These two in particular, Dior's Incognito and Rouge, are particularly divine.



Check out this week's video for the milkmaid braid tutorial and an even more in depth discussion of these topics. If you are unable to see the video above, click here, look in the sidebar of this blog, or visit my channel: www.youtube.com/TheDailyConnoisseur

WomenHeart
Last Monday I had the honor of speaking at the West Los Angeles support group for Women Heart: The National Coalition for women with Heart Disease. My talk focused on living a fulfilling life even during life's struggles. I was so moved and inspired by the stories and the bravery of the women in this group. Thank you to Alisa Becket and Amanda Daniels for inviting me to speak. For more information on Women Heart visit www.womenheart.org

Pictured with Amanda Daniels (left) and Alisa Becket (right)

Madame Chic Inspiring Thought

Sometimes, for special events, it "takes a village" to get ready and presentable. We trust our hair, makeup, styling and nails to the professionals. But on a daily basis, empower yourself to be your own beauty team. Don't be afraid to try out new hairdos. Practice wearing them at home if you feel unsure about going out in public with them. You don't need to spend a lot of money at the salon each week to achieve a polished look. Try giving yourself a manicure at home this week. Start with the neutral colors so the mistakes aren't as visible. Have fun with cultivating your own style and beauty routine. #lookpresentablealways

This week I would love to know... what are your thoughts on braided hairstyles? Would you ever wear one? What about nails? Do you like classic shades or do you prefer edgy colors? Do you do your manicures at home? Or do you have them professionally done?

Music in this week's video: Etente Cordiale
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Going into the weekend I have several things to share with you... so here we go!

Neuma Blow Dry Lotion

Always on the lookout to achieve the perfect at home blow dry for my hair, I recently tried out Neuma Blow Dry Lotion, which is a sustainable heat protectant and styling cream. It adds hold and manageability to your hair, reduces frizz and makes great use of plant extracts and essential oils.

Neuma sent me this blow dry lotion to try out and I've used it several times over the last few months. I really like the smoothness this high quality cream gives my hair. It really does make a great companion to accomplishing a professional-looking at home blow out. I'm happy to add this to my list of favorite blow dry creams and serums which also include: Fekkai Ironless Straightening Balm, Kérastase Nectar Thermique, and CHI Silk Infusion.

What makes Neuma Blow Dry Lotion so different from my other blow out creams is that Neuma use only renewable, beneficial plant-based ingredients.

It contains (info from their website): ZERO synthetic fragrance, sulfates, sodium chloride, parabens, 1,4-dioxane, phthalates, glutens, neurotoxins, aluminum compounds, glycols, formaldehyde donors, ureas, carcinogens, environmental pollutants

More earth-friendly aspects of the Blow Out Cream include:
• Renewable, beneficial, plant-based, colour safe ingredients
• Certified Organic Extracts
• 85% post consumer recycled bottles
• 100% certified wind power
• 100% recycled fiber containers
• Vegan
• PETA approved
• No animal testing

Here are some of the blow dry lotion's key ingredients:

• Neuma’s Signature Phyto UV Shield™: A proprietary blend of certified organic plant extracts that enhance hue, reflectivity and vibrancy of color
• Sunflower Seed Oil: Provides UV protection while adding shine, as well as shields hair from heat damage
• Sage Extract: Soothes scalp and conditions hair
• Rose Hips Fruit Extract: Aids in making hair softer and more manageable
• Apricot Kern Oil: Conditions and helps to smooth the hair cuticle, controlling flyaways and frizz, while adding shine

As I start to become more conscious about the types of beauty products I use I am more drawn toward natural brands like this one... If you give it a try I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Neuma Blow Dry Lotion sells for $24 and is available at select salons and beauty stores nationwide. For more information, please check out www.neumabeauty.com

Pinca Pendants


I hear from so many readers of the Daily Connoisseur who are artists and entrepreneurs. I applaud this greatly and especially love to hear about women entrepreneurs. Recently Daily Connoisseur reader Marie Thérèse of Pinca Pendants sent me one of her hand crafted necklaces. I thought it was so lovely I just had to share.

For more information on Pinca Pendants, check out their facebook page and Etsy store.

Red Cross Relief

Hurricane Sandy left so much devastation in its wake. My heart goes out to all of the families affected. A very easy way to donate to the emergency disaster relief is to text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10. This may not seem like a lot but if we all chip in, our contribution can really make a difference. The deduction is taken from your cell phone bill. For more information, or to donate another amount, visit www.redcross.org


Book News

I have two more exciting Lessons from Madame Chic giveaways to share with you. The first is with CobbleStay (a wonderful service that helps you reserve luxury apartments in Paris). Read my interview with CobbleStay to see everything from my thoughts on raising daughters to my favorite Paris pastry.

The next giveaway to share is on The Glamorous Housewife blog. Thank you to Bethany for your lovely review of the book.

I hope you all have a great weekend... see you on Tuesday for the book launch!

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I listen to it while making breakfast in the morning, and while cleaning the kitchen at night...

I listen to it when I drive...

I listen to it when I write...

And it's on in the background when I read...

Classical music is such an integral part of my day. It's my favorite genre of music. I grew up listening to it in my parents' home and it has remained with me ever since.

Classical KUSC is such an amazing resource. It is a listener supported classical music station— one of the last of its kind.

They are 91.5 fm for those of us in Los Angeles. Or you can listen to them anytime, from anywhere in the world, on their website: www.kusc.org

I am told that they are on iHeart radio as well (Thank you reader Janu Tornell for this information!)

You can listen to KUSC anytime for free, but if you feel as passionate about keeping classical music on the radio as much as I do, please consider donating to them and becoming a member. No donation is too small!

Watch my embedded video to learn more about Classical KUSC, their special broadcasts, and their lovely newsletters. If you are unable to watch the embedded video, click here, look in the sidebar of this blog, or visit my channel: www.youtube.com/TheDailyConnoisseur.

To learn more, visit www.kusc.org, or click here.

To donate to Classical KUSC click here.

P.S. My favorite composer is Chopin... who is yours?


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Dear Readers,

I have a very exciting charity announcement... If you love tennis and will be in the Los Angeles Area on November 14th, please check out the amazing charity event called: Ojakian Tennis Celebrity Pro-Am to End MS. This event will take place at the Jack Kramer Club and is geared at raising money for people affected by Multiple Sclerosis.

Ojakian Tennis will host celebrities, professional tennis players and tennis enthusiasts from around the country. This exciting event begins with junior and adult tennis clinics, followed by the official Celebrity Pro-Am tournament. The day wraps with a fantastic cocktail party, silent and live auctions, and an awards ceremony.

For tickets, please visit www.ojakiantennis.com.

~

**Technical Issues Update** The technical issues on The Daily Connoisseur seem to have been sorted out. Google Friend Connect was down for a period of over 24 hours and this seems to be the culprit. Thank you!

For those of you that are not a regular on Blogger, I have recently added a new feature whereby you can subscribe via email and receive new posts from The Daily Connoisseur in your email inbox. Simply enter your email address in the space provided (see top right) and then confirm your subscription by checking your email and clicking on the provided link.

**Book Update**

I have finished the second draft of my mystery novel today **celebrations!!** And will commence with the third draft, final changes and finishing touches tomorrow.

And finally, thank you so much for joining me on this journey. I so greatly appreciate your reading, following, commenting and subscribing on The Daily Connoisseur... you keep me inspired.

Bisous,

Jennifer xx

Weren't we just talking about the merits of a minimalistic wardrobe? You can imagine my delight when I came across a video about The Uniform Project this morning on cnn.com. The Uniform Project is pledge by Sheena Matheiken to wear the same dress for one entire year. Yes, 365 days. She is doing this to raise awareness and funds for the Akanksha Foundation- which benefits the education of underprivileged children in India.

Here are the particulars. Matheiken has seven identical dresses (designed by sustainable fashion designer Eliza Starbuck) that she wears each day of the week. The only thing she changes are her accessories. She has (wisely) chosen a little black dress to be the only thing she will wear for three hundred and sixty five days as (we all know) the LBD can take you anywhere (although I doubt she'll be attending the opera any time soon).

What a marvelous experiment for a worthy cause. I truly applaud this young woman's innovative efforts to raise awareness for a cause dear to her heart. I bet her closet is the most minimal of them all... seven little black dresses... I love it!

For more information on The Uniform Project, or to make a donation, please click here.

To view the video, please click here.

Last night R and I attended the opening of Warhol Wild at Hamilton Selway Fine Art in West Hollywood. Warhol Wild is a collection of unique animal screen prints, drawings and collages by my favorite pop artist, Andy Warhol. The opening reception was hosted by Hollywood screen legend, Tippi Hedren (of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds) for the benefit of The Roar Foundation for the Shambala Preserve.

The Shambala Preserve is Ms. Hedren’s passion. A home for over 70 stray lions, tigers, cougars, leopards and other big cats, the Shambala Preserve provides a safe environment for these forgotten animals. Shambala’s non-profit, The Roar Foundation, provides education to the public about the dangers of private ownership of exotic animals.

The benefit was a smashing success. Money and awareness were raised for Ms. Hedren's foundation. And Andy Warhol’s spectacular screen prints of various animals (zebras, frogs, orangutan, tigers and more) were vibrating with life and color and were admired by all who attended.

Meeting Tippi Hedren (pictured above with R and me) was especially special for me as I am an avid Hitchcock fan and count many of his films among my all time favorites. Ms. Hedren is an absolute delight- as sophisticated as I imagined and completely passionate about her shelter for wild cats. We had a particularly interesting conversation about the importance of adopting animals. (B and I adopted Gatsby three years ago and have been delighted by his presence ever since).

For me it has been a fascinating week. Two Hollywood Legends (see The Daily Connoisseur meets Carol Channing), two great charities and a fabulous evening of art and friends…

The Warhol Wild exhibit will run through October 2nd, 2009. A portion of all proceeds to that date will benefit the Shambala Preserve.

For more information on Hamilton Selway Fine Art and the Warhol Wild collection, please visit: www.hamiltonselway.com

For more information on The Shambala Preserve, please visit: www.shambala.org

Last night R and I attended a special performance by Carol Channing- the legendary Tony Award winning actress. The benefit highlighted a number of causes- raising money for a roof for the Alta Dena Church- a church dear to Carol's heart- and bringing awareness to keeping the arts in the schools- Miss Channing's own personal mission.

The evening was fabulous. She debuted three songs from her new CD entitled For Heaven's Sake, as well as sang the songs she became famous for, including: Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend (my favorite) and Hello Dolly!.

Meeting Carol Channing and experiencing her performance from the front row was such a special experience. She comes from that era of glamor, taste and politesse and even though she is in her late eighties, she still has that twinkle in her eye and that enigmatic smile that made her famous. I am grateful to have met her and her husband Harry, and fully support their plight to keep the arts in schools.

For more on information on Carol's Foundation for the arts, please visit: www.channingarts.org