Beauty & the Beats
Who: Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony
What: En Concierto
When: Monday, October 8th 2007
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York City
Looking at Jennifer Lopez (pregnancy rumors true or not) during her and Marc Anthony‘s en concierto, all I can say is, I wish I look that good pregnant…while performing on stage…and dancing. With a full face of flawless makeup—smoky eyes, lashes, and bronzy skin, (the typical J.Lo look, as I like to call it), I also wondered to myself how she manages to not have her hair go flat with all that’s going on. Somehow her hair manages to keep a bouncy, bed-heady fullness with no strands out of place. It wasn’t until the very end that she (or her hairstylist) decided to put it up in a loose-twist for the last couple of sets. While her hair and makeup was flawless, too bad the outfits weren’t. And we’re really not sure what’s going on there (see our slideshow for more on J.Lo’s concert style). Perhaps it’s the hormones? Either way, one thing we can safely say about J.Lo is this: while her her vocals always leave you wanting something that is mas fuerte, her performance, like her take on beauty, never disappoints. -Samantha Vlado
Who: Usher (pictured with Beyonce)
What: Fragrance Launch Party
When: September 26, 2007
Where: Cipriani’s on 5th and 23rd street, New York City
When an invite says Cipriani’s, you automatically think elegance with a celebrity rent-a-room twist. So, though the invite never said Usher himself would be making a cameo, I knew for sure he would. After passing the “red” carpet and piling into the small “theatre” room, I realized that there was a mix of a-listers (Martha Stewart touched my shoulder), and it made me think that Mr. Usher would be giving us a of performance. Once I made it to the theatre, I was kind of right. Yes, there was a stage with interpretive dancers but when he finally did come out, the only notes he sang about were the top and bottom notes of his fragrance and its sexy scent appeal. I honestly don’t remember what he said, since I was busy attempting to actually see him. Good thing I reviewed the fragrance in the October issue of Latina. Then, like that! He was gone, but not far. Before you know it, Beyonce, sporting her new brunette do, is in a corner and paparazzos are snapping away pictures of them. I was able to casually get close enough to see how beautiful she really is in person, and quite petite I must add too. On my way out, I did see Jermaine Dupri and Nelly, which was a nice way to end this star-filled night. -Samantha Vlado
Who: P.Diddy (pictured with John Dempsey of Estee Lauder)
What: Unforgivable for Women Fragrance “Party”
When: September 19th 2007
Where: Private townhouse
After a long day at la oficina, the 10 p.m. call time for P.Diddy’s fragrance launch party was really daunting enough for me to not even bother to change from my jammy’s back into something more appropriate. But, enough familia and friends screamed at me to get up and go simply because they all told a vecina that I was about to hang tough with P.Diddy. A slight overexaggeration, but oh well. Still, I had no idea. Was this going to be a nice, formal and intimate editor preview like I was used to? Or, a whole other gathering? When my cab pulled up to a townhouse surrounded by Escalades, photographers, and CIA-worthy security, it was enough to realize I was in for a champagne and caviar dream-filled night. I passed the pressroom, was handed a glass of champagne by a drop-dead gorgeous, half-dressed amazonian model, and proceeded to head upstairs to the venue. There were plenty of familiar faces: Rocsi from BET, and even, Eartha Kitt! They are not people I know personally, but rather, those I watch on T.V. To kill time, I go to the bathroom. At this moment, I hear another familiar voice, say “top of the world kid!” and what feels like a year before I realize who it was (it was really like 1.5 seconds) I see Jay-Z’s arm around P.Diddy and the two of them heading up the stairs toward me. At this point, I watch, star-struck as they proceed up another set of stairs to a V.I.P area, which I don’t have access to. Clearly, my cue to end the night, and I head back home. But, right before I left, I actually did make it past a football player-sized gentleman and into the bathroom where there stood the real star of the night: a bottle of Unforgivable on top of the sink all by itself. It made me sad to see the true star of the party nearly got flushed down the toilet. Samantha Vlado
