SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t seen Episode 6 of Project Runway, Season 4, you might want to stop reading now.

Gentle readers, Bostonista once again found herself coming home late Wednesday night from a tough week at the magazine, but the promise of taffeta and organza made us wake up, reapply the mascara, and pay attention. (more…)

Long before SoWa was even a twinkle in local artists’ eyes, Jade Moran was creating intricate wedding rings, necklaces, and the occasional tiara in her Somerville studio. After graduating from NYU and working for a few New York jewelers, she moved here and opened her workshop a decade ago.

The 35-year-old jewelry designer’s technique is rather, um, orthodontic—and we mean that in the best possible way. (more…)

Psychoanalyst and Harvard med school prof Jean Fain claims that self-hypnosis can help over-eaters lose weight by changing their attitudes toward food through directed trances. Her new CD, Mindful Eating Mini Trances, includes an intro and five five-minute hypnosis sessions.

The Masochist weighs in, after the jump. (more…)

In case you haven’t noticed, it’s nearly 70 degrees out and, according to our typically (in)accurate weatherpeople, the rest of the week calls for more mild temps. This, readers, is the perfect time to practice your 2008 resolutions. You know, the ones about exercising and getting to know your city better.

Take a tip from Bostonista and start by downloading a Boston Audissey tour. Not to be confused with that other Homeric voyager, the local company makes audio walking guides for iPods and MP3 players. Now, we know what you’re thinking (audio tour = snoozefest, right?), but you’re wrong.

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Every other winter, my lips get seriously chapped. This time around, my dermatologist blamed it on my dry apartment, and sent me home with some free samples of Aquaphor. My naturopath had me detox my liver, which I promptly undid over the holidays. My mom made me gallons of escarole soup, normally a Giacobbe family cure-all. Nothing. Flaky, stiff, painful, embarrassing.

And then I found this gel lip balm from Malin + Goetz. (more…)

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t seen episode 5 of Project Runway, Season 4, you might want to stop reading now.

After we waited as calmly as possible for three LONG weeks since the last episode, offsetting P.R. hunger by repeatedly watching the promo for this week’s fun-filled field trip to the Hershey’s store in Times Square, it was finally showtime! And sticking with the candy theme, red was the episode’s signature color from start to finish, opening with all female contestants smacking bright crimson lips (did they share a stick?) and ending with Heidi clad in a bright scarlet dress at the runway show.

When Tim, an almost unhumanly bright flower in the wee hours of the morning, woke the bleary-eyed contestants (all of whom could stand to redesign their sleepwear, hello!), it was sheer delight to behold. And equally delicious, the well-mannered woman, who turned out to be the excited face of Hershey’s, then served up a heaping spoonful of look-I’m-on-TV! entertainment—a sentiment seldom provided by reality television these days. (more…)

Hanging in my closet at this moment are a few too many items that I have worn once and resented for years, pieces of clothing that I bought in a moment of need or fashion lust, then quickly spurned. A few years ago, for example, I purchased a black, 3/4 length brushed cotton Burberry raincoat before a trip to Turkey.

I believed the coat held great promise: it would travel well and never go out of fashion, but as soon as I returned from the vacation, I developed an irrational hatred toward it. It was too boxy, too boring, too unflattering and all together too ubiquitous around Rockefeller Center, where I then worked. (more…)

Shoving off the comforter at 6:30 a.m. required more willpower than, um, not perusing UsWeekly at the airport yesterday (New Year’s resolution!).

After braving the subzero windchill this morning, Bostonista was still pining for bed…and St. Barts. We settled for browsing Mystic Valley Traders’ web site. The Woburn-based company has designed high-end bedding since 1984, but new ownership recently revved things up. We’re loving the new Turtle Bay collection’s tropically lush designs.

Bonus: The line uses chemical-free dyes and natural fibers, and is entirely custom-made. (more…)

A hydrating mask called Mug Shot, from favorite men’s skincare line Nickel, claims to be right for “After a long journey, when you are tired, stressed or, simply have had too much of a good thing.”

Cube neighbor/fellow fashion masochist Jason Feifer and Bostonista fit into most of these categories, thanks to a combo of holiday traveling and a fabulous New Year’s Eve throwdown, so we slathered our faces in the cool, blueish cream. We then proceeded to scare mail room dude Pete as he dropped off our paychecks and alarm our boss on our way to the bathroom. Sorry Pete and James! We were working! (more…)