Haircolor Trendwatch 2010: Pop Art Blonde!

Let's be realistic, in the world of blonde hair; yellow is anathema. We spend our hard earned cash to ensure our blonde stays pale and pure. We tone away brassiness, maintain the fight on lemon and use neutralizing violet shampoos and conditioners like they're going out of style BUT.....should we? Maybe we should embrace this oh so disrespected sunny hue and go atomic! It's quite the unexpected choice. It looks punk rock extreme and yet gives off an aura of Technicolor glamour. In the 30s, 40's and 50's, movie studios often had their black & white promotional photographs hand colored, which gave blonde actresses bright yellow tresses. It can also be seen in cartoons, in the pages of comic books, pin-up art, and in the work of pop artists like Roy Lichtenstein. Give up the fight and go glow!

Jean Harlow colorized publicity still

Blondie comics

Peter Driben pin up art

Barbie doll

Roy Lichtenstein art

Debbie Harry

She-Ra catoon

Cyndi Lauper

Miss Guy

Amanda Lepore

Vitamin C

Sailormoon

 Gwen Stefani

Lady GaGa

Bright As F@#$ Yellow hair dye by Special Effects

As someone who was a teenager in the 90's, I definitely dabbled in the world of extreme hair color. This is by far and away the BEST funky color hair dye on the market! It's a conditioning, semi-permanent cream formula that stays brighter and lasts longer than any other out there. Apply it to dry, freshly shampooed, UN-conditioned bleached hair and leave on at least an hour, longer if possible. The color will last 2-6 weeks (depending on hair type), gradually washing out with each shampoo. Oh, did I mention this color glows under black light?!

Buy it at Vegan Essentials

Darling Delight: Champagne Kiss Cookies recipe inspired by the Blonde Bombshell!

For the Champagne Kiss cookie recipe scroll down or click here!

Bombshell

  -noun 

1. An explosive bomb.
   
2. One that is sensationally shocking, surprising, or amazing.
   
3. One who is very attractive.
   

 This slang term has become synonymous with beauty, glamour and sex! Originally popularized by it's use to describe Jean Harlow (who starred in the 1933 film Bombshell), it's now commonly used to describe any voluptuous, female sex symbol. It's especially linked to blondes. The image of a "Blonde Bombshell"; roller-set hair, luscious red lipstick and artfully applied liquid liner, is inexplicably linked to Marilyn Monroe, whose timeless beauty inspired decades of glaMOUR!

Jean Harlow

 Lana Turner

Marilyn Monroe

Mamie Van Doren

Jayne Mansfield

Diana Dors

 

Candy Darling

Madonna
 

 
Amanda Lepore

Eva Herzigova

Drew Barrymore

Nadja Auermann

Anna Nicole Smith

Gwen Stefani

Christina Aguilera 

Scarlet Johanssen 

Lady GaGa


 I created this recipe as a birthday gift for one of my favorite blonde bombshells, my friend; the lovely Amanda Lepore! Her trademark succulent red lips, predilection for champagne and unapologetic glamour are legendary! Here is my latest Delight, inspired by the bombshell in us all:

Champagne Kiss Cookies

Bombshell blonde sugar cookie with starlet red champagne icing

Lip Smackin' Good!

Ingredients 

* 3 cups all-purpose flour

* 1 teaspoon baking powder

* 1 teaspoon salt

* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

* 1 cup sugar

* 1 egg, at room temperature

* 1 tablespoon Half & Half, at room tempurature

* 1 teaspoon Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure vanilla extract

 Icing

* 4 cups (1 box) confectioners sugar, sifted

* 3 tablespoons meringue powder

* 1/2 teaspoon Lorann Champagne Flavor

* 1/2 teaspoon Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure vanilla extract

* 1 tablespoon red food color

* 6 tablespoons warm water

Directions

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg, half & half, and vanilla and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with flour. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with flour, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on a non-stick baking sheet and bake for 7 to 8 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack.

For the icing, beat all ingredients until peaks form (7-10) minutes at low speed with an electric mixer fitted with a whip attachment. To thin icing for dipping/pouring, add 1 tablespoon water per cup of icing and stir slowly. Add 1/2 teaspoon water at a time until you reach the desired consistency. Decorate as desired.

Makes 24 cookies.

photos by Veronica iBarra

Brought to you in association with La Bella Memoria