Everyone knows Iman for her success as an international supermodel and cosmetics company founder. The inspiration for Yves Saint Laurent’s “Africa Queen” collection, for fourteen years the singularly named beauty graced the runways of the world’s most renowned fashion designers. Before Tyra, Heidi Klum and the other model moguls we know today, Iman was one of the first to capitalize on her modeling background with an entry into business via Iman Cosmetics.

Launched in 1994, the company focuses on products designed for women of color. In addition to her cosmetics line, Iman has also added accessories designer and TV host to her resume via stints at HSN (Home Shopping Network) and Project Runway Canada respectively. Today Iman is broadening her reach even further collaborating with Design Consultant, Carlos Mota on a new home fabrics line called IMAN Home.

Scheduled for its debut at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Iman had this to say about the project being showcased at such an event.

“I am so excited to partner with Mercedes-Benz on this project. We have worked tirelessly in preparation for the launch of IMAN Home and to have this forum, at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, is a great way to unveil the collection.” {Talking Makeup}

Obviously Fashion Week is a great time to introduce something new because the audience is so broad. People look up to Iman for her fashion sense so it seems likely to be a hit. Look out for the new line sometime late September.

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Dirty makeup is fine on a video, but we'll pass for everyday use

This week, we were grossed out by a story that appeared on Glamour.com about used makeup – including lipstick, foundation and brushes – that is up for sale on eBay, with plenty of bids coming in.

We thought the idea of buying makeup that a complete stranger has used was absolutely disgusting, particularly used lipstick and mascaras, but a little digging around the Internet revealed that scoring used makeup online is actually pretty common and has been going on for years now.

Back in 2007 there were warnings of the dangers of the buying used makeup on eBay phenomenon. {Associated Content} Even further back in 2004, The Early Show on CBS reported on makeup swapping site Makeupalley.com, where users can trade their used cosmetics for others’ old products. Not only that, but fans of the site who were interviewed for the story had apparently been swapping makeup for years.

“Makeupalley.com is one of several Web sites where makeup enthusiasts can trade everything from lip gloss and eyeliner to fragrances and hair gel.Some of them are ‘BNIB’ (brand new in box), but many of the products have been used.” {The Early Show}

The report warned that most dermatologists and the FDA do not approve of using anyone else’s cosmetics. Makeup cannot be cleaned of bacteria and viruses from previous use, which can lead to serious issues like corneal infections that harm vision from mascara. In addition, bacteria are carried from applicators back to the product itself, so using a clean applicator does not decrease the risk. This also means even a product that has only been used once can be harmful.

Women who love to sample different colors and brands raved about Makeupalley.com regardless, and Hara Glick, the site’s founder, said they had received no complaints about contaminated products and their consequences. The Web site does have a disclaimer that users are “swapping at their own risk.”

We understand that getting a new lip color or foundation shade home from the store and realizing it is wrong for your face is frustrating, but taking used products from anyone, especially complete strangers, is just not worth the risk. We can see where fragrances, nail polishes and hair products would be harmless, but otherwise, the risk of shelling out money for something you might only use once is worth knowing you won’t end up wearing a rash, infection or anything more than you bargained for.

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It looks like some of the rumors regarding iTunes that came out close to the event on Wednesday were true.  Apple has turned it’s attention to social networking, and has built it right into iTunes, making it almost impossible for many to avoid.

The new social network is called Ping, and it seeks to draw you together with your friends, favorite musicians and strangers through music.  To do this, Apple added Ping as a tab in the iTunes app for desktops as well as iOS devices.  The design of the service takes a few cues from Facebook, but also works in the realm of iTunes.  You can comment on any items in your news feed, as well as “Like” anything on the feed and albums on iTunes.  On your profile you can choose three genres that you enjoy (though unfortunately it follows the iTunes store model, so there’s no choices for techno, metal or indie, just to name a few), and it can show a collection of eight tops songs.  Those top songs don’t have to be there, Ping can choose them for you, or you can choose them.  If Ping chooses the songs for you, it only selects them based on songs you bought from iTunes. {Apple}

Therein lies the biggest fault of Ping: it doesn’t really take into account people who buy music from other services.  You might want to share your music with friends, but if you buy music off Amazon MP3, BeatPort, or even (gasp!) physical media, you need to go through extra steps to share it on Ping.

Ping does seem to address a problem that exists: sharing music with your friends.  It doesn’t always work through other social networks like Facebook or Twitter, nor in person.  Ping helps bring your music social network right next to where (Apple hopes) you buy your music.  At least it brings it to where you probably store your music, even if you pirate all of it.

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The new lineup of shoes will debut in the fall of 2011 and retail for around $200-$500-  a major markdown from his signature collection.

The line is aimed at high-end department stores and upscale specialty boutiques, and Atwood notes, “We don’t ever call it diffusion because it is really a counterpart to the main line. It was something I felt that we needed as part of our brand. We love what we do and if we can give any part of Brian Atwood to a larger audience, that is what really excited me.” {Fashionologie}

It’s always a welcome thing to see any high-end designer go for a wider audience with a secondary line. Being able to offer expertise and quality for a mass market, at reasonable price points, is – no pun intended – a step in the right direction. Plus, secondary lines are an indication that the top tier line will be able to continue at what’s usually a slower growth rate. Mass market sales often buoy high-end sales (which can be shaky depending on economic conditions). Thinking back to Christian Lacroix, part of the reason he wasn’t able to survive the worst of the economic times is because there were no sunglasses, handbags, shoes or other items available at a mass level to balance out the dip in sales of couture. While designer accessories, including shoes, fared better than clothing we can’t wait to see what Brian Atwood has in store for next year.

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The Bing app provides an easy way for Android users to use the search engine, and it looks nice, as we’d expect.  The app includes the Bing Image, and changes everyday, just as the website does.  The app also includes Bing Maps complete with directions and traffic information, but it lacks the voice navigation that is present in all Android phone thanks to Google.  Bing also matches Google with voice input, but again doesn’t go as far as Google does with it’s new Voice Commands feature.  In all, the Bing app forAndroid is essentially the same as the Bing app for iOS, but it’s more surprising to find it on Google’s OS. {Mashable}

The most interesting part of the Bing for Android app is the fact that only certain Android users can even use it.  The app is only available to Android users on the Verzion network.  So, only those with some sort of Droid (or the LG Ally) are able to get it.  We can’t see the logic in Microsoft striking such an exclusive deal for an app.  Verizon does seem to have the most popular Android phones on the market, but leaving everyone else out doesn’t make any sense.  Although Verizon is the largest carrier in the US, an app doesn’t seem to be the type of thing that would convince someone to try the network in the same way that a sexy phone (e.g. the iPhone on AT&T) would. Plus, we’re sure that most people who use Android do so – at least in part, because of the integration with Google and the various Google apps like Google Voice. We won’t call this another KIN style meltdown just yet, but it’d be really surprising to see the Bing app become a significant driver of mobile traffic for the soon-to-be second place search engine.

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Now you can experience JCrew Outlet sales prices online!

Actually, clothing companies purposely open outlet stores in off the beaten path locations so that consumer demand will not overwhelm them and drive revenue away from main stores. {DailyFinance} The decision to put outlet clothing online is thus a gutsy one for J.Crew, but makes sense.

DailyFinance points out that online and outlet stores have shown significant growths despite the struggling economy. Earlier this year, we found that online shoppers in the $100,000+/year household income bracket are visiting sample sale sites like Gilt and Rue La La in greater numbers than more recognizable luxury retailers such as Barneys and Bergdorf Goodman. Perhaps, then, an online-outlet venue will have even more success than online and outlet stores have had individually.

J.Crew’s executives told the Wall Street Journal that consumers are more hesitant to spend money on clothing in full-priced stores these days. Customers are “deferring, they’re waiting, they’re comparison-shopping, and people are a little nervous,” CEO Millard Drexler said. J.Crew did see profits nearly double at the end of the second quarter, pulling in $34.9 million.

We’ll follow up and let you know how the online outlet store works for J.Crew. Given the continuing success of mid-range retailers and designer discount sites, hopefully more of our favorite clothing companies will follow suit!

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First Gerard Butler is picked up by L’Oreal to convince men that they’re worth it, now comes news that football player Troy Polamalu has had his 35″ long hair insured for $1 million by Head and Shoulders (Polamalu is a spokesperson for the brand). {People via Dlisted} To give you a little perspective on how much more valuable Polamalu is on a follicle to follicle comparison, a pack of 16″ long human hair sells for $70 on Amazon. If you went hair crazy and covered your hair with 20 of those, it would add up to $2800 – or about 3% of what Troy Polamalu’s hair is worth.

We’re as open minded as anyone, but we have to admit that it’s more surprising to hear that the first million dollar head of hair actually belongs to a guy. Sure, Samson had hair of biblical proportions (literally), and there’s no doubting that Polamalu’s hair would even put big hair divas like Diana Ross and Chaka Khan to shame. But how many guys can relate?

While he’d be one helluva after for any company pitching hair growth products, men or women would have to be genetically blessed to replicate Polamalu’s ringlets regardless of what product they use. Plus, it’s been eight years since his last haircut, and we’re guessing there are plenty of moms, sisters and girlfriends who wouldn’t sign off on the guys in their lives taking an eight year sabbatical from the barber shop.

When asked if he’d cut his hair, Polamalu replied”With this big hair insurance–I don’t think so!”

While there are 1 million reasons for him not to, whenever the time comes for him to part with any of his hair, we’d love to see a wig or two (or three, or four) made from his million dollar mane for Locks of Love.

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Fashion’s Night Out was started as a global initiative last year, in the throes of the bleak economic scene to get people out of their houses and pulling out their wallets to give the economy some retail therapy. I was pleasantly surprised that it was held in New Delhi, India as one of the 15 worldwide locations. I was disappointed, though, to see that there were significantly more large, international labels such as Burberry, Chanel, etc. This year, however, a lot of niche Indian designers have stepped up and are taking an initiative. These are some of the participating designers I feel show the most promise:

Gaurav Gupta: This Central St. Martins grad has honed his skills at Stella McCartney and Hussein Chalayan. He is slowly inculcating theatricality, a form of clothing art heretofore ignored by the Indian fashion fraternity into his design. 3D prints, structured drapes and hints of baroque define his aesthetic.

Manish Arora:  Probably the most well known of this bunch, Manish Arora is credited to having brought “Indian kitsch” into the forefront of the industry; Paris Fashion Week. Crazy, bold prints and jarring hues, animation references, Flinstones wigs, the works. He designs half of Katy Perry’s cartoon inspired wardrobe, fittingly. This year, he was one of the two designers to design the FNO India tee shirts, applying his style focus and giving us one of the most covetable tees in the FNO franchise.

Malini Ramani: The queen of Indian resort wear, she’s the ultimate caterer to the glitterati and Bollywood crew. It’s lots of high octane glamor and fusion of east decadence meets west cut and shape. There’s a lot of Moroccan influence and flirty, minuscule dresses in metallics.

Rajesh Pratap Singh: The creator of the second Indian, he’s probably one of the few Indian designers who don’t use their Indian roots to make their pieces look exotic but to actually remain true to them. Clean, simple lines, dark block colors and meticulous detailing and embroidery. Another showcaser at Paris and Milan, Singh is the costume designer for the French opera “Padmavati by Albert Roussel”, proving his international appeal.

Abraham and Thakore: Designer trio extraordinaire David Abraham, Rakesh Thakore  and Kevin Nigli are launching a new Mojri platform shoe at the event that visitors can, get this, customize on their own in addition to designing a one-off woven sari and shawl exclusively for the day.  They use a multitiude and a seemingly massive spectrum of traditional Indian textiles which gives them their edge. Think voile, georgette, velvets, rich South Indian silk and sublime linens. Large florals are another overriding trend they tend to reiterate.

Read more about Fashion’s Night Out India here.

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After the leggings boom a few months back, along came jeggings. They’re the weird cross between jeans and leggings. They haven’t taken off quite like good ol’ leggings, but companies like H&M don’t want to stop trying.

The super-retailer, whose lean distribution will allow it to continue offering trendy pieces at lower prices,  has introduced a new variation called “treggings”, a mix of trousers and leggings. The treggings resemble corduroy, leather and wool {The Gloss}, a seemingly good transition to fall. The idea is that you would wear them as regular pants, but get the benefit of the stretch and comfort fit of wearing leggings. They look good in the ad, and it’s enough to send us to stores to try out a pair. Still, leggings aren’t pants – even if they attempt to look like them, so keep that in mind when styling ladies.

As it turns out though, H&M aren’t the masterminds behind this genious idea as a quick Google search reveals that blogger Susie Bubble has been talking about Treggings since 2007. {Racked} This year designers like Miu Miu featured the trend in their Fall 2010 collection.

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Sean Barry, of music blog Circle of Fits, has an archive going back to 2005, but says he has made $11 from the ads on his site in that time. Marilyn Bess, who runs the blog MsPhillyOrganic, has only had her blog since 2008. At $50 in profit, she’s done a bit better monetarily, but hardly enough to make the cost of the business privilege license seem reasonable.

Philadelphia doesn't have any love for small bloggers

Both blogs are hosted on free blog services Blogspot and WordPress.com respectively.

On his blog, Barry adds “Listen, I don’t make any money on this blog, but if I did it would either be spent on fine pale ales or a lifetime supply of Cookie Crisp…I’m not a hookers and blow sort of guy.

If the city wants to come after me, have at it, I have nothing but some pristine bagged and boarded comics and a signed copy of Tonight’s the Night…and you’ll have to fight me for those…. but, in reality, I’m just a writer who likes to go to shows and complain about everything, and have had to do so out of pocket…for the lifetime of this blog. I said I have made 11 dollars over the course of two years from my ads..that will get you lukewarm Bud Light at a Phillies game…What I didn’t say, is that I don’t even know how to GET that 11 dollars that I’ve made…it’s out in the digital ether somewhere…”

What makes this even more ridiculous is the fact that personal and hobbyist blogs, like the ones Barry and Bess maintain, are often not eligible for the type of advertising that would result in any substantial amount of income. Blogs that don’t have a unique domain name are often excluded from larger affiliate programs, unless they have a large amount of traffic. That would exclude Circle of Fits and MsPhillyOrganic. Higher paying banner ads are sometimes available to small publishers through networks like Glam, but they typically pay on a CPM basis. CPM stands for cost per thousand impressions, and a typical network rate can work out to be anywhere from $2-30.

Personal and hobbyist blogs with low amounts of traffic typically receive amounts on the lower end, and can often have difficulty even getting to 1000 impressions. Which means that even with an overly generous estimation, many small blogs are unlikely to earn more than $400 in a year. Being realistic, earnings can often amount to the low double digit figures that Barry and Bess quote. Perhaps something to be included on a personal income tax statement, but hardly anything that adds up to a business.

Restricting the ability to legally blog to those who can afford hundreds of dollars, regardless of what they actually earn, seems to be a sure way to discourage actual small businesses from setting up shop in Philadelphia. We know local governments are struggling, but this is a harsh way to raise revenue and one that we hope doesn’t catch on.

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