Guys, I was just sent over the most unexpected, softly beautiful picture this morning.

This is the just released promo picture of Lady Gaga as MAC Cosmetics Viva Glam spokesperson for 2011. Here's what WWD had to say:

MAC Cosmetics has signed Lady Gaga on for a second year as the spokeswoman for its Viva Glam campaign. Gaga teamed up with Cyndi Lauper for the 2010 campaign, which launched earlier this year. The company said the Gaga-Lauper campaign was the most successful ever for the MAC AIDS Fund, which has raised more than $190 million for the cause since its founding in 1994. For her solo turn in 2011, Gaga was shot by Nick Knight and styled by Nicola Formichetti.

I can't wait to see the new color for next year - it definitely looks tamer than what I would normally expect from the lovely Lady Gaga.

What do you think? Do you think that MAC made the right choice for their campaign for next year? Or do you wish they had chosen a new face?

Corporate Responsibility: "The concept that an organization has obligations not just to conduct its business and adhere to legal guidelines, but also to look out for the welfare of its employees, the community, and society at large."

So often we don't hear about what a company does to give back to society, it's generally handled internally and everyone moves about their business. Luckily, in the beauty arena, we get to hear about some of the great things that companies do to help out in their communities, states, countries and even overseas. There are two programs going on right now that I want to spotlight: MAC and Elizabeth Arden.

MAC Cosmetics established their "Viva Glam" campaign in 1994 - it supports the MAC AIDS Fund, which supports men, women, and children living with HIV and AIDS. It does this by donating all monies from the selling price of their Limited Edition "Viva Glam" lipsticks & glosses each year. They have featured many famous people to be their spokesperson (*from Fergie to Dita Von Teese & RuPaul, to name a few). This year's spokepeople were Cyndi Lauper and Lady Gaga, each with their own shade. You can check out what they look like in my video, if you haven't seen them yet. You can pick them up at any MAC counter or online for $14.

Marking their 100 years beauty innovation, Elizabeth Arden is releasing a new Limited Edition Anniversary lipstick - "Red Door Red" - "a universally flattering, sheer lipstick, the Red Door Red hue stylishly represents strength and femininity – a beautiful way to pay tribute the Elizabeth Arden woman". This lipstick is packaged in a luxurious gold case, and offers a triple-emollient moisturizing formula that contains vitamins A, C and E, along with aloe. It can be picked up at counters , where available, and online for $20.

Miss Arden believed in total beauty and in honoring that, all of the proceeds from the sale of this lipstick will go to benefit "Look Good...Feel Better". "This organization helps to improve the self-image, appearance and quality of life for people undergoing cancer treatments by teaching beauty techniques, which help them to cope with the beauty-related consequences of cancer and boost their self-confidence."

Please consider supporting these programs by treating yourself to a new lippie - it will give you another reason to smile.

I am *not* your fashion info go to girl, by any stretch of the imagination. However, I have picked up a few things here and there over the last year. Like, when people started talking about the "armadillo" shoes from Alexander McQueen's Spring/Summer 2010 show, it was hard not to listen. They were unmistakeable - to the point that when I saw the new Lady Gaga "Bad Romance" music video I heard myself saying (out loud, mind you, in an empty room) "Holy crap, she's wearing the Alexander McQueen's!" Yeah...I don't really do that - at least not about fashion stuff.

I kind of did that again when I read that someone had actually worn the AM shoes in public, on a Red Carpet, and hadn't needed anything to assist in walking in them. I had to find out who this creature was and see proof of them out in the real world. Turns out it is the rich "couture collector", Daphne Guinness.

I had no idea who she was, so I did some googling and found out some things:

• • She is the daughter of Johnathan Guinness, of the Guinness Brewery family - making her an heiress.
  • She spent part of her childhood in an artists’ colony in Spain, where she used to swim in Salvador Dali’s lobster-filled swimming pool.
  • She says that her weird obsession with armour "might have come from the Surrealists" that were there.
  • In the 80's, she lived in NYC with her sister, and hung around with the likes of Andy Warhol, Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, the owners of Studio 54 and Fred Hughes, the editor of Interview magazine, while playing wih the idea of being an opera singer.
  • At 19, she married Spyros Niarchos, son of the Greek shipping billionaire Stavros Niarchos, whom she had 3 kids with and divorced in 1999 with a (disputed) $40mil settlement.
  • Her trademark skunk colored hair was "accidental". She "..glue(s) bits on to it and this is how it turns out."

All of that is just background to the woman she has become. She can be described as many things: "a designer, stylist, writer, filmmaker, collector and now a perfumer with a scent called Daphne", but she can not be called boring, that's for sure. In fact, some of her quotes crack me up:

Discussing why she created her own scent:

Or when discussing how she didn't fit in St. Tropez, while she was married:

Gawd, so pretentious, but you can see how she completely wouldn't think that - maybe that's why it cracks me up.

 So, there she was, walking the Red Carpet with François Nars (NARS Founder and Creative Director) for the launch of the NARS 15X15 Project. The project is a celebration of the 15th Anniversary of NARS and the centerpiece of the project is the "15X15" book, in which Daphne is included. There is only a limited edition run of 1500, with the full $80 purchase price being divided between 15 different charities. However, there are indivdual portraits available for purchase, too.

Man, I love learning about creative people and things. Don't you?