Former “Laguna Beach” star Lauren Conrad has broken up with “My Boys” actor Kyle Howard.

The couple had been together for three years before things fizzled out.

It’s really a shame. Howard is the first decent guy Conrad ever dated. We’re just shocked that it ended quietly, without broken glass or handcuffs.

5. Do-it-yourself Mani and Pedis

In Style magazine highlighted Lauren Conrad’s “ombre” nails on their website at the beginning of the month, and I had to try it myself. Splurging on manis and pedis (or taking the cheap route and ending up with infected cuticles) has gotten cut from my list of things to do. I have fallen in LOVE with the DIY method. Using a foot file and cuticle cream, I apply two coats (Essie’s my favorite!) of color before finishing up with a top coat‚  (I always use Orly’s top coat).

I used three shades of blue to create a “fade effect” — Essie’s Mesmerize, Shelter Island and Sag Harbor. If you don’t have three hues of the same color, you can always add a little bit of white to a dark color to create the fade. I used this effect on my room in middle school, but enough about that!

Don’t skimp on the top coat — the most important part! It can also help make your mani or pedi last if you reapply a top coat every other day. The best part of an at-home mani or pedi is that you have the shade to fix any chips. You’ll look like you just walked out of the salon for at least a week.

4. Very Hollywood by Michael Kors

Michael Kors attributes the appeal of his new scent to mandarin and gardenia, but I’ve been on the hunt for a new fragrance for months, and I would just call it genius. Sensual without being musky (or musty, which I usually consider to be synonymous with musky), intriguing with suffocating. Not to mention the bottle looks adorable on my vanity.

3. The Color Purple (no, not the novel)

Have you walked into H&M lately? Royal Purple shades flatter garments all over the store, and thank goodness. Have you ever seen anyone who didn’t look good in a shade of purple? I bought a wool mini skirt from H&M, and fell in love with the Theory pre-order “Sarah” Animate Top at Bloomingdales.

You can buy short or tall classic Uggs in Mulberry to wear when greeting the fall weather or coat your nails in Opi’s Pamplona Purple (part of the Espana Collection), but it’s hard NOT to look good wearing purple.

2. Absolute Boston

Try it mixed with Arizona’s Arnold Palmer (a mix of lemonade and iced tea for those of you who don’t get out much) or ginger ale, you’ll taste tea. Absolut’s newest blend of elderflower and black tea with ginger ale is my new go-to cocktail.

1. Understatedly Over the Top

Today, I am sporting a simple outfit of a white J.Crew t-shirt with a tan Brooks’ Brother pencil skirt… with a mixed-metal necklace, chain link gold bracelet and caged all-season sandals. I’ve got numerous compliments all around the city today for my very simple outfit paired with fall’s best outrageous accessories… and I got them all for less! Now, don’t get me a wrong, I am a big fan of Tiffany’s, Kenneth Jay Lane and Saks Fifth Avenue, but this season’s fashion jewelry can just as easily be found at Forever 21 or H&M. Getting dressed is simple and comfy this season if you’re willing to glam up the extras.

]]> http://blastmagazine.com/the-blogs/obsessions-of-the-week-september-29/feed/ 0 http://blastmagazine.com/the-blogs/conrad-kardashian-to-be-guest-judges-on-antm/ http://blastmagazine.com/the-blogs/conrad-kardashian-to-be-guest-judges-on-antm/#comments Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:37:45 +0000 Ashley Dean http://blastmagazine.com/?p=21945

If you weren’t already intrigued by the 5’7″ and under height restriction for Cycle 13 of “America’s Next Top Model,” you can now look forward to some famous fashionista’s as guest judges.

People reported today that fashion-forward reality TV stars Lauren Conrad and Kim Kardashian will appear as ANTM judges on September 16 and October 21, respectively. As usual, every episode will feature a guest judge from the fashion universe, but now the panel will be without a forth permenant judge. Paulina Porizkova – who filled the same former model role as Janice Dickinson and Twiggy – was ousted by producers citing the bad economy.

No matter who sits at the judges’ table, we’re likely to get plenty of guilty laughs as the “short” girls struggle to be taken seriously. But as Tyra said, “sometimes good things come in small packages.”

How very unrefreshing — a story about Americas favorite frenemies and America’s least favorite married couple.

The New York Daily News reports that Lauren Conrad, in the August issue of Harper’s Bazaar, goes to town on Heidi and Spencer Pratt and their attention-seeking ways.

“I don’t call magazines and let them know about things so they can write stories,” she says of the camera-loving couple. “There was never an incentive to keep doing ‘The Hills’ so I could get into [Hollywood club] Les Deux. That was never the point. It was more to create a fan base so I can go create a business and do something I really love doing.”

She also brings up Heidi’s fake breasts, which will be seen in the September issue of Playboy. “They’re not going to pay for themselves,” she said.

Stephanie Pratt, the 23-year-old Hills star and (unfortunately) sister of Spencer Pratt, told US Weekly that she has struggled with bulimia.

Pratt said she was driven to bulimia when she felt fat alongside her skinny co-stars. She recalls seeing herself on TV with Lauren Conrad and thinking, “‘I can’t believe how huge I look walking over to Lauren.’” The MTV reality star, who is 5’7″ and is a size 0-2, also recalls co-star Audrina Patridge advising her to keep a shirt on over her bikini while on a beach in Hawaii.

What may perhaps surprise some is that she didn’t jump to blaming society or the producers for her urge to binge and purge (sorry). “The producers never put pressure on us to lose weight,” Pratt told US. “It’s embarrassing working with skinny girls.”

US Weekly’s online brief did not specify if bulimia is a current or past issue, but the full story is on the stands today.