Update: My Continued Journey with Aethern - The Fountain of Youth

Daily Doses of  beautifully packaged Aethern, convenient and travel ready

For those of you who have not yet been following, I am pleased to be able to share my continued Aethern journey with you.

Aethern, is a single daily dose of 14 FDA approved, vitamins, minerals, Bio Active Collagen Peptides and Hyaluronic acid formulated to increase skins elasticity,  firmness and radiance.

My results at just a little over 3 months of daily ingestion, lay truth to every claim, plumped up skin; less creepy crepe, (the bane of every woman of a certain age existence) and fewer fine lines.

Brava!  Additionally, the two mucus cysts that seem to come out of nowhere on my right hand have all but vanished along with the wrist and knee pain I was experiencing after weight training.  The anti-inflammatory properties in Aethern, is apparently, working like Jiffy Lube in my system.

Hands before Aethern

Hands after 3 months of taking Aethern

I am so thankful that I took pictures of my Aethern journey along
the way, because there is no disputing these are remarkable results!

No wonder, Aethern is beloved by famed Dermatologists Dr. Lisa Airan and Dr. Ava Shamban, both of who recommend it highly to their patients.

My partner Anastasia Cucinella and I recently had new head shots taken when our photographer Jay Ackerman, came to take updated photos of our store, Mary Jane Denzer.   It's always a bit daunting to have professional photos taken, but I was pleased with the results.

As the numbers start to creep up, aging can be disheartening...(I don't know anyone who doesn't feel at least 20 years younger than their biological age),  I decided to look back for a photo that was taken 10 years ago, to see how I am faring:

Gearing Up To Get Back In The Mascara Game...

L'Oreal Voluminous Fiber FX Mascara

 My lashes have been on Holiday for the last 5 months... Let me attest to the beautiful notion of waking up daily and looking more than human with lash extensions.  Out the door time gets nicked in half because being eye ready makes everything else a slap and a dash.

I promised myself that after returning from Fall Fashion Week in Paris, (shopping with my partner Anastasia for our store Mary Jane Denzer), I would take a long, long break.  Frankly, I don't know a soul who did not suffer serious damage to their lashes.  I'm hoping to come out unscathed, by using Latisse, to minimize the lash loss.

Years ago, I used Latisse when it first became a, "thing".  While I did grow massive lashes, I also suffered from dry, red, scratchy eyes, which mitigated the whole experience.  Smarter this time, I ditched the thick, unwieldy brushes that came with the prescription, for a very fine brush.  My theory is that those brushes, which could have white washed a barn, were depositing too much product. So far so good.

We shall see...

In the meanwhile, I have started researching mascaras again.  What immediately caught my eye was a new Voluminous Mascara from L'Oreal.  The original is a goodie and is supposedly beloved by Jennifer Aniston. (Call me silly, but I'm among the legions hoping for a Brad Pitt reunion...Frankly Angelina and Justin seem a better match than they were to Brad and Jenn, respectively. And you???)

What is very clever about the new Voluminous X Fiber, aside from the fibers for volume, is that one side comes with a black primer!!!  This my lovelies, is a stroke of genius.  I love me some primer, but have sometimes seen tell tale traces of white on my lashes.  This has got to be one of those moments where competitors, are smacking their foreheads for not having thought of black primer first.

Well done L'Oreal!

Dressed to Thrill; The Duchess of Cambridge

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with their beautiful children
Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
The Duchess is wearing New Zealand Designer Emilia Wickstead

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been touring Europe this summer, and this time, they are travelling with their exquisitely dressed children in tow.  Vanessa Friedman of the New York Times dubbed their color matched ensembles, "Pantone Politics".  Whatever you wish to call it, I think they look absolutely splendid!

Wearing Jenny Packham, one of her favorite British Designers

Wearing Erdem, another of her favored British Designer,

and ours...

It is custom, is to dress in a notable designer of the country being visited, or the countries flag colors.  It s both thoughtful and respectful to the hosts.  The Duchess never disappoints! Her penchant for dressing in dresses creates an aura of impeccable calm.

Mary Jane Denzer, the store I co-own with Anastasia Cucinella has been a destination for magnificent dresses for nearly 40 years.  I don't think its a coincidence that both of us wear them practically every day.  We both favor the brainless simplicity of putting on one wonderful  thing in the morning and letting that be our statement. What could be easier?

When we were buying for Fall, we both wanted to expand our offerings to include dresses for all occasions , not just black tie occasions.  We scoured Paris for beautiful lifestyle dresses, suitable for work, luncheons, Birthdays, meetings, cocktail and dinner parties from designers we love; Giambattista Valli, Georges Hobeka, Jenny Packham, Tony Ward, Monique Lhullier, J. Mendel, Rachel Gilbert, Alex Perry and others.

Every day, when the UPS man arrives, it feels like we are opening beautiful presents...It's hard to remember everything we bought, so each one is a joyous surprise.  We love them all and seeing them tried on and purchased by our clients is incredibly gratifying.

We invite you to come visit us at Mary Jane Denzer next to the Ritz Carlton in White Plains. (914-328-0338), to see our new goodies. It would be our joy to assist you for all of your occasions.

Oh, and Duchesses are welcome too...

xox,
Debra O'Shea
Co-Owner
Mary Jane Denzer

DivaDebbi's Best and Worst of Cannes Fashion 2017

Ok, Lovelies, I'm a bit behind, but still wanted to throw my 4 cents in on what I loved and what I loathed at Cannes this year.

Every Spring, stars, models and celebutantes make the glamorous trek to the Cannes International Film Festival.  Sprinkled over 12 days, films, of all genres, are previewed and judged.  And of course, so is the Red Carpet...

I like my Girls pretty and impeccable on the Red Carpet and for any event...  I think you can still push the fashion envelope without looking like a spectacle, don't you??? Beautiful fashion is what my partner Anastasia Cucinella and I always strive for, when buying for our store Mary Jane Denzer.

A few of my favorite picks were also later pans on the likes of Elle Fanning, Jessica Chastain, Diane Kruger, Bella Hadid and Uma Thurman.  Go figure!  Take a peek...

 LOVES:

(A remarkable mosaic)

(My FIRST EV-AH Tilda swoon, in her beloved Haider Ackermann)

Diane Kruger
Sublime!

Bella Hadid

New Beginnings!

Debra OShea and Anastasia Cucinella
Co-Owners Mary Jane Denzer
White Plains, NY

Hello my Lovelies!!!

I know it's been way too long since I've last posted.  As many of you know, in January of this year, my partner Anastasia Cucinella and I became the new owners of Mary Jane Denzer in White Plains.  It's been a very busy and exciting time!  Here is a link to pictures of our New Owner's Celebration, which was covered by The Fairfield County Look. It was a wonderful night, that we celebrated with clients, friends, designers and our vendor partners.

During this respite from blogging, I even surpassed 2,000,000 pageviews, but didn't have a chance to celebrate and thank you, my lovely, loyal readers, so I shall do so now. Thank you!!!

Mary Jane Denzer New Owner's Celebration

Co-Owners Debra OShea and Anastasia Cucinella
celebrating their new ownership of Mary Jane Denzer
White Plains, NY at the Ritz Carlton

Elaine Ubina of Fairfield County Look chronicled our New Owner's Celebration perfectly:

Debra OShea and Anastasia Cucinella are the new Co-Owners of Mary Jane Denzer in White Plains. Mary Jane Denzer has been a tri-state destination for the very best in good taste and haute couture for over 37 years.

OShea and Cucinella celebrated their new partnership with clients, designers family and friends at their Ritz Carlton location on Tuesday evening. The partners are celebrating their reputation for carrying exquisite evening wear.

ln their new venture, they will be buying fabulous clothes and accessories to suit a modern, woman’s  busy lifestyle, O’Shea said, “Mary Jane Denzer had an exquisite eye. She was known for supporting  and discovering up and coming designers globally and judiciously choosing only the best styles from each.” Cucinella added, “we will continue to do that on our trips to Europe and only buy the things that both excite and inspire us.  Our desire is to dazzle and always give you a reason to visit us and leave with something uniquely beautiful”.

Click here  to see photos of some of our wonderful clients, designers and friends, who came to wish us well. The support for our success as partners is greatly appreciated.  We are already off to a a wonderful start! We are confident, that the beautiful clothes and accessories we bought for Fall, including more casual offerings, will delight our clients and bring new ones to Mary Jane Denzer.

Come experience the extraordinary!

The Fall 2017 Fashion Trends from NY and Paris

Mary Jane Denzer Partners Anastasia Cucinella and Debra O'Shea
at the Elie Saab Atelier in Paris for the Fall 2017 Collections

It was an absolute joy to attend Paris Fashion Week with my partner Anastasia Cucinella to buy for our store Mary Jane Denzer in White Plains, N.Y. Our vendors are excited for us and  have been fantastic partners, who are looking forward to growing with us. We truly appreciate their support and friendship.

We look forward to continuing to honor the DNA of Mary Jane Denzer; a luxury destination for special occasions, but we will also be spreading our wings! We have added several collections that will allow us to completely service all aspects of our clients lifestyle; so in addition to your Red Carpet moments, you will be able to find the perfect, "guest" dress, luncheon outfit, or casual but chic outfit to wear to a committee meeting.  We also found fresh and exciting accessories at the tents in Paris and look forward to receiving the fabulous scarves, jewelry and bags we purchased.

I promise to keep you posted on our trunk show schedule,  starting with Neil Bieff, our in-house designer, who will be at Mary Jane Denzer with his new collection through Saturday...stay tuned tomorrow for my interview with Neil, an enormous lasting talent, who has beautifully, dressed dozens of Hollywood and Music's biggest stars!!!

Now lets talk trends!

The term "Fashion Week" is truly a misnomer...Fashion Month is more accurate. What begins in New York, continues to London, Milan and finally Paris.
My fashion legs are pretty sturdy, but I can attest that New York and Paris were plenty to take in.  The other reality is when you arrive at the showrooms.  Of course the marvels that walked the runways are their too, but the reality is often in the trove of wearable, 'commercial' clothes, that most buyers actually buy, lined and with necklines built up beyond the navel.

Trends do emerge, and whether you are looking at high end evening wear or sportswear, they do resonate from show to show and continent to country. While it's still fresh in my mind, here's a bit of what we saw:

Review: Lancome ARTLINER

Lancome's ARTLINER
$30,50

I am now 6 weeks into my partnership in Mary Jane Denzer, a women's luxury specialty store in White Plains, N.Y.  What is my burning beauty question for my partner???

How, oh, how, despite rainy days in NY in the market buying and long busy days selling to our lovely clients, is her eyeliner always in place, without runs or skips???

Spring Marchesa at Mary Jane Denzer!

Spring Marchesa at Mary Jane Denzer! by divadebbi 

So delighted to have bumped into our great friend Tim Correll-Quinn, now Global Sales Director for Marchesa, in the market last week, with my partner Anastasia Cucinella.

This gorgeous spring dress is on it's way to us, and we will plan a Fall 2017 Trunk Show in late April.  I previewed some of the looks and they are spectacular!!!

Great things are happening at Mary Jane Denzer!

xox,

DD

Happy New Year!!!

Happy, Healthy New Year Lovelies!!!

This was a challenging year for me. I literally have been counting down the moments to the fresh start of a new year. I am deeply and forever grateful to our son's surgeon Dr. Michael Borger and Cardiologist Dr. Gregg Rossner, as well as my own Doctors;  Roy and Andrew Ashikari and Dr. Andrew Salzberg, as I celebrated my 20 year breast cancer milestone.  I lost my beloved Mother Joan, but I'm ever grateful that she did not suffer and passed peacefully, knowing her children, loved her till the end of her days.

I am incredibly excited about the challenge of Co-Owning my business Mary Jane Denzer in White Plains, with my wonderful partner Anastasia Cucinella.  I love new beginnings and I'm very happy about this next chapter.

So may I suggest you too, dream big, let go of things you can't control, take good care of yourself and the ones you love, follow your instincts, be kind, and have a wonderful year ahead.

Thank you so much for being my loyal friends and readers through all these years.
The best is yet to come...

xox,
DD

My Next Chapter Begins...

Anastasia Cucinella and Debra O'Shea
Co-Owners of Mary Jane Denzer

Mary Jane Denzer
7 Renaissance Square
White Plains, N.Y. 10601
914-328-0331

I am delighted, to announce, that I am the new Co-Owner of Mary Jane Denzer, in White Plains, with my esteemed partner, Anastasia Cucinella. 

Mary Jane Denzer has been a tri-state destination, for exquisite  special occasion clothing for nearly 40 years.  2 years ago Mary Jane built her dream space, a magnificent 5,000 square foot store, adjacent to the Ritz Carlton in White Plains, just 15 minutes from Greenwich. (Valet parking is always complimentary.)

Sadly, Mary Jane passed away last December, (I remembered her fondly in this memorial blog.) Anastasia and I are honored to carry on her legacy, of offering the most beautiful clothes anywhere, for women to wear to the important occasions in their lives. 

Additionally, we will be scouring NY and Europe, to add fabulous ready-to-wear lines to our collection.  Our goal is to cover all your needs for day and night, so you will always have a reason to visit us at Mary Jane Denzer, (and of course, I will be doing house visits!) 

We look forward to partnering with the community on events that matter to you and increasing our social media presence via DivaDebbi.com, Facebook and Instagram. 

I have thoroughly enjoyed 23 years of servicing my lovely and loyal clients at Razooks, Saks and happily, for the last 16, at Richards, for the Mitchell family. The opportunity to co-own and buy for, my own establishment however, was an irresistible opportunity, and the true pinnacle to my retail career. 

I so look forward to sharing this next chapter with you! Please visit our website at mjdenzer.com to see our beautiful store. I will be in on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, and full time, beginning January 9th.

I would love to think that my beautiful Mom, Joan Lieberman, who passed in June, and w was President of her own fashion jewelry business, is smiling proudly.  She would have loved this...

xox,
DD

Mary Jane Denzer April 11 1932- December 16, 2015

DivaDebbi and Mary Jane Denzer

Just before Christmas, the retail world lost a legend. Mary Jane Denzer, the doyenne of the eponymous women's luxury store that bore her name for 35 years in White Plains, N.Y., died of pancreatic cancer. Sadly, she was diagnosed last year, 2 months after opening a new, magnificent 5,000 square foot location that bore her imprimatur of modern elegance.

Mary Jane and I have enjoyed a professional friendship for many years. She always greeted me with warmth and cheer, even if, technically, we were competitors.  Every time I walked into her store, it was a visual feast; her impeccable eye and stunning displays never failed to delight me. Mary Jane had flawless taste and would cherry pick only the cream from the best designers, from the world over. The result was a dazzling array of the prettiest frocks, ever assembled under one roof! As such, Mary Jane Denzer became a tri-state destination for women who love beautiful clothes, particularly, when they need them for events and memorable occasions.

Mary Jane Denzer, White Plains NY
Renaissance Square adjacent to the Ritz Carlton

Over the years, I have recommended many clients to Mary Jane Denzer and often accompanied them, where Mary Jane or her right hand Anastasia Cucinella would graciously assist us. Mary Jane also came to my rescue on several occasions, when I had "fashion emergencies", generously allowing me take merchandise out on approval to help solve my client dilemma's, (one day to be revealed when I pen my memoirs from the fashion trenches.)

When I last visited, Mary Jane was hosting an evening to benefit the Red Cross Ball,  which will be held in the Spring of 2016.  Committee members and guests had the opportunity to try on beautiful gowns for the event, with a percentage of any purchases going directly to the charity.

I also couldn't help but be enchanted by the gorgeous display of Diana Vreeland Fragrances. Inspired to continue his grandmother's legacy of style, her grandson Alexander and a small coterie of top noses from the International Flavors & Fragrances have created 8 mysterious and romantic fragrances. Not surprisingly,  Mary Jane Denzer was one of a handful of elite U.S. retailers chosen to offer it. I had a ball sampling and sniffing my way through all of them. 

Long lasting and intoxicating, I think I have finally found my signature fragrance in, "Devastatingly Chic". Hallelujah! I have only been searching for one, for most of my adult life.

As we said our goodbye's and I thanked Mary Jane for hosting a lovely evening, I recognized a whiff of "Simply Divine".  And believe me, she was...

My condolences to her 4 children, her 3 step children, her 8 grandchildren, her numerous friends, many clients and devoted staff. Mary Jane lead a well lived and accomplished life. She will be remembered and she will be missed. Rest in Peace my friend.

xox,
DD