Part of the annual rite of awards season is the suites that set up shop at hotels and venues around town before the Academy Awards. For invited guests, they are places to get beauty services like manicures, spray tans and hairstyling. But the biggest attraction is the variety of vendors– from jewelry to clothing, handbags, shoes and cosmetics, artisanal chocolates and fine liquors that take part and gift their products.
The rain may have put a damper on some of the events that set up both outdoors and indoors, but there was still a well-dressed parade of participants that took part.
At the Taglyan Center in Hollywood, Kathy Duliakas hosted her 6th Annual Celebrity Oscar Suite and Party in honor of the Oscars. In addition to nominees, former Oscar winners, presenters, stylists and industry VIPs were invited to the day-long event, held in a beautiful ballroom and co-hosted by Maleku Jewelry and presented by Zensation.
Before entering the ballroom, guests were treated to a catered lunch with a Mediterranean-inspired menu including avocado salad, classic Greek salad, quinoa salad, chicken breast stuffed with wild rice and feta cheese, grilled prime beef carpaccio, grilled chicken breast with apricot ginger glaze, tuna tartar topped with Brazilian mango and crab cakes drizzled with wasabi cilantro aioli.
The real treats were yet to come: a diverse array of stunning jewelry, fashion, handbags, rejuvenation technology, the finest in skin, body and hair care, LED-lit eyewear, delectable sweets and exotic cocktails.
Among those making the rounds were Oscar nominees Kelsey Scott (12 Years a Slave), Ashley Dyke (12 Years a Slave), Emily Bergl (Blue Jasmine), Dustin Kerns (The Wolf of Wall Street), Craig Borten (Dallas Buyers Club), Crispin Struthers (American Hustle) and Helen Hong (Inside Llewyn Davis).
Getting rave reviews were Single dresses by Galina Sobelev– we found a gorgeous black satin number with lime green accents that was quite the cocktail party hit –BAM Bags, with trendy zipped bags, Herban bath and body products scented with natural ingredients like lemongrass and lavender, colorful patterned flat irons from ISO Beauty– perfect for smoothing out tresses from the humid weather, deliciously scented oils and lotions from Kama Sutra, silk clothing from New Orleans-based Prêt à Porter Designs, haircare from Yuki Sharoni Beauty, tops from Wear Luck, fashion-forward jewelry from Twisted Silver and beautiful designs from Maleku Jewelry.
“It’s incredible going to gifting suites like this because I get turned on to different products that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise,” says actress Tia Carrere. “Prêt à Porter has beautiful stuff, I had never heard of them before. I didn’t know that Skinnygirl made non-alcoholic beverages. I tasted amazing Zing red velvet vodka. This is a great way for celebrities to interface with brands but also for people to discover new brands that they then going forward will purchase, like me.”
A new element was the Live Social Media Lounge which enabled the entire event to be Tweeted, InstaGrammed and Facebooked live with the hashtags #KathySuite and #1MGoodNights, the call to action for event beneficiary Pajama Program (www.pajamaprogram.org) an organization which provides needy children with sleepwear in an ongoing campaign.
At the penthouse of the Luxe Hotel on Rodeo Drive, Roger Neal held a three-day extravaganza, the 18th Annual Style Hollywood Beauty and Couture Academy Award Suite.
The exclusive event benefited the late Paul Walker’s charity, ROWW, which helps provide relief efforts in disaster stricken areas worldwide. Roger Neal Style Hollywood made a donation to the charity every time a male Oscar nominee wore a specially designed Gris Gris Factory bracelet on the Oscar red carpet. Other charity beneficiaries were Beyond Christmas, the Andy Transplant Foundation and Heifer International.
And have you ever seen Sandra Bullock made of chocolate? A replica of the “Gravity” actress made by chocolatier Niagra’s Honeymoon Sweets was on display.
Among the guests were Oscar nominees June Squibb, Bob Nelson, Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Robert and Kristen Lopez– who won for their original song from the animated film “Frozen,” Alexandre Desplat, Thomas Newman, Melisa Wallack, Craig Borten, Helen Hong and John Ridley, who won the Academy Award for his adapted screenplay of “12 Years a Slave.”
Guests were treated to libations from the Medea Vodka Oscar Bar and Lorimar Vineyard and Winery as they hobnobbed in the penthouse and checked out vendors including G.M. Collin skincare, Persole umbrellas, Timmy Woods Beverly Hills handbags, Barbara Lazaroff Fire of Life dinnerware and couture gowns by Addy Van Den Krommenacker, Marshmallow Couture Gowns and SISA Designs.
The event also featured spray tanning by Tan This LA, manicures by Shelly Hill and eyelash applications by Daniel Dinh of Long Mi Lashes.
The rainy weather forced a venue change for Debbie Durkin’s Eco Oscars event scheduled poolside at the Beverly Hilton’s Circa 55. The festivities had to move elsewhere on the property, to Bar 210, where all the festivities took place with nary a care about the downpours.
Durkin is LA’s leading sustainable product placement producer. For her 7th annual Oscar event, she partnered with ENCORE I Leslie Kaplan Event Design and eco-conscious lighting designer David Trubridge for this year’s edition.
The two-day event featured an array of brands, from one-of-a-kind jewelry and leather goods to designer gowns and luxury vacations. Guests also enjoyed light fare and signature cocktails, to the beat of DJ Marshall Raymond, the mood also enhanced by beautiful florals from our favorite florist, the Empty Vase.
The guest list included 28 Oscar nominees–12 of whom ended up winning the golden guy, perhaps most notably Robert Lopez, co-writer with his wife Karen of the best original song “Frozen,” and now one of the world’s few EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winners, a feat achieved in just ten years.
Lopez was joined by fellow nominees Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk and Neil Corbould (Best Visual Effects-Gravity); Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro (Sound Mixing-Gravity); Robin Matthews (Makeup & Hairstyling-Dallas Buyers Club); Steven Price (Original Score-Gravity); Mark Sanger (Film Editing-Gravity) and Kim Magnusson (Short Film Live Action-Helium).
Also spotted: Penny Marshall, celebrity fitness trainer Grace Lazenby and reality stars Tom Schwartz and Katie Maloney.
Vendors taking part included Marisa Kenson Collections with gowns and jewelry for the red carpet, MK Collaborative toxic-free makeup and jewelry, Caribbean Living Magazine, The Hard Rock Hotel, Bula Life, Herbalosophy, Glacier Under Canvas, Canine Caviar, L’Arganium 100% Organic Argan Oil, LA + Jo Parisian Designer Joseph Agi, Will Leather Goods, Ofrenda Maya Tequila, and 7Eye High Performance Sunglasses, (www.panoptx.com) which feature a unique wrap-around design perfect for extreme sports, or just keeping the wind out of delicate peepers. Some of the glasses include the Airshield foam series, which literally seal the eyes from the elements, the next generation of ski/motorcycle goggles.
And who would want tears in their eyes when there’s so much to enjoy during Oscar week, thanks in part to these great hospitality and gifting suites.
