VERSACE LAMBO Drivers of this hot rod will be sure to attract almost as many speeding tickets as gawkers It’s not quite as high-performance as the Lamborghini Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne flew through the streets of Gotham in, but it's still a mighty impressive piece of custom automotive machinery. And who better than two Italian nameplates, Versace and Lamborghini, to come up with this object of desire: the Lamborghini Murciélago LP 640 Roadster? Sure, it's one of those “if you have to ask the price you can’t afford it” deals, but because it will be custom-built to your specs, the price will vary. The ultimate howoff feature is a transparent engine hood that reveals the powerful V12 engine. Happy motoring!

POP GO THE POTATO CHIPS Crunch to contentment: Pop Chips, at Jamba Juice in NY and Gelson’s, Pavilions, Vons, Ralphs, Whole Foods and Joan’s on 3rd in LA Sometimes--usually late at night—there’s nothing better than downing a whole bag of potato chips. Or tortilla chips (TAR loves Garden of Eatin’s Red Hot Blues) or corn chips--or anything crunchy with some zing to it. But your waistline soon pays the price for that indulgence, unless you switch your (bad) habit over to pop chips, the "healthful" alternative. Tough to resist a popped potato snack with delish flavors like barbecue, sea salt and vinegar, Parmesan garlic and salt and pepper. A whole 5 oz. bag will cost you only 600 calories, and about $3.

BEAUTY SLEEP, SLEEK AND SMOOTH Slumber into sweet dreams with Branche Beauty’s satin bed dressing We’ve been traveling everywhere with a new silk pillowcase, billed to keep your hair in place while you sleep and to prevent those icky creases that come with high thread count territory when you wake up on cotton sheets. Guess what? Branché Beauty’s silk charmeuse pillowcase really works and, we’re told, is a bedtime favorite of leading ladies including Jade Pinkett Smith and Reese Witherspoon. Available in silver, ivory, blush, blue, sage, and gold, you can find them at Palmetto, Planet Blue, C.O. Bigelow, and the full list online. www.branchebeautysleep.com

SUMMER LEGS Tarte glam gams bronzing leg stick ($30): easy, breezy tan Sometimes a great new product comes on the market, but could use a little tweaking. Such is the case with leg shines. OK, men, optional beauty product intel here, but Michael Kors had a lock on the roll-ups that look like a deodorant but actually are used to moisturize and tan legs with a few quick swipes. The only problem: the somewhat cloying gardenia scent of Michael Kors. (On one hot, humid summer NY day, it almost made me nauseous.) Now Tarte, queen of roll-up products with their cheek stains, has come up with something better: Glam Gams bronzing leg stick. It’s water resistant and not noxiously-scented. You can nab one when they come out in a few weeks at Henri Bendel, Bergdorf Goodman, and select Sephoras. www.tartecosmetics.com

FANCIFUL FRUIT A delicious arrangement from Fruits to Remember, (866) 4FRUITS We’ve all seen them recently, those fruit arrangements that look good enough to eat, but once you take a bite, you realize it was all looks and no substance. Not the case with the products from Beverly Hills-based Fruits to Remember. Every strawberry, the most fragile fruit in an arrangement which included cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple and grapes, was Grade A+ quality. The chocolate-covered ones, even better. A great concept for many occasions, and the arrangements come in a reusable and very attractive container—perfect for planting some herb, oops, herbs.

A SWEET IDEA Eating dark chocolate is good for the heart and soul, but a new brand of sweet treats promises even greater benefits. Called Intentional Chocolate, it claims to decrease stress, increase calmness and lessen fatigue. The chocolate itself is from Hawaii and each piece is imbued with “focused good intentions to improve your overall wellbeing.” Milk and dark chocolate pistoles and truffles are available, as well as a delish hot chocolate mix. The company is donating 10% of its net proceeds to support the Dalai Lama’s vision of creating a center at the Deer Park Buddhist Temple to facilitate dialog between East and West. $15-$47, available only online. www.intentionalchocolate.com

A KISS IS MORE THAN JUST A KISS Kissable Couture, $22 each at Fred Segal Apothia and Henri Bendel She’s the stunning other half of Oscar winner Forest Whitaker, and now Keisha Nash-Whitaker has teamed with noted makeup artist AJ Crimson to create Kissable Couture, a shimmery lip gloss collection meant to evoke the sensuality and magic of a kiss. Named for men who presumably are very good kissers, the First Kiss Collection consists of seven shades including Dylan, a light peach shimmer, David, a sun-kissed bronze and Tyler, a deep purple shimmer. And of course, we must give a shout-out to Forest, a rich burgundy wine shimmer. www.kissablecouture.com

GET A HINT Hint, about $1.69 for 15 ounces at Whole Foods and Ralphs. Cases $44 Tired of Vitamin Water and other concoctions that add calories to basic H2O? Hint Water is the premium up-and-coming brand hitting store shelves. With no sweeteners, no preservatives and no calories, the water comes in tarty flavors like mango-grapefruit, pomegranate-tangerine and raspberry-lime. Founder Kara Goldin created the all natural products as an alternative to what was on the market, a beverage with just a hint of flavor and no other junk. www.drinkhint.com

THE SWEETEST THING If your idea of sugarholic heaven is frosting, you will love Mrs. Beasley’s new cupcakes, each topped with a 3-inch swirled dome of the stuff, many coated in chocolate. For those not wanting to get cupcake comatose, there are mini-versions about 1/3 the size, called poppers. A sick treat at any size, and we mean that in a sweet way. Custom decorating available.               Not a dime a dozen, try $30: Mrs. Beasley’s oversize gourmet frosted cupcakes (top) and  mini poppers www.cupcakes.mrsbeasleys.com

A TASTE THAT REFRESHES Flavored waters are reaching critical mass but one taste amongst the peaches, watermelons, raspberries and kiwis that hasn’t really worked is mint. Why? One major label’s mint tastes like drinking mouthwash, which is pretty much enough to make you use it like mouthwash, and spit it out.  Somehow the folks behind the newly launched Icio (pronounced I-see-oh) have taken the concept of mint water to a new level. Infused with natural peppermint extract, the purified bottled water comes in a 12-ounce flask--perfect for back pocket or purse. No sugar, no additives, just delish. A case of 24 12-ounce Icio flasks goes for $40 at www.iciowater.com

YOU WON’T BELIEVE YOUR EYES
It sounds illogical that slapping on a clear eyeliner at night can make lashes grow longer and thicker, but TAR has it on good authority that these potions actually work, with a little patience and a lot of persistence. The best: RevitaLash, which is making some long-lashed believers out of those who use it regularly for 3-4 weeks, when results kick in. Try it yourself, and save the time spent on often over-hyped lash extensions. And there’s a great backstory: ophthalmologist Michael Brinkenhoff originally developed the product for his wife Gayle, who was losing her eyelashes during chemotherapy for breast cancer. A portion of the proceeds of each tube sold ($150) goes to breast cancer research.
www.revitalash.com,  877.909-5274

ROYALTY ON RODEO
TAR had the pleasure recently of drooling over the jewels at Garrard in London’s Harvey Nichols (we didn’t get anything wet, promise!), then doing a drive-by of the NYC Soho outpost of the jeweler to Her Majesty, since 1843, no less. And now comes Garrard’s sparkling new gem of an outpost on Rodeo Drive. Check out the Wings collection, in sterling silver if you don’t want to spring for diamond bling.
Garrard, Two Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, 310. 860-8968, www.garrard.com
 

BAKED, NOT FRIED
Repeat three times: it’s not good to lay out in the sun, it’s not good to lay out in the sun, it’s not good to lay out in the sun. Damn…
But also not good are most of the self-tanner products on the market. They’re messy, they smell weird and they don’t look that great.
So herewith, in the heat of summer, The Atkin Report’s awards for best fake-tanning products:

#1: GlowFusion’s Micro-Nutrient Face & Body Natural Protein Tan in Light and Medium (5 oz., $58)
They aren’t kidding when they say no streaking, no staining and no odor. Bottom line: great results!
Second place goes to Estee Lauder’s Go Bronze Plus Tinted Self-Tanner for Body (5 oz., $28.50). You can literally slap this product on and look naturally tanned without worrying about streaks or smelling funky. Plus, the bronzer has a bit of shimmer for an added glow.
Worst products: Neutragena’s Instant Bronze, horrendously streaky, stinky and orange, and Kiehl’s Self-Tanning Formula, which after 24 hours, turned into a blotchy rash-like mess that otherwise might have necessitated an emergency trip to the derm.
And the best salon spray tan goes to Sunset Tan (locations including WeHo, West LA and Santa Monica) for their Tower Tan, the evolution of Mystic.  Three seconds a side and you’re good to go. Just remember to hold your breath…
 

PARIS, PIMPING SOME PLATES
Have you heard and seen enough already? Thought so. But will you tune into Larry King tonight anyway? The sooner this story recedes cannot be soon enough, because, well, it’s just not that interesting anymore. Poor Paris, her media gamesmanship nixing a reported $1 million payday from NBC to tell her tale of woe. 
And pity the poor LA start-up company who had a special gift ready to send to Ms. Hilton: a limited-edition license plate frame hand-set with 500 pink and white Swarovski crystals. Thinking that once she was out of the slammer and back behind the wheel of her $400,000+ Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, she’d have something so…her…to put on her DUI-mobile. The car’s reportedly in the repo man’s possession—something about a paucity of payments—but there are other, lesser vehicles in her fleet to flaunt around town. 
Expect to see a lot more of these frames on the streets soon.

License2Bling’s (www.license2bling.com) Swarovski crystal license plate frames go for about $120 
 

BETTER THAN RED BULL + VODKA Like a starlet making the rounds, the new spirit VeeV is hitting LA hotspots including Parc, Les Deux, Winston’s, Geisha House and even the Beverly Hills Hotel. Ask for it with soda and a twist of lime, or just rocks, and you just may feel better than you did before. The primary ingredient is Acai, a nutrient-packed berry from the Brazilian rainforest billed as the world’s healthiest food. Grown atop Amazonian palm trees, locals attribute mystical powers of vitality to the fruit. Two former Goldman Sachs investment bankers, brothers Courtney and Carter Reum, drank the Kool-Aid and are behind the venture, and taking a page from Esquire and Soho House, next month plan to launch a “VeeV House” in BH.  So drink up. $1 for each bottle sold at $34.99 goes to the Rainforest Action Network and Sambazon’s Sustainable Acai Project.

I’m Not A Plastic Bag retails  for $15—if you can get one

HINDMARCH, SEEING GREEN Kudos to designer Anya Hindmarch for doing her part to save the planet and creating a sensation with her limited edition cotton “I’m Not A Plastic Bag,” which blew up in the UK before heading to these shores.  Last Wednesday, 10,000 of the $15 bags sold out in three hours at four AH stores, Ron Herman, Fred Segal Flair in LA and Holt Renfrew in Canada, with hundreds of customers waiting in line at each location. The bags are not available through mail order or online, although someone is making a pretty profit selling them on eBay.  Says Hindmarch: “At first we were upset when the bags appeared on eBay but then we realized that this is to be expected when there is so little stock and so much demand--and this has led to creating more awareness which was the purpose of this project.” Next chance to nab one comes on July 18 at select Whole Foods Markets in the NY metro area, including these: 95 Houston Street, New York, NY 10002 250 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 The Shops at Columbus Circle, 10 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10019 4 Union Square South, New York, NY 10003 More scoop: www.anyahindmarch.com

THE SCENTS OF SUMMER
Suntan lotion and….Coney Island? That’s the latest terrain master parfumier Laurice Rahmé  of Bond No. 9 is interpreting in fragrance, the 29th in her venerated line. Its vivid sea/sky blue bottle hits shelves on June 1, following the scented summertime path blazed by Fire Island and the Hamptons eau de parfum.  She says Coney Island melds cool notes of margarita mix, hypnotically seductive chocolate and caramel and cedarwood.  (3.4 oz., $180 at Bond No. 9 stores in the city and at Saks, Harvey Nichols and Harrods)
For a more traditional beachy vibe, spritz fellow Frenchwoman Laura Mercier’s Almond Coconut eau de toilette spray (1.7 oz, $50 at Neimans, Nordstrom, Sephora and Bloomingdales), a fragrance that captures the essence of almond, coconut milk, soft caramel and buttercream, sandalwood and musk—and sends you right to the water’s edge. If that’s not enough to make you roll out the beach towels, there’s also complementary fragranced Crème Body Wash, Honey Bath, Sugar Scrub and Soufflé Body Crème for an aromatic vacation. 

SUMMER FUN IN A BOTTLE
Garden variety rum comes from Puerto Rico, but Oronoco hails from Brazil, the original birthplace of rum in the early 1600’s, before the Dutch took production to the Caribbean

Ready to rum-ble? Oronoco has come to our shores, from Brazil, in a handsome embossed leather-wrapped bottle. What’s that, you say? It’s a super-premium white rum made from fresh-cut Brazilian mountain sugar cane that offers light hints of vanilla on the nose, a crisp, clean taste and a smooth rounded finish. “Like coffee and wine grown on mountain slopes, we believe that mountain cane yields a complex and flavorful cane that is the secret to our taste profile,” says Oronoco’s master distiller Vicente Bastos Ribeiro. The cane is harvested by hand and crushed within hours of cutting. ($35 for 750 ml)

Here’s twist on the Mojito, the Carioca Gimlet,
from mixologist Fabio Costa Da Rocha of Bar D’Hotel, Rio de Janeiro:
Muddle two fresh cut lime wedges in a shaker. Add 1 1/2 ounces Oronoco rum, two ounces fresh squeezed lime juice, a splash of simple syrup and shake vigorously with ice. Strain contents into a Collins glass filled with ice and lime wedges. Top with equal splashes tonic and soda. Enjoy.

MELROSE MADNESS
 Diesel, at right, stakes out a prime corner next to    Me&Ro and Mulberry on Melrose Place
in a brick building dating back to 1896 
You will never, ever find a parking space on Melrose Place ever again. Or on any  of the surrounding streets. The once sleepy yet elegant back street is jumping with the arrival of blue-chip fashion nameplates like Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, Marc Jacobs and the just-opened Diesel. (And stay tuned, Frédéric Fekkai is moving in this summer.) The Italian import, known for its trendy jeans and fashion-forward clothing, is already attracting major foot traffic to check out its denim bar, boots, belts and other accessories. And speaking of traffic, there will be a jam tonight when the street is closed off for what promises to be a rockin’ opening party. After the hangover wears off, manager Daniel Beres will take good care of all your customer service needs. 
Diesel, 8401 Melrose Place., Los Angeles, 323.782-1738, www.diesel.com

BAGS OF GIFTS, BUT NO GIFT BAG
AMPAS, in its infinite tax wisdom, is reportedly dispensing with the extravagant gift bags for Oscar presenters and performers this year. They had such an attitude about the whole thing anyway, pretending on one hand that it didn’t exist (“Oh, we won’t talk about THAT,” one seasonal and distinctly arrogant Oscar publicist once told me.) On the other, they made PR firms sign lengthy confidentiality/embargo agreements and forced them to approve their media outreach plans in advance in exchange for the “privilege” of getting their client into the bag. God forbid a tiny photo of a Krups coffeemaker should appear in US Weekly in violation of the embargo: it’s the end of the world as we know it! 
But no worries. There won’t be any shortage of gifts going to this year’s batch of nominees like Helen Mirren, Leo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Eddie Murphy, Forest Whitaker, Kate Winslet, etc. Companies like Distinctive Assets and Madison & Mulholland are working overtime to get the most lavish goods and services into their bags. The 25 acting and directing contenders already received their own personalized pre-release MOTORIZRs, boasting a slider design, powerful digital camera and lots of music storage.
  MOTORIZER: Helen, you’ve got a call

V-DAY LINGERIE
I know, I know. Valentine’s Day is supposed to be all about red and black lace unmentionables that you wear for five minutes. But I’ve just discovered something even sexier, the new Felina “Hint of Skin” panties in the palest ballet pink that feel like nothing and leave absolutely no trace of VPL. It’s like going Britney, but not like that. (New for Spring ’07, the line also features matching bras and camis.) 
www.felinausa.com