Roses are Red, Violets are Violet

Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
I get so turned on
Just by thinking of him...um, no wait, I mean you, YOU.

So who will be your FBFF or FGFF this year? What, you haven't picked out your Hollywood Valentine yet? Let's get that done!

You can say it with an e-card, if you like. My personal favorites reside here. But how do the rich and famous usually meet up? Not online at Match.com surely (or is that why those men don't post their photos??). No, no, no, they do it the old fashioned way – via work!

Sarah Jessica Parker did not have to resort to any of the obsessively sleezy tactics used in "Sex and the City." Future hubby Matthew Broderick was directing her brother in a play production and got an introduction that way. Julia Roberts met her cameraman husband on a set. Jessica Simpson met Nick Lachey at the Hollywood Christmas Parade. Will Smith auditioned Jada Pinkett for his hit show and hired her as a bride instead. Rita Wilson first met Tom Hanks on the set of "Bosom Buddies." Ditto for Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas. And on and on.

Alright, so maybe you won't be having that chance meeting Brad Pitt over movie scripts. But you never know! Get that special dispensation from your current spouse/lover/FB to indulge with the Hollywood star of your choice – should the opportunity arise.

So, you've picked him/her? Good.

Now, let's say you do meet George Clooney shopping in the local produce aisle. He thinks you're hotter than the tomatoes. You take him back to your candle-lit love pad (the better to camouflage the school science project that overtook the family room). You want to seduce him. Now, what mood-music do you put on to make your Hollywood hottie feel a bit squidgy down there? It's going to take something kind of unconventional, don't you think? Here are some suggestions.

Is your celebrity FGFF/FBFF:

money-hungry? F-Me Pumps
recently dumped? Last Request
May-December sex? Baby Love
party-hardy? Tainted Love
serial dater? Oops I Did it Again
narcissistic wonder? Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You
what, another narcissistic? To Know Him Is To Love Him
another? I'm Too Sexy

Or maybe you just want to BE your Hollywood celebrity. Why resist?

I want Angelina Jolie's lips....
There are hundreds of OTC topicals that promise to make our lips look fuller. They irritate the skin and cause inflammation, temporarily making the lips rosier and plumper. It's quick, it's cheap, it's soon gone.

But the Angelina Jolie look? We're talking lip fillers here, mondo amounts, to even approximate what nature gave Jolie. The injections are painful and the result is a little unpredictable – so plan ahead.

Never, never agree to let someone stick needles in your lips without a dental block first. Remember the homunculus man? There are more sensory nerve endings in your lips than in your genitals! Of the various brands on the market, most fillers need topping up every four to six months. You may bruise and puckering is temporarily inhibited, so go two weeks before that hot date for best results.

I want Beyonce's bootie....
If you're looking for a quick bootylicious fix, you can create the illusion with padded lingerie. Check out the "butt bra" modeled after the coveted Brazillian derrière. Or you can go for buttock augmentation surgery ("Brazilian butt lift") using silicone implants or fat grafting and transfer from other areas of the body.

The long-term plan? Go for "skater's butt": anything requiring lots of squats and hip extensions will maximize the gluteus maximus.

I want Nicole Kidman's wicked eyebrows....
You can have them, as you can see she isn't using them just now, whilst gestating. Yes, her forehead lives again!

Just a small amount of Botox will give you a more natural result – if malevolent isn't the Valentine vibe you're going for. Schedule the first session at least two weeks ahead so more can be added if needed. The FDA is looking into a dose effect phenomenon; there has never been a death reported with cosmetic use of Botox. The wrinkle reduction dosage in the face can be 20 to 25-units, a fraction of the 600-unit dosage that may be used to treat a muscle spasticity in children with cerebral palsy.

I want Scarlett Johansson's cleavage....
This could be a bit of a problem if you're less than a DD-cup. But surgical breast augmentation is always an option, and the price has come way down (market demand, you know).

But something in time for Valentine va-voom? Let's try a colorful push-up bra. Don't go cheap, either, since you want to both have it look and feel good (so to speak). Enhance it with a strategic application of eye shadow and Eau de parfum. Then, don your gown and go for it. It's casual? Perhaps then something sleeveless that buttons down the front: men really go for the accidental peek-a-boo gap or escaping bra strap.

Me? I've got on my Chanel Rouge Allure lipstick – in the shade "Brilliant," thank you. I'm ready.

Which Breasts Are Best?

Let's go back to the question of breasts today– and get over it! This month's Jane magazine polled 600 adult women about their breasts: 74% of those surveyed said they were dissatisfied with the shape and size of their own breasts. Let's get this fixed.



























No, Jessica Simpson is not the real thing nor should any woman compare herself to silicone-enhanced breasts. It's like comparing apples and oranges. They're not the same fruit. But just to convince you, let's walk through how the all-seeing eye-of-Anne knows when those ta-tas are altered.

What gives away breast implants? Capsules, growth spurts, ripples, tunnel cleavage, adhesions, rimming, hardness, distortion, disproportion, immobility, scars, supernatural suspension. Shall we illustrate this?

Here's a candid picture of the original equipment from early in her career. Jessica Simpson's breast appear to be a small C-cup, her father's groping comments aside. She's 18 or so in this picture, about the time when breast growth is complete (pregnancy-related changes excluded). In the last eight years, however, Jessica Simpson has had some unusual growth spurts...and even more unusual circumscribed 'weight loss'...all in her breasts. They've been in, they've been out, they've been in again. Currently they appear to be out. Cue the music— "Thanks for the Many Mammaries." Does any of it make her look more or less beautiful? You decide.

In 1992 the FDA effectively took silicone breast implants off the cosmetic market and only recently re-approved them for elective augmentation surgery. Last November the FDA lifted its 14 year near-ban on silicone gel implants. None of this slowed down the current wild popularity of bigger bazooms through plastic surgery.

The viscosity of the filling material is what distinguishes the feel of the augmented breast, since all implants use silicone outer shells. Saline implants are round and filled with simple salt water. Most of what you see on inflated chests is in fact saline-filled and a poor substitute for real mammary tissue. These surgically implanted sacs can feel akin to a waterbed—especially during physical activity. Silicone implants, by contrast, are filled with a synthetic gel, a consistency not unlike a weak squeeze ball. Silicone gel also comes in a variety of shapes and conforms more closely with the natural tear-drop shape of real breasts. Saline implants have a round, balloon-ish quality and are much easier to spot with a quick glance.

A lot of women opt for subglandular placement (under the mammary tissue, over the pectoral muscle). The advantages? It can postpone a breast lift (mastopexy), by adding volume to counter mild sag (ptosis), but this is temporary. Keep in mind that the only thing supporting the implant is the elastic integrity of the skin and breast tissue.

Paula Abdul shows the perils of too much, too late. A subglandular placement requires less recovery time with less post-op discomfort, since the muscles are left intact. Actresses and strippers also prefer it for the enhanced projection. Conversely, a very large implant placed sub-muscular (without tissue expansion which is what post-mastectomy patients undergo) is agony. But it looks more natural.

Other disadvantages to a subglandular placement? Ripples and adhesions. As the implant drops, or settles into place, the surface of the shell can pull on the scar capsule, which in turn pulls on the skin. This produces traction rippling ala Beyonce.

A lot of surgeons operate through incisions you might not guess. The trendiest is transumbilical (TUBA), an approach through a naval incision. Transaxillary (armpit incision) is also popular. An incision hidden in the inframmamary fold (crease under the breast) or peri-areolar are the most common and can give truth to the lie. It also often impairs nipple sensation. Poor Tara Reid.

Placement of the breast implant over the pectoral muscle (subglandular) is very obvious in thin women with little natural breast tissue. The highly technical description is generally "bolt-on breasts." In Hollywood you really can be too rich and too thin. Just Victoria Beckham.

The most common cause of an unnatural appearance? Capsular contracture occurs when the scar tissue that naturally forms around the implant tightens and squeezes the implant into a hard, unnatural appearance. The previous older generation of silicone breast implants were particularly prone to this. No surgeon can completely control for the vagaries of healing and this has caused many stars, from Demi Moore to Courtney Love, to undergo multiple breast operations.

And most tellingly, when you squeeze on a breast– say with a tight bodice– the outline of any subglandular implant becomes more obvious, particularly in thinner, Hollywood-type women. The demarcation of the upper rim of the implant is a dead giveaway. It doesn't happen in nature.

Real, voluminous breasts look like Scarlett Johansson's "girls" in a fitted gown: pillowy with no tunnels in sight.


Hear Anne live on the Kevyn Burger show Thursdays featuring Knifestyles of the Rich & Famous.

Oscar Fabulous

Being fabulous! Isn't that what the Oscars are all about? We're all vicarious Cinderellas, dreaming about being fabulous. Is it the perfect dress and makeup that makes the star? Or are they manufactured out of silicone, restalyne, hair extensions, and cash?

This year's Academy Awards was all about the revenge of the Real Girls. Jennifer Hudson overpowers Beyonce (you think that hug at the moment all cameras were on Jennifer Hudson wasn't calculated?) because she's real. Beyonce is as Hollywood as they get: a manufactured beauty. She's had her breasts done, her nose thinned and tip made pointier, hair straightened and dyed, starved her thighs. It's a volatile topic but she looks less African-American than before. Was she beautiful before? Absolutely– but a Caucasian aesthetic dominates Hollywood and it shows. Just look around at the Oscars. The men are allowed to be deliciously dark, while black actresses have to pass. Jennifer Hudson is fresh in part because she breaks that unspoken rule.

Example #2 of Real Girls' revenge? Nicole Kidman gets the Oscar award for the most obvious surgical intervention: forehead (botox), lips (Restalyne), breasts (implants) or maybe she just padded that big red dress. Her face is painted like an airbrushed masterpiece. As an actress she rarely breaks out of the mannequin role. Now look at her posed next to Meryl Streep. The best line of the Oscars belonged to her and the 14 nominations she's received as an actress so far: I'm a size 14, so it all matches! Do you think Nicole Kidman will have her pick of roles as a 58 year-old size 14?

Listen to what Real Girl A-listers have to say:

I would never ever have plastic surgery. We're all just going way too far. I know it's a product of the whole celebrity industry, but it's something I absolutely detest. I want my daughter to see what is real, not what is unachievable and fake.
– Julianne Moore, 46

[Plastic surgery] makes these people, actors especially, fantasy figures for a fantasy world...acting is about being real, being honest.
– Kate Winslet, 32

[P]eople who look too perfect don’t look sexy or particularly beautiful.
– Rachel Weisz, 36

Death is not going to be any easier just because your face can't move.
– Cate Blanchett, 37

The bottom line: if you're trading on your looks and not your talent, you're going to have a short, desperate career in film. I'm putting money on the Real Girls: they'll have longer, more fulfilling careers and their film output will be more memorable.

So, what makes Real Girls fabulous? What gives them light-up-a-room star quality? There's an often retold (but true) tale of Marilyn Monroe walking incognito down a busy street, just another hausfrau in a headscarf, offering to demonstrate this very principle to her companion. She simply turned on her star persona and in a moment had that New York city street at a standstill. No grand gestures, no lighting, no make-up, just that switch in attitude.

So all you vicarious Cinderellas: go out and be fabulous.


Hear Anne live on the Kevyn Burger show on Thursdays featuring Knifestyles of the Rich & Famous.