What it says about my hairdresser, Becky, of American Mortals, and about me, I guess, is that we look as we choose for any given moment, because we passed each other on Walnut Street Thursday a few minutes before my appointment, neither of us recognizing the other! I know, I’ve written before about how thrilled I was to find this lady in Philadelphia during a bout of missing my Mudhoney (former salon on Manhattan’s Prince Street). But it’s so true: American Mortals is a calm, beautifully simple space, Becky’s workstation has terrific music and the terrific Becky, and she’s just so great, I have to say it again. I went even shorter this time, a la Annie Lennox, and even though I later realized that I hadn’t been the best communicator about being embarrassed about my flat head—-it’s not flat on top, but on the back, like “neglected-in-her-crib” vs. “dropped-upside-down—-” I got a splendid haircut, at an extremely reasonable price. And pretty soon, I should also be able to tell you when/where Becky’s new band, Hotwired Hearts, will be playing this July!

The second great find for this Philly newbie was a source for some not-so-easy-to-track-down products in Center City. A shop window had a Bobbi Brown display, so I went in, even though I’d just read about a great product from MAC that sounded so ultra-yummy-wonderful I took a brisk lunch hour walk over to Walnut Street to go to the MAC store. Instead, I found that this beguiling store (oh yeah, there’s a reason my beloved got me that t-shirt that says “Easily Distracted”—-and it has nothing to do with fidelity!), which was actually the front room of a spa chain called Blue Mercury, offered Laura Mercier, Murad, Fekkai, Nars, Lorac, Stila, Fresh and other favorite product lines. I replenished my Laboratoire Remede Translucent UV Coat sunscreen, about which I’ve written before, and learned that its “dark” is actually pretty light, so I got a light and a dark to custom-mix, and was also delighted to find one of the prettiest and softest summer lipcolors ever, Nars’ Frisky Summer, which I’d thought had gone to live with Katharine Hepburn. Finally, one item every girl with the least bit of drama in her needs is Bobbi Brown’s long lasting gel eyeliner, which the veryvery helpful salesperson also found for me in seconds! Erin, the owner, is also super sweet and helpful, so if you’re in Philly and need anything in the realm of skincare or makeup, 1707 Walnut Street’s the place to go, and, near Rittenhouse Square, is also easy to find if you’re just getting to know the city.