<i>Cosmo</i> Exclusive! A Behind-The-Scenes Look at Katy Perry's Killer Queen Fragrance Campaign

Deputy beauty editor Jessica Matlin jet set to Cali to be on the scene of Katy Perry's Killer Queen fragrance campaign and found out Katy's inspiration behind her latest spritz, why she's ready to leave Candyland behind, and a whole lot in between.

"I love what I do, and when I don't love what I do, I'll make a change, I can't be the candy queen forever," Katy says in her Part of Me documentary-style film. She also posted this quote on August 7 to Facebook, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, a new beginning is a must."

Clearly this pop star is taking the first train out of Candyland, entering into her a world of sophistication and complexity—all while launching her newest perfume Killer Queen, $59, macys.com, (named after Katy's favorite song, Queen's Killer Queen)—which lines up perfectly with her evolving self.

"We had to think greater, grander, bigger [when it came to the] evolution of my fragrance, especially because of who I am as an artist and the path I'm going to be taking. I wanted to create a mysterious scent that wasn't too girlie—I had a couple of ideas and this was one of them. It’s sort of like predicting the future, since you don't know where exactly you'll be style-wise [since the launch is in September], but I kind of had an idea."

Speaking of her fragrance's new look: [Inspired by a queen's scepter], "It's a gorgeous glass that has a kind of ombré [burgundy-to-yellow finish] from the bottom to the top. I wanted it to be like you had a gem in your hand. A real prestigious, royal, rich thing to it. And since it has a theme that I love, I wanted it to have a crown nuance, but instead of going the complete crown route, I wanted to design my own crest [to go] on top. I thought it was very symbolic of monarchy, royalty, and over the topness." 

As for the juice?, This scent [which was inspired by Chambord, a berry liqueur, and consists of dark plum, red velvet flower, wild berry, bergamot, jasmine, plumeria, cashmeran, patchouli, and praline], is for the strong, confident, and independent woman. She’s wearing it for herself, mostly. She is not doing it for anyone else. It’s all about strength, [which] you can see in the commercial [above, shot by Swedish director Jonas Akerlund]. Fragrance for me is the bonus. It’s not the thing that makes the woman the woman. It’s the thing that bonuses whatever she already has." 

Below, a snap of Katy and her crew during the filming of the ad, captured by photographer Tim Walker. 

Speaking of her latest parfum, Katy was more involved than your average celebrity. "When I do collaborations with people, they’re typically always very annoyed with me. I think that maybe they’re not used to having such a strong-minded [partner]. You’d think after the fourth, fifth, and sixth meeting, you would just give in [and say] 'Okay, just do that.' But I feel comfortable pushing back, because sometimes I have a vision in my head and I don’t know how to explain it except to just experiment. And somehow the experimenting process leads to the final destination. I knew that this time I wanted less gourmand and more of an [original] scent.

At first I was referencing really unique fragrances like Thierry Mugler’s Alien and Tom Ford’s Black Orchid—things that had a unisex ambiguity. [Scents] that you walk in and you’re like, “WHAT’S THAT? WHAT’S THAT?!” but you can’t pinpoint who it is because the aroma that they have on is so mysterious. I wanted to go more in the direction of a mysterious fragrance, but of course I didn’t want to alienate either. [So this one ] is a soft, dynamic kind of floriental scent that isn’t too girly. For me, it would have been an easy route to go edible, which is fun, I like wearing edible stuff too, but I wanted it to be more than just cake."

So how did the singer know she was onto something with her new scent? "I would wear it around my other girlfriends and around people who don’t know that this is my business and they really loved it." As for how Katy applies fragrance, "I pirouette into my fragrance or bow into it [laughs]."

For more Katy, download her latest single Roar off of her "Prism" album, which is set to be released this October. 

Photo Credit: Coty

Follow Carly Cardellino on Facebook and Twitter.

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Nina Agdal Tells <i>Cosmo</i> What She Wears to Get Noticed

Nina knows a thing or two about looking sexy. Just take her new Bebe campaign for example.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

We chatted up Agdal at last night's Bebe launch party, and she admitted that her real-life date-night gear isn't far off from the outfit she's flaunting in the ads (which is available here). "I love wearing a tight black dress. I'm 21 years old and all I want to do is have a good time and embrace my life right now—although, I do really like the Bebe resort dress I have on now [shown below]."

Speaking of date night, Agdal dished on what makes up the perfect one: "You meet up, go grocery shopping, cook a meal together, have a glass of wine, put on a movie, and see where it takes you from there."

And when it comes to her beauty look before a big night out, "I need to have on lip balm—if you go out with cracked lips, it's never a good look. My favorite is Eight Hour by Elizabeth Arden—and a sexy hairstyle." 

We also had a few minutes to catch up with stylist Riad Azar, who gave us the lowdown on recreating Agdal's launch-party hairstyle. He recommends running a quarter-size drop of Bumble & Bumble Styling Lotion throughout damp hair, rough drying it using just a blow dryer and your hands (no brushes), and then wrapping strands around the barrel of a curling iron. Shake it out after and set it with a shine spray to get that enviable bedhead, piece-y look—Azar likes Oribé Après Beach Wave and Shine Spray.

Photo Credit: Bebe

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How Not to Get Pregnant: The <i>Cosmo</i> Guide to Contraception

When you want fun and freedom more than you want a baby, you need contraception. But it's not so simple. Nearly 75 percent of women who don't want a baby have had unprotected sex and 54 percent have had a pregnancy scare, reveals a survey of 1,000 women, ages 18 to 29, by Cosmo, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, and Bedsider.org, conducted by the research firm TRU.

It's not that you're irresponsible. In our survey and a series of focus groups, you told us you want to get this right. But a lot of people are getting in your way—and we don't mean only the guys in Congress who've lately turned a personal issue political. Your partners can be pushy, your doctors dismissive, and your sex-ed teach er…what sex-ed teacher? "If no one talks about birth control," says Sarah Brown, CEO of The National Campaign, "how can we expect women to use it?" Let's start talking.

STERILIZATION
99% Effective (typical use)
Surgery is an option, or you can get Essure, a micro insert to create scar tissue that blocks your fallopian tubes.

IUD
99% Effective
There are three types—Skyla, Mirena, and Para Gard—lasting 3, 5, and 12 years, respectively.

IMPLANT
99% Effective
The matchstick-size imp lant gives you three years of protection.

PLAN B
89% Effective
OTC emergency contraception is most effective for three days; Rx Ella, up to five.

RING
91% Effective
Unless you want to take it out during sex, the NuvaRing stays put for three weeks.

SHOT
94% Effective
Every three months, you go to your doc for a Depo-Provera injection.

FEMALE CONDOM
79% Effective
They're latex-free, so you don't risk an allergic reaction.

BIRTH-CONTROL PILLS
91% Effective
Missed a pill? You can take it up to 23 hours late (or 3 hours for progestin-only mini pills).

PATCH
91% Effective
Affix Ortho Evra to your butt, arm, or stomach; change it once a week.

SPONGE
88% Effective
You get protection for 24 hours after inserting it.

SPERMICIDE
72% Effective
It works by killing sperm, but it's more effective with another method.

MALE CONDOM
82% Effective
If it's latex, use only water-based lubes—no oils, no whipped cream.

CAP
86% Effective
This silicone device can be inserted a few hours before sex.

ABSTINENCE
100% Effective
ID a backup method just in case your lock down fails.

WITHDRAWAL
78% Effective
Better than nothing (but harder done than said).

DIAPHRAGM
88% Effective
Use it with spermicide, and wait six hours after sex to remove it.

FERTILITY AWARENESS
88% Effective
You'll have to take your temp and check cervi cal mucus regularly.

From Cosmopolitan.com. Visit Handbags reviews and advice for best reference here

<i>Cosmo</i> Exclusive! A Behind-The-Scenes Look at Katy Perry's Killer Queen Fragrance Campaign

Deputy beauty editor Jessica Matlin jet set to Cali to be on the scene of Katy Perry's Killer Queen fragrance campaign and found out Katy's inspiration behind her latest spritz, why she's ready to leave Candyland behind, and a whole lot in between.

"I love what I do, and when I don't love what I do, I'll make a change, I can't be the candy queen forever," Katy says in her Part of Me documentary-style film. She also posted this quote on August 7 to Facebook, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, a new beginning is a must."

Clearly this pop star is taking the first train out of Candyland, entering into her a world of sophistication and complexity—all while launching her newest perfume Killer Queen, $59, macys.com, (named after Katy's favorite song, Queen's Killer Queen)—which lines up perfectly with her evolving self.

"We had to think greater, grander, bigger [when it came to the] evolution of my fragrance, especially because of who I am as an artist and the path I'm going to be taking. I wanted to create a mysterious scent that wasn't too girlie—I had a couple of ideas and this was one of them. It’s sort of like predicting the future, since you don't know where exactly you'll be style-wise [since the launch is in September], but I kind of had an idea."

Speaking of her fragrance's new look: [Inspired by a queen's scepter], "It's a gorgeous glass that has a kind of ombré [burgundy-to-yellow finish] from the bottom to the top. I wanted it to be like you had a gem in your hand. A real prestigious, royal, rich thing to it. And since it has a theme that I love, I wanted it to have a crown nuance, but instead of going the complete crown route, I wanted to design my own crest [to go] on top. I thought it was very symbolic of monarchy, royalty, and over the topness." 

As for the juice?, This scent [which was inspired by Chambord, a berry liqueur, and consists of dark plum, red velvet flower, wild berry, bergamot, jasmine, plumeria, cashmeran, patchouli, and praline], is for the strong, confident, and independent woman. She’s wearing it for herself, mostly. She is not doing it for anyone else. It’s all about strength, [which] you can see in the commercial [above, shot by Swedish director Jonas Akerlund]. Fragrance for me is the bonus. It’s not the thing that makes the woman the woman. It’s the thing that bonuses whatever she already has." 

Below, a snap of Katy and her crew during the filming of the ad, captured by photographer Tim Walker. 

Speaking of her latest parfum, Katy was more involved than your average celebrity. "When I do collaborations with people, they’re typically always very annoyed with me. I think that maybe they’re not used to having such a strong-minded [partner]. You’d think after the fourth, fifth, and sixth meeting, you would just give in [and say] 'Okay, just do that.' But I feel comfortable pushing back, because sometimes I have a vision in my head and I don’t know how to explain it except to just experiment. And somehow the experimenting process leads to the final destination. I knew that this time I wanted less gourmand and more of an [original] scent.

At first I was referencing really unique fragrances like Thierry Mugler’s Alien and Tom Ford’s Black Orchid—things that had a unisex ambiguity. [Scents] that you walk in and you’re like, “WHAT’S THAT? WHAT’S THAT?!” but you can’t pinpoint who it is because the aroma that they have on is so mysterious. I wanted to go more in the direction of a mysterious fragrance, but of course I didn’t want to alienate either. [So this one ] is a soft, dynamic kind of floriental scent that isn’t too girly. For me, it would have been an easy route to go edible, which is fun, I like wearing edible stuff too, but I wanted it to be more than just cake."

So how did the singer know she was onto something with her new scent? "I would wear it around my other girlfriends and around people who don’t know that this is my business and they really loved it." As for how Katy applies fragrance, "I pirouette into my fragrance or bow into it [laughs]."

For more Katy, download her latest single Roar off of her "Prism" album, which is set to be released this October. 

Photo Credit: Coty

Follow Carly Cardellino on Facebook and Twitter.

From Cosmopolitan.com. Visit Handbags reviews and advice for best reference here

Woman Checks Smoke Alarm After Reading <i>Cosmo</i> and Discovers Her Landlord's Hidden Camera

Welcome to Every Woman's Nightmareville.

Dennis Alan Van Dusen, a landlord in Chevy Chase, Maryland, has pled guilty to spying on three of his female tenants having sex with their boyfriends via hidden cameras he'd installed in their smoke detectors. The peeping, which he also copped to recording through a window, went on from 2011 to 2012. He pled guilty to three misdemeanor charges and faces 18 months of jail time. Gross me out.

Unfortunately, as most of us are now aware, there have been many precedents for this kind of crime: from "bathroom cams" (like the kind this pastor installed in his church restrooms) to similar cases of creepy Peeping Tom landlords from Iowa to East Hampton. Moral: Unfortunately, if you're a renter and a lady, you can never be too careful.

Not to give ourselves too much credit here, but we had a part in getting Van Dusen busted. One of his female tenants had read about such a case in Cosmo and was inspired to check the smoke detector, according to HuffPo. Sure enough, she found a small green hard drive inside and reported Van Dusen to the police immediately.

One cause for possible suspicion: Van Dusen charged way below-market rents on his property, under $600, for an upscale Chevy Chase neighborhood whose average rent is around $2,000. So anyone reading this who thinks they've got a real-estate steal... well, maybe you should check your smoke alarm. Just to be safe.

To read the original Cosmo story that helped bust Van Dusen, click here.

Follow Anna on Twitter: @annabreslaw

Image via police handout

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Helen Gurley Brown's Best <i>Cosmo</i> Coverlines

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