It's usually nightlife that inspires a guy or gal to get made up, but this is makeup inspired by nightlife. Illamasqua, a cult favorite amongst beauty junkies, club kids, makeup artists, and celebs, was conceived amidst the dark drama of 1920s Berlin -- embraced by alternative cultures, made by a British brand, and now readily available to help you develop your nightlife alter ego. I decided to try the pigment-rich rockstar colors for Friday night's festivities, which included Mark Ronson's Gucci party at the Bowery Hotel, followed by "Whipped," Butter's hipster dance party, to find out first hand why Sienna Miller, Lily Allen, Beth Ditto, and Karen O. are rumored to be obsessed with it.

Well, kind of. The recent collaboration between the mixing maestro and Gucci creative director Frida Giannini that yielded the funkiest crop of sneakers we've ever seen was an occasion to change the topography of Manhattan, literally busting out with a temporary store at 43 Crosby Street, open today until early November. And while the shiny, sterile interior of the ICONTemporary outpost will no doubt provide a retail refuge for fashion's savviest, like everything Gucci, the real fun begins with what you end up taking home.

'Tis the season for sneaker collaborations. In just 24 hours, news of four separate sneaker launches has hit the web. For starters, there are the Ronsons (seasoned fashion designer Charlotte not included). In fact it's DJs and siblings Samantha Ronson and Mark Ronson who are embarking on their own designer endeavors with two separate collaborations. Mark has designed a series of sneakers for Gucci which will launch in conjunction with the brand's traveling pop-up shop (which hits New York in October and will subsequently set up shop in London, Berlin, Paris, and Tokyo), says Elle UK. Sam, on the other hand, is staying stateside with her line of kicks for Supra -- an update on the brand's Indy NS model.

Michael Jackson’s funerary festival isn’t stopping anytime soon. It just keeps going on ... and on ... and on ... Don’t get me wrong, I love MJ; Thriller was my very first album for god’s sake. Yet the media spectacle since his recent death has just been too much sensationalism for my taste. (This is probably the reason why I haven’t written one story or commented about his death until now.) I believe however there are those who genuinely want to honor the King of Pop and do so without ulterior motives. Case in point: come August 29 -- what would have been the Michael Jackson’s 51st birthday -- Q-Tip will present a tribute, “Long Live the King! A Birthday Celebration for Michael Jackson” at the NOKIA Theatre Times Square in New York.

Staging a fake wedding ceremony doesn't exactly seem like the healthiest thing to do if you're a couple not yet ready to take the plunge. But that's exactly what musician/producer Mark Ronson and girlfriend Josephine De La Baume did for Jalouse magazine. Images from the faux nuptials grace both the cover of the rag's July issue as well as an inside spread. And it appears a bandwagon of rockers joined in for the fun too: "the fake ceremony saw celebrity guests including British catwalk star Alice Dellal, New York rockers The Virgins and French band Neimo," says The Fashion Spot.

● Pull on those spandex pants, cause hair metal is coming back this summer with Def Leppard, Cheap Trick, and Poison going on tour together. I don’t know if I can handle that much eyeliner in one night. [RollingStone]
● Robert Downey Jr. has been trying to lose weight for his role as Sherlock Holmes due to the urging of Coldplay singer Chris Martin. Martin's advice to Downey was to get as gaunt as possible so as to not mess up the singer's vision of the literary detective. [Icelebz]
● Lily Allen made Mark Ronson pay for a helicopter to join him on stage at an event. Ronson jokingly offered anything Allen wanted, but was shocked when he received a $10,000 quote for a helicopter. Lesson learned. [ShowBizSpy]

The theory that Britney Spears may be the tenth muse (simply lost a long way from her home on Mount Helicon) may finally gain credence as of this past weekend, thanks to the Brits and their penchant for half-baked experiments in pop irony. London's Radio 1, the same entity that encouraged Barbie-doll band Girls Aloud to vocally annihilate one of Robyn's finest in the past, gave fringe popstrel Ladyhawke (recently branded "cool" by NME) the go-ahead to perform "Womanizer" -- tinny when compared to Lily Allen's performance of the same song, though neither was poor enough to redeem Britney's recent lip-synch debacle. It's above-average enough for a quick romp through the piano bar, but more importantly, it's also a blessing for the chavs who previously shunned the ditty while secretly singing it into their mothers' flatirons.

Oh that Mark Ronson! Is there anything he can't do? After all, he handed Amy Winehouse one of the most enduring records in the pop world. But having had no shortage of success, the dreamy DJ recently slagged Winehouse after she botched their chances to record the theme for Quantum of Solace. This in turn subjected us to this dreck. Perhaps we should spurn Wino similarly? Ronson also wearies of Lily Allen -- as her personal problems interfere with the creative process. Never mind the fact that she's poised to avoid sophomore slump. So what's a picky producer to do?

Mr. West co-owner and DJ Jus Ske talks about blowing up, speeding up, and building up.

Favorite Hangs: When I'm in Tokyo, I love Feria. It's a very high-energy, New York-style club abroad. David Guetta's "F*** Me, I'm Famous" parties are always insane, and I love those. When I'm in NYC, you can usually find me at Mr. West, 1Oak, Beatrice Inn, or Rose Bar.

Last night at SOB's, Allido Records brought it hard with their CMJ lineup. While most people were there to see the DC rapper Wale, I went for Aussie Daniel Merriweather. He's probably best known for lending his vocals to Mark Ronson's "Stop Me," but there's a Ronson-produced album called Love and War coming out any day now. Onstage, Merriweather had nothing if not style, in a skinny tie and a watch fob hanging out of a slate-gray suit, with sleeves pushed up to show a forearm tattoo.