Photo: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via Getty Images
[theCut] Mug shots are the most unforgiving of photo shoots. The downcast lighting and unforgiving camera angle highlight every sagging eye bag, sallow cheek, and oily pore that look the worst in the wee hours of the morning, when the hangover is just beginning to set in and many of the most unflattering celebrity mug shots are taken. Paris Hilton, however, is a mug-shot unicorn: She always avoids looking like she got dragged there from the floor of a wrecked Maybach, instead looking fresh and lovely, like she walked off the set of a Swiffer commercial. Celebrity makeup artist Mally Roncal told us, "I love how she knows what her angles are," and praised her signature swooped-to-one-side mug shot do. Her latest mug shot, taken Friday night in Vegas, is also mighty impressive from a hair and makeup standpoint, although she could have used an extra half a second to open up her lazy eye. Cops took her in after they followed the smell of pot to her Escalade, and then saw her accidentally produce a bag of cocaine from her purse when she pulled out her lip balm. You can tell she's done this a few times because, though she looks a little stressed out in the eyes, her hair is remarkably flyaway-free.
There is a reason that there are over 36,457,549 people in the state of California. Simply said, it kicks ass. The beaches, weather, palm trees, wineries, and Hollywood glamor are all great, but there are other reasons people like me choose to starve, pay insane taxes, and sit in traffic for hours, days on end. Having been a “resident”...ah-hem... of the Sunshine State for over six years now, I have the first hand low-down on why there is no contest when it comes to the infamous East Coast vs. West Coast battle. After all, there is a reason best rhymes with west.
1. The people. I don't care if you are a wannabe, musician, hipster, lost soul, retiree, or tranny, California is your place. The mix of people on the West Coast is phenomenal. At any given day, you could look out your office window and see a guy in skinny jeans, fedora, vest, unnecessary black glasses, tie, and leather bracelets chatting with the homeless man in a purple wig with braided pigtails about the American Idol finale last night. Oh, and an Asian tourist taking a picture of them.
2 . Over 5'7”? Great, you never have to wear heels again! They breed 'em small out here, especially in LA, where the average height for a guy is a solid 5'8”. Took me a while to get
used to this, but then I realized stumbling home in flats is even more enjoyable than dating an appropriately sized man.
3. Yes, New York may have gotten a great summer jam from the self-proclaimed “best rapper of all time”, but where do the girls wear daisy dukes and bikinis on top year round? That's what I thought.
4 . In LA, specifically, there is no stress if you are unemployed. If you need extra cash, become an extra for CSI or 90210: no talent required! If you are embarrassed about all your free time, just tell people you are “doing the acting thing”, then go drink Starbucks and hike up to the Hollywood sign to enjoy “nature” and read a “script”. Over here, not having a job has turned into its own full time job.
5 . West Coasters have day drinking down to an art. Credit the insane amount of rooftop pools or the incredible weather, but I can only assume that has a large amount to do with number 4.
Let's see anyone try to argue their way out of this one. The West Coast is the best coast, hands down, forever and ever...well, until that one big earthquake, but until then...Oh, and one last thing, the Valley isn't really that far from Beverly Hills, so there was no real reason for Cher's dad to get so upset.
Disclaimer: I am a Texas girl born and raised and will forever consider myself that way. However, for the sake of this article, I am not counting the bit of Texas that may or may not be
considered “beachy” and is uncomfortably close to Mexico as a coast...I know you Texans understand).
