BECKY SHER | Hype New ideas in fries and fragrance

Fab fragrance
Once you've finished painting your nails with After Hours, and lining your eyes with Galaxy, give yourself a spritz of Liquid, and head out the door.
Huh? Are we speaking code? No, we're speaking Hard Candy. The ultra-cool cosmetics company that gave you red glitter nail polish and silver glitter eyeliner has introduced its first fragrance -- Hard Candy Liquid. The perfume has the same 'tude as the company's makeup --- fresh, flirty and just a little sassy. It combines a bunch of scents, like licorice, mandarin, freesia, sandalwood and sugared milk. (We're not exactly sure what that last one smells like, but it sounds kind of nice, doesn't it?)
Plus, the bottle is just so cool. It's kind of like the older sister of Hard Candy's nail polish bottles, which all come with rubber rings to decorate your freshly painted fingers. But Liquid takes it one step further, with a funky silver ring created by jewelry designer Colette Malouf. That alone is worth the price of a bottle, which, by the way, is $38 for 1.7 ounces and $48 for 3.4 ounces. Look for Liquid at Sephora stores or online at www.sephora.com.
Fry fun
Here's something that's either great or gross, depending on your point of view: Ore-Ida Funky Fries, the latest attempt to make potatoes popular.
The frozen french fries come in five varieties you probably won't see at McDonald's. To us, the Sour Cream & amp; Jive flavor sounds the most palatable -- not so different from the chips you eat at lunch, right? Cinna-Stiks, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, don't seem too bad either, though we won't take Ore-Ida up on its suggestion that we eat them for breakfast. And Crunchy Rings, crispy potatoes cut into cylinders, are pretty appealing. But what about Kool Blue, seasoned potatoes that are -- you guessed it -- dyed blue? And forgive us if we just can't get on board with Cocoa Crispers, which are, as the name suggests, chocolate french fries.
But we'll let you decide for yourself -- Funky Fries hit supermarkets this spring, and are available in the freezer section for a few bucks each.
XBecky Sher writes Hype for Knight Ridder Tribune News Service. You can write to her at bsher@krtinfo.com.