Author: Cold Cream 'n' Roses

#beauty #cosmetics #makeup #skincare #fashion An eclectic collection of #music posted on #Mondays

Canada now requires truth-in-labeling for cosmetics

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OTTAWA – Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh announced today amendments to the Cosmetic Regulations which will require all cosmetic products sold in Canada to list the ingredients on the label. A two-year implementation period has been allowed for industry to comply with the new requirements. These regulations were published in Canada Gazette, Part II, on December 1, 2004. They will come into force on November 16, 2006.

“Mandatory labelling of cosmetic ingredients will increase consumer safety by allowing the public to make more informed choices when selecting cosmetic products,” said Minister Dosanjh. “This will enable medical professionals to refer to a common chemical name for the purpose of treatment and incidence reporting, and will also enable the public to easily identify ingredients to which they may have sensitivities. This initiative will also harmonize our cosmetic labelling with many of our trading partners.”

Cosmetics are defined as “any substance or mixture of substances manufactured, sold or represented for use in cleansing, improving or altering the complexion, skin, hair or teeth and includes deodorants and perfumes.” Estimated sales of cosmetics in Canada total over $5.3 billion annually. All of these products, including both beauty preparations (make-up, perfume, skin cream, nail polish) and grooming aids (soap, shampoo, deodorant) will be required to meet the new regulations.

Under the proposed amendments, ingredients must be disclosed on the cosmetic labels using recognized names from the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients (INCI) system (as found in the International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary and Handbook, Tenth Edition). INCI is used in the United States, the European Union, Japan, and many other countries.

Health Canada has consulted a broad spectrum of Canadians over several years, including industry, consumer groups, and medical professionals. Medical professionals, such as dermatologists, and consumer groups strongly support ingredient disclosure. The industry is similarly supportive of the regulatory amendment because it will result in more uniform international labelling requirements.

The new regulations can be found on the Canada Gazette Web site.

Review of Jouer Cosmetics

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It seems that every cosmetics company, from prestige brands to Markwins International’s The Color Workshop, have released special edition gift sets or palettes for the holidays. The problem with gift sets or palettes is that while one might find a few shades she really likes, the rest of the shades go unused. That’s why The Style Page prefers singles, and come to think about it, that’s why she wasn’t smittened with American Beauty cosmetics, as it offers eyeshadow duos only – see the posting on Beauty from Kohl’s Department Stores.


Creme eyeshadows from Jouer

Jouer (pronounced “zhoo-ay”, French for “to play”) is a cosmetics line from film producer Christine Zilber and makeup artist Kerry Malouf. It features singles for face, lips, and eyes that can be attached together to create individualized palettes.

I took advantage of the 3-for-2 offer from the Lucky Breaks section of November 2004 issue of Lucky to try Jouer cosmetics. I selected lip gloss in Monsoon (a deep wine) and cream eye color in Cashmere, described as “khaki brown with shimmer” but really a shimmery taupe. As the freebie, I received lip gloss in Starfish, described as “luminous buff with shimmer” but it’s so sheer, it’s like applying clear shimmer.

Performance-wise, I liked all the Jouer products I received. The textures are indeed sheer but layerable, as the Jouer website says. The customized palette system is smart, but the white packaging would get dirty in a makeup kit. I would consider buying Jouer products again, even though the price ($18) for an individual color is too steep for my liking.

Jouer may be purchased directly from their website. The 3-for-2 offer from Lucky might still be valid – check the November issue to be sure. Also, Jouer is offering free shipping for purchases over $70 to registered users – you would have to buy a minimum of four colors to qualify.

Alternatively, Jouer may be purchased through Sephora.com. Sephora offers free shipping for purchases over $75, free gift packaging, and 3 free samples with purchase. Its web site offers an extensive selection of brands, and you can mix and match from its many brands to qualify for free shipping. You may also visit Sephora.com by clicking on the Sephora banners on any of the Beauty pages on The Style Page web site.

Major updates to the BEAUTY pages

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This week (actually the day before Thanksgiving), I completed a major update of the Beauty pages. I am always surprised by the number of cosmetics brands I discovered. The Cosmetics page has many new additions, particularly brands that I discovered during a trip to Italy (Lake Maggiore) last month. As always, I want to recognize those brands about which people sent me information through the Contact Us page or email: Cherriflip, Ava Aromatics, and Melis. After I had published the latest updates, I received information about Beloved Body Care and My Vanity Case, a beauty and perfumery website with a presence at London’s venerable Fortnum & Mason department store.

Paula Begoun questions sources and methodology of cosmetics ingredient report

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Paula

The Beauty > Consumer page of The Style Page provides links to product reviews, sites on cosmetics safety, and animal testing. This page links to the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep report, “a safety assessment of ingredients in personal care products.” Paula Begoun questions the sources and methodology used by the EWG in her Beauty Bulletin in response to an inquiry about the safety of titanium dioxide, which is used as a white pigment in cosmetics and also as a sunscreen ingredient.

Paula notes,

“Much of what the EWG reported was confusing or hard to interpret as their sources either didn’t include the actual substance being evaluated or they used animal and inhalation studies … Rats being fed or injected with substances doesn’t relate to how it is used (or what effect it might have) when mixed in a cosmetic and applied on the skin.”

Home and Design pages now updated

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I’ve just completed updating the Home and Design pages on The Style Page, with new additions to the ACCESSORIES, BATH, BEDROOM, CARPETS AND FLOORS, CERAMICS, CLOSETS, FURNITURE, KITCHEN, TABLETOP, TEXTILES, and YOUTH pages.

It’s been great to get notice for the Home and Design pages. Karen from Switzerland found The Style Page while searching for Judy Ross Textiles. She recommended nonchalantmom, a web site offering modern (not cutesy) clothing for children, playthings, and “nesting materials” – pillows, blankets, etc. Karen also directed me to designaddict.com, a major resource on modern design. As you browse the Home and Design pages, you will find several links to designaddict.com.

Nick wrote to inform The Style Page about his website Miam Miam (meaning “yum-yum” in French), which sells French products including quilts and home accessories. Miam Miam is also a “bricks-and-mortar” store in Edinburgh, Scotland.


Textiles from Creative Women

I was in Cleveland, Ohio, where I visited the Cleveland Museum of Art and of course, its museum shop. Whoever selects merchandise for the museum shop is doing a fabulous job! It’s not just reproductions of art on T-shirts and other accessories. The museum shop also features pillows from Maharam, but the discovery for me were the shawls and other textiles from Creative Women, which is opening markets for textiles based on traditional designs, colors, and materials from Ethiopia and promoting women’s economic independence in that African country.

Major updates to Fashion pages

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Many new links have been added to the Fashion pages of The Style Page.

pinkmascara.com notified The Style Page that they have expanded into apparel.

The Style Page also received a request from Emma Gordon Handbags, which is based in London, to list their website. Check out their collection of fabric handbags. Below is the Grace handbag:

Mascara reviews – Rimmel, Physicians Formula

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It’s been said that once women find a mascara they like, they stick to it. The Style Page is no exception. Several years ago, I discovered Maybelline’s Volum’Express mascara and stuck to it. I take advantage of sales to stock up. I like the way it thickens my eyelashes and doesn’t clump. However, I am a sucker for new ways of packaging cosmetics.


Volum’Eyes Instant Full Volume Comb Mascara from Rimmel

Rimmel Volum’Eyes Instant Full Volume Comb Mascara features a comb rather a mascara brush. One would think that the comb would separate lashes and prevent clumping, but it doesn’t. After applying this mascara, my lashes looked like the spiky eyelashes that Cher had in her Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour heydey. In that way, the store displays featuring Kate Moss with a curiously clean mascara wand are misleading. Shop Rimmel at Wal-Mart.


Lash-in-a-Tube® Full Coverage Cream Mascara from Physicians’ Formula

Physicians Formula Lash-in-a-Tube Mascara is also billed as a volumizing mascara. While this mascara doesn’t clump like the Rimmel mascara, it doesn’t build volume. Shop Physicians Formula at major drugstores and discount chains.

After applying mascara, I brush my lashes with a mascara wand salvaged from a tube that I discarded. But if you like a good gimmick (as I do), you can also use Paula Dorf’s Mascara Fan ($16). Shop Paula Dorf at Sephora.

Beauty from Kohl’s Department Stores

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The marketing of cosmetics is a strange business. Sears rolled out its Circle of Beauty concept comprising fragrance, skin care, and color cosmetics with much fanfare, and then decided to exit the beauty business only a few years later. JC Penney announced it too was getting out of the beauty business and stopped carrying Iman, Color Me Beautiful, and Ultima II at its stores. The decisions of Sears and JC Penney to get out of selling cosmetics was a blow to Avon, which expected to market its beComing line through these retail outlets. Avon therefore had to rely on its traditional means of selling (sales representatives, carts at the mall) to market beComing.

Discount stores have sought to distinguish themselves by selling products its competitors don’t have. Wal-Mart sells Coty’s Rimmel, while Target sells a cosmetics line from makeup artist Sonia Kashuk. The beleaguered KMart Corporation is not selling an exclusive line of cosmetics, but given the energy it’s put into advertising its new clothing lines (including ads in Vogue), I wouldn’t be surprised if KMart rolled out its own line of cosmetics.

I have already written about Walgreen’s selling IsaDora cosmetics from Sweden and CVS’s selling Lumene Cosmetics .

Mid-priced stores such as Caldor and Upton’s have gone out of business altogether, and the market leader in this category is clearly Kohl’s. Kohl’s has entered into marketing cosmetics in a most audacious way. It has partnered with the Beauty Bank division of Estee Lauder Companies to establish three cosmetics lines in its stores. The three lines are good skin, American Beauty, and Flirt!

good skin offers skin care products, of course. The packages are color-coded according to complexion. Good skin care also offers foundation and concealers.

American Beauty features a real American beauty – Ashley Judd – as its “face.” I have been in love with Ashley Judd ever since seeing her in the movie Simon Birch and linger over magazines on which she’s featured on the cover, but even she can’t excite me in this cosmetics line.

Flirt! is the most captivating of the three cosmetics lines. It’s targeted to younger consumers and features a wide range of colors (and of course, shimmer). The Style Page judges a cosmetics line by its selection of eye shadows, and Flirt! offers a wide variety of both matte and shimmery colors. The boxes are color-coded and the eye shadow container slides open and a mirror pop ups (great packaging, but needless). The Style Page bought Dreamy Eyes Eyeshadow ($10) in Mellowtini, a shimmery olive that would be appropriate for the crease or the wedge (the outer third of the eyelid).

UK retailer Marks & Spencer launches new cosmetics line

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Telegraph | Fashion | Form a queue for Per Una’s unmissable make-up


Per Una Cream Cheek Colour from Marks & Spencer

I’ve been writing a lot lately about cosmetics lines exclusive to a particular chain of stores. Now comes news that UK retailer Marks & Spencer will launch a new cosmetics line Per Una to join its other exclusive lines Autograph, Enhance, and Mien.

NYT and WSJ recognize benefit of lifestyle coverage

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When I visited my folks in St. Louis in early September, I began each morning reading the Wall Street Journal (IMO the only journal of record in the U.S.) Maybe it was because of New York Fashion Week, but I was surprised by the amount of coverage given to fashion in the WSJ: for example, there were articles on how to wear the new retro styles (tweeds, brooches) without looking dowdy and the importance of patternmakers to fashion designers. The WSJ has greatly increased its lifestyle coverage and plans to launch a weekend edition in Fall 2005 to compete for advertising dollars. Meanwhile, the WSJ has launched a television show The Wall Street Journal Weekend on the Fine Living TV network.

T: The New York Times Style Magazine

The New York Times has revamped its fashion and interior design coverage into a new Sunday magazine simply called T: The New York Times Style Magazine. To learn more about T, read this press release from the New York Times Company.