Author: Cold Cream 'n' Roses

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

Michael Graves cosmetic pencil sharpener

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I am a sucker for standout packaging, although I know that packaging often costs more than the product itself.  Examples of standout packaging are:

This pod is actually a cosmetic pencil sharpener. Designed by famed product designer Michael Graves, it features dual German stainless steel blades – you know that the Germans always make good stuff! 🙂

For stylish kitchen, beauty, home and office, and safety and industrial implements, visit Slice™. Besides Michael Graves, featured designers are the pink-suited Karim Rashid, Yves Behar, Scot Herbst, and Alfredo Muccino.

k.d. lang sings Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah #MusicMonday

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It’s been several weeks since I had a #MusicMonday feature. This week, I present k.d. lang’s rendition of Leonard Cohen’s much-recorded Hallelujah.  You will have to click through the freeze-frame to watch the video:

It’s hard to believe, but I’ve been a fan of Leonard Cohen’s songs for over 40 years (I was precocious), when Judy Collins introduced Leonard Cohen to the listening public.

Watch the end of the video, when k.d. lang honors Leonard Cohen, who is sitting in the front row.  Don’t blink, or else you’ll miss Anne Murray 🙂

A distant cousin posted this video to Facebook.

P&G pulls Taylor Swift Cover Girl mascara ad

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P&G (Cover Girl) has been more honest than L’Oreal (which also owns Maybelline) about enhancing images for its ads: for example, in its LashBlast mascara ads featuring Drew Barrymore, it provides fine print that lash inserts were applied before mascara.

Now comes news that P&G has pulled its ad featuring Taylor Swift for its NatureLuxe Mousse Mascara, after the US Council of Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division requested that P&G substantiate its claims and called into account P&G’s enhancing the image to mislead the consumer about how much the mascara enhances the eyes:

The issue of Photoshopping images has been a hot topic on online fashion and beauty forums.  Are we ready for more realistic advertising?  We claim we are, but as ExtremeTech notes,

 “… humans are incredibly sensitive to visual stimuli — and multiple trillion-dollar industries, including advertising, cosmetics, movies, and TV, all stand to gain by making their products look more appealing. There is a reason that digital manipulation and post production is so prevalent, after all — and indeed, it could even be argued that non-manipulated images now look ugly to our eyes.”

UK’s Advertising Standards Authority bans misleading cosmetics ads

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The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority banned an excessively retouched ad featuring Julia Roberts for Lancome and this one featuring Christy Turlington for Maybelline:

At right, a fresh-faced Turlington dares to bare.

The ASA deemed these ads misleading, as the perfect complexions were a result of photo manipulation, not product use.  Watch this space for US crackdown on misleading cosmetics advertising.

New Year 2012 resolutions

Cold Cream 'n' Roses
Happy New Year 2012

Here are my 2012 New Year resolutions, in no particular order:

  • Find more rewarding work.  Einstein said that insanity was doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.  I recognize that millions of Americans would simply like to find work to support themselves and their families.
  • Deepen my spiritual life.
  • Get out of debt.
  • Replace my wardrobe.
  • Blast the belly fat:  I lost 30 pounds, but still have a roll of belly fat.  I’d like to get out of the major masher Miraclesuit power panties – Spanx doesn’t hold a candle to these! 🙂

What are your five New Year resolutions?

My New Year aspirations for The Style Page blog

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Happy New Year 2012

I reactivated The Style Page blog in August 2011 after a year and a half absence.  I’ve reconnected with the terrific creative people whom I’ve met over the years that I’ve maintained this blog and made new friends.

So what do I want for this blog?  What everyone blogger wants: more readership, more blog traffic, and opportunities for remuneration (as long as I can maintain my integrity).  But what I want most of all is reader engagement.

Then, if there’s sufficient interest, I’d like to get my own domain name and engage a professional to design a logo and upgrade to WordPress.  Any advice?

Candles for the holidays

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My husband and I spent a quiet Christmas at home.  The only decoration was the floral arrangement that he Photoshopped.  I pulled out my Christmas CDs for a listen.  I rarely burn candles, because of safety issues, but here are a couple that I burned on Christmas Eve:

Manuel Canovas Bois de Lune Candle

Manuel Canovas Bois de Lune Candle has a heady, smoky fragrance like burning wood.

What’s even more fragrant than Manuel Canovas Bois de Lune Candle?

Voluspa Decorative 3 Wick Tin/Burmese Rosewood
Source: amazon.com via STYLE on Pinterest

Voluspa Decorative 3 Wick Tin/Burmese Rosewood, 12oz Tin features notes of Burmese Rosewood, Palisander Bark, and Tonka Bean.  Its fragrance carries a long distance.

The fine print: The Style Page is an Amazon.com affiliate.  It earns nominal commissions through purchases of Voluspa Decorative 3 Wick Tin/Burmese Rosewood, 12oz Tin made by selecting the link on this post. When I checked Amazon.com on December 28, there were only 5 left.

Twelve Oils of Ancient Scripture by Young Living

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Twelve Oils of Ancient Scripture by Young Living

I still have the Twelve Oils of Ancient Scripture kit by Young Living that I purchased from a friend at church 4 years ago.  Since then, she’s retired and relocated to Asheville, North Carolina.  I use the oils as inhalants (no, I don’t get high!) and keep the kit in the night stand to enjoy the resinous fragrances wafting from the kit as I lie in bed.

Now comes news that frankincense could be on the verge of extinction, due to a number of factors.  All the more reason to cherish the bottle of essence of frankincense in the Twelve Oils of Ancient Scripture kit.

Frankincense in The Bible:
Frankincense is identified as one of the gifts of the Magi, as identified in the Gospel of Matthew.  The Sydney Morning Herald goofs in calling frankincense the “bitter perfume.” That distinction belongs to myrrh.

Here are the symbolic meanings of the gifts of frankincense, myrrh, and gold (from Wikipedia):

  • Frankincense – deity
  • Myrrh (an embalming oil) – death, anticipating Christ’s death.
  • Gold – kingship on earth

BTW there is no mention of the names of the Magi in The Bible.  The names – Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar – ascribed to the Magi in western tradition come from other sources.