Author: Cold Cream 'n' Roses

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Femme Couture at Sally Beauty Supply

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I went to Sally Beauty Supply to shop for plastic cosmetic spatulas (the type packaged with Jolen Creme Bleach), and discovered Femme Couture, a color cosmetics line sold exclusively through Sally Beauty Supply stores and sallybeauty.com.


Femme Couture Mineral Effect Blush in Tuscan Rose

The best of Femme Couture is its Mineral Effects Blush, which comes in six different shades: three for lighter complexions and three for darker complexions. The three blushes for darker complexions – Tuscan Rose, Canyon Earth, and French Roast (a deep, deep red brown) are especially beautiful.


Femme Couture Flawless Touch Undereye Concealer

Also recommended is Femme Couture’s Flawless Touch Undereye Concealer, a creamy, easy to blend stick concealer with an inner core that’s claimed to minimize the appearance of under eye circles.

So-so is Femme Couture’s Ultra Hydrating Lip Color: I would have liked more pigment. Pass up on its oil-free Eye Makeup Remover, a gooey mess which does a poor job of removing eye makeup.

You can get discounts on Femme Couture and other products sold through Sally Beauty Supply by purchasing a membership card. The $5.00 annual fee quickly pays for itself.

Sally’s e-newsletters has news about specials. Sally also has a presence on Facebook. To subscribe, visit the home page of Sally Beauty Supply and scroll down to the bottom of the page. You’ll find the links to the left.

Total Beauty Weekly Web Tour

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Total Beauty Web Tour

Head over to Bare Budget Beauty this week for your chance to win a beautiful train case with $100 worth of brand name products from BeautyTicket.com!!

Check out A Little More Beautiful’s Great Skin for Spring series with tips for skin care based on specific skin types: How to Take Care of Dry Skin

Viva Woman shows you how to get a new nail polish color without having to spend more.

Checkout the Informed Makeup Maven’s hot spring buys, where to get advice for your beauty budget and Stila kaput?! and don’t forget to enter the ‘Yes’ to Carrots giveaway, the lovely lips giveaway and soft lips lip balm bunch

GIVEAWAY ALERT! The Anti Hair Slave and KeraCare has teamed up to give one lucky reader the entire new collection especially made for weaves and extensions!

Beauty Anonymous brings you YSL Summer 2009 Makeup Collection.

Glossypink has a super hot new layout with easier to find reviews on the latest products and how to get your favorite celebrity looks!

Beauty411 has been using the new high-tech Lancôme Génifique Youth Activating Concentrate. Check out her review here!

The LA Pretties are raving about Valentino: The Last Emperor! It’s a story of love, fashion, pugs, and being tan.

Who is an eyebrow’s best friend? Advice Sister Alison of “The Advice Sisters” interviews eyebrow specialist Elke Von Freudenberg and discovers what makes her so special!

Monique at Beauty Girl Musings reviews the new Herbal Essences Hydralicious shampoos and conditioners via Beauty Girl TV, her online video blog!

The Makeup Divas reviews the Clarisonic Skin Care Brush. While you are there, check out all of her giveaways and enter for some fabulous prizes!

The Easter Beagle of Girl-Woman-Beauty-Brains-Blog is delivering an Easter Basket full of hare hair products worth over $300! Hop to it and enter now!

Face Candy shows you one of her favorite neon nail shades.

The Shades Of U shares swatches and descriptions of all her MAC neutral eye shadows, with more swatches coming up soon!

This week, Spoiled Pretty is keeping up with Kim Kardashian. Click here for the exclusive interview, featuring Kim’s beauty and style secrets. It’s a MUST READ!

Beauty Is Within shows you how to get salon beautiful nails on a budget!

Is this the end of an era? Is it possible that Stila is bankrupt? Read what happened while Beauty Junkies Unite was sleeping!

Enter to win göt2b Smooth Operator Collection on Lipgloss Break!

Boutique Flair reviews the Invisibelt. This is a wardrobe must-have created by a veteran Beauty Director for leading women’s magazines!

The Jet Set Girls are giving away a Smythson Jewelry Roll worth (no kidding!!) $465!

Indian Girl talks about her favorite foundation brushes for an absolute flawless look.

Get Sexy Glowing Skin with Jergens-by Talking Makeup!

The girls over at Beauty in Real Life share Chanel’s new Summer line with you. Check it out here. And while you are there enter to win a copy of Bobbi Brown’s Living Beauty and Charla Krupp’s How Not to Look Old!!

Beauty Am Eye tells you how to get that lovely Afterglow .

Caring for your makeup brushes

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Here’s advice from Shalini Vadhera of Global Goddess Beauty in her e-newsletter that got my attention.

She provides the conventional wisdom about when to discard makeup:

Concealer: Up to 12 months
Powder: 2 years
Cream & gel cleansers: 1 year

Pencil eye liner: 3 years
Eyeshadow: 3 years
Foundation: 1 year
Lip liner: 3 years
Lipstick: 2 years, but if it starts to smell, replace it
Mascara: the fastest of these cosmetics to expire, will last no more than 3 months!

We know that cosmetics last longer than what she quoted: in fact, industry insiders have admitted that cosmetics are good to use five years after purchase.

Shalini then writes,

Here’s a trick to keep your cosmetics lasting as long as possible. Use clean brushes, not fingers, for a healthy application. Brushes should be washed every 2-3 months in a mild detergent and laid flat to dry. If they begin to fray or split, replace them in order to ensure the smoothest application.

I was surprised that she recommended 2-3 months between washings. Usually, pros recommend washing brushes every month. This is especially important for eye makeup brushes for hygienic reasons.

Here’s what I’ve learned about caring for makeup brushes:

* It takes about a day for eye makeup brushes to dry after washing.
* For face makeup brushes, it can take up to 2 days to dry after washing.
* Be judicious about using spray-on, tissue-off brush cleaners. These cleaners are a great convenience, but many contain alcohol or other ingredients that strip oils from natural hair bristles.
* If you develop an eye infection, it’s essential to wash your brushes. You might want to avoid eye makeup altogether until the eye infection is gone.
* If you use loose mineral powders, clean your brushes often so that color applies true.
* Shampoo is essentially detergent, so you can use shampoo to wash your brushes.

The Solution by Envision Beauty

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The Solution by Envision Beauty

The Solution by Envision Beauty streamlines skin care. It is a multi-tasking product that replaces night cream, serum, eye cream, and makeup primer. It also advertises itself as a replacement for day cream, but since it’s not rated for SPF, I hesitate to call it a replacement for day cream.
The Solution is a lightweight lotion that leaves a non-greasy, non-oily finish. I apply it after washing my face at night, and my skin is so soft and smooth in the morning that I don’t need to reapply it to use as a makeup primer.

Envision Beauty was founded by Kimberly Snyder, who has traveled the world learning about botanicals and worked in the beauty industry. The Solution features both natural anti-oxidants and state of the art ingredients.

Kimberly’s next introduction will be the brightening cleanser. Given that I’m impressed by The Solution, I’m looking forward to the launch of the brightening cleanser.

You may shop for The Solution and sign up to get news about the launch of the brightening cleanser at the web site for Envision Beauty.

No cosmetics brand inspires such fierce loyalty as MAC

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TotalBeauty.com,

TotalBeauty.com
The Best and Worst MAC Cosmetics Products

Your shopping guide to this cult-fave makeup brand

The Best and Worst MAC Cosmetics Products

Before you buy your next eyeshadow or makeup brush — check out these unbiased reader reviews. They reveal that of all (and there are thousands) of the MAC products available, the brushes top every makeup-lovers list. But not all MAC products are perfect — so be sure to steer clear of the ones on our readers’ do-not-buy lists.

See products

The Worst: No. 4: MAC Green Gel Cleanser, $19.50

TotalBeauty.com average member rating: 6.0*

The Worst: No. 4: MAC Green Gel Cleanser, $19.50

What you said: “It doesn’t [have a] rich lather and it doesn’t leave my skin feeling fresh. I guess it’s ok for…”

No. 3: MAC Prep + Prime Eye, $16

TotalBeauty.com average member rating: 5.7*

No. 3: MAC Prep + Prime Eye, $16

What you said: “I figured since MAC has such great eyeshadows, they’d obviously have a great primer for them… WRONG!…”

The Best: No. 15: MAC Eye Shadow, $14.50

TotalBeauty.com average member rating: 9.4*

The Best: No. 15: MAC Eye Shadow, $14.50

What you said: “THE best eyeshadow I have ever used. I will never switch to another brand when it comes to…”

Want to see the rest of the list? Click here!

Josie Maran Cosmetics

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Former Maybelline model Josie Maran wanted to create an eco-friendly cosmetics line with glamour and sophistication. Josie Maran Cosmetics are formulated from organic ingredients. Even the packaging (pink-gold metal) is recyclable.

Josie Maran Lipstick

I tried Josie Maran Lipstick and Concealer.

The lipstick went on slick, even wet, spread beyond the lips, and dried down to a lip stain finish, complete with a tingling sensation. I used Mysterious, described as a sheer wine, but it is deeper and more matte than shown on Josie Maran Cosmetics’ website. On one hand, Mysterious seemed to shrink the size of my lips; on the other, it was so dark, it looked goth.

The stick concealer is dryer than other stick concealers I’ve tried. I used Butter, which is indeed yellow, for light skin tones. This spring, Josie Maran has added two additional shades of concealer: Creme for very fair skin tones and Espresso for for rich/deep skin tones.

You may shop Josie Maran Cosmetics online at josiemarancosmetics.com, Vert, or Sephora.com.

New skin care at Walgreen’s

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My slogan at More Than a Pretty Face is “beauty is where you find it.” At one level, that means I search out dollar stores, drug stores, beauty supply stores, mail order catalogues, department stores, specialty stores, and more to discover beauty products. Today I focus on new skin care products sold through Walgreen’s.

Walgreen’s is now discontinuing its European Beauty Collection of skin care brands, which means that people can now buy these products at discount.

At the same time, Walgreen’s has entered into exclusive distribution agreements with Korea’s The Face Shop and Italy’s Equilibra.

The principal product from The Face Shop is a moist mask sheet that you lay over your face for 20 minutes. The mask sheets is available in a variety of different formulas, including botanical solutions.


Equilibra Perlabella Anti-Aging Retinol Face capsules

The principal product from Equilibra is Perlabella, “pearls” or capsules of face serum in different formulas. You may buy packages containing 28 capsules from walgreens.com or Amazon.com. Packets containing seven capsules may be purchased at Walgreen’s stores.

Is there a beauty junkie who doesn’t like Sephora?

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TotalBeauty.com
The 22 Best Sephora Buys

Consider this the ultimate buying guide to your favorite beauty store

The 22 Best Sephora Buys

Sephora really is the beauty junkies’ paradise. There are so many products to play with, you could spend days sampling and still not try everything. But, since most of us don’t have days, or even hours, to spend in the store, we rounded up these TotalBeauty.com reader reviews and ratings for you. Now you’ll know exactly which products at Sephora are worth your precious time and money.

See products

No. 22: Beautyblender Sponge, $18.50

TotalBeauty.com average member rating: 9.1*

No. 22: Beautyblender Sponge, $18.50

Why it’s great: “This is such a wonderful tool. The broad base of the sponge is…”

No. 21: CARGO Bronzer, $25

TotalBeauty.com average member rating: 9.1*

No. 21: CARGO Bronzer, $25

Why it’s great: “CARGO’s bronzer is a great find and beauty bag staple. CARGO didn’t leave us pale…”

No. 20: Nars Blush, $25

TotalBeauty.com average member rating: 4.6*

No. 20: Nars Blush, $25

Why it’s great: “I have the award winning shade, orgasm. I was a little apprehensive…”

Want to see what’s #1? Click here!

Shop these products through Sephora.com!

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

Total Beauty Web Tour

Viva Woman tells you 10 things to avoid when cleansing your face.

Beauty Secrets Revealed tells you about Morning Banana Diet- Japanese Way Of Losing Weight.

The Informed Makeup Maven talks green washing and cosmetics and wants you to peek inside her spring makeup bag. Don’t forget to check out her giveaway this fortnight, Rimmel recover foundation and Suki UV blotting papers!

Beauty Anonymous brings you YSL Summer 2009 Limited-edition Collection.

LA Pretty‘s fave new skin cream is making their skin brighter, clearer, and protecting their Pretty faces from the LA sun. And did we mention it’s affordable? Find out what it is here

Frappelattes has pictures of Nicole Richie with baby bump #2! Plus, discover where you can find all-natural pregnancy products to make this pregnancy a beautiful one.

This week Average Metro Joe covers an exclusive laser treatment for hair loss that is completely safe for men and women with troublesome hair loss.

Visit The Beauty Couch to read a review of Maybelline’s Lash Stiletto and to enter a drawing to win one for yourself!

The Anti Hair Slave shows you how the Instyler really works. Watch the video review to check it out on a REAL person and also learn a couple tips and tricks for super sleek hair.

Check out one of the coolest nail polish innovations Beauty Junkies Unite has seen in a long time! Incoco Dry Nail Applique kits are a hit!

Daily Dose of Coffee tries out the new Jonathan Product Dirt offering: Spray Dirt. Is it worth the hefty price tag?

Are you a Bare Escentuals or mineral makeup fan? Beauty411 tries out the new Bare Escentuals Buxom Lash Mascara!

See what Fabulous Over Forty uses for her daily and weekly skincare regimen.

Girl-Woman-Beauty-Brains-Blog is holding a Manic Monday/April Fool’s giveaway. Enter to win a Spa Sensuals set. BUT since the giveaway ends on April Fool’s Day, Jamie and Beckie are throwing in the kitchen sink of beauty products as well. Don’t be fooled. Enter now!

Boutique Flair is one of the first to test some mineral makeup and natural skin care products from the newly launched PRIIA Cosmetics!

eye4style loves the off-kilter luxury of Strange Invisible Perfumes. Check out her review of the three newest scents in the line!

More Than a Pretty Face reminds everyone that the 40% off introductory offer on Daniel Chinchilla Cosmetics ends March 31. Take advantage of the offer now!

More Than a Pretty Face has a new giveaway: win one of two scented candles from Delirium & Co!

Indian Girl has just the lipstick for lip gloss lovers ! Also, get all your concealer questions answered by pros at Three Custom Color Specialists ! Send in your questions today!

The girls over at Beauty in Real Life are having another giveaway. Click here to enter to win a Galvanic Spa II kit, valued over $350!!!

Glossypink tells you how to get Nicole Richie’s Blackbook Magazine makeup look!

The Makeup Divas reviews a few products from the new Avon Celestial 2009 Spring Collection.

The Advice Sisters Alison Blackman loves Josie Maran’s Tinted MoisturizerRead the review to find out why!

Get The Look: Katie Holmes New Long Hair-by Talking Makeup!

Enter Lipgloss Break’s Kitten Vixen Lipgloss Giveaway!

Hot Beauty Health loves Korres new Eco-Friendly Face Primer. Read to find out why!

Have you been looking for Cheap Strivectin? RN Guide to Skin Care found an almost identical item for a fraction of the cost.

Suzanne at Mineral Makeup Reviews reviews Mineral Hygiencis a bismuth free mineral makeup with incredible staying power.

The Beauty Blog is offering a free special report 12 ways to save money on your favorite beauty products when you sign up for The Beauty Insider, a free monthly beauty newsletter from four top rated beauty sites.

This week, Spoiled Pretty is giving away the new June Jacobs Vanda Orchid Collection: four products (shower gel, body balm, mist, and dry oil body spray) to keep the skin hydrated, glowing and beautiful.