Author: Cold Cream 'n' Roses

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

Luv and Soul – Only 3 days left on special offer

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Santa Barbara, CA is blessed geographically with both the ocean and mountains and climatically with temperate conditions year round. This setting is an inspiration for the fragrances of Sharon Bolton Scents.

Luv is a delicate blend of florals and vanilla, while Soul is a tropical blend of coconut and fruits. Both Luv and Soul are available as a roll-on perfume oil, body lotion, and body wash.

The Style Page is pleased to announce that Sharon is offering our readers an exclusive 10% discount off all her products. To take advantage of this offer, shop Sharon Bolton Scents and enter “style” in the promo code. You will be charged the regular amount, but Sharon will refund you the 10% savings. This offer is good through February 28, 2006.

You may also find Sharon Bolton Scents on The Style Page website.

To see our current and past promotions, visit del.icio.us/thestylepage/Promotion

Melanin discovery might lead to better skin whitening formulas

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Melanin, as noted previously, is a major determinant of skin color. Eumelanin imparts brownish shades to skin and hair, while Pheomelanin imparts a yellow to reddish shade to skin and hair.

Scientists in Japan claim that they have clarified the structure of tyrosinase, an enzyme that mediates the chemical creation of both eumelanin and pheomelanin.

This development could lead to the development of more effective skin whitening products. Skin whitening products are particularly popular among Asian cosmetics brands such as Shiseido and the troubled Kanebo, whose cosmetics line was purchased by KAO.

Bond No. 9 and Laurice Rahmé

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The New York Times profiles Laurice Rahmé (left), the driver (after reading this article, that seems like a mild term for her) behind the cult fragrances of Bond No. 9, as she debuts Scent of Peace at the UN.

Ms. Rahmé has served as a distributor for such prized fragrance brands as Annick Goutal (Annick Goutal Heure Exquise Eau de Toilette is a favorite of The Style Page) and Creed. The article outlines her falling out with Oliver Creed of Creed, in which she turned her Creed boutiques into Bond No. 9 boutiques. Her tactics have antagonized retail executives at NYC stores such as Barneys and Bergdorf Goodman, which don’t carry Bond No. 9. You can, however, purchase Bond No. 9 online and at select stores, including its boutiques.

Vital Radiance UPDATED 2006-02-22

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Recent history of cosmetics lines for “older” women is strange, to say the least. Maybelline had its Revitalizing line of cosmetics in the 1990s, represented first by Rosie Vela, then by 30-something Paulina Porizkova (after her contract with Estee Lauder ended in 1993), before it discontinued the line. That was a shame, as the Maybelline Revitalizing line had some silky-smooth matte eyeshadows and subtle blushes.

Revlon has enjoyed more continuity with its Age-Defying line, represented first by Melanie Griffith, and now by 45-year-old Julianne Moore and 59-year-old Susan Sarandon.

Today, the market is brimming over with skin care for women over 50 – witness Olay’s Regenerist and L’Oreal’s RevitaLift lines. Cover Girl has recalled its long-time model Christie Brinkley to promote its Advanced Radiance Age-Defying Makeup (note, however, Christie’s hand is always covering her neck – if you’ve seen the Total Gym ads she does with Chuck Norris, you know why).

Revlon has launched a complete cosmetics line called Vital Radiance, targeted at women 50 and over. It’s too tempting to call this makeup for the AARP set (although I’m only a few years shy of that time when I’ll get my invitation to join AARP). Also, brand names that include “vital” and “radiance” for older women are beginning to sound hackneyed.

The foundation is more highly pigmented than others to compensate for loss of color in the complexion. I’ll leave it to a real makeup expert, but I question the wisdom of this approach. It seems to me that color should come from a judicious application of blush in a flattering shade.

Eye shadow trios come into soft colors. Mousse shadow contain shimmer, and I questions why Revlon put shimmer into eye shadow intended for women over 50. Consumers will find the price of Vital Radiance rather high, especially for a mass market brand: one small pot of Vital Radiance EasyBlending Mousse Eye Shadowicon costs $14.50, while Maybelline’s new Dream Mousse Eye Shadow (an extension of its Dream Mousseicon line, costs less than half that price.

 

The Style Page especially liked Vital Radiance Smoothing Eye Primericon. This product does indeed smooth the eye area and provide coverage as a base for eyeshadow and contains no shimmer. Some consumers might object to the peachy shade.

Libraries and linkrolls

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a small sample from the The Penguin Classics Library

The Style Page has completed an update of our Bookstand pages.

On our Books page, we’ve added links for information about several important collections of literature: Penguin Classics (see above), Library of America, the Loeb Classical Library, and the Portable Harvard Classics, which is one person’s labor of love to put every book into plain text for loading onto PDAs. Plenty of books for a lifetime of reading!

I’ve also added a link to the Poetry Archive, which features online recordings of poets reading their own poetry. The Poetry Archive was featured in the New York Times article The Poet’s Voice Online.

Lastly, I’ve added linkrolls to the Books, Media, and Stationery web pages using the utility in del.icio.us. That means that each web page will direct you to topically relevant articles on this blog.

Three can’t-miss looks for spring

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Every spring and fall, the fashion magazines try to sell us on new fashion trends. Over the past few years, there have been several “trends” that re-emerge each year which you can take to the bank:

Nautical – think stripes and white and navy as your core colors, with red and rain slicker yellow as accent colors.

Graphic black and white – Match prints to solid black or white.

Safari – think khaki or tan or other shades of brown as your core color, with safari pockets, self-belts, epaulets, etc. Accent with bold jewelry using elements like wood or (naturally shed) horn. Be careful about animal prints – they can scream “Palm Beach!” Turquoise or aqua work well as accent colors.

The safari jacket (La Saharienne) was introduced by Yves St. Laurent in his 1968 spring/summer collection. Photo from Objets Mythiques (Iconic Objects) from Le Figaro

Review of MAC “Beauty Icon 3” collection Catherine Deneuve – Color

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I had become disillusioned with MAC after it discontinued its Satin foundation several years ago. MAC Satin was the best foundation I ever used, and even better, its price point was more comfortable that prices for foundations from other department store brands. When I wanted to buy another bottle, the makeup artist told me that the foundation had been discontinued and tried to sell me on the merits of peach-toned foundations. I couldn’t believe it. MAC became famous in part for its array of neutral-toned foundations!


Catherine Deneuve – fabulous at 62
(AP Photo/ Markus Schreiber, File)

It was the allure of Catherine Deneuve and MAC’s selecting La Deneuve as its Beauty Icon that brought me back to MAC. I visited one of MAC’s mall stores to test products from the Catherine Deneuve – Color collection.

The Catherine Deneuve – Color collections features two shades of blushing crème, two shades of nail polish, four different shades of Lipglass, four different shades of lip Lacquer, four shades of lipstick, and two eye shadow quads. For the most part, the shades are pretty and wearable (not the adjectives that typically spring to mind with MAC).

I will focus on the lipsticks and eye shadow quads. A Rose (a deep rose) is the most vibrant shade of the lot, while Strawberry Blonde is a pink/coral – not too cool, not too warm – and Sharp Beige is a nude pink. I ultimately opted for Bourbon, which MAC describes as Rich brown/red (Amplified), but it’s more like intensifying the natural color of my lips and giving them a nice polish.

The two eye shadow quads are Laze and Thunder. Laze features two light shades appropriate for all over lid color and two dark shades more appropriate for the crease or for lining the eyes. All shades coordinate well together. Thunder features more dramatic shades that mimic the chartreuse/olive/plum/pink color motif used in the brush handles and compacts of the Catherine Deneuve – Face collection. As I prefer to use tonal shades, I found it difficult to coordinate all shades from this quad together – and judging from the “Looks” on MAC’a web site, neither could MAC’s makeup artists.

Renée Davide Handbags

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Renée Davide is a new line of handbags from the sister-brother team of Renee and Davide LaTulippe. Renée handles sales and marketing from her home base in Tuscany, Italy, while Davide focuses on design and fabrication in New York City. Their handbags feature classic shapes, Italian leather, and European linen with a twist: the fabric is embellished with embroidery featuring their whimsical designs.

Here are Renée Davide’s most popular designs:


The Signature Satchel, featuring the flamingo logo that has become the Renée Davide signature


The “Catsanova” wristlet

The Style Page is delighted to announce that Renée Davide is offering a 15% discount any of their regular priced handbags (which also include totes, day bags, and clutches). To take advantage of this offer, visit their online shop at www.reneedavide.com and enter discount code StylePage15 in the comments section on checkout.

(NOTE: Your discount will not show up at checkout, but will be taken when your order is actually processed).

This promotion is in effect until Saturday, April 8, 2006. We will repost this message periodically to remind you about this offer.