Author: Cold Cream 'n' Roses

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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.

Catherine Deneuve collections by MAC now out

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MAC’s third “Beauty Icon” collection is now available at maccosmetics.com and gloss.com and in the stores. Each “Beauty Icon” collection pays tribute to a particular celebrity. The two previous honorees were Liza Minelli and Diana Ross. MAC has always been unconventional (recall that female impersonator RuPaul was the spokesmodel for MAC’s first print campaign), but what was MAC thinking by selecting Liza Minelli and Diana Ross? I discussed Ross in a post on on this blog from last year. Liza Minelli’s career after her breakthrough role in the movie Cabaret (1972) has been plagued by addictions, lousy vehicles to showcase her talent, and four marriages that ended in divorce: the last marriage, to producer David Gest, ended with a lawsuit claiming that she abused him. Both Minelli and Ross are also plagued by lasting associations with Michael Jackson.

The current collection honors Catherine Deneuve, who is not only working steadily (she’s now 62), but who also has become the model for aging well. She eschews cosmetic surgery, and chose to keep an extra fifteen pounds rather than incur wrinkles.


Catherine Deneuve for MAC (2006)

This is not the first time that Deneuve has modeled for a beauty product. In the 1970s, she appeared in an ad campaign for Chanel no. 5. She is more sensual at 62 than she was in her 30s!


Catherine Denueve for Chanel no. 5 (1970s)

Tagging now complete on The Style Page blog

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I’ve liked how some bloggers “tag” or assign their entries to different categories, but didn’t know how to tag using Blogger. By searching Blogger help, I found out how to add tags.

You can now find entries on The Style Page blog with particular tags by visiting our Technorati profile or del.icio.us/thestylepage. del.icio.us features a comprehensive list of tags and also provides customized RSS feeds for entries with particular tags. That way you can subscribe to only the topics that interest you.

I’ve gone NUTS with tagging! Although I said that I wouldn’t tag all entries, I have indeed tagged all 100+ entries … and even embellished archived entries with pictures. You might enjoy browsing the archives to see our new additions.

Check out the linkroll I created for the Books page! Also see the tagroll I created for this blog … just scroll down the sidebar to My Del.icio.us tags.

Belen Echandia

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In 2001, Jackie Cawthra returned to London after a year in Spain, where she discovered stylish handbags in fine leathers and a variety of colors. Although Jackie was trained as a lawyer and had no prior design experience, she debuted her first handbag collection in 2003 and reimagined the handbags that she loved in Spain. To reflect that Spanish influence, she named her line Belen Echandia, after a Spanish girl’s name. (“Belen” means “Bethlehem” in Spanish.)


Stroke Me handbag from Belen Echandia in Smoky Gray

Belen Echandia handbags feature traditional styles and offer the customers fine soft leathers in a choice of colors and textures. Each handbag comes with a signature fuschia lining, stamped zipper pulls, and oodles of compartments and pockets to stash your stuff.

At a time when luxury products are being outsourced to the Far East, notably to China, Jackie has her handbags crafted by a family-owned business in Spain. To see Belen Echandia handbags in other styles and colors, visit their website or browse the Bags and Luggage page on The Style Page for “Belen Echandia.” Belen Echandia handbags are also available from Bag Borrow or Steal.

L’Oreal HIP High Intensity Pigments

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L’Oreal has a new makeup line called HIP High Intensity Pigments now available at drugstores and mass-market retailers. I was struck by the outre makeup on the models that looks like something to be found on a MAC display. Even the typeface for HIP looks like MAC’s.

The collection comprises 61 shades of creme blush, base, eyeshadow, lipcolor, lip gloss, bronzer, and eye color.


L’Oreal Hip High Intensity Pigments Flawless Liquid Makeup, Sand 802

In her article on determining your skintone, Paula Begoun noted that “The goal is to use foundation to neutralize whatever overtones are present with a neutral- to slightly yellow-toned foundation, thus matching the skin’s natural undertone. … There are a few exceptions to this guideline: Native North American or South American women, a tiny percentage of African-American women, and some Polynesian women do indeed have a red cast to their skin.” L’Oreal Hip High Intensity Pigments Flawless Liquid Makeup comes in a variety of shades appropriate for women of color with reddish casts to their skin (select the link to find other shades other than that pictured). The HIP Cosmetics website states that there are “violet perles” in these bases, but I don’t know how they affect the shade or the shininess of the makeup.


L’Oreal Hip High Intensity Pigments Brilliant Shine Lip Gloss, Tempting 378

L’Oreal Hip High Intensity Pigments Brilliant Shine Lip Gloss are packaged in the same tubes used for L’Oreal Colour Juice Sheer Lip Gloss (a favorite of The Style Page BTW). They come in both pearlized and non-pearlized shades.

Overall, this is an impressive debut. L’Oreal is the leader among drugstore brands when comes to innovative product offerings – by comparison, Revlon’s recent product offerings are uninspired.

How to organize bills and receipts

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Now that the holidays are behind us, we’ve been jolted back to reality credit card bills for holiday shopping coming due. Before too long, we’ll be getting tax forms from the IRS and state revenue departments. It’s a good time to think about organizing bills and receipts.


The best advice that I’ve found for organizing bills and receipts came from the book Confessions of an Organized Homemaker by Deniece Schofield. Ms. Schofield recommends getting twelve file folders, one for each month of the year, and putting receipts and bills for a given month in the proper folder.

This system has served me well for many years. I’ve extended this idea to set up four hanging file folders, one for each quarter of the year:

Quarter 1: January-February-March
Quarter 2: April-May-June
Quarter 3: July-August-September
Quarter 4: October-November-December

I use a different color file folder for each quarter: for example, the three file folders for Quarter 1 might be red, while those for Quarter 2 are blue, those for Quarter 3 are yellow, and those for Quarter 4 are maroon.

For 2006, however, I’ve discovered something new: the File-it Calendar from Avalanche Publishing. Each calendar page is actually a file folder pocket in which you can store your receipts and bills. Each pocker has a fold-over tab closure to keep contents secure space on the back to record contents.

Once I’ve received the monthly bank or credit card statement, I check the receipts against the statement and shred those receipts that I won’t need anymore. To prevent identity theft, I also shred mailing labels from catalogues and magazines that I’m going to pitch. I recommmend that everyone have a heavy-duty paper shredder.

At the end of the year, the folders can be moved to a twelve-pocket accordion folder.

Good advice from Paula Begoun on determining your skin tone

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Paula

Ever been frustrated by advice to determine your “undertones” by looking at the veins in your wrist to see if they were more blue than green or vice versa? Paula Begoun, the consumer expert whose web site now describes her as “the creator and innovative force behind Paula’s Choice skin care and cosmetics,” offers sensible, easy-to-follow advice on determining skin tone to find your best shade of foundation.