Author: Cold Cream 'n' Roses

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

Scenes from a mall

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I visited the newly opened expansion wing of Tysons Corner Center near DC yesterday. I visited Ruehl (Abercombie and Fitch’s effort to reach out to the twentysomethings who wore A&F during their teens) and passed by Hollister, and was surprised to see how dark they were inside. Is atmosphere all that they are selling? I understand P.T. Barnum’s adage “Sell the sizzle, not the steak,” but what about the clothes? I cannot figure the marketing strategy here. In addition, one had to climb steps and pass through a narrow doorway to enter Ruehl, making it off-limit to strollers and wheelchairs.

Even the relocated Victoria’s Secret was dark, and a clear departure from the romanticized, even sweet image that company has long cultivated. Mannequins were provocatively posed, and reminded me of the photographs by the late Helmut Newton. The news report on Smooth Jazz 105.9 FM mentioned that a number of shoppers have complained about the mannequins.

This Victoria’s Secret also contained a beauty department stocking not only its own eponymous cosmetics brand and aura science (a venture between Shiseido and Limited Brands, Victoria Secret’s parent), but also brands such as pout and infomercial queen Victoria Jackson’s Lola. The beauty department is clearly patterned after the open display format that Sephora pioneered.

Other stores that opened included Z Gallerie, Arhaus, and west elm. I don’t see that much difference between Z Gallerie and Arhaus. The west elm store was clean and open in its layout, just what you’d expect after browsing its catalog.

Fashion Site to Try an All-Purpose Portal – New York Times

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The New York Times reports on the launch of Glam.com, a new fashion portal which seeks to simplify online shopping and track user preferences through quizzes (co-founder Samir Arora was chairman of Tickle, known for its pop-up quizzes) and enables sharing style matches and quiz results with other users.

To take advantage of Glam.com’s features, you need to register. The Style Page had to make several attempts before it successfully registed.

Calvin Klein to launch a new cosmetics line – in 2007!

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It was a disappointment for me when Calvin Klein Cosmetics were discontinued a couple of years ago. In a market awash with glittery glosses and wild colors addressed to teens, it was refreshing to have a cosmetics line geared toward women.

Unilever, the Dutch consumer goods conglomerate, distributed Calvin Klein Cosmetics, and I called Unilever consumer relations to verify that they had discontinued the line, in response to an email from a reader of The Style Page. Unilever has since sold its fragrance business to Coty.

Now comes news from Cosmeticsdesign.com that Calvin Klein is partnering with Markwins International, best known for its Color Workshop palettes, to launch a new cosmetics line, but we’ll have to wait until spring 2007. Sigh!

Canadian Beauty

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

It’s been nearly 15 years since Toronto-based MAC revolutionized the cosmetics industry with its neutral foundations, ultra-matte lipsticks, and its wide variety of shades for lips, cheeks, and eyes. Largely through buzz generated by beauty editors (and not through advertising), its products became in demand. The Estee Lauder Companies bought out MAC, and MAC has since become widely available in department stores and MAC mall stores throughout the U.S.

CARGO is another Canadian cosmetics company that found success in the U.S., largely through its distribution by Sephora.com. The Style Page especially likes CARGO’S selection of eyeshadows (its litmus test for a cosmetics line).

The Style Page recently came back from a trip to Canada, and would like to report on Canadian products that are not widely available in the U.S., at least not yet.

Two major Canadian pharmacy chains offer their exclusive lines of cosmetics: Shoppers Drug Mart (called Pharmaprix in Quebec) offers its own Quo cosmetics line, while Pharmacie Jean Coutu offers the Personnelle and Garraud Paris cosmetics lines. Pharmacie Jean Coutu has penetrated the U.S. market through its acquisition of over 1500 Eckerd drugstores from JC Penney, but there’s no word of its exporting Personnelle and Garraud Paris to its Eckerd stores, which will retain the Eckerd banner (CVS purchased over 1200 Eckerd stores from JC Penney).

Marcelle is a mass market comsetics brand, available at both Pharmacie Jean Coutu and Shoppers Drug Mart. The Style Page picked up Marcelle’s Soothing Eye Make-Up Remover Gel, which, despite the name, stung on contact. If the sting could be removed from this product, this would be a great product and much more convenient for travel than liquid eye makeup remover (The Style Page had the misfortune of having liquid eye makeup remover leak and stain her packed clothes). Groupe Marcelle purchased the Annabelle cosmetics line, which is also available through pharmacies.

Lise Watier is a Montreal-based makeup artist whose eponymous line is available both in department stores and drugstores. The Style Page picked up an eyeshadow single in Halo Mat, a light yellow, which brightens the eyes. In the U.S., her Neiges (Snow) fragrances may be purchased through Sephora.com.

Nacara is a cosmetics line from Montreal geared towards “women of color.” It features highly-pigmented lipsticks and cream-to-powder makeup. The Style Page found Nacara at Pharmacie Jean Coutu

Dans un Jardin is a chain of perfumeries in Quebec and Ontario. The stores offers bath and body products and home fragrances under Dans un Jardin’s own label, its own e&n (essence & nature) color cosmetics line, Decleor skin scare, and a wide variety of Lampe Berger fragrance-diffusing oil-burning lamps and parfums de maison (home fragrance) oils.

Fruits & Passion is another chain of perfumeries, with boutiques across Canada and in several foreign countries (but not, alas, the U.S.). In the U.S., Nordstrom sells some of its Cucina (kitchen) line of products in the beauty department. Fruits & Passion boutiques carry bath and body products, home fragrances, environmentally safe cleaning and laundry products, and even food products. The Style Page picked up maple jelly (how quintessentially Canadian!) with orange peel from Fruits & Passion’s L’Art de la table collection.

The Style Page especially welcomes comments from its Canadian readers on Canadian beauty products.

Fall 2005 Fashion Trends from About Fashion

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Fall ’05 Fashion Trends from fashion.about.com: Black, Romance, Volume.

The “black is back” hype indicates one of the reasons that many women are ignoring fashion magazines: for them, black never went away and it’s the fashion magazines that tried to sell them on color.

Speaking of black, I’d like to volunteer some advice about mixing colors with black. Although the Books by Trinny and Susannah of BBC’s What Not to Wear have had mixed reviews, I do agree with their advice that combining colors with black generally cheapens the color. Softer (less saturated) or lighter (higher value) shades of blue, pink, and lilac are more flattered by dark browns or charcoal than by black. You can also strive for a color scheme in variations of a single hue (also referred to as a “tonal color scheme”).

Although directed to quilters, the Color Workshop from QuiltWoman.Com provides information about color, hue, value, and saturation.

Great sources for fashion styling

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I’ve hesitated to editorialize about fashion because fashion is personal. Moreover, I’m on the other side of 40 and don’t shop the trends.

Styling is key. If you want to shop the trends and wear them right, there are a few resouces that I recommend, some obvious and others that might surprise you (they surprised me).


Lucky is the best source for styling and deconstructing whole outfits.


While InStyle focuses on celebrity fashion, its Great at Any Age feature provides advice on how to wear a look in your 20s, 30s, and 40s. The looks created for women who are older than your age group won’t look frumpy.

I’ve noted that the Wall Street Journal has expanded its lifestyle coverage to the point of launching a weekend edition and even a Wall Street Journal Weekend TV show on the Fine Living TV network. WSJ articles summarize the trends and how to wear them, analyze the market, and feature the expert views of people in the fashion industry about the durability of trends.

Another surprising source for styling is the fall Newport News catalogue. I had long thought that the Newport News catalogue was tawdry, but I am impressed how it’s been redesigned as a “magalog” (magazine+catalog) featuring fashion trend reports, styling tips, and different color stories.

You’ll find sites that link to Lucky, InStyle, The Wall Street Journal, and Newport News through a search of The Style Page. We have also added new content to our Fashion pages – don’t forget to update your bookmarks!