Category: cosmetics

ThickerLongerBetter Part II

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SPINLASH™

SPINLASH™ is a battery-driven mascara wand that is available at Target and CVS. It comes with its own mascara cartridge, but I use it applying my “regular” mascara (I’ve been trying out so many different mascaras that I really can’t call anything my regular mascara). By pressing either end of the switch, SPINLASH™ can turn clockwise or counterclockwise. It spins very slowly. SpinLash does seem to define and separate my lashes and accentuate curl. Call SPINLASH™ a buy.

What we women go through to get ThickerLongerBetter eyelashes! My totally hot nephew (dare I say this because I’m his auntie?) in India has naturally long and thick eyelashes that I have to recreate with eyeliner and mascara. I envy him!

ThickerLongerBetter Part I

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Many of us are constantly seeking the perfect mascara: one that thickens or lengthen lashes (or maybe both!) and doesn’t smear or clump.

Many people like Cover Girl’s Lash Blast. While Lash Blast doesn’t smear or clump, I was disappointed, as it didn’t deliver on building significant thicker lashes. Rimmel’s new Glam’EYES does deliver on building thicker and longer lashes and doesn’t smear. However, you might want to run a lash comb or clean mascara wand afterwards to define and separate the lashes.


Maybelline Colossal Volum’ Express mascara

beauty girl musings had great things to say about Maybelline Colossal Volum’ Express mascara. I have yet to try this mascara. If Lash Blast’s orange packaging was eye-catching, then Colossal Volum’ Express’s packaging is eye-popping, in a yellow that fairly screams. Monique said that you’d expect to pay about $7 for Colossal Volum’ Express. Where I live (Northern Virginia, near DC), if you have a CVS customer card, you can get Colossal Volum’ Express on sale for $4.99 through Saturday, July 5; even better, you’ll get “bonus bucks” that will give you $2 discount on a future CVS purchase. Enter your zip code to locate your nearest CVS store at CVS.com and browse the Weekly Store Ad to see if this offer applies to your store.

Since I mentioned the CVS sale, I should also mention another special applying to my location is “bonus bucks” for $5 discount on a future CVS purchase with purchase of LaRoche-Posay’s Anthelios SX SPF 15 sunscreen. Anthelios SX contains Mexoryl SX, which is the 1st sun filter in a sunscreen approved by the FDA in 18 years. Mexoryl SX fills the gap in sunscreens for short UVA ranges.

PS I took advantage of the CVS sale to purchase Maybelline Colossal Volum’ Express mascara. This has the edge over Rimmel’s new Glam’EYES mascara. Maybelline Colossal Volum’ Express is a buy.

PS Just got notice from Anthelios’ PR that Anthelios 40 with SPF 40 will be available soon.

Now Nick Arrojo has his own hair care line

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I’ve already written that I skip the first half hour of TLC’s What Not to Wear (Stacy irritates me) to watch Carmindy and Nick Arrojo work their magic in the last half hour. Now Nick Arrojo has used his fame to start up an eponymous hair care line Arrojo, which is available at the tony Space NK boutique.

As for Carmindy, she has partnered with Sally Hansen for the Natural Beauty Inspired by Carmindy color cosmetics line. In my review, I wrote, “I suspect, however, that Natural Beauty Inspired By Carmindy will last only as long as TLC’s What Not to Wear is shown on TV.”

Now I’m more pessimistic. Only one of the various CVS stores that I visit in Northern Virginia carries Carmindy’s line, and there it’s hidden away from Revlon, L’Oreal, Maybelline, etc., right by nail care products. Hello! It might be Sally Hansen, but it’s not nail care!

The competition for shelf space and placement is intense, and clearly Natural Beauty Inspired By Carmindy has lost out. It’s only a matter of time before Natural Beauty Inspired By Carmindy disappears.

Lust list – YSL Beauté

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I want this:


SOLEIL D’AFRIQUE Collector Powder for the Complexion

This bronzer is encased in a wood compact which can be worn about one’s neck. It’s a natural for me, given my predilection for necklaces from natural materials such as bone, stone, and wood. My predilection for buying necklaces from the World of Good kiosks at Whole Foods and Wegman’s is almost as great as my predilection for buying compilation CDs from Starkbucks!

I also like this PALETTE COULEURS D’AFRIQUE Eye Palette from YSL Beauté, but I have similar colors among the eye shadows in my cosmetics collection.

PALETTE COULEURS D’AFRIQUE Eye Palette

It’s fitting that YSL Beauté used an African theme for its summer 2008 cosmetics collection: after all, Yves St. Laurent was born in Algeria and now lives in Morocco. Moreover, he adapted the safari jacket for women’s wear as La Saharienne.

A less expensive alternative to Beautyblender?

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

I discovered this through Style.com “the online home for Vogue”


Sonia Kashuk Blending Sponge

I think that Beautyblender is a great product, but I balked at the price (twenty dollars) and hoped that there would be knockoffs that would work just as well.

Could this Sonia Kashuk Blending Sponge at $6.99 be what I’m looking for? I visited my local Target yesterday and couldn’t find it. Target is also carrying Spinlash – I’ll report on that later.

AVON Pro-To-Go lipstick

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Avon Pro-To-Go lipstick

Avon has been working hard to keep relevant in the ever-changing market for beauty. The launch of mark, geared toward teens, appears to have been successful, and mark’s customizable Hook Ups have become popular. In addition, Avon has hired Jillian Dempsey of Delux Beauty as its Creative Director (husband Patrick Dempsey has signed on to promote men’s products from Avon).

Avon has gone all out to promote its new Pro-To-Go lipstick, with SMS to get a free lipstick upon the launch and full-page ads featuring Reese Witherspoon, Avon’s newly named “Global Ambassador.”

The sliding button opens the lid and even the lipstick. Clever packaging, but how does Pro-To-Go perform? The application is smooth, and the lipcolor feels smooth and comfortable. The Style Page gives it a “thumbs up.”

Avon Pro-To-Go lipstick comes in 15 different shades and is available for an introductory price of $5.99 (after that, it will cost $9.00). You may buy Avon Pro-To-Go lipstick via the Avon website or, of course, your Avon rep.

NARS

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NARS The Multiple in Orgasm

François Nars first burst upon our awareness through Allure magazine, with an article that featured photos of him applying body makeup to Madonna for a Vanity Fair photo shoot. Since that time, he’s established his very popular NARS Cosmetics line.

NARS’s powder blush in Orgasm is a beauty editor’s favorite and has become one of NARS’s signature products. Its other signature product is The Multiple multi-tasking stick for cheeks, lips, and eyes. It should be no surprise then that NARS has created The Multiple in Orgasm. I’ve begun using cream blushes only recently, and I’m hooked. NARS The Multiple in Orgasm is so sheer that I found that I could swipe it straight from the stick onto my cheeks, with only minimal blending. It is also beautiful as a highlighter on top of the cheekbone.

On the other hand, I found the lip stain gloss on the NARS Lip Stain Gloss/Lip Gloss (not pictured) difficult to use. The first time I tried it, I made a mess of it – around my lips, on my fingers. It is very pigmented, and when I tried to blend it with my fingers, I needed dual-phase makeup remover to remove the stains. In addition, it takes longer to dry down than, for example, L’Oréal Paris Infallible Never Fail Lipcolour, which also features a liquid lip stain.

My second attempt was more successful. Here’s how I did it:

– I lined my lips, by applying concealer with a fine tip brush. I softened the edges so that it wasn’t obvious. I could also have also used a clear lip pencil: I’ve identified brands that market clear lip pencils.

– I used a very light touch: in other words, I didn’t press the wand against my lips.

– I stopped shy of the corners of my mouth when I applied the lip stain gloss.

If you like a highly pigmented stain, then the dual Lip Stain Gloss/Lip Gloss is for you.

You can find NARS The Multiple and NARS Lip Stain Gloss/Lip Gloss at NARS Cosmetics.

More on standards and certification of natural and organic products

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Recurring themes on The Style Page blog have been the standardization of what constitutes natural and/or organic personal care products and certification of products as “natural” or “organic.” I am not a purist, I write on these issues to inform consumers about the myriad standards and certification activities out there.

Standards and certification activities provide no information on how well “natural” and “organic” products perform vis-à-vis conventional products. Recently, I wrote to a woman who generously supplied me with samples from Miessence, a direct sales company from Australia, that I was disappointed with the performance of its foundation. While the Miessence foundation didn’t sting like the Organic wear™ 100% Natural Origin Tinted Moisturizer from Physicians Formula, the mixture of water, oils, and powder was not sufficiently blended into an agglomerate-free whole.

Monique of beauty girl musings published an article on standards and certification for natural personal care products announced by the Natural Products Association on May 1.

Separately, Christopher of Christopher Drummond Beauty, republished a letter that threatened to sue manufacturers and the Ecocert (which certified Physicians Formula’s Organic wear products) and OASIS certification bodies for their claims of “organic” products. Ecocert was singled out for including water as an organic product(!) The letter was written by David Bronner of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps and Ronnie Cummins, Executive Director, Organic Consumers Association (OCA). The letter is long and technical and refers to a survey that is apparently about consumers’ perceptions of what constitutes organic products.

Dr. Bronner’s and OCA has since filed suit against the manufacturers, Ecocert, and OASIS. The hyperlinked article from Cosmeticsdesign-europe.com notes what I have contended: The natural and organics cosmetics industry has long been suffering from the lack of an internationally recognizable, reputable standard

Bed Bath and Beauty

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Beauty at Bed Bath and Beyond? Hair appliances – check. “As Seen on TV” stuff – check. Now, however, Bed Bath and Beyond has partnered with Harmon Discount Health and Beauty and has devoted considerable floor space to products that one might find at the drugstore, including enduring brands such as L’Oreal, Revlon, Almay, Maybelline, and Max Factor.

In this post, I would like to mention some of the more unusual beauty products that Bed Bath and Beyond carries:

Rubiglo Powder Blush

Rubiglo (along with Indian Earth) was one of the original all-purpose loose powder cosmetics. As with Indian Earth, Rubiglo comes in urns reminescent of pottery that are plugged with corks. If you’re a purist, however, you won’t appreciate that Rubiglo contains talc (which IMO gets a bad rap) and parabens.

Wonder Cloth

The Wonder Cloth is a face cloth made of cotton and plant pulps that you can use with water and your favorite cleanser to remove makeup and provide gentle (mechanical) exfoliation.

Beauty Strokes brushes

Beauty Strokes is an inexpensive line of full-size natural hair cosmetics brushes (eye brushes cost less than six dollars). If you’re like me and don’t know which end of a brush is up, Beauty Strokes features application tips in the package inserts – French and Spanish also provided. You may also find Beauty Strokes at Amazon.com.

Standards-setting and certification for organic personal care products

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In several posts (here, here, and here) on The Style Page blog, I’ve highlighted various activities to set standards and certification rules for what constitutes “natural” or “organic” personal care products (note that “natural” and “organic” are not necessarily synonyms). Vendor participation in these programs is voluntary.

Mischo Beauty posted an article about the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program, or NOP. According to the USDA,

The National Organic Program (NOP) develops, implements, and administers national production, handling, and labeling standards for organic agricultural products. The NOP also accredits the certifying agents (foreign and domestic) who inspect organic production and handling operations to certify that they meet USDA standards.

In another article, Mischo Beauty highlights another voluntary program to certify products as “biodynamic.”

Bottom line: Given the plethora of standards-setting and certification activities, an international voluntary standard that specifies what constitutes organic personal care products should be established through ISO.