Friday roundup – March 14, 2008

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Notable posts from Friends of The Style Page

Elke notes that Whole Paycheck, er, Whole Foods Market has created its own standard for Premium Body care. This is not a standard for what constitutes organic personal care products. Multiple organizations are developing standards for what constitutes organic personal care products and/or certiying personal care products as organic. This creates confusion in the minds of consumers. A global standard for what constitutes organic personal care products is needed.

The Beauty Brains reports on how the skin care company Elle Bache is promoting its new line: by installing a 40-foot long sculpture of a nude woman made out of peaches.

BTW The Beauty Brains book has gone to print. Buy the book now, and Beauty Brains will provide instructions to download a PDF version to enjoy until the book is published.

Girl-Woman-Beauty-Brains-Blog reports on A Beauty Secret That Will Leave You Less Chafed Financially, namely using Monistat Soothing Care Chafing Relief Powder Gel as a face primer. But will consumers get past the “ew” factor, as the Monistat brand is associated with treating vaginal yeast infections?

Lastly, Soul-Piercing Reflections shares her current favorite eye makeup look, a mix of plum shades.

Iggy Pop for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame!

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L to R: Iggy Pop, Madonna, and JT

I’ve long thought that Madonna should be inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame at her earliest opportunity (that is, 25 years after her first recording). She’s the best-selling female artist of all time, trailing only Elvis and The Beatles in sales. Her style has influenced countless others, most recently, Gwen Stefani.

Yesterday’s award ceremony shows that she’s still full of surprises. Take that dress, for example: it looks demure at first look, but it’s actually see-through (I also like her tousled waves). Then there was her decision not to perform: for that, Bill O’Reilly called her a “pinhead.” The surprise was having fellow Michigan native Iggy Pop (ne Jim Osterberg) perform her songs (he’s 60 – look how “ripped” he is).

If anyone’s been overlooked for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, it’s Iggy. He’s been called the Godfather of Punk, as he was into outrageous behavior (hurling himself into the audience, smearing peanut butter all over himself, and cutting himself) years before the heyday of punk. Iggy Pop ought to be inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, with past collaborator David Bowie inducting him.

More mineral madness

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When I went to Target last week, I was surprised to see Bare Escentuals kits at the end of the aisle. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Target always strives to be up-to-moment, with its tie-ups with various designers. As for Leslie Blodgett (as she’s the CEO and face of Bare Escentuals, I’ll target her), she never misses an opportunity to push her product, whether it’s through TV ads, half hour informercials, QVC, Sephora, Ulta, or Bare Escentuals boutiques.

My previous article Mineral Madness struck a chord with readers. Girl-Woman-Beauty-Brains-Blog commended me on the article. I was surprised, however, to receive messages from founders of startup beauty lines who were glad that someone had finally called out companies on claims about mineral cosmetics.

Ruthie Malloy of Illuminaré Cosmetics wrote, “Most women are judging mineral makeup brands by which is most “pure”, or which doesn’t have parabens or bismuth oxychloride and yet they totally are missing the most important feature and benefit that mineral makeup should provide,” namely sunscreen. While Bare Escentuals’ bareMinerals has obtained the seal of the Skin Cancer Foundation for being rated SPF 15 (another brilliant marketing ploy by Leslie Blodgett), it’s hard to believe that a light dusting of its powder foundation will provide adequate sun protection.

Jennifer Bradley of Goddessy Rx wrote, “I am so happy to hear that someone is finally mentioning how the mineral makeup companies are using the terms ‘mineral’ and ‘all natural’ in such liberal terms. These companies are merely scamming the average consumer with this marketing ploy. Talc, of all things, is for one, an all natural occurring mineral. It is not even toxic, as many of these companies claim!” Indeed. Talc has been used in cosmetics safely for years.

Both Ruthie and Jennifer make excellent points. Be skeptical about the claims for mineral makeup, know your ingredients, and recognize that “mineral” is just another marketing construct.

Organic wear™ 100% Natural Origin Tinted Moisturizer

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Organic wear™ 100% Natural Origin Tinted Moisturizer

It is such a great concept: a organic cosmetics line certified by Ecocert that you can readily find at Walgreen’s, CVS, Rite-Aid, big-box retailers, and supermarkets with a comprehensive beauty department.

However, Organic wear™ 100% Natural Origin Tinted Moisturizer is one of the worst products that I’ve bought and used recently. While it contains good-for-you plant oils, it also reeks of alcohol and the amount of alcohol is sufficient to dry the skin. My face felt tight after I allowed the product to dry. Why alcohol? This FAQ from Miessence, a direct sales company from Australia which sells organic products certified by Australian Certified Organic, provides some clues:

… alcohol is used to extract plant materials. … Alcohol carries active plant extracts into the skin. A natural emulsifier and stabilizer, alcohol acts as a preservative.

Still, the product packaging states Shake Well Before Using, no doubt to mix the water and plant oils. I didn’t see that the first time I used this tinted moisturizer.

I’m taking Organic wear™ 100% Natural Origin Tinted Moisturizer back to the store!

Former Model Waris Dirie Reported Missing

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Waris

From AOL comes this disturbing news Former Model Waris Dirie Reported Missing.

Waris was a victim of female genital mutilation (FGM) in her native Somalia and campaigned against the practice of FGM. Her disappearance comes only a week after the dead body of Katoucha Niane, a former model from Guinea who also campaigned against FGM, was found floating in the Seine.


Katoucha

Coincidence or not? While it’s too late for Katoucha, let us hope that everything is done to find Waris – hopefully alive and in good health.

The World’s Richest Woman

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Who is she?


Liliane Bettencourt

Forbes lists Liliane Bettencourt 17th among the wealthiest people in the world, with a net worth of USD 22.9 billion:

Daughter of L’Oreal founder Eugene Schueller, a man who is said to have a checkered past with wartime ties to the Nazi regime, Liliane is the world’s richest woman, thanks to her controlling stake in the cosmetics giant. She has held the stock for more than four decades. She became a widow last November when her 88-year old husband, Andre Bettencourt died. Her Bettencourt Schueller Foundation supports medical, cultural and humanitarian endeavors in France and developing countries.

Friday roundup – March 7, 2008

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It’s Friday, and time for the Friday roundup, for the fourth week running! The Friday roundup highlights blog articles written by Friends of The Style Page in the past week.

SugarShock loves the Pop Beauty Eye Class in Brown Eyes. She writes, “While the shadows looked kind of sparkly in the kit, when you apply them they actually have a nice iridescence that’s not too glimmery, but just right.”

Pop Beauty Eye Class in Brown Eyes

Mischo Beauty announces the debut of her Facebook page.

Scandalous Beauty features Whitney and Bobbi!! No, not Bobby Brown, Whitney Houston’s ex-husband. Rather, Bobbi Brown. Scandalous Beauty recommends the new Bobbi Brown Nudes Collection to recreate Whitney’s makeup (but not that Carol Brady hairstyle):


Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston had been on a downhill slide since she married Bobby Brown in 1992. I was routing for her comeback when she filed for divorce in 2006.

It should be evident to regular readers of this blog that I share i♥make-up’s love of Indian beauty. I’m not Indian, but my husband is. In Recreating the Sixties’ Look, i♥make-up discusses how to recreate the dramatic winged eyeliner look popularized by Indian actress Sharmila Tagore:


Sharmila Tagore

TV presenter (and ex-wife of Salman Rushdie) Padma Lakshmi recalled that she spent hours trying to recreate Sharmila Tagore’s look.

The late Bengali film director Satyajit Ray discovered Sharmila Tagore when she was just a teenager. He cast her as Apu’s bride in the third and last film of his Apu trilogy that won international acclaim and brought attention to Indian cinema. Ray must have been prescient about his actresses: similarly, he discovered Aparna Sen and Jaya Bachchan nee Bhaduri, both of whom had gone onto major careers in Indian cinema, when they were mere teenagers. Non-Indians might remember Sharmila Tagore as Meena’s mother in Mississipi Masala, about the unlikely romance between Meena, a young Indian woman (played by Sarita Choudhury) and an African-American man (played by Denzel Washington).

Makeup lessons from Di Kennedy – Updated

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Di Kennedy has excellent detailed lessons online on Color Theory and Smoky Eye Technique.

I wholeheartedly agree with Di that:

In make up we need to consider the context of the colour we are using and take all factors into account. Clothing, hair colour, eye colour, surroundings, season, lighting, the list is endless are all part of the context of our colour choices when applying make up. How a colour is perceived is dependent on the context.

However, I’m not smitten with the emphasis that the face charts give to selecting colours on the basis of eye colour. In addition to the factors that Di cited, complexion (fair to deep) and skin undertones (warm, cool, or neutral) matter much more than eye colour.

Here’s a photo from Di’s web site of Australian beauty queen Sabrina Houssami wearing the classic smoky eye:


Sabrina Houssami

Debuts and retirement

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I received notice that the official U.S. site for YSL Beauté has been launched. Shop for beauty editors’ favorite TOUCHE ECLAT concealer and Opium fragrance. Matt Touch Foundation is a web site exclusive. As for me, I’m interested in the colored mascaras (especially in burgundy). This eyeshadow palette inspired by Opium is beautiful:

OPIUM COLLECTOR PALETTE
For Eyes and Complexion

Online shopping has been launched for Le Métier de Beauté, but only for its Shear Brilliance Lip Gloss. The web site also states that Le Métier de Beauté will launch at Henri Bendel (NYC) in May and at Neiman Marcus (which I fondly call “Needless Markup”) in Atlanta in April, but then it said that the line would be available last month.

Australian cosmetics company Di Kennedy Cosmetics, which I profiled in November 2005, is closing down, as Di is pursuing another venture in cosmetics and beauty consulting. Cosmetics are on sale: get them before they’re gone.