I am sooo not over my obsession with red lipstick. Which is great since red lip color will be in this spring, in all its fabulous incarnations! This probably explains why I got so excited when I came across Stila's Paint Your Pout Red-The Talking Palette in the February issue of People Style Watch. This adorable little compact comes with three different shades of red lip color, a lip balm and a lip brush. And if that wasn't enough, the compact actually walks you through creating your perfect red lip! I think I'll be popping by Sephora (aka my Mecca) this weekend to pick this little beauty up. Fabulous!
Red Lip Redux
Beauty News: Get Your Beauty Sleep... Literally
The New York Times Style section has a very interesting article in this week's installment of Skin Deep. They reported about a new phenomenon of bedding that is supposed to improve your skin while you sleep! Yeah, you read right. Sheets that make you prettier.
Apparently, these sheets, comforters and the like have active ingredients woven into the fabric that will help to alleviate wrinkles, acne and even eczema and psoriasis. As you can imagine, this miracle bedding costs a pretty penny, but at the lower end of the price spectrum is SkinGlow, which is sold at Bed Bath and Beyond. Their linens have copper woven into them to help prevent blemishes and wrinkles. Hey, for 20 bucks, I might be willing to buy a pillowcase that'll keep blemishes at bay! What do you think?
Serena Williams' New Beauty Deal
Tennis pro Serena Williams has inked a new deal to be the spokewoman and co-founder of Mission Skincare. The line is target to athletes or those with an active lifestyle. People reports that "the brand’s six-product starting line-up of practical skincare options, including an SPF 30 Facestick, Lip Protector, and Anti-Friction Cream, are designed to be irritant- and animal-cruelty-free".
Hmm, interesting. Will you be checking this out?
Aveeno Hair Care!!
Aveeno will be releasing a line of haircare products! The collection will consist of a Nourish+Moisturize shampoo and conditioner for dry and damaged hair, a Nourish+Revitalize shampoo and conditioner is designed to help protect hair’s moisture balance and repair everyday damage, a Nourish+Volumize shampoo and conditioner a Nourish+Soothe shampoo, which uses lavender and peppermint, and a Nourish+Condition Leave-In Treatment. The line is chock full of wheat germ oil and wheat proteins (hair loves these!) and will retail for $6.49 each.
No word on when the line is supposed to hit shelves, but I am definitely looking forward to trying out the Nourish + Revitalize collection and the lavender peppermint shampoo! How about you?
Source: WWD
Beauty News: Free Cosmetics!!
Thanks to blogger Afrobella for this tip! As a result of a class action suit against some major retailers, free cosmetics will be given out to those who may have overpaid on their beauty purchases between May 29, 1994 and July 16, 2003. The goodies will be given out starting January, 20th. This offer is only good for a short time, so get yourself to one these stores right away! :
- Bergdorf Goodman
- Bergner's
- Bllomingdale's
- Boston Store
- Carson Pirie Scott
- Dillard's
- Gottschalks
- Herberger's
- Macy's
- Neiman Marcus
- Nordstorm
- Parisian
- Saks Fifth Avenue
- Yonkers
For a complete list of items to be given away, visit Cosmetics Settlement.
"Black Don't Crack", however...
Though the amount of melanin in skin of color offers a degree of natural protection from the sun, we should all still be wearing sunscreen. And before you start saying that you don't need sunscreen, let me just tell you that anyone who tells you that Black people don't need to wear sunscreen is a liar, and I give you full permission to tell them so! ;)
Ladies, puh-lease wear sunscreen of at least SPF 15 (though I prefer SPF 30 ), as it will keep any dark spots you have from getting worse, not to mention prevent aging down the line. Yes, Black and Brown skin typically doesn’t “crack”, but just because we don’t wrinkle doesn’t mean we don’t age. African American skin can become rough, saggy and develop changes in pigment and benign growths (Source: BrownSkin.net) if not properly taken care of as it ages.
So wear your sunscreen every day, rain or shine. Basically, unless the moon is out, you should be wearing sunscreen! A sunscreen that I absolutely love is Peter Thomas Roth’s Uber Dry Sunscreen SPF 30. It soaks right in to your skin without a hint of stickiness or ashiness. Not only does it not disturb your makeup, but its chock full of anti-oxidants to protect your skin even further. Love it!
Another great option is alternative Neutrogena’s Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sunblock SPF 30. This bestseller gives you a semi-matte application and anti-oxidants at a drugstore price.
So give these products a try and let me know what you think!
Amazing Concealer!
One ever-present beauty quandary of brown girls is hyper pigmentation. Otherwise known as dark spots. Left behind after from blemishes, those annoying dark spots can really throw a monkey-wrench in your flawless face. That's where Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer comes in. This stuff really lives up to its name. It can fully camouflage any spot while still looking natural. Definitely amazing. Out of the seven shades only two are deep (quelle surprise, I know), but if one of these two shades is a match, I'd definitely check it out!
Beauty News: Gentler Hair Relaxers
Periodically I'll post links to interesting and informative articles in the news that have to do with beauty products and/or the beauty industry. The first Beauty News post is about an article the Washington Post published Tuesday about "gentler" hair relaxers for Black women. I put gentler in quotes because I don't care how gentle a relaxer claims to be, it has to have some kind of strong/chemical makeup in order for it to break down your curl pattern enough to straighten it!
That being said, I must state that I have found that all relaxers are NOT created equal. In fact, the relaxer I absolutely adore was mentioned in the article. I didn't intend for this post to be a product review :) , but for those of you who like to straighten or texturize your hair, I absolutely swear by Phytospecific Phytorelaxer, which was mentioned in the article.
I love many of the products by Phyto and Phytospecific, but their relaxer is especially unique. It straightens your hair without straightening it within an inch of its life. Instead of that "hair so flat against my head it looks like I'm bald" look, it consistently leaves my hair thick, full and full of body. My hair hasn't been this healthy or grown this fast since I was a little girl. At $60 it does cost a pretty penny, but it is worth every cent. I will gladly give up my Starbucks soy lattes to make room in my budget for this!
Did you read the Washington Post article? Do you have a hair relaxer story or relaxer product you want to tell everyone about? Leave a comment and let us hear it!
Psst...If you want to save some cash on this and other Phtyo and Phytospecific products, sign up for the Phtyo mailing list at Phyto.com. I did and was able to clean up at their friends and family sale last month! I'm talking 40-50% off!
Beauty Annoyance: Neutrogena
Ugghhh! I am dealing with a serious case of Beauty Annoyance. You know, when a beauty product or company really ticks you off? Well, Neutrogena is the bane of my beauty existence today.
You see, I have been looking all over town for some products from their new Ageless Intensives and Ageless Essentials Lines. I I really had my eye on an eye cream and a cream to even out dark spots. I finally found these items at a 24 hour Walgreens super-far from my house. But I didn't care, I had my products!
After I got home I had a sneaking suspicion that something was amiss. I grabbed the new items and my MacBook and did a little online research. Lo and behold, these fabulous new items I had just dropped my hard earned cash on, already existed!!
The Tone Correcting Concentrated Serum Night and Continuous Hydration Eye Cream were none other than Neutrogena's Visibly Even Night Concentrate and Radiance Boost Eye Cream in sheep's clothing!! Not only were they renamed and in different packaging, but they cost more!!
Shame on you Neutrogena! If any of you ladies were interested in trying any of these "new" items, I suggest hitting up your nearest drugstore to catch the originals on clearance.
As for me, I returned that mess. And I think someone at Neutrogena needs to reimburse me for all that gas I wasted!
Got a beauty annoyance? Let me hear it!
Red Hot!
I though I had found my perfect red in Kevin Aucoin's TheLiquid Lipstick in Aquarougue after I happened past his counter in Henri Bendel last spring. Don't get me wrong. Aquarouge is a shade of red so deep and rich and sexy, I swear, makeup artists from other counters gathered 'round to admire my crimson pout. I immediately purchased it, of course, but later felt that the overtly sexy glossiness that Mr. Aucoin's was giving me wasn't exactly what I had been looking for; I had been looking for something a little less flamboyant. A little more classic. I had been looking for matte.
I intensified my search efforts over the last few months, so imagine my delight when on (yet another) recent trip to Sephora I happened upon my perfect shade of red lipstick. I don't know what made me make such a beeline for the Nars display, but I am so glad I did. I was instantly drawn to Nars Lipstick in Fire Down Below. I usually avoid trying on the lipstick/gloss testers at Sephora (maybe I'm some kind of hypochondriach, but I swear I get an instant sore throat), but in my excitement I threw caution to the wind. After dousing the tester with alcohol and slicing off a chunk with a q-tip, I hastily applied the color to my lips. It was the most fabulous shade of deep, true, blood red I'd ever worn. I could barely contain my excitement. I made for the register like a parent holding the last Cabbage Patch doll circa Christmas '83, and fought the urge to double back for a second and third "back-up" tube. Fire (yes, that's what I call her) and I are getting along famously. I'm sure she will be making many appearances in '09!
Happy New Year!
Kevin Aucoin The Liquid Lipstick and Nars Lipstick are both available at Sephora.com
UPDATE: Check out Essence.com's photo gallery of Black Hollywood celebs rocking ruby lips! 
