News

New Shop-A-Matic Lets You Browse Through 109 Lipsticks: New York Magazine

March 10th, 2008 by Karen 24 Comments

New York Magazine online has posted a spiffy feature in which you can browse through a huge assortment of pretty lipsticks. You can compare by thumbnail image or view them as a slide show with swatches, prices and availability. Both drugstore and department store brands appear in the lineup. I spotted Maybelline, Clarins and Clinique and couldn’t help but notice the MAC presence, holla!

New York Magazine Shop-A-Matic

“We tested over 400 [lipsticks] to make sure they looked, smelled and rocked the lips hot,” says Sharon Clott, online assistant market editor at New York Magazine.

For each lipstick there’s a product shot, swatches and the colors on the lips of NY Magazine staffers. (Side note: do you suppose lipstick tester/model was in their job description? I’d so apply for that gig in a hot second.)

I’d like to see them add swatches done on real skin to the swatches they’ve provided on white backgrounds, but the lip pics still give you a good idea of each color.

Earlier today on the site I found quite a few lippies to add to my to-try list, including Haute Face Matte Lipstick in Star Power (#66) and Clarins Joli Rouge in Hot Pink (#79). Have fun!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Not Your 80s Hairspray: Bumble and Bumble’s Spray de Mode Makes Me Want to Use Hairspray Again

March 9th, 2008 by Karen 45 Comments

Bumble and Bumble enlisted the help of French hairdresser Laurent Philippon to test and fine tune the formula of their Spray de Mode hairspray over several seasons of professional use backstage at the Paris shows (aka in the trenches), and the hard work shows.

Let me just come out and say it: Spray de Mode is nothing like 1980’s hairsprays. I can’t even begin to estimate the obscene amount of stinky, flaky, crunchy aerosol hairspray I used when high hair was the fashion du jour.

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Accessible Luxury: Shu Uemura Knows Lashes Inside and Out

March 6th, 2008 by Karen 92 Comments

Genetics bestowed upon me wimpy, ho-hum lashes… and then made me so clumsy that I couldn’t apply false ones to save my life. Oh, the sweet eyelash irony!

Enter the Shu Uemura lash bar, aka false eyelash nirvana, where the lashes are affordable and the appointment booking process couldn’t be easier.

Whether you’re looking for a little lash extension, or you’re aching for crazy, over-the-top-lashes to overcompensate for many years of eyelash inadequacy (*ahem*), Shu’s got you covered.

Case in point:

Notice how fabulously non-wimpy these are. I done died and went to eyelash heaven, ladies!

Would you believe a trip to eyelash heaven is actually pretty darn affordable? From a Shu lash bar, all you do is purchase any pair of their false lashes, which run from $16 to about $50 a pair, and a Shu makeup artist will apply your new lashes (and answer any questions you might have about them) for free!

Gratis rules, but I know you work hard for your money, so to stretch those dolla-dolla-bills a wee bit further, here’s a great money saving tip I got from Jeccica, a Shu Uemura makeup artist and manager (and all around rad girl) at the San Francisco Fillmore store: buy a pair like False Eyelashes Luxe ($20) and ask the makeup artist to cut one of the lashes in half.

Ask the artist to apply each of the cut halves to your outer lashes only. It’s a simple way to get a sexy, yet natural-looking eyelash boost. Save that uncut lash for future use. Cut that bad boy in half and you’re good to go with a new pair. It’s like getting two sets of lashes for the price of one, yah?

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My Sunday Manicure: Nail News

March 2nd, 2008 by Karen 34 Comments

What’s up, everyone! Happy Sunday! I chilled out today and did a whole lot of nothing. I ran, watched a few movies, fed the neighbor’s cat, did some laundry and painted my nails for the first time since December.

Are you good about getting your nails done? I usually am not, but for the heck of it I put on two lovely coats of Shu Uemura Nail Enamel Supplement Mineral (um, say that fast five times) in Chocolate Brown ($16) while watching The Darjeeling Limited on DVD. Even without a base coat, the formula applies easily and dries quickly to a shiny finish. It’s great for clumsy gals like yours truly and makes doing a home manicure easy. Love ya, Shu!

Speaking of manicures, I caught up on my beauty reading today and read this interesting piece in the New York Times by Camille Sweeny about a growing trend in the beauty world. Manicure and makeover parties are all the rage — for young elementary school girls, holy crap!

One recent rainy afternoon, Eleanor LaFauci, 7, sat with her feet in open-toed foam slippers, admiring her toenails, freshly painted watermelon pink.

Eleanor was in the bubble-gum-colored pedicure lounge of Dashing Diva, the Upper West Side franchise of the international nail spa, with her 3 Â½-year-old sister and a half-dozen or so friends. The girls were celebrating her birthday with mani’s, pedi’s and mini-makeovers with light makeup and body art â€” glitter-applied stars, lightning bolts and, of course, hearts.

Traditionally, young girls have played with unattended M.A.C. eye shadow or Chanel foundation, hoping to capture a whiff of sophistication. In the recent past, young girls have also tagged along on beauty expeditions by their mothers and teenage sisters.

But today, cosmetic companies and retailers increasingly aim their sophisticated products and service packages squarely at 6- to 9-year-olds, who are being transformed into savvy beauty consumers before they’re out of elementary school.

Reality programming like “America’s Next Top Model” often hinges on the segment devoted to a hair and beauty transformation for the contestants, Ms. Skey said. On social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, members’ intense self-focus and their attention to how they present themselves also affect 6- to 9-year-olds, even though technically, they aren’t allowed to set up profiles on the sites, she added. “We live in a culture of insta-celebrity,” Ms. Skey said. “Our little girls now grow up thinking they need to be ready for their close-up, lest the paparazzi arrive.”

Register with the New York Times (it’s free) to finish the story.

Back in my elementary school days, a party with your friends involved cake, ice cream and several rounds of pin the tail on the donkey — not cuticle removal! If you were lucky, perhaps a pinata or mini pony would be up in the mix.

What say you about this beauty trend? Do you think these makeover parties for young girls are harmless and fun? Or does it alarm you?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

I Dream of Dreamy, the New Laura Mercier Collection

March 1st, 2008 by Karen 29 Comments

It was love at first sight yesterday when I laid eyes on Laura Mercier’s newest spring color collection, Dreamy. With six new sheer lipsticks, four delicious pastel shimmer cream eye shadow duos and a highlighting shimmer bloc, the collection is sexy and effortless — my makeup style to the Nth degree!

I wish I had better product pics, but here’s a stalkery phone picture of the display until I can get better ones:

Remember the bout of makeup indecision I suffered last week, trying to decide between the spring NARS Shanghi Lily and Laura Mercier Seduction collections? Well, I experienced absolutely none of that with Dreamy. My heart literally skipped a beat when I saw the eye duos and lipsticks, and I worked out the makeup math (aka, trying to justify buying it all!) in my head, LOL.

Although Dreamy is a spring collection, I get a laid-back, beachy, vacation vibe from it. These are colors I’d wear on a tropical getaway. To finish the look, I’d need a shade of cream eye shadow on my lids and a pink sheer lipstick on my pucker. And a surfboard. And a margarita. LE SIGH!

Here’s the lowdown on Dreamy…

Eyes

Creme Eye Duo ($28 each)

Daydream – peach and bronze
Enchantment – yellow and green
Fairytale – pink and violet
Mesmerize – sand and silver

Each Creme Eye Duo contains two contrasting cream shades which blend and work well either together or separately. The colors are shimmery but don’t have giant chunks of glitter in them. While the pastels are subtle and light, they aren’t so light as to look stark or unwearable. I’m excited about Daydream, Enchantment and Fairytale. The sand and silver colors in Mesmerize didn’t really move me, though, so I’m skipping that one for now.

I swatched the shades with my finger at the counter. Each of the colors appeared sheer on my skin. I think that’s by design because the product marketing is all about the suggestion of sheer — not in your face — color. I did notice I could apply multiple layers of any shade to increase the intensity of a shadow, so, on days in which I’d want bolder looks, I’d have that option, too.

The formula is long wearing, non-greasy and crease resistant — I swatched my arm and after three hours the colors had barely budged!

Lips

Lip Colour – Sheer ($20 each)

Baby Lips – sheer warm pink
Bare Lips – sheer rose beige
Healthy Lips – sheer rose
Nude Lips – sheer neutral beige
Sexy Lips – sheer sangria rose
Tender Lips – sheer brown rose

Each of the new lipsticks in Dreamy’s Lip Colour – Sheer collection, the newest additions to the Laura Mercier lipstick family, have a sheer wash of color and a semi-matte finish. Each little pretty is supposed to hydrate, plump and condition lips. Laura Mercier used a long-wearing formula infused with a special lipstick technology they call Laura Mercier Lip Complex, which “delivers a soft wash of color in just one swipe.” I’m psyched about all these colors, but the ones that move me most are Bare Lips, Tender Lips and, of course, Sexy Lips.

I couldn’t get decent swatches of the new Orchid Mosaic Shimmer Bloc ($38). Here’s a shot from the Laura Mercier Web site:

Truthfully, Orchid Mosaic didn’t move me as much as the other new products did. It’s a highlighting powder with a pearl finish and four separate colors you can either use alone or together on your eyes, cheeks or body. The pinks were a little too sheer on my skin, and I’m afraid the color wouldn’t display unless I really laid it on thick. Unless I can get a Laura Mercier makeup artist to show me a secret way to get the most out of Orchid Mosaic, I’ll probably skip this one.

Sadly, the forces of makeup nature were aligned against me, and I wasn’t able to buy anything from the collection yesterday, boo. When I arrived at the Nordstrom counter, the Laura Mercier makeup artist had just left for her afternoon break, and, because the collection was so new, none of the makeup artists from other lines could find where the collection items were stashed. I’ll return later today with a few gift cards that’ve been burning holes in my pocket, wheeee!

How’s your Saturday coming along? I hope you’ve got plans to do some relaxin’ this weekend.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Take Me to Hawaii with Lancome’s Pixel Pink

February 28th, 2008 by Karen 26 Comments

Lancome’s got a video on Youtube celebrating Pixel Pink Color Fever Shine lipstick, the limited edition shade created for fashion designer Thankoon Panichgul’s Spring 2008 runway show. While the entire video is an interesting insight into the inspiration behind the lipstick and the backstage goings-on at NY Fashion Week, my favorite parts are the animated sequences of “moving paintings” by experimental filmmaker Jeff Scher.

Still shots of Jeff’s moving paintings

There’s a segment at the beginning when Thankoon talks about what inspired the Pixel Pink shade (it starts at the 00:52 mark and runs through about 01:12) where you see the first animated series of Jeff’s paintings. They’re brightly colored, with vivid blues, greens and reds, and tell the story behind Thankoon’s muse, a carefree girl who ditches her job and moves to Hawaii to hang out, surf and to wear pink lipstick. Um, hello, Thankoon — that’s like, my life dream.

(Note: This video is only about 3 minutes long, not the 9 minutes reflected in the player.)

I love the video sequence in which the paintings change in rapid succession and the one with the Jeep (complete with surf boards in the back) driving over the Haleiwa Bridge on the North Shore of the island of Oahu:

… and here’s the real life Haleiwa bridge!

The bridge shots lead into a sequence in which Thankoon’s muse goes surfing. I so want to be this girl!

lancome-pixel-pink-thankoon-jeff-scher-haleiwa-surf-girl-2

I’m purchasing my tube of Pixel Pink online from the Lancome Web site, but if you can’t wait for online delivery, you can also get it from Lancome counters at Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus department stores, or at one of the five Lancome boutiques nationwide. And then there’s also ordering by telephone. To do it you’ll need to provide your credit card number and address over the phone. Here are numbers to the five U.S. Lancome Boutiques:

Manhattan, New York: (212) 362-4858
The Mall at Short Hills, New Jersey: (973) 258-0790
Northpark Mall in Dallas, Texas: (214) 750-9364
Valley Fair Mall in Santa Clara, California: (408) 244-8334
Brea Mall in Brea, California: (714) 671-0267

Let’s just drop everything and head to Hawaii next week. Come on, the warm tropical breezes, the white, sandy beaches, the hot surfer dudes… YES!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Makeup Mania Strikes Neiman Marcus Beauty Event

February 22nd, 2008 by Karen 35 Comments

Today I suffered a debilitating case of makeup buying indecision at the Neiman Marcus Beauty Event, a national event (in-store and online) in which visitors to Neiman Marcus stores who purchase $100 in beauty or fragrance products through March 2 receive a batch of six sample products along with their choice of tote bags in hot pink, teal or neon green.

Cute bag, yah? I entered the San Francisco Union Square store on a mission. I cruised the beauty department with my homegirl Jo-money, scoping out spring products from both Nars and Laura Mercier, but I couldn’t decide what to get.

I love both lines, but today I was caught between NARS Shanghi Lily and Laura Mercier Seduction. I knew I couldn’t get everything I wanted, but instead of actually getting anything, I ended up snapping pictures, assuming that as the day wore on I’d choose from one collection or the other.

I went to lunch thinking food might help (hey, it always does) and took a long walk down Market Street in SF, but the answer never came to me. I couldn’t decide between the two collections and went home empty handed. 🙁

Yeah, I know I should have just chosen a few products from each line, but I have until March 2 to make up my mind. Laura? Nars? BOTH? *Wallet throbs* HELP! What should I do?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Bay Area Beauty Tip: Free Clarins Facials at Nordstrom

February 5th, 2008 by Karen 13 Comments

For folks living in or visiting the San Francisco Bay Area, did you know that Clarins, a French skin care line, offers complementary facials at Nordstrom stores?

Since the 50s, French brand Clarins was one of the first lines to forgo using animal ingredients in their products. Their entire line is now 100 percent plant-derived.

I’m new to the line, so the free 40-minute facial held at the Nordstrom Spa in the San Francisco Centre was a great (and relaxing) way to learn about their products.

Yes, girl, the San Francisco Nordstrom has a spa with the usual spa treatment menu of facials, massages and body treatments costing upwards of $80, depending on the service.

But because Clarins’ complimentary facials are held in their spa rooms, they’re kinda like experiencing the spa without having to pay the big bucks. Here’s where my facial took place:

Um, the treatment bed wasn’t messy when I walked in. I actually laid down on it for a short nap before taking this picture (hey, I exercised early and was tired!). The room was a little noisy due to store traffic outside the door, which was only partially drowned out by tunes from the Top 40 radio station piped through overhead speakers. If you’re used to going to spas where they play soft, soothing sounds of chirping crickets or, God forbid, Enya, then you may not like this. But let me remind you again — this facial is gratis.

Despite the background noise, the facial and overall experience was great. Sharon Trajico, a specially trained Clarins facialist, first asked me a ton of questions about my skin and my skin care routine. Based on my answers, she selected a few choice Clarins products to cleanse, treat and protect my skin. I liked that the products weren’t heavily scented; most smelled very light, clean and plant-esque.

Over the course of the treatment Sharon carefully described the products she was using along with each product’s intended use. Clarins facialists apply product with their hands, warming each between their palms first before application, and then lightly massaging and pressing the product into the face and neck. It’s a combo massage-beauty treatment — incredibly relaxing.

Like specialists at European-style day spas, Shannon cleansed and toned my skin, applied a face mask, then finished with a series of anti-aging and skin protection serums and lotions. They skipped the facial steaming (which typically happens before or after the mask) and black head extraction (hate those, ouch!), which was fine with me.

At the end of the facial my skin felt smooth, looked brighter and the red splotches I’d had at the start of the treatment were gone. I loved the scents and textures of Clarins’ face products and can’t wait to try more of the line, which includes body care and makeup.

Clarins complimentary Nordstrom facials are offered once a month. Call your nearby Nordstrom and ask to speak with someone at the Clarins counter. They’ll provide you with dates and schedule a time for you to come in!

San Francisco readers can call…

Nordstrom at San Francisco Centre (near Union Square): (415) 243-8500
Nordstrom at Stonestown Galleria: (415) 753-1344

And if you’re in Marin…

Nordstrom at The Village at Corte Madera: (415) 927-1690

For numbers to other Bay Area Nordstrom stores, perform a search here.

Take note — not all Nordstrom stores have spa rooms like the ones in S.F. do At some of store counters, your facials will be done on the sales floor, but they’ll shield you behind a screen to grant you some privacy.

By the way, in the beauty world, “free” and “complimentary” services are often code for “you should purchase at least one product before you head out,” but I’m sure you won’t be disappointed by the Clarins line. Later today I plan to swing by my local Nordstrom to grab a few of the goodies Sharon introduced me to!

I hope your day has been going well so far! Whatcha up to on this lovely Tuesday?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen