all about makeup

I was looking forward to trying this product because Hope in a Jar without SPF is one of my favorite moisturizers. I try to put on SPF everyday so I was hoping that this would be my new go-to-one-step SPF with moisturizer for everyday but sadly, it’s not.

It has a very different consistency than its predecessor. It’s not light and whipped, it’s more gel like. It makes my face very shiny and it doesn’t sink in for at least 10 minutes. This is definitely not your everyday SPF but it might be good for the beach or a time when you’ll be exposed to an increased amount of sun.

As far as moisturizers with SPF go, I’d recommend choosing something from the DDF line. They make non-oily, invisible products that are great for your skin.

This mascara had a devout underground following until it was featured on Oprah and subsequently, in many national fashion magazines. Although the devout followers are no longer underground, they are as strong as ever and getting stronger by the day.

Kiss Me products (mascara and eyeliner) are available on many online retailer’s websites and in select stores. I found mine in a small miscellaneous shop in Toronto, Canada while shopping for a thank you gift for my brother-on-law.

I picked up the mascara (cleverly packaged in a tube) and asked the cashier what it was. After listening to his description about “tubing” mascara, I had no idea what he was talking about. He assured me that his wife is a makeup-a-holic (I hear that sister!) and she uses it everyday and loves it so I should get it. So, I did.

This stuff looks like traditional mascara. It’s black, there’s a wand and you apply it just like every other mascara. The difference is in the removal. With warm water on your finger tips, you can pull the mascara off your lashes. The mascara comes off in black “tubes” that look like your own lashes. It’s very scary the first time you remove this stuff. Thinking that you’re pulling out your lashes is not fun but you realize quickly that your lashes are still there and the mascara isn’t.

The great thing about this product is the easy removal. I don’t use makeup remover, only face wash, so I find that traditional mascaras smudge under my eye and then I have to go back in with a moisturizer to get rid of the smudge. Not with this stuff, very easy removal and no irritation. Nice.

Now for the not so good news….this stuff will darken your lashes and that’s about it. It doesn’t thicken them or appear to give them length like some other brands can. You also can’t layer it and if you try, it will flake off.

SO, if you’re a mascara fiend like me….this might not be the product for you. I can deal with the extra step to remove my traditional mascara if it means my lashes look their absolute best. If darkening your lashes if what you’re after….get this product!

On a final note- I do have to hand it to Kiss Me Cosmetics for coming up with something truly different and innovative. It was fun to try and I’m glad I bought it. Let’s keep up the innovation cosmetics industry!

I like to try new brands and new formulations to stay on top of trends so I recently purchased Smashbox’s “Camera ready full coverage foundation with UVA/UVB SPF 15.” Smashbox is a very well known brand founded by Dean and Davis Factor, grandsons of legendary makeup artist, Max Factor. They also started LA fashion week and own “Smashbox Studios” in LA which is a haven for models, makeup artists and photographers. So they should know what they’re doing right!? That’s what I thought but after using this product, I’m feeling no respect or admiration for this brand. I’m thinking more that this brand is about pomp and circumstance, marketing, hanging on to famous relatives and creating products that are low quality but sell nonetheless.

What this products claims to be: “This lightweight yet buildable cream-to-powder full coverage foundation glides on effortlessly leaving a semi-matte finish. With cutting edge skin smoothing ingredients, powerful antioxidants like vitamin C and Quercetin, and a mineral UV blocker that provides non-chemical SPF 15 sun protection, this foundation leaves skin looking naturally flawless. The innovative mirrored compact holds a custom foundation brush designed for seamless application.”

What I think: Wow. Where do I begin. The product explanation is a list of lies. Let’s start at the beginning. It’s not lightweight. It feels like you’re applying heavy chemicals to your skin. If by “cream-to-powder” they mean “cream-to-leaching out all of the moisture in your skin and leaving it dry and flaky” then ok, but they should clarify that. Replace “semi-matte” with “semi-flaky like a molting snake.” Cutting edge smoothing ingredients”!! HAHAHAHA. There are many brands available that make great foundations that can actually improve the look of your skin and even they don’t claim they have, “cutting edge” anything. What a ridiculous claim.

This next claim deserves its own paragraph. “innovative mirrored compact.”  It’s a mirrored compact….what the hell is so innovative about it!! Nothing. It’s just your average, run-of-the-mill compact. Does Smashbox think they are NASA? Are they going to put someone on Mars with their innovative, cutting edge makeup products? You produce makeup not penicillin for developing nations.

I wouldn’t care if they made those claims and produced a great product but because this foundation is SO bad, the claims serve to make it worse. It’s unfortunate that this product went through testing, couldn’t have done well and still they released it. I wonder what other products they’ve done this with.

I got a facial two weeks ago at my gym and the facialist (is that a word?) told me about Ferulic acid. I had never heard of it. I’ve been using it for two weeks and here is my review:

What it claims to do:

“C E Ferulic® is a revolutionary antioxidant combination that delivers advanced protection against photoaging – neutralizing free radicals, helping build collagen, and providing unmatched antioxidant protection. More protection means more youthful looking skin and better defense against environmental aging.

Containing 15% pure L-ascorbic acid and 1% alpha tocopherol, the addition of ferulic acid doubles the already synergistic benefits of our original high-potency formula, C+E, transforming C E Ferulic® into a super-antioxidant combination.”

What it does:

This stuff stinks like turkey cold cuts. It’s an unmistakable smell and wow is it awful. I know I’m not the only person who isn’t excited about rubbing liquid raw turkey on my face every morning but if it does what this does…pass the liquid turkey!

This solution makes my skin soft, evens out my skin tone, firms my skin and is generally awesome. Those benefits aren’t even listed in the product description and they really should be. This stuff is great and apparently, along with sunscreen, this product will provide excellent long term protection from the sun so when you’re seventy, you’ll be rockin’ that old folks home with your hot, sun-spot-less face!

I highly recommend this product however, you should be warned….it’s pricey ($138.00). Put it on your Christmas and Birthday lists now!

Last week I realized that I don’t have to be a victim of clever marketing of cosmetics if I don’t want to be. I can educate myself about the ingredients used in cosmetics and decide for myself what will benefit my skin. With the help of two great books, I’m beginning to do that. “Don’t Go To The Cosmetics Counter Without Me” by Paula Begoun is a compilation of makeup and skin care reviews of over 100 brands. The reviews are honest, well-written and contain helpful information about price points, ingredients and recommendations. The other book that is a great companion to Begoun’s book is, “A Consumer’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients” by Ruth Winter, M.S. This book is a straight up dictionary of all ingredients that are found in today’s makeup and skin care products. This book is great if you’re attempting to determine why one foundation works for your skin and why another one doesn’t. Read the ingredients, look them up and determine what the differences are. That is what I’m currently doing with all of my makeup and wow it is time consuming but SO worth it.

Begoun’s book contains a list of common irritating ingredients which is a good place to start educating yourself about ingredients to avoid. I plan to share all the knowledge I’ve gained from these books in later posts but for now, here’s a list of cosmetic ingredients to avoid:

-alcohol or SD- alcohol followed by a number (exceptions: ingredients like cetyl alcohol or steatyl alcohol are standard, benign, waxlike cosmetic thickening agents and are completely nonirritating and safe to use.)
-camphor
-citrus juices and oils
-eucalyptus
-excessive fragrance
-menthol
-menthyl lactate
-menthozypropanediol
-mint
-peppermint
-sodium lauryl sulfate
-arnica
-bergamot
-cinnamon
-clove
-eugenol
-grapefruit
-lavender
-linalool
-wintergreen
-witch hazel
-ylang-ylang

I used to constantly change shampoos because I thought they were basically all the same and I didn’t care too much about what I used. None of them ever did what they claimed to do and they were all over advertised, harsh, glorified soap. Well, I finally found a shampoo that my hair and I both love and most amazingly, I haven’t seen one ad for it!

I heard of Moroccanoil shampoo through word of mouth from blogs and my hair stylist. Everything I heard was positive and most importantly, accurate.

What it claims to do: Hydrating moisture repair. For chemically damaged hair, color safe. Sulphate-Phosphate and Paraben free. Contains Argan oil and keratin rich in fatty acids and proteins. Restores damaged hair.

What it does: thoroughly cleans hair without drying it out. I never feel like I’m stripping my hair of protein or of color (I’ve been coloring my hair blonde since grade six). I feel like I’m doing something good for my hair when I use this product. I’ll never use anything else if I can help it. this shampoo is as good as it gets. Moroccanoil makes an entire line of hair products that I hear are also amazing. I’ll be trying those out very soon. If you can find it, but it!

Mascara has come a long way in the last few years. They used to be all the same- thick, clumpy and messy. The applicators used to all be the same as well. It was very difficult, if not impossible, to find an applicator that wasn’t your standard brush style. Wow how things have changed. Mascaras come in every color, many finishes and a plethora of applicator choices from curved to vibrating.

My favorite mascara applicators are the non-brush, stiff kind because they allow you to get to the root of your lash which is so important. I bought this Cover Girl mascara for $8.99 because I wanted to see how it compared to my more expensive, “hyped-up” mascaras. After one week of using this mascara, it’s now my favorite. The product isn’t clumpy at all, it goes on with pin point precision and it’s easy to reach the lower lashes.

The packaging says that it’s supposed to add shine….not sure that’s true…at all. I don’t see any shine but who really wants shiny eyelashes anyway? That seems unnecessary to me. So, even without the promised shine, I’d recommend this product.

When I was giving a makeup workshop for the Miss Boston beauty pageant contenders last Sunday, I was asked a very good question and I think it’s a question that a lot of women have, “which products can I buy cheaply and which should I invest in?”

It’s such a great question because there is a definitive answer (at least I think so). Below is a list of makeup categories and a description about whether you should either invest (over $9.00) or skimp (under $9.00).

EYESHADOW: Skimp. Cheap brands usually carry many colors and finishes. You might have to apply more to your eyelid than the more expensive eyeshadows but who cares.

LIQUID EYELINER: Skimp. There are lots of great liquid eyeliners available and there is no reason to pay more than you have to.

PENCIL EYELINER: Invest. Cheaper pencil eyeliners are difficult to use because they tend to not show up at all on your lid and pressing hard on your eyelid or going over it too many times may irritate your eye area.

MASCARA: Skimp. There is no reason to buy expensive mascara because there are tons of great cheap options. Lash Blast by Cover girl is great. The brush is very stiff and allows you to easily get to your lash root. I like this mascara more than the expensive mascaras I have in my kit.

FOUNDATION: Invest. There’s nothing worse than whitish, cakey or pinkish foundation and that’s what I’ve seen from the cheaper foundations out there (Cover Girl, Maybelline etc.) I’m not saying they are all bad, but I have yet to come across a great cheap foundation. Brands that make great foundations are: Bobbi Brown, Chanel and MAC. I’ve also heard that Giorgio Armani’s beauty line has great foundations but I haven’t tried them yet.

POWDER: Invest. Cheaper powders can contain ingredients that are bad for your skin also, cheap powders tend to look whitish or too powdery. They sit on your skin rather than act to set the foundation.

BRONZER: Skimp. Just make sure it doesn’t turn you orange. Consider buying the lightest bronzer available and only using a very little bit.

BLUSH: Skimp. There is an endless supply of shades and finishes for under $9.

What it claims to do: “Allows you to capture younger-looking skin over night with this spectacular anti-aging breakthrough containing multi-correction ingredients including longoza, a rare revitalizing plant grown only in Madagascar that increases skin resilience, firmness, and texture.”

What it does: This isn’t a product I’d normally buy because it’s very expensive but I got a Sephora gift certificate for Christmas so I thought I’d use it on a  night cream because they tend to be really pricey. I had not used any Dior skin care products before this and I’ve been meaning to try the brand for a while. My skin gets very dry in the winter so I went online looking for a well rated skin cream around $100 (the amount of my gift certificate).

This Dior cream seemed perfect so I bought it. I started using it seven nights ago and every morning I’ve woken up with perfectly moisturized and soft skin. I think my skin tone is more even which is definitely an added bonus. I’d recommend this cream if you’re looking for a great night cream and you’re willing to pony up the $$$.

What it claims to do: “keeps skin squeaky clean, easily dissolving dirt, debris, and makeup. One step facial cleanser that is gentle and effective.”

What it does: As I’ve mentioned before, I have sensitive skin. Warm to hot water mixed with soapy facial cleansers tend to make my skin red, hot and irritated. In the past, I have gravitated towards cleansing milks and very mild cleaners because of my sensitivities but I’ve found that I’ve had to sacrifice effective cleansing for gentleness and if the product’s not actually cleaning your face then….what would be the point?

Purity is exactly what it claims to be: a gentle yet effective cleanser. My skin doesn’t feel irritated and red at all after I use it in fact, it feels moisturized. I highly recommend this product for people who have normal to sensitive skin.

A note about “Philosophy” the brand: I’ve used two products from this brand and I love them both. Purity and “Hope in a Jar” facial moisturizer are now part of my daily routine. I know I will re-buy both of them. Philosophy just came out with another anti-aging product called “Miraculous.” If you’ve been to the Sephora website or store lately then you know what I’m talking about. Wow, are they ever marketing that product a lot! and I can’t wait to try it!