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subscribe to beauty counter blog via RSSBeauty, In Book Form
March 19, 2010 2:11 pm
Artist Marilyn Minter has long had a knack for transforming the mundane into the provocative. Now the full range of her work, from the early, painterly still lifes of household objects through the more recent, vividly imagined fashion- and beauty-inspired pieces, has been collected in a gorgeous new tome. The power of Minter’s photorealistic paintings often lies in the almost pornographic proximity of her subjects. One of her most buzz-generating series, in the late 1980’s, featured images of hardcore sexual acts, but she brings that same up-close-and-personal perspective to sumptuous studies of everything from food (an egg being cracked) to designer shoes (sparkling stilettos covered in mud) to makeup (a sweaty, red-lipsticked pout chewing on a diamond necklace). Our personal favorite? A pair of dirty feet with a green pedicure that happens to feel, thanks to the continued popularity of Chanel’s Jade and its many imitators, very au courant.
Marilyn Minter, published by Gregory R. Miller & Co., available through D.A.P. in May.
tags: Marilyn Minter
Totally Soy Crazy
March 18, 2010 11:49 am
If you haven’t experienced the magic that is Fresh’s Soy Face Cleanser, allow me to enlighten you. A featherweight gel cleanser, it hydrates and calms skin, removes even the most stubborn eye makeup, has a luscious rose and cucumber scent, and is mild enough for super-sensitive skin. Um, yeah, amazing. And now it has a sister product, Soy Face Exfoliant. With the same nourishing soy proteins and appealingly mellow scent of the cleanser, plus ultra-fine natural microdermabrasion particles that gently exfoliate, it’s a very worthy investment.
$42, www.fresh.com.
Drugstore Discovery of the Week: Smells Like Teen Spirit
March 17, 2010 12:18 pm
Some scents are impossible to erase from your memory, and everyone has their own list. My top three would be the powdery fragrance of my mom’s Anais Anais, her signature when I was a kid; the pungent odor of stop bath from many hours in a college darkroom; and the heady, camphor-rich aroma of the gigantic container of Noxzema cold cream that my grandmother kept in her bathroom. Every time I wandered in there I would use two hands to twist open the lid and take a long whiff. As a teenager, wooed by the Rebecca Gayheart commercials (look closely at the first one; her co-star is a young Jared Leto), I bought my own tub. Eventually, I forgot about it, until just this week when I cracked open a much sleeker-looking jar with a fancy new font and was greeted by the same weirdly comforting scent of menthol and camphor. And, when I slathered the thick cold cream on my face, that signature skin tingling sensation. Officially hooked all over again.
$4, at drugstores.
tags: Noxzema
Lipsticks Spring Forward
March 16, 2010 1:51 pm
The giddy rush that your regular Beauty Counter correspondent and nail art pioneer, Celia Ellenberg, gets every time a new polish lands on her desk is precisely how I feel about lipstick. I may have makeup cases overflowing with tubes of every shade and brand, but still, each time I twist open a new bullet I can’t help but feel a tinge of excited anticipation. Red, in its myriad incarnations, is my constant go-to hue, but once spring arrives I like to broaden my palette. With that in mind, I have, after tireless testing, managed to narrow down my favorite spring lipstick releases. Here, the top ten.
Julie Hewett Jacqueline Bijou Lipstick
A pale pinky lilac inspired by a vintage photo of Jackie O.
$20, www.juliehewett.net.
Shu Uemura Égérie Rouge Unlimited Lipstick in Nude Beige
A classic cool nude that feels very sixties Shrimpton; for maximum effect, pair with a heavy, smoky eye.
$23, www.shuuemura-usa.com.
Lancôme Color Design Matte Lipstick in Posh Pink
With none of the moisture-zapping chalkiness of its matte lipstick counterparts, the best new shade of the Mix & Matte collection is a clean, bright fuchsia.
$22, exclusively at Macy’s and www.lancome-usa.com.
Rimmel Moisture Renew Lip Colour in Berry Queen
A punchy, berry shade that is more pink than red; at a mere $7, it’s the perfect cheap thrill.
$7, at drugstores.
Josie Maran Argan-Infused Lipstick in Bambolina
A true cotton candy pink that’s totally natural, so your tendency to lick off your lip color won’t be such a bad thing.
$20, www.sephora.com.
YSL Rouge Volupté in Rose Paris
Don’t be fooled by the name; this is no rose. More like a flashy orange-pink hybrid.
$34, www.yslbeautyus.com.
NARS Lipstick in Cruising
A dusty rose-tinged beige inspired by Catherine Deneuve in La Chamade.
$24, www.narscosmetics.com.
Guerlain Rouge G Le Brillant in Brit
A sparkling light pink that has the signature, ridiculously delicious Guerlain lipstick scent.
$46, www.sephora.com.
Revlon Color Burst Lipstick in Coral
Research has shown that lipstick is an instant mood-lifter, and this intense orangey coral is like happiness in tube form.
$8, www.target.com.
Revlon Color Burst Lipstick in Grape
Purple lipstick has graced many a runway; this deep grape is sheer, so it doesn’t feel too goth-y, making it a great darker hue for spring.
$8, www.target.com.
tags: Guerlain, Josie Maran, Julie Hewett, Lanc�me, Lipstick, Nars, Revlon, Rimmel, Sephora, Shu Uemura, YSL
Drugstore Discovery Of The Week: The Candy Man Can
March 10, 2010 1:15 pm
I’ve never been much of a pastels person, so the candy-colored collections that debut around this time every year usually don’t do it for me. Save your buttercup yellows, sky blues, and pale pinks for someone else, thanks; I’ll stick to brights and brooding berries when appropriate. Of course, this all changed last year, when I bought into Spring ’09’s coral trend hard and then found myself completely loving a particular jade green nail polish that has already received its fair share of coverage on this blog. So when Maybelline’s limited-edition Sweet Thing collection crossed my desk this week, I welcomed it with a recently opened mind. Inspired by the simplicity of a 1950’s-era confectionery color palette, the range includes five Color Sensational lip glosses, five Eye Express Cream Shadow Sticks, and four Expert Wear Duo Eye Shadows. The icing on the cake, if you will, is its eight shades of Express Finish Nail Color, which includes a fantastic cream-finish melon called Sweet Clementine, and Minty, a pale green/blue that is a close second to the jade varnish mentioned above. At $4.25 apiece, they’re a pretty sweet deal, too.
tags: Maybelline New York, Nails, Sweet Thing
For Makeup Junkies, Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death!
March 9, 2010 1:50 pm
In addition to its impressive permanent stock of lipsticks and eye shadows in a range of fashion-forward colors—not to mention what is quite possibly the widest selection of complexion-perfecting foundations, powders, concealers, and primers on the market today—MAC Cosmetics has become a force to be reckoned with in the limited-edition collaboration department as well. The two Dsquared² ranges it released last year in conjunction with the Caten brothers’ show in Milan were a big hit, as was 2009’s wildy popular Hello Kitty launch, which prompted in-store, um, catfights as women the world over scrambled to get a piece of kitschy makeup memorabilia. For its next trick, the brand has partnered with Liberty of London to premiere a line of bright, floral-printed lipsticks, lip glosses, eye shadows, nail lacquers, blushes, and powders in a fun, flirty palette perfect for Spring. In a first for the company, which has always relied on signature black compacts, each item is packaged in a glossy white case to further hammer home that pure, airy feeling of post-winter emancipation. The collection, which comes with an equally festive makeup bag and printed cotton scarf, officially hits stores on Thursday, but if we were you, we’d do our buying online, where that amazing slate/teal nail polish shown above is already available for purchase.
tags: Liberty of London, MAC Cosmetics, Makeup
According To Le Métier de Beauté, Fashion Rules!
March 4, 2010 12:53 pm
When we woke up this morning, we thought, “Today is going to be a banner day. Not only are Balenciaga and Balmain showing in Paris within hours of each other, but 30 Rock will finally return with new episodes after being bumped by the Olympics for the past…seemingly forever.” Sadly, after a quick perusal of the NBC Web site, it appears as though we will have to wait another week for 30 Rock, but Neiman Marcus’ Fashion Rules event may be just solace enough. At store locations across the country, the luxury retailer will be fêting fashion and beauty with trunk shows, free spa treatments, and mini makeovers, all while the Champagne and canapés flow freely. There’s another reason to make haste to a location near you, if the bubbly and hand massages aren’t enough of a draw: Inspired by the Spring runways, Le Métier de Beauté will be debuting its Le Petit Poudrier Collection, a series of ten palettes that were exclusively created in celebration of tonight’s event and designed in homage to the best of backstage beauty. No bigger than a credit card, the four lip palettes, two face palettes, and four eye palettes—which boast a preview of a new cream eye shadow formula that will be available in its full size early next year—give you the freedom to keep your favorite seasonal makeup trends with you wherever you go. Sitcom hilarity can wait until next Thursday.
tags: Le M�tier de Beaut�, Le Petit Poudrier Collection, Makeup, Neiman Marcus Fashion Rules!
Caring For Your Cut, Long After You Leave The Salon
March 3, 2010 2:44 pm
The concept of creating a haircare regimen that is custom-fit to your hair type—fine, wavy, straight, greasy, dry, or unruly—has been guiding product formulations for decades. More recently, however, large companies and independent stylists alike have tried to woo customers with shampoos, conditioners, and styling aids designed with specific haircuts in mind. HerCut, which launched in 2009, led the way and others have followed suit, including celebrity stylist Ric Pipino’s new range, Revolution in Cut, which bowed last month. Pipino, who counts Naomi Watts and Diane Kruger as fans, designed his three-tiered collection to re-energize and support his skill with the scissors so that his clients could maintain their new shapes at home between salon visits. The paraben- and sulfate-free range includes a shampoo, two conditioners, styling products, and customized primers that correspond with what Pipino sees as the six essential haircut techniques: bob, layered bob, crop, short layer, long layer, and blunt. The Primers are really Pipino’s point of difference in the market, offering pre-styling options that provide specific levels of hold, volume, texture, and shine proportionally to individual styles in order to improve the condition of the hair and thus extend the life of the cut. Complex as it may be, we like this line for its simpler attributes; the daily shampoo and conditioner are light and lovely and the Smooth Me Taming Cream is one of the better calming creams we’ve ever tried, in that it controls frizz and unwanted curls without weighing our hair down. An added bonus: The entire line smells fantastic, thanks to a soft Neroli infusion that Pipino added to each product based on a scent memory taken from trips to Italy with his father.
tags: Hair, Revolution In Cut, Ric Pipino
Win Your Way To Instant Hydration
March 2, 2010 1:09 pm
The list of dermatological gripes for anyone with aging skin is long. You’ve got your fine lines and wrinkles, your nascent sagginess, and let’s not forget the dullness that contributes to an overall lackluster complexion. The biggest bummer of all may be the dryness that comes along with these aforementioned grievances—which is particularly bad in these final days of winter, when the weather fluctuates between utterly freezing and tolerably chilly. StriVectin took all of these common complaints into consideration when creating its new Instant Moisture Repair Lotion, which is clinically proven to not only treat these concerns externally but also to target them at their source. The lightweight, quick-absorbing formula penetrates deep into the skin, depositing water-binding molecules along the way to help your skin hold moisture at every layer for an instantly plump appearance. The company says that your hydration levels will increase 30 percent in just the first hour of slathering, with increasingly effective long-term benefits promised with continued use. Intrigued (and a little skeptical)? Strivectin thought you might feel that way. To help make you a believer before you buy, the brand devised a clever Facebook contest to give you the chance to try a full-sized bottle of the new wonder cream, entirely free. All you have to do is post your best antiaging skincare tip to its wall, in two sentences or less, from now until March 15 for a chance to be one of 25 winners selected at the end of the month. Then you can reserve your judgment with its $60 counter price still securely in your wallet.
Topshop, The Beauty Range: It’s Coming!
February 26, 2010 11:51 am
We told you it was in the works last summer, and more details have finally surfaced about Topshop’s proposed beauty line. Set to bow in May at its top 30 locations (the Soho store included!), the U.K. retailer will be launching two cosmetics ranges: a core line of staples and a seasonal trend collection. Both were designed by the company’s consulting makeup artist Hannah Murray, who works on its ad campaigns and happened to whip up those feral eyebrows backstage at Unique last weekend, using select items from the new range. The products are designed to echo fashion-forward colors often found in Topshop’s clothing and to foster a newfound willingness to experiment—in other words, true to the try-and-see mentality currently sweeping the beauty world. A cement-colored nail polish, a strong lavender eye kohl, and a smoky eye palette are positioned to help women get their basics or push the envelope, all within a price range of $8 to $20. Click here for a sneak peek at the new line. [WWD]
tags: Hannah Murray, Makeup, Topshop, Unique
