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subscribe to beauty counter blog via RSSBeauty Throwdown: Battle BB Cream
February 9, 2012 11:54 am
After dominating the skincare markets in Asia and Europe for the past few years, BB creams finally landed stateside last summer, and they’ve been on a tear ever since. Brands like Clinique and Too Faced have rushed to introduce the multitasking wonder to their offerings, and many others will be jumping on the BB bandwagon in the months to come. Similar to a super-charged tinted moisturizer, the what-can’t-it-do? product marries the benefits of an emollient hydrator with the coverage of a sheer foundation, using an active formula that boasts skin-perfecting ingredients like hyaluronic acid, antioxidants, and brighteners to break up pigmentation. Two newcomers—a luxe version by Dior and a more budget-friendly option from Garnier—have just joined the fray. Here, we toss both in the ring for our latest beauty throwdown.
The Prestige Contender: A new addition to Dior’s popular DiorSnow brightening skincare range, this potent BB is, like the rest of the line, infused with radiance-boosting Icelandic glacial water and hyperpigmentation-combating Lightenine, as well as meadowsweet extract to calm skin and hibiscus to counteract fine lines and wrinkles. Of all the BB creams we’ve encountered, this one seems to be the closest thing to skincare. It hasn’t helped fade my freckles/sun damage yet, but because it offers very high protection from UV rays—SPF 50—it will definitely prevent new spots from forming. It also provides a surprisingly good amount of coverage, but it can appear a bit chalky on dry skin, so definitely slather on a serum or lightweight moisturizer before you apply.
$50, www.dior.com.
The Drugstore Challenger: Garnier raises expectations by calling its BB the Miracle Skin Perfector and makes a good case for its grandiose name. You’ll notice its creamy texture immediately and the way it hydrates without looking cakey. It goes on sheer—much more sheer than Dior’s—and imparts a very luminous finish, which will earn you more than a few compliments about your “glow.” While it remains unclear if it is in fact a miracle in a tube, it does provide a pretty perfect dewy look.
$12.99, www.garnierusa.com.
The Bottom Line: It’s hard to pick a winner because it really depends on your priorities and how much money you have to burn. Garnier gets a gold star for its incredible price point alone. The fact that it leaves skin looking practically incandescent is another huge bonus. But Dior’s is the truer BB Cream as it packs a potent antiaging punch while providing sunblock-level protection. The price is a bit steep, but when you look at it as a pillar of your skincare and makeup regimen, it’s a much easier pill to swallow.
tags: BB Creams, Dior Beauty, Garnier, Makeup, Skincare
Getting Even With Sun Spots
February 8, 2012 12:56 pm
Summer might be a distant memory at this point, but the effects of those sun-drenched days often appear around now in the form of freckles, age spots, and dark patches. Getting rid of stubborn pigmentation requires diligence, as the slightest slip-up in your SPF application (even in the light-deprived days of winter) can trigger new blotches and bring back old ones. Luckily, there’s no shortage of brightening products at your disposal these days. The latest advances even out the complexion with super-charged molecules, micro-size antioxidants, and Rx-level extracts. While some go to work in record-setting time, most deliver more dramatic results in a month or so. With that in mind, we’ve been faithfully patting on five of the most promising recently released elixirs and scrutinizing our complexion. Here’s our early analysis of how each measures up.
The Product: La Roche-Posay Mela-D Pigment Control, $49.95, www.laroche-posay.us
The Claim: This night serum aims to fade existing dark patches in two weeks with a combo of three complementary active ingredients in clinical-strength form: kojic acid to inhibit spot-producing melanin, glycolic acid to slough dead skin at the surface, and lipo-hydroxy acid to boost cell turnover.
The First Impression: While our sun spots haven’t changed much yet, it exfoliated our skin without any tingling or redness, making it feel immediately softer—and making us optimistic about its continued efficacy.
The Product: Chanel Le Blanc Whitening Moisturizing Cream, $130, www.chanel.com
The Claim: Designed specifically for Asian skin (and those of us who aspire to its milky perfection), this daily cream contains TXC, a star ingredient backed by nine years of research that reduces the skin inflammation that can cause pigmentation, along with rice protein extract to deliver eight-hour hydration.
The First Impression: The dewy salve glides right on and imparts a soft, candlelit glow. But its floral-y scent was a bit too intense for our liking, although we imagine some might appreciate its delicate aroma.
Read the rest of this entry >
tags: Chanel, Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution, Kiehls, La Roche-Posay, Le Blanc Whitening Moisturizing Cream, Mela-D Pigment Control, Skincare, StriVectin
Vitamin D Does A Body Good
February 7, 2012 4:33 pm
Vitamin D, and specifically how we’re not getting nearly enough of it (a recent study found three out of four people are deficient), has been a hot topic in the media for the past few years, as a true depletion of the nutrient can spell trouble for most everything in your body, including your bones, heart, immune system, and, of course, your skin. Dermatologist Dr. Dennis Gross noticed that as his patients were becoming more cautious about sun exposure, slathering on plenty of high-level SPF before they ever hit the street, they were simultaneously experiencing plummeting vitamin D levels, which makes sense: The majority of natural vitamin D is attained through sunlight. Bearing this predicament in mind, Dr. Gross set about creating a product that would replenish vitamin D levels trans-dermally. His new Active Vitamin D Serum-Oil is the first of its kind on the market in that it’s a topical product that offers sufficient amounts of active vitamin D. Used regularly, the dense oil can help address hyperpigmentation and fine lines while encouraging collagen production and giving your skin a serious boost of hydration and elasticity. Does it feel quite as good as soaking up warm, happiness-inducing rays of actual sun? Not quite. But we will contest that having a more radiant complexion does manage to lift our spirits.
tags: Active Vitamin D Serum-Oil, Dr. Dennis Gross, Skincare
Kohl Of Duty
February 3, 2012 6:46 pm
After adding a bit of hype to the launch of its Kohl collection with the announcement that up-and-coming actress Felicity Jones would be the face of the intensely pigmented color range, Dolce & Gabbana The Makeup has unveiled the big reveal. The line finally hit shelves this week, and with it comes five shades of the newly launched The Kohl Pencil, a rich, soft-tipped stick that applies in a precise stroke and can be smudged for a more sultry effect, along with a matching selection of nail polish shades that correspond to each liner: Chocolate is a warm brown, Wild Green is a deep emerald, Peacock is a dark navy with a pure black eyeliner counterpart, Dahlia is an opulent burgundy/eggplant hybrid, and True White is, well, aptly named. There is also a Smoothe Eye Color Quad in Femme Fatale—a collection of the “ultimate neutral” shadows, according to Dolce & Gabbana creative adviser Pat McGrath, who used the combination of creams, tans, and tawny browns to build the perfect retro smoky eye backstage at the designers’ Spring show. It’s hard to pick a starting point with this collection, but the easy answer is to start with the lacquers and work your way up to the liners and shadow compact. A proper cat-eye application can take days to perfect, whereas a pristine set of dark hunter tips is just a manicure appointment away.
Available at www.saks.com.
tags: Dolce & Gabbana, Felicity Jones, Makeup, Pat McGrath
Drugstore Discovery Of The Week: St. Ives, Still The Scrub We Love
February 1, 2012 5:51 pm
Like most teenagers, the skin-sloughing power of crushed apricot seeds started my obsession with St. Ives. Its cult-favorite Apricot Scrub was one of my first skincare loves: in addition to leaving my face soft and glowing, its name suggested a kind of lavish, Alpine spa experience. I’ve long since graduated to glycolic peels, enzymatic exfoliants, and other high-tech treatments that help strip away dead cells to reveal brighter, dewier ones, so when I heard that the tried-and-true brand of my youth was introducing a new lotion packed with alpha-hydroxy fruit acids, all of my old feelings came flooding back. St. Ives’ new Naturally Smooth Body Lotion builds on its expertise in exfoliation with a creamy moisturizing formula that multitasks as a skin-finisher. The easy-to-use pump bottle comes with the promise of “younger-looking” skin in just seven days, which, while a bold statement, is also a pretty accurate one. After slathering it on, morning and night, for a week, I can’t really say that my arms and legs looked like they did when I was 15, but they were baby soft, and I even saw an improvement in some little bumps that often plague me on the back of my arms and thighs. Skincare crush, back on.
St. Ives Naturally Smooth Body Lotion, $4.97, at Target stores.
Nail Rock X Meadham Kirchhoff X Topshop
February 1, 2012 1:46 pm
Since Brit beauty queen Zoe Pocock’s Nail Rock overlays touched down on this side of the Pond with an exclusive launch at Nordstrom in December, they’ve developed a steady stream of American acolytes—so much so that they went mass last month, rolling out to CVS stores nationwide. Pocock’s secret to success, in our estimation, is her fashion ties, which have allowed her to create nail prints and patterns for brands like Mulberry and Meadham Kirchhoff that are simply superior to the barrage of similar offerings already on the market. The runway is actually where we caught our first glimpse of Pocock’s specialty tips, which were instrumental to the beauty collaborations afoot backstage at Meadham Kirchhoff’s whimsical Spring show. To round out hair artist James Pecis’ painted platinum wigs and the limited-edition, glitter-encrusted lipstick bullets of MAC Ruby Woo the show’s opening act of Courtney Love impersonators pulled out of their cleavage, Pocock provided custom-made nail designs, each of which was more quirky than the next—think: vintage teddy bear illustrations on a pastel yellow base and fifties-era toy ponies painted onto a background of light blue lacquer. Now, five months later, the overlays are about to arrive at Topshop. Eight total prints should be hitting shelves next week—just in time to round out any NYFW manicure ideas you may already be throwing around.
tags: Meadham Kirchhoff, Nail Rock, Nails, Topshop, Zoe Pocock
Love Me, Tendertones, Love Me Sweet
January 27, 2012 2:20 pm
Last season, while making the international rounds for the Spring shows, something happened. I was backstage at Paul Smith in London, talking shop with makeup artist Petros Petrohilos, when he produced a small glass tub of bright red pigment and proceeded to apply it onto models’ lips and directly underneath their cheekbones for a sheer, glossy flush. It was one of the more vivid memories I have of LFW, mostly because I had never seen anything that applied like that. One part stain, one part balm, the jellylike substance wore so sheer yet managed to have so much subtle impact. “They’re called Tendertones,” Petrohilos told me about the multipurpose salves that MAC would be re-releasing for the spring after debuting them in a limited range of shades a few years back. Needless to say, I’ve been infatuated with them ever since. As I moved from London to Paris, I asked every MAC makeup artist I encountered if they had any extra pots to spare so I could start implementing the highly versatile product into my daily routine. I only recently procured my very own stash, but it was totally worth the wait. Four new shades of Tendertones are about to debut with MAC’s Shop MAC / Cook MAC collection next month, and if I were you, I’d be on the look out for Purring, a sheer tangerine, and Hot ‘n’ Saucy, the original transparent cherry I first fell in love with four months ago. Smooth over lips, dab onto cheeks, and get ready to reap the rewards.
$15, available February 9 at www.maccosmetics.com.
tags: MAC Cosmetics, Makeup, Paul Smith, Petros Petrohilos, Shop MAC / Cook MAC, Tendertones
The Oxygen Network
January 25, 2012 1:20 pm
Oxygen facials peaked on spa menus a few years back, promising to make skin dewy and plump with mists of the refreshing, pure molecule. Despite hype and devotion from celebs (read: Madonna), dermatologists were skeptical of the lasting benefits. Now it seems oxygen is poised for a comeback—this time in the form of elixirs, creams, and even makeup infused with that atmospheric element. But the question remains: Do these O2 fixes improve your skin’s health in the long run? We tested out the latest offerings, asked the pros for their opinion, and discovered some surprising results.
The Product: Philosophy Oxygen Boost Daily Energizing Oxygen Elixir, $50, www.philosophy.com.
The Claim: A companion product to the brand’s popular Oxygen Peel (which is meant to mimic the results of an oxygen facial at home), this lightweight lotion contains a veil of oxygen that aims to clarify, detoxify, and energize the skin.
The Expert’s Take: “Overall, I think the Philosophy oxygen collection is good, but I’m still skeptical of oxygen as an ingredient that does anything beneficial for the skin,” says Washington, D.C.-based dermatologist Elizabeth. “I don’t think it’s harmful in any way, just useless.”
The Experience: We can’t say for certain if it was the O2 or the blend of botanicals in this formula, but the lotion went on with a perfect velvety texture and gave our skin an amazingly moist, morning-dew-on-petals effect. Hard science aside, we’re sold.
Read the rest of this entry >
tags: Benefit Cosmetics, Dr. Elizabeth Tanzi, Kate Somerville, Makeup, Philosophy, Skincare, Tina Turnbow
RGB’s Blonde Ambition
January 24, 2012 7:00 pm
After a successful partnership with celebrity nail artist Jenna Hipp that yielded a wildly popular nude wardrobe of foundation-inspired lacquers last year and a polish homage to jeans designed with the owners of the denim mecca Need Supply Co., RGB Cosmetics has not seemed to tire of the collaborative spirit. Its latest joint venture is with the platinum blonde co-owners of L.A.’s Tenoversix boutique, who, put simply, were on the hunt for a nail varnish that matched their icy flaxen strands. Brady Cunningham and Kristin Lee called their resulting polish Blonde on Blonde in reference to the Bob Dylan album of the same name, but the semi-matte, opaque, champagne-tinted cream color recalls a gamut of peroxide queens once it has gone on in two coats, from Debbie Harry to Lady Gaga. And since Redken creative consultant Guido Palau reassured us that the striking bleached-out hair color “never goes out of style” backstage at Balenciaga last season, its corresponding nail lacquer should have a lot of mileage.
$16, available February 2012 exclusively at www.tenover6.com.
tags: Nails, RGB Cosmetics, Tenoversix
Drugstore Discovery of the Week: Pantene Lightens Up
January 24, 2012 5:59 pm
Full disclosure: When it comes to my hair, I only use drugstore shampoos. I’ve been using Pantene since I was a teenager and while I have strayed before, I always go back. The only exception is once a week when I lather with Neutrogena Anti-Residue Formula for a deep cleanse, but then it’s right back to Pantene. It’s a routine I’ve been following for years, which is why I was intrigued when I spied an entirely new incarnation of my go-to sitting on our beauty editor Celia’s desk. Needless to say, I had to try it out. Like its original formula, the brand’s new Aqua Light range leaves hair clean, light, and airy, without a heavy, weighed-down feeling. But after a week of use, I can say that it also seems to be double-timing as a gentle purifier, so it deep-cleans while smoothing individual strands, thus giving me a one-step solution to my two-step problem. Did you get that, fellow Pantene lovers of the world? In a single slathering motion, the silicone-free formula, which includes a shampoo, conditioner, and conditioning shake, removes residue without stripping the hair and simultaneously deposits a hearty dose of lightweight moisture so hair is super-soft and highly movable. An that’s definitely worth getting excited about.
$3.99, available February 2012 at drugstores nationwide.
tags: Aqua Light, Hair, Pantene
