Beauty and Fashion Tech

Practice Safe Sun! Wear Your Sunscreen!

I recently listed sunscreen as the number one type of skin care product in my post Top Five Types of Skin Care Products for Any Skin Type. Today, a friend of mine is quoted in an article about tanning at MSNBC. It is an important read for this time of year. So please take a look, and please practice safe sun!

Here is the article, written by Dianna Mapes for MSNBC: Dose of vanity prescribed for tanning addicts: Skin-cancer stats fall on young deaf ears, but wrinkles, now those are scary. Looking for some sunscreen? I have reviewed Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch, and Aveeno Sunblock. And of course your local drugstore will have plenty of others to choose from!

Comparison Shop for Sunscreens

By Carleenp Posted in Skin Care, Sunscreens | No Comments

Review: Smart Skin Cosmetics Eye Shadow Duo

Good Skin is one of the cosmetics and skincare lines exclusive to Kohls stores. Flirt Cosmetics and American Beauty Cosmetics are the other Kohls brands. I have previously reviewed Flirt’s Peek-A-Blush. The Good Skin brand cosmetics are all fragrance free and non-acnegenic.

I have been using various Flirt products for awhile, but for some odd reason hadn’t really tried Good Skin or American Beauty, both of which tend to focus more on classic, neutral tones. So, when I was looking for some new basic neutral toned eyeshadow, I tried a Good Skin Smooth Color Eye Shadow Duo in butter cream (note: item pictured is a different shade pair). This turned out to be excellent eyeshadow, and I am not really surprised given that Flirt’s eye shadows are also very high quality. Good Skin’s eyeshadow duos come in an attractive case with a white lid. A nice extra touch is that they include an applicator that has a sponge tip on one end and a very usable brush on the other. I rarely use the applicators that come with products, but I have happily used the brush that comes with my Good Skin eye shadow.

The duo I got is a nice basic light tone pair. It consists of a bone color that evens out the skin tone on my lids and then a light tan that I use on my lids. The duo has particularly light shades, so if I want to up the color a notch, I add my favorite medium brown Flirt or M.A.C shade to the crease. The shadow has good pigmentation, stays on all day, and does not crease. At around $14.50 for a duo, it is more than a drugstore shadow, but it competes in quality with some of the high end shadows out there that cost much more. Considering the quality and the good packaging, I think this is a pretty decent value. I also recommend watching for sales. I have purchased cosmetics at Kohls with discounts from 10% to as much as 70% off during various sales promotions.

By Carleenp Posted in Eyeshadow | No Comments

New Tendertones Line from M.A.C Cosmetics

On the counter at M.A.C stores and at M.A.C online beginning tomorrow (May 31, 2007), are M.A.C Tendertones. They look fabulous, have a good value retail price, and I can’t wait to try them! The following information is from the press release:

SEXIER ON THE LIPS THAN BALM.
SILKIER THAN GLOSS.
MORE PROTECTIVE THAN “NAKED.”
A LIPCOLOUR THAT COMBINES
SOFT SHINE, EASY GLIDE AND
DOUBLE-SMOOTH SATIN FINISH,
WITH AN EVERYDAY
SUN PROTECTIVE FORMULA.
LUSH – ALL NURTURING –
WITH A LOOK THAT’S
SOFTLY, QUIETLY, HUSHED.
TREAT YOUR LIPS…
LOVE ’EM TENDER.

Tendertones SPF 12
The M.A.C Tendertones SPF 12 collection will brighten
any summer day. M.A.C Tendertones SPF 12 gives lips a
silky splash of sheer colour and a dab of SPF protection so
lips stay healthy and feel smooth after every application.
The Strawberry Kiwi flavour formula gives the protection
and comfort of a lip balm with the sexy shine of a gloss.
Petrolatum and Linoelic Acid work to condition and maintain
moisture on lips while vitamin E works to protect against
the harmful conditions of the environment. Lipid complex with
coffee seed extract and astricaryum murumuru butter give lips
the look of a gloss with the feel of a balm.

The press release described the following shades in the line:

Deep Sigh Sheer bronze with red pearl
Softnote Sheer lilac with blue/purple pearl
Hush, Hush Sheer peach with gold pearl
Warm Smile Sheer pinkish brown
Purring Sheer tangerine with pearl
Tender Baby Sheer watermelon pink
Shush! Sheer lime green with multicolour pearl
Take A Hint Sheer intense mid-tone pink
Pucker Sheer raspberry pink

Suggested retail price: $14.50 U.S./$17.50 CDN

There are several more new summer lines coming from M.A.C that I will be posting about soon.

By Carleenp Posted in Lip Products | No Comments

Astara Facial Masks: Violet Flame Enzyme, Green Papaya Nutrient, and Golden Flame Hydration

With summer coming on, my skin tends to go from dry to a bit oily and acne prone. That is when I tend to break out the facial masks more. Some of the best out there are the masks from Astara.

Astara makes a number of products, but my all time favorite, and one often listed as a favorite of other reviewers is the Astara Violet Flame Enzyme Mask. In my opinion, this is flat out the best enzyme mask out there. The mask is a nice thick clay mask, and you can really feel this one working. I don’t remember where I saw it, but I read a review once where the author likened the feeling to having her pores vacuumed, and she is right! You can actually feel the enzymes in this going to work. This mask simply can’t be beat as a wonderful exfoliator and a good way to dissolve junk out of your pores. Something to keep in mind though is that this one is not recommended for sensitive skin.

Those who want a milder product should take a look at the Astara Green Papaya Nutrient Mask. This is also an often recommended, wonderful mask that is much tamer than the violet enzyme mask. I use mine in between the more intense enzyme treatments. So if your skin is easily irritated, yet you want a bit of pore cleaning action, this is the mask to try.

The Astara Blue Flame Purification Mask is focused on purification and acne treatment. The mask feels similar to the Violet Flame mask, but a bit milder. It also works well on acne spots. Just put a dab on before bed and wash it off in the morning. Yes, you will have funky looking blue spots on your face overnight, but the clay helps draw out the oil and the enzymes go to work on the bacteria. You can also do essentially the same thing with the violet enzyme or green papaya masks.

For moisturizing and cooling after one of the clay masks, Astara Golden Flame Hydration Mask is wonderful. This gel mask is soothing and is also ideal for sun or wind burned skin. It feels quite nice.

Want to try several at once? Take a look at this kit: Astara Facial Masks, Assorted. Unfortunately, Astara products are a bit expensive, but I am a big fan of the quality and find them to be worth the extra cost.

By Carleenp Posted in Skin Care | No Comments

DuWop Lip Venom and Venom Flash Trio

On of the first lip plumpers out there, and one that continues to be very popular is DuWop Lip Venom. I recently gave it try through a purchase of the DuWop Mini Venom Trio. That provided a nice way to try three of the lip venom products.

The trio contains the standard clear lip venom, along with two tubes of DuWop Venom Flash, one with gold flakes and one with silver flakes. The three mini glosses come in a cute little tube. As a lip plumper, DuWop’s Lip Venom is OK. I found that it tingled and such more than a cheap lip plumper, and maybe, just maybe, I could see a bit of plumping. But like with most lip plumpers, the actual visible results seem negligible. At this point the best plumping I have seen has come from Freeze 24/7. With that said, this still is a good gloss. It gives a good shine and I like the tingle. DuWop Venom Flash is a good way to add a little sparkle and I particularly like using the gold over lipstick. On the whole, the trio provides a nice way to try out the products.

By Carleenp Posted in Lip Products | No Comments

Flat Iron Reviews

Last week, I reviewed the Sedu Revolution Flat Iron. For those interested in another opinion abut that iron, along with reviews of a bunch more, Michelle Mooney from Folica.com has written a good article: Flat Irons - a Comparison of Ten Top Rated Favorites. It is great reading for anyone who is considering the purchase of a flat iron. I recommend that you check it out!