Review of 3CC Robert Jones Signature Collection

Three Custom Color Specialists has launched yet another of its special collections. The Robert Jones Signature Collection consists of three shades of lip gloss and three shades of Crème to Powder blush. Robert Jones is a makeup artist who specializes in classic makeup looks and appropriate makeup for older women. He is the author of two books on makeup application Makeup Makeovers (the subject of a future article) and Looking Younger.


Robert Jones Signature Collection from 3CC
Lip glosses in Just Bitten, Life's A Beach, and Bare, But ...
Crème to Powder blush in Pinch My Cheeks, Morning After, and Kiss My Apricot

I eschewed lip gloss, but 3CC's lip gloss in the caramelicious Trae's Favorite was smooth, neither slick nor sticky. From the Robert Jones Signature Collection, I purchased lip gloss in Just Bitten, described as shiny, shimmering mahogany, and Life's A Beach, a sandy beige. Just Bitten looked a lot like Trae's Favorite, but with shimmer. It also has more berry, and less brown. As women get older, they need more color: as Trish McEvoy said, go lighter and brighter.

Through sampling of Bésame Voluptuous Lipstick and Pür Minerals' Nude Lips look, I was reminded of the benefits of filling in your lips with pencil to leave behind a stain after the lip gloss or lipstick has worn off. The good news is that lip pencils are products that you can save on: pencils from Wet'n'Wild or Jordana work perfectly well. I love pairing Just Bitten with Wet'n'Wild Crème Lip Liner Pencil in Brandy Wine and Life's a Beach with a nude pencil (maybe go a shade lighter than your natural lip color).

I have built a collection of sheer lipsticks and lip glosses from Three Custom Color Specialists, and the lip glosses from the Robert Jones Signature Collection are yet another beautiful addition to my collection.

You may purchase Three Custom Color Specialists products through its website: however, the website loads so slowly, I get timed out. A few 3CC products are available on QVC.com: 3CC debuted its Creme Concealer Foundation on QVC on August 18. A wider variety of 3CC products is found at dermstore.com.

Fall's color story

SoHo Accessories has a story on Pantone's Fall 2009 color story. It also links to Pantone's Fashion Color Report for 2009, which features how famous designers use the colors and provides advice on staying fashionable within budget from experts Simon Doonan (Barneys), Nina Garcia, Tim Gunn (Project Runway), India Hicks, and Clinton Kelly (WNTW).


Cover of Pantone Fashion Color Report fall 2009

Colors are:

American Beauty (balanced red)
Purple Heart
Honey Yellow
Burnt Sienna
Rapture Rose
Warm Olive
Majolica Blue, described as "a deep, mysterious teal blue with more vibrancy than the usual navy."

Indeed. Navy is one of the flattest shades around. I prefer marine or indigo to navy.

The neutrals are neither warm not cool and bridge the gap between gray and beige or brown. From lightest to deepest, the neutrals are:

Crème Brûlée, a grayed-down beige
Nomad, which bridges the gap between beige and light gray
Iron, which is described as "neither gray nor brown."

Come to think of it, these trio of neutrals would make a great eye shadow palette, with Crème Brûlée for the lid, Nomad for the crease, and iron for the outer corner or as an eyeliner.

Create your own eye shadow trio! Which existing eye shadows duplicate Crème Brûlée, Nomad, and Iron for a smoky eye?

Skin care advice from Rodan & Fields, Murad, and others

Anti-Aging Secrets of Top Dermatologists

We got the scoop on the supplements they take, the skin care products they slather on and more

Dermatologists have access to all of the latest and greatest lasers, skin care products, fillers, you name it. So when it comes to taking care of their own skin, we wondered what they do to prevent aging, or even better, reverse it. Here's what they had to say -- we recommend you make their habits your own. See secrets

Review of Perfekt Beauty Skin Perfection Gel

Perfekt Beauty Skin Perfection Gel

Perfekt Beauty describes its Skin Perfection Gel as:

A skin perfector that instantly per-fekts and enhances the appearance of the skin offering an easy alternative to traditional foundation, primer, color corrector and powder.

I was pleased to receive a sample of Skin Perfection Gel in Luminous. Perfekt Beauty describes Luminous as appropriate for fair complexions. However, Luminous suited my light complexion better than Radiant, which Perfekt Beauty describes as appropriate for light to medium tones.

When I applied Perfekt Beauty Skin Perfection Gel, it was evident that there was a lot of silicone, due to the slip of the product: in that way, Skin Perfection Gel is a 2-in-1 product that can serve as primer and foundation. I hesitate to say that it also functions as a color corrector, as it provides a light tint. It is best for women who don't have major flaws in their complexion. Women who have something to hide might want to layer more opaque coverage (mineral makeup powder, for example) over Perfekt Beauty Skin Perfektion Gel. Once the product dries down, it has a matte finish that makes powder unnecessary.

The downside of Perfekt Beauty Skin Perfection Gel is that it doesn't provide sunscreen. I still rely on smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer SPF 15 and Dermaxyl, but it has a petroleum smell that's unpleasant. It would be great if Perfekt Beauty could formulate a Skin Perfection Gel with sunscreen and without the unpleasant smell of smashbox's product.

Perfekt Beauty is a small line of cosmetics that consists of three products: Skin Perfection Gel, Eye Pefection Gel, and Body Perfection Gel. You may buy Perfekt Beauty at its website, Sephora stores, and Sephora.com.

Promotions offered by More Than a Pretty Face

This list is continually updated. Keep checking back!

* Spend $75 on Beauty.com and get a $15 Gift Card! While supplies last. Shop new products from bareMinerals, tarte, butter LONDON, and Origins. This promotion is good while supplies last or until August 31. The Gift Card must be redeemed by September 25.

Beauty.com offers more incentives. Enjoy $10 off $60 at Beauty.com! through the end of the year. Free shipping for orders over $25 for new customers and for orders over $49 for returning customers. Remember, you can combine orders for beauty.com with drugstore.com for your essentials and earn drugstore.com dollars redeemable for subsequent purchases.

* Boots skin care and cosmetics are now available at drugstore.com! Save on Boots skin care at drugstore.com. Offers end 08.28.2009.

NEW GWP Get a Prescriptives Five For Free Kit with your $32.50 Prescriptives foundation or moisturizer purchase. While supplies last. Get a 5 piece gift in warm or cool tones!

Sephora will soon discontinue Laura Geller and Decléor, but you can find them through beauty.com:

* Buy Decléor aromatherapeutic skincare products at Beauty.com

* Buy Laura Geller Makeup at Beauty.com

* Help yourself to an extra 5% off Beauty Strokes brushes for a 35% discount off retail prices at yourbeautystrokes.com. Use coupon code STYLEPAGES. Good through the end of 2009.

* Shop top-rated products on our blog through our e-store!

* Buy gift cards from Amazon.com for your student going back to school!

* Get an airbrushed finish with TEMPTU AIRbrush Makeup System

* Shop By Lauren Luke My Smokey Classics Palette and other By Lauren Luke palettes.

* Illamasqua is now stateside! Create sultry eyes with Illamasqua Powder Eye Shadow Moan.

* NEW A first for NARS: Free Shipping on All Orders. Limited Time Only! Buy hot products like NARS's new sheer lipstick Fast Ride. Free shipping ends August 28.

Also check out the feature on François Nars in T, the New York Times lifestyle magazine.

Yours for the asking!

Patricia Wexler MD Daily Defense Anti-Oxidant Tinted Moisturizer SPF 30 Tint 3 - Deep

* Patricia Wexler MD Daily Defense Anti-Oxidant Tinted Moisturizer SPF 30 Tint 3 - Deep is available for the asking. If you're interested in receiving it, send me an email at thestylepage [at] yahoo.com and put "Patricia Wexler MD" in the subject line.

* Two Cover FX products are available for the asking. The products are: Clearprep FX Matte Foundation Primer and Anti-Acne Treatment and Conceal FX Camouflage Concealer. If you're interested in receiving these products, send me an email at thestylepage [at] yahoo.com and put "CoverFX" in the subject line.

NOTE Conceal FX Camouflage Concealer in Light/Medium has been slightly used. However, the risk for contamination is minimal, as it comes in a squeeze tube.

Product reviews are appreciated! Just let me know when you publish them and I'll link to it.

* Want to discover more promotions? Follow me on Twitter!

Sparkled Beauty reviews Giorgio Armani Beauty face fabric foundation spf 12

Sparkled Beauty posted a review of the Giorgio Armani Beauty face fabric foundation spf 12 I sent her. Read her review.


Photo credit: Sparkled Beauty

I also provided a few goodies for her: 2 Eye Majic Instant eye shadows and a Sukicolor Pure Creme Stain sample (read my review of Sukicolor Pure Creme Stain).

Sparkled Beauty claimed the Giorgio Armani Beauty face fabric foundation spf 12 through our continually updated Promotions article. Visit Promotions for the latest contests, giveaways, specials, and other other promotions.

Paula Dorf #Cosmetics files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Given the current depressed economic environment, I am amazed by the number of new cosmetics launches. Not all brands have been so lucky: recently Paula Dorf Cosmetics filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Paula Dorf

Paula Dorf Cosmetics has been a victim of the downturn in sales of prestige cosmetics, but there's more. Crain's provides some key points for Paula Dorf Cosmetics' bankruptcy filing:

• The company has assets of $1.5 million, but its liabilities are more than $3.9 million.
• The company is in debt to 50 creditors, including Macy’s, HSN, and a cosmetics manufacturer. Another article, which I can't place, cites delays by suppliers since 2003.
• In addition, the company has "too many" colors and shades, which take up valuable "real estate" in cosmetics departments.

Paula Dorf fans should know that filing for Chapter 11 doesn't mean that Paula Dorf Cosmetics is going out of business. During a visit last month to Dillard's at the St. Louis Galleria, I saw that Paula Dorf took up the real estate formerly taken up by Shalini Vadhera's Global Goddess Beauty, which Dillard's has discontinued throughout its stores (as verified by Shalini herself).

Canadian beauty brands HT Sparkled Beauty

Some four years ago, I posted an article Canadian Beauty, about Canadian beauty brands. That was before I found Henna's Canadian Beauty blog.

I discovered Sparkled Beauty when she claimed the Giorgio Armani Beauty Face Fabric foundation that I offered through the continually updated Promotions post.

Sparkled Beauty has an extensive article on Canadian cosmetics brands, which I had a small role in expanding.

I'm particularly impressed by the concept behind FACE Atelier's Zero Plus and Zero Minus Foundations. When mixed with your regular foundation, Zero Plus darkens your shade, while Zero Minus lightens your shade - a great idea as your complexion changes with the seasons.

FACE Atelier

I also have to give a shoutout to Sweet LeiLani. It's been some years since I had contact with LeiLani, a Vancouver-based makeup artist whose TV credits include 21 Jump Street, which launched Johnny Depp's career. Her passion, however, is paramedical makeup, in which she teaches burn victims and cancer survivors how to camouflage bruises, scars, and burns.

How to apply loose mineral powders with Beautyblender

I've found Beautyblender, that pink egg-shaped sponge, indispensable for blending liquid and cream makeup. I rely on it to blend concealer.

But applying loose mineral powders with Beautyblender? That's a new one to me. Koren Zander of EnKoreMakeup shows you how in the following video. Be prepared - the video runs 15 minutes.



I tried Koren's method, which resulted in weightless yet complete coverage and a matte finish that lasted all day. No need to use blotting papers!

You may find Beautyblender at Amazon.com and Sephora.com, among other outlets.

Weekly Web Tour

Monique at Beauty Girl Musings reviews the new L'Oreal HiP Matte Shadow Duos!

Dao from My Makeup Blog discovered the awesome MAC 217 brush and loves it!

The Advice Sisters has found a great online web site for adding a bit of bling at bargain prices It is King Ice!.

Beauty Anonymous brings you Dolce & Gabbana The Make Up fall 2009 The Romantic Collection.

Check out Lipgloss Break's Review of Urban Decay's Pocket Rocket & Enter to Win One for Yourself!

Face Candy compares L'Oreal's Voluminous Naturale Mascara and L'Oreal's Waterproof Voluminous Mascara.

Butterflydiary loves her Jamba Juice, and gets a hint of it with Clinique Vitamin C lip smoothie in Nude-tricious.

Photographer and makeup artist Ellis Faas launched her self-named cosmetics line in Europe earlier this year. She is on the cusp of something new and different in cosmetics. Julie at More Than a Pretty Face interviews Ellis Faas about her cosmetics line and her work.

Trailblazing model Naomi Sims dies at 61

Naomi Sims, who was the first African-American model to be featured on the cover of a major magazine (the November 1968 issue of Ladies' Home Journal), died of breast cancer on August 1 at age 61. She paved the way for every model of African origin who came after her, including Beverly Johnson, Imam, Tyra, and the *other* Naomi, among many others.

Read my review of the autobiography of Alek Wek, another model who changed the standards of beauty.

Here are two photos of Naomi Sims that I love:

The October 17, 2009 issue of Life, in which she has a ponytail coiled around her neck:

Naomi Sims

Nearly 40 years later, it still looks fresh.

This photo was taken in 1973:

Naomi Sims

Beverly Johnson, who became the first African-American model to appear on the cover of Vogue, shares her memories of Naomi Sims' kindness when she was a fledgling model in this radio interview. No Naomi-Tyra fighting here!

Beverly Johnson

An interview with makeup artist and entrepreneur Ellis Faas - Part 1

Ellis Faas is a makeup artist who has worked with leading photographers and stylists on shows, ad campaigns, and editorial work in magazines. In February 2009, she launched her cosmetics line in Europe with Ellis Lips, liquid lip colors in three different formulas: Creamy Lips, Milky Lips, and Glazed lips.

Ellis Faas - image from www.ellisfaas.com

I wanted to interview Faas as I believe that Ellis Faas is on the cusp of something new and different in cosmetics. She bases her line on colors that exist in every human body, a concept that she realized when she did special effects makeup (simulating wounds, bruises, and blood). She's launched her cosmetics line with lip colors that suit all skin tones. Her signature shade is Ellis Red, a true blood-red: after all, we all bleed the same color. The line has distinctive packaging, created in collaboration with industrial designer Arnout Visser.


From concept to finished product: the bullet-shaped pens for Ellis Lips
All images from www.ellisfaas.com

1. Your biography states that you wanted to pursue a career as a photographer, but that you were too shy to approach others to model for you. You were your own model. How did you develop the courage to get others to model for you?

Besides myself, I also used friends and family to pose for me more and more, but I have only started working with professional models, since we started our own brand – I shoot all our visuals. I guess that I dare doing that, because over the past years I have been on so many numerous sets of the world’s best photographers. Combined with the knowledge I already had, that has taught me lot. Yet, I still keep things terribly small: just the model, someone to hold the lights, and me for makeup and photography.

2. Which type of makeup do you like doing best? Fantasy, special effects, or “real life”?

My origins are in special effects, so that is still a passion and I also use it a lot in the beauty and fashion shoots I work on. But to be honest, I enjoy doing any kind of makeup if I have fun with the team (especially model and hairstylist) and the story is nice – even if it means just making a gorgeously beautiful model even more beautiful.

3. Of all the items in your online portfolio, the one that most readers will recognize is the ad campaign for Lancôme’s Trésor. This is one of the most approachable (that is, real life) looks in your portfolio. How did you create this look?

Well, if your canvas is the face of someone like in this case Kate Winslet, it is primarily a matter of choosing the tones of foundation and the colours that suit the face and theme of the concept. This ad was supposed to be quite dreamy, so I kept it all rather subdued.

Kate Winslet for Lancôme’s Trésor. Photography: Peter Lindberg. Makeup: Ellis Faas

4. What was the biggest challenge you faced when you started your cosmetics line? Other entrepreneurs have told me that their biggest challenges were financing and finding suppliers.

Finding suppliers was not so difficult because over the years I have met quite a few helpful people. Financing was difficult indeed, but since we started to do everything with a team of just three (now four), the amount we needed was still small enough to get a wonderful, private investor on board. But the biggest challenge by far is the production process and what happens to deadlines if only one of the productional steps has a delay. Phew!

Continued in Part 2.

An interview with makeup artist and entrepreneur Ellis Faas - Part 2

5. You launched your line earlier this year. What has been the response to Ellis Faas cosmetics in Europe?

So far, so good! More and more countries and retailers are “in the pocket”, as we call it. We’ve just entered Switzerland and after the Summer we’ll launch in Australia, the UK, Poland and more countries. Especially the press has proven to be wonderfully supportive, apparently because they like the concept and colours, and journalists tell me that it really gives them something to write about so that is good. And shops tell us that it brings them new customers, instead of cannibalizing other brands.

6. Tell me about your Ambassadors program. How do you select and qualify your Ambassadors?

We started the Ambassadors programme because of two things: I can’t be everywhere at the same time, so the ambassadors can do presentations and so on if I have to be somewhere else. Plus the more professionals spread the word about the brand, the better. But just like the company itself (I started it with one of my best friends and my youngest brother), we so far have chosen the ambassadors “within the family”, meaning I have known and worked with them for years and years, as colleagues and as assistants. I think that if someone knows me personally it helps them to communicate the brand best.

7. When do you plan to launch Ellis Eyes, Skin, Lights, Pencils, and Prime? Can you provide us a preview of these forthcoming products?

Ellis Eyes and Skin will be released late September (14 eyeshadows, 2 mascaras, 2 eyeliners, 4 blushers, 8 foundations, 8 concealers, 3 powders), Lights (meaning 5 highlights) before Christmas, and the rest some time next year.

8. While readers in the U.S. can purchase your products through your website, do you have plans to find retailers in the U.S.?

Absolutely. We are now finalizing talks with a wonderful retailer in New York, who is planning to launch us in November – although I cannot yet disclose who it is (so people can keep themselves posted via our newsletter, Facebook or Twitter). If all that works out, I hope that more shops in the US will follow. So far, the American customers who have bought online are coming back to buy more, so that’s very positive!

9. Is there anything else that you would like to share with our readers that I haven’t covered in my questions?

Well, I hope your readers will take the time to visit our site to read more about the Human Colours concept, because it is not as scary as it may seem at first glance. I merely believe that daily makeup should be used to highlight someone’s most beautiful features and to mask their less attractive ones. So what better way to achieve this than with colours that by nature are already present in a person’s face. So if you look at the colours, you will see that they are all broken, non-primary colours, and because of that they look good on anyone, from a pale, 16-year-old white girl to a 80-year-old black grandma, and anyone in between!

This article first appeared on blogcritics.org.

Bond No. 9 to Release Latest Andy Warhol-Inspired Fragrance

In 2007, Simon Doonan created a “Happy Warhol-idays” theme for Barneys. The holiday mailer featured Andy Warhol’s early fashion illustrations and various aphorisms, including “Making money is art, and working is art and good business is the best art.”

The most amusing items from Barneys 2007 holiday mailer were Campbell's soup cans with labels featuring his famous silkscreens pasted on them. Real soup inside! Andy would have loved the concept of pasting labels on soup cans and re-selling Campbell's Soup for $12.00 a can.

New York boutique perfumery Bond No. 9 will debut Success is a Job in New York, the latest of its series of its fragrances commissioned by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., on October 1. In keeping with the money theme, the signature Bond No. 9 bottle features dollar signs designed and silkscreened by Andy Warhol in the 1980s: coral on the front of the bottle, bright blue on the back.


Preview of Bond No. 9 Success is a Job in New York

The name Success is a Job in New York refers to Andy Warhol's first assignment as an illustrator for an article of the same name that appeared in Glamour magazine back in the 1950s. Come to think of it, the name reflects Andy Warhol's career. Born in Pittsburgh to immigrants from Central Europe, he studied art at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (which has since been absorbed into Carnegie-Mellon University). He then went to New York to make it as a fashion illustrator. From there, he became famous for his silkscreens, "The Factory" with its various hangers-on, and frequently X-rated movies.

The fragrance Success is a Job in New York has the following notes:

Top notes: coriander, cardamom, mandarin, bergamot
Middle notes: jasmine, tuberose, rose, plum and pimento
Base notes: vanilla, patchouli and amber.

Fragrance is intensely personal. While Bond No. 9 describes Success is a Job in New York as genderless (other might use the term "unisex"), I found it too mannish for my liking.

Bond No. 9 Andy Warhol Success is a Job in New York will launch on October 1, 2009. It will be available at all four Bond No. 9 stores in New York and at select branches of Saks Fifth Avenue.

Article previewed at Blogcritics.

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10 Most Controversial Beauty Products

See which skin care, hair, body and makeup goodies TotalBeauty.com readers can't see eye-to-eye on

Normally, readers generally agree if a product is good or bad and why. But sometimes they have extreme opinions on products, or they simply can't agree if a product is worth buying. Here we share the most hotly debated products on TotalBeauty.com. See products

Weekly Web Tour

A Little More Beautiful is giving away 1 Urban Decay Deluxe Eyeshadow in Honey!!

Do you love stilettos but really can't walk comfortably in them? The Advice Sisters discovered a unique tote so you can walk in comfort and in style and have your stilettos, too.

Beauty Anonymous loves Chubby Cheeks from Essie's summer 2009 collection.

Dao from My Makeup Blog uses L'Oreal HiP Kohl Liners to create a makeup look suitable for the party scene.

Bésame Cosmetics is revamping its retro glam line. The first product from the revamp is the Voluptuous Lip Color Set. More Than a Pretty Face reviews.

Visit Lipgloss Break and Enter to Win Sunkissed Glow by JLo and AminoGenesis Perfect Reflection!

eye4style has a solution for stressed, puffy eyes - meet Sampar's Eye Rule!

The Makeup Divas reviews several new products from MAC's new Colourcraft Collection.

Hot Beauty Health helps you find your favorite body scrub for glowing skin and discovers a new treatment for hyperhidrosis sufferers.