Miracle cream

Miracle cream - LMX5™

The hair on my chin and jaw became unmanageable, so it was time for me to look beyond tweezing and snipping hairs with a manicure scissors. A dermatologist's office tried to sell me on a package of laser treatments, but I balked at the price. Moreover, I've read that the effectiveness of laser hair removal depends on the contrast between the hair and the skin. As many of my hairs were light in color, I decided that I was not a good candidate for laser hair removal and went back to electolysis.

Now, I am a baby when it comes to electrolysis. My eyes tear up and I wince and twitch like crazy. This time, however, I quietly lied on the table while the electrologist deftly removed hairs. It didn't hurt even when she removed hairs near the lips, where there are a lot of nerve endings. The difference? LMX5™ numbing cream, a topical anesthetic.

LMX5™ doesn't require a prescription, but I had to special order it through CVS. drugstore.com doesn't even carry it - it carries only the 4%, which, according to what my electrologist heard from her other clients is not as effective as LMX5™. However, Amazon.com does carry LMX5™.

Don't be turned off by the fact that LMX5™ is marketed as an anorectal cream. After all, if beauty contestants can use Preparation H to treat puffy eyes, why can't you use LMX5™? It's also supposed to be good for undergoing treatments such as Botox.


Liv Tyler, as featured on the cover of the July 2007 issue of Allure

NEW The July 2007 issue of Allure (which features Liv Tyler on the cover) also recommends numbing creme when doing a bikini wax.

Is Beyonce's look really that bad?

OK, this is certainly not Beyonce's best picture and might not be her best look, but is it really the fashion disaster that Cynthia Nellis of fashion.about.coom says that it is?

Ms. Nellis writes:

What's missing in Beyonce's outfit goes way beyond a pair of pants or a skirt (although either would've helped): Beyonce is missing dignity. She owes it to her fabulous self to skip the trends -- like these almost-invisible teensy shorts -- that don't flatter her and stick with what does (which is pretty much just about everything else).

A slightly longer boy short might be better, but who needs thigh coverage with legs like these?

My criticism? The bright pink lipstick. Mally Roncal (her longtime makeup artist) or the beauty professionals at L'Oreal (for which Beyonce is a spokesperson) were not paying attention here.

Dr. Baumann's The Skin Type Solution

Here comes dermatologist Leslie Baumann, MD, with her own system for determining skin type: The Skin Type Solution. According to the publisher's website

Four dominant factors determine your Skin Type. These factors are: oily vs. dry, sensitive vs. resistant, pigmented vs. non-pigmented, and wrinkled vs. tight.

Thus, there are 16 different skin types, according to Dr. Baumann, each with its 4-letter abbreviation. With these 16 skin type combinations, Dr. Baumann's system is less like than the seasonal color typing popularized by Carole Jackson (author of Color Me Beautiful and Color Me Beautiful Makeup Book) in the 1980s and more like the 4-dimension Myers-Briggs Type Indicator!

Has anyone tried Dr. Baumann's system? Is it merely a gimmick or does it really help you care for your skin? Dr. Baumann has an online skin care store BaumannStore.com, which features both luxury and mass-market brands for all the 16 skin types. She has not (at least not yet!) rolled out her own skin care line. More information about her book The Skin Type Solution is found at www.skintypesolution.com (an alias for the publisher's web pages on her book.

The Naomi Diaries

OK, so Naomi Campbell has an anger management problem and might not be a very nice person, but she's so amazing looking and she's the only one of the so-called Trinity of 90s supermodels (the other two being Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington) who still actively works the runway.

The Naomi Diaries is her first person account of her week in community service, after she was found guilty in January for throwing a mobile phone at her housekeeper. Read what she ate at her midday meals and what she did after hours, when she rejoined all her partying friends. The full story is found in the June 2007 issue of W magazine.

Want more Naomi? Visit her official web site and browse her photo galleries to see Naomi in all her lithesome, feline glory (Advisory: nudity, sexual situations).

Finding those hard-to-find inexpensive cosmetics

Every now and then, I get inquiries about specific Love My Lips products. Unfortunately, finding these products is catch-as-catch-can. I don't know of any store that carries a complete line of Love My Lips products. Moreover, Bari Cosmetics, which distributes Love My Lips, has not been responsive to my inquiries. To those people looking for Love My Lips products, I suggest prowling dollar and close-out stores, including, but not limited to, the big chains such as Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and Big Lots!

Jordana is another much sought-after brand of inexpensive cosmetics, particularly for their eyeliner pencils. Walgreen's drugstores carry Jordana's eyeliner and lip liner pencils, and you can find a broader range of Jordana cosmetics at dollar stores, although I haven't seen Jordana at the big chain stores. Alas, I can no longer find Jordana's eyeliner in Bittersweet - it was the perfect black-brown eyeliner that I favor. Now, however, you can shop for Jordana online at BestBeautyOnline.com.


My web stats indicate a number of queries on L'Oreal HIP foundation. It has been harder to find this in stores. My contact at L'Oreal tells me that several retailers are no longer carrying L'Oreal HIP Flawless Liquid Makeup, in order to make room for other L'Oreal HIP products; however, Rite-Aid and Wal-Mart are still carrying L'Oreal HIP Flawless Liquid Makeup. Rite-Aid partners with drugstore.com for online shopping.

My web stats also show a few queries on Boots No 7 products at Canada's Shoppers Drug Mart. While Boots No 7 and Botanicals may be found at select CVS stores and many Target stores in the U.S., only four Shoppers Drug Mart stores in Canada carry Boots cosmetics: for more information, visit Shoppers Drug Mart.

Kate Moss, marketing juggernaut

In the 90s, she was the target for criticism about the fashion industry promoting unhealthy body images. In this decade, she's a marketing juggernaut. Although the notorious tabloid picture of her allegedly snorting cocaine (below) cost her several contracts, most notably a campaign for Stella McCartney's limited edition collection for H+M, ads featuring her were never absent from the fashion magazines. Now Kate Moss is bigger than ever before.


Kate allegedly snorting cocaine

Her collection Kate Moss Topshop for UK high street retailer Topshop ("high street" is Britspeak for "chain store" for example, H+M, Forever 21, Gap, Banana Republic) was sold in US, incongruously, through Barneys. Barneys featured a countdown clock on its web site for Kate Moss Topshop on its website: orders could be placed beginning midnight. By the morning, however, the collection was sold out.

For all those who went away disappointed that they missed out on shopping Kate Moss Topshop, Barneys helpfully (or maybe not so helpfully) covered the launch party after the collection sold out. Check out Kate's outfit that featured a sheer muumuu, cinched with a belt, which plainly shows the black bikini bottom underneath.

Kate's latest endeavors include the projected launch of a skin care line and a partnering with hair stylist James Brown on a new line of hair care products.

Revlon limited edition collection

No doubt about it - Revlon took a drubbing in 2006, with the collapse of Vital Radiance the same year that it debuted. One also wishes that Revlon would have brought in new faces when it totally revamped Almay, but instead model Elaine Mellencamp (wife of singer John) continues as the face of Almay.


Revlon Just Bitten Lip Stain


Enough of that - Revlon has introduced a number of flashy new products in its limited edition collection, including Revlon Just Bitten Lip Stain
and Bedroom Eyes™ Powder Liner. Just Bitten™ Lip Stain has a rollerball applicator - not the best for even layering. What's more, it dries quickly. The shade of Just Bitten™ in Blood Orange reminded me of orange popsicle stain. Other shades include Berry Juicy, Cherry Tart, and Plum Wicked.

I chose Revlon Bedroom Eyes™ Powder Liner in Smokin', which is great for creating the smoky eye. Be sure to tap excess powder from the applicator onto a tissue beofre applying - otherwise, it gets all over your cheek and countertop. Clearly, when using Bedroom Eyes™ as part of your eye makeup, do your eye makeup before you apply base. As FT Weekend columnist Edwina Ings-Chambers, who had a makeup application by NARS artist James Boehmer, writes:

The first thing to remember, Boehmer says, is that you shouldn’t try to replicate the 60s thing: keep the liner off the lid and stick to putting it round the eyes. “It’s more about the outer corner of the lid, not all over the lid,” he says.

Be prepared with cotton balls and eye makeup remover or Swabplus Liquid Filled Cotton Swabs, Eye Makeup Remover. Be sure to finish this look with lots of volumizing mascara.

BTW Generally, I find lipliners too harsh. Revlon is one of the two companies I know that offers a clear lipliner (ColorStay®) at a nominal price - the other being Paula Begoun's Paula's Choice line. Paula also recommends Lip Line Fixer from The Body Shop, which proves that she's not partisan.

I haven't seen L'Oreal's clear lipliner in ages, so I guessed that L'Oreal discontinued it. An alternative is a lipliner that exactly matches the color of your lips, which is why MAC's lip pencil in Spice has remained so popuplar.

A sad trip home

Tragedy, it seems, comes in chunks. The morning after my post on the Virginia Tech massacre, my mother called and told me that my father had been admitted to the Cardio ICU. I called my brother, whom I hadn’t seen in nearly 13 years, and our family friend Susan to let them what was happening. I set aside all my plans for that weekend and began packing for St. Louis. As I packed, my husband went online to make plane reservations for me. He completed making reservations at 12:30 PM, and my flight was to depart at 2:30 PM. I had a connecting flight from O’Hare, and didn’t arrive in St. Louis until that evening. Fortunately, Susan gave my mother company before my brother and I could arrive.

My father was put on a respirator. By Sunday, it was apparent that he wasn’t going to recover, so my mother, brother, and I made the fateful decision to have the respirator removed. It was removed at about 1:30 PM. We sat by my father’s bedside, held his hands, listened to his breathing, and watched the heart rate monitor. His breaths grew less and less frequent, as his heart rate dropped. When his heart rate dropped below 30, the monitor sounded. The nurse came to shut it off. My father died 3:42 PM, Sunday, April 22, 2007.

That was not the end of bad news. Susan called to let us know that her son was diagnosed with cancer. Also, the daughter of my mother’s late friend called to say that her father had died. As I had to contend with my mother at the same time, I’m sorry that I couldn’t be fully present for these people when they called.

Massacre at Virginia Tech

Northern Virginia, where I live, has been deeply and personally affected by the Virginia Tech massacre. Below is a list of those residents of Northern Virginia who died in the massacre:

Daniel Perez Cueva. Age 21. Junior, International Studies.
Erin Peterson. Age 18. Freshman.
Mary Read. Age 19. Freshman.
Reema Samaha. Age 18. Freshman.
Leslie Sherman. Age 20. Sophomore, History and International Studies.
Maxine Turner. Age 22. Senior, Chemical Engineering.

The lives of these young women and young man were senselessly cut short. I extend my sympathy and condolences to family and friends of all victims, whether from Northern Virginia or elsewhere.

The killer, Cho Seung-Hui, also came from Northern Virginia. I am saddened for his family, who will have to carry this stigma for the rest of their lives.

I encourage readers of The Style Page to honor the memory of the victims by giving to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund.

Great drugstore finds

As the interview with Aunt Beep for ThisNext showed, I'm an inveterate roamer at CVS, particularly its cosmetics aisles, which not only have the usual mass-market brands, but also Lumene, a cosmetics brand from Finland exclusive to CVS and the French skin care brands Avene and LaRoche-Posay.

Here are some drugstore finds that I'd like to share with my readers:

Maybelline Dream Mousse Shadows in Rose Kiss and Black Spice from their limited edition Sugar and Spice collection for Valentine's Day (the collection even featured nail polish with heart-shaped sparkles!) . Rose Kiss is a beatiful shade for the lid, while Black Spice is great for the outer corner of the eye for the class smoky eye look. If only Maybelline would add these shades to its regular collection!

L'Oreal has now added liquid bronzer to its popular True Match™ collection of foundations, powders, concealers, and blushes designed to flatter a wide variety of skin tones. I am very fond of True Match™ liquid makeup in N3 - see my review at ThisNext, so I picked up the liquid bronzer in N1-2-3. This liquid bronzer may be blended with your foundation or be used alone.

UPDATE: The May 2007 of Lucky has a good tip: apply liquid bronzer before foundation to even skin tones. It worked for my skin, which has a tendency towards ruddiness

Physicians Formula Mineral Wear™ Talc-Free Mineral Eye Shadow Quad

Finally, Physicians Formula has released six different talc-free Mineral Eye Shadow Quads, all in beautiful shades. My complaint is about the packaging - you have to flip the compact over to use the mirror, so it's a clumsy way of applying the eyesahdow.

You can find Maybelline, L'Oreal, and Physicians Formula at major drugstores, mass-market retailers, supermarkets, and drugstore.com. Lumene is exclusive to CVS, and you can also find Avene and LaRoche-Posay at select CVS stores. Stores carrying Vital Radiance are now trying clear their inventory, so now is the time to snap up these products (which were good, although the line was badly marketed) at the right price - I was fond of Vital Radiance's Smoothing Eye Primer mousse, so I bought two at half-price. Paula's Choice may be purchased through the web site for Paula Begoun.

UPDATE: I have since found out that drugstore.com and Amazon.com carry a wide variety of Vital Radiance products.