The longest corporate legal battle

... or so it seems.

I am no fan of direct selling or multi-tier marketing (examples: Amway, Mary Kay). I don't like the aggressive selling or recruitment of customers to be salespeople, with the benefits accruing to those above them. Moreover, I don't like how many of these companies often conflate religion with selling a product.



Probably the most egregious example to conflate religion with selling products was the rumours spread by Amway distributors to tie Procter & Gamble to satanic worship because of P & G's (former) use of a logo featuring a man in the moon and 13 stars. I suspect that the distributors thought that this would play well among conservative Christian customers. For more background, see Logo controversy on Wikipedia. I regarded this effort to be defamation of P & G.

Now Amway is challenging the decision that they pay P & G nearly $20 million in legal expenses:
Amway claims P&G Satanic damages to be improper

Updates to The Style Page website

I've been having a lot of fun inserting add-ins on The Style Page website to enhance users' experience. New features include Google Search on the front, About us, What's New, and Contact us pages, where search results are featured on the same page. Also, I've added links from Yahoo! My Web that are customized for many (but not all) pages on the website. Finally, I've inserted a widget that enables display of thumbnails of linked pages with mouse-over on the Cosmetics page, in which case you might want to look at the page "below the fold."

Have fun searching or browsing our companion website, and share your comments with me via the Contact us page or here on this blog.

Demystifying eye makeup

Perhaps I was a bit critical of Stila's Smoky Eye Palette - I'm not adverse to pricey brands (particularly if they provide something I can't find in less pricier brands) and some folks seem to like the palette. Still, I think it was nervy to insert an audio commercial advertising other Stila products on a $40 item.

That said, eye makeup is the trickiest part of makeup application, and it's to a makeup company's advntage to provide guidance on applying makeup to sell product. Here's a rundown on products with accompanying guidance:


Bare Escentuals Get Started Eyes

Bare Escentuals Get Started Eyes and Bare Escentuals Tutorials - Lesson 1: Smoky Eye provide guidance with the set. I think that the lid and eyeliner shades on the model are great, but I'm not smitten with the pale pink highlighter, especially with deep-set eyes like mine (and the model's). I wish the Chocolate Raisin liner was sold individually - it sounds like the dark-dark brown-plum I love (see also Constant Color Gel Eyeliner)

Jemma Kid Eye Wardrobe Eye Shadow Quartet
Jemma Kidd is a London-based makeup artist. She's also the sister of model, champion polo player, and race car driver Jodie Kidd; great-granddaughter of press magnate Lord Beaverbrook; and wife of the grandson of the current Duke of Wellington - whew! Advice on application may be downloaded from Jemma Kidd's website, as well as her columns for The Mail on Sunday (UK).


Mally Beauty City Chick Smokey Eye Kit

Mally Beauty is a makeup line from celebrity makeup artist Mally Roncal (she's the one who makes Beyoncé always look fabulous). Originally available through QVC, Mally Beauty is available at Amazon.com. Mally Beauty City Chick Smokey Eye Kit comes in five different color themes: Brownstone (browns), Skyscraper (slate/gray), Central Park (greens), Nolita Navy (blues), and Plum Chelsea (guess). Each palette comes with eye shadow base and eye liner pencil.

Pop Beauty Eye Class - Smokey Eyes is the most diversified palette of the lot, and features these shades: jet black, smokey steel gray, sapphire blue, silver, deep plum, deep violet, burnished bronze, emerald green, olive gold, nude glow, opal gold, and sparkling white. Examples of application are provided with the palette.

Block-printed textiles

The June-July 2006 issue of Domino had a feature on creating cushions and pillows with Indian block printed textiles. Its palette of white with pops of red used fabrics from Kerry Cassill and Les Indiennes.

The process of block printing, from creating the designs to transferring the design onto wood to carving the wood blocks to printing, is shown in a photo essay on the eSamskriti web site.

I have a duvet cover and reversible coverlet (the back side is a striped fabric) from John Robshaw in brown and blue on a natural background. It's pricey, and my husband, who is a native of India, didn't want to tell his mother how much he paid for it - she'd argue that he could get it much cheaper in India.


Block printed textiles from Pomegranates,
featured with Jaipur blue pottery
Visit the photo essay on Jaipur blue pottery making on esamskrati

Other sources for Indian block printed textiles include FabIndia (mentioned previously), Anokhi, and Pomegranates, a store located in Warrenton, Virginia, outside of Washington, DC. Wendy, who owns Pomegranates, sources her bedding and curtain panels directly from India; in addition, she sells select items from John Robshaw (including crib sets) and select apparel from Anokhi.

Peter Dunham is an LA-based interior designer who also sources blockprinted textiles from India. See his work for Jennifer Garner's home in the fall/winter 2007 issue of Vogue Living.

Links for Kerry Cassill, John Robshaw, and FabIndia may be found on our Textiles page. Links for Les Indiennes, Anokhi, Pomegranates, and Peter Dunham may be found via My Web.

A note for blog subscribers

The Style Page appreciates everyone who subscribes to my blog by email or news feed to be informed of new updates. I have lately been taking advantage of Blogger's tagging capabilities; however, any new tags results in a new Email or update to our news feed, even though the original posting might be old. I regret the deluge of Email or updates to our news feed, and hope that subscribers bear with me as I continue to add tags.

Erin Go Bragh

Wow! Talk about serendipity!

I discovered this bed set from Luxury Lab Linens today via roxi on This Next, the day before St. Pat's.

Check out the claddagh rings on the shams! (via roxi)

Lip tips

After posting Great drugstore finds, I realized that I needed to revise my advice on lips on The Style Page website.

Concerning lipliner that it is not obvious, I had written:

• Another solution is to line the lips using a lip brush with the color you intend to apply: this is especially useful for applying highly pigmented matte lipsticks. [This advice originally came from Bobbi Brown]
  

• ArtDeco, a cosmetics company from Germany, offers a Color & Contour Lip Duo, which features lipstick at one end and contour at the other end for lining the tips. This is a highly pigmented lip color, so blending is still necessary.

Now I think that both techniques result in an overly obvious line, which is why I now prefer clear lipliners or lipliners that perfectly match the color of one's lips (which is why MAC's Lip Pencil in Spice has been so popular).

I've since discovered that companies other than Revlon and Paula's Choice offer clear lipliners, but at a higher price: DuWop Reverse Lip Liner and CARGO The Reverse Lipliner.

Living Beauty by Bobbi Brown

as seen in the March 15, 2007 edition of USA Today.

Lastly, the March issue of InStyle featured an excerpt from Bobbi Brown's latest book Living Beauty. Bobbi Brown wrote that the most flattering lip color is two shades darker than the natural color of your lips. I can vouch for her advice, after a lot of experimentation (and a lot of money spent!). One also has to take her complexion, hair color, and clothes in account when selecting lip color.

I'm light to medium in complexion, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. While I had been classified as a "Winter" (using the seasonal color typing that was so popular in the 80s), I tend to favor rich warm colors over cool colors. Some of my favorite lipsticks are Bourbon from last year's limited edition Catherine Deneuve color collection from MAC and Bésame's Enchanting Lipstick in Chocolate Kiss, particularly when wearing brown. In fact, I favor lip colors that are "ambiguous," that is, not too cool, not too warm.

Another tip is to apply lip color just slightly inside your mouth (I would name the source of this tip if I could recall it) so that there won't be any apparent demarcation lines; also, this application suggests fuller lips.

Get ready for spring - 15% off from Skirt Spot

The Style Page is pleased to announce a 15% discount on orders from Skirt Spot, formerly Boutique Ooh La La, for its readers. Browse Skirt Spot's large collection of feminine skirts with details such as yokes, ribbon trim, ties, contrast hems, and more. This is a great opportunity to build your spring-to-summer wardrobe and also to get ready for Easter.

To take advantage of Skirt Spot's 15% discount, enter code sp0307 (case-sensitive) in the box for Coupon or Gift Certificate on Skirt Spot's web site. This offer is available only for a limited time - the last day to take advantage of it is March 22, 2007.

Changes to The Style Page blog sidebar

I had to customize the layout of The Style Page blog to automatically load the Flash widget for ThisNext. However, customizing the layout meant that many of the elements (Subscribe, Shopping, Blog archive, and Blogroll) in the sidebar were lost, and I had to reconstruct the elements.

I've also added a "Rate this blog" feature and a BlogExplosion button.

If there are any other news readers I should add under Subscribe, please contact me at thestylepage [at] yahoo.com.

I've been using My Web from Yahoo! to provide links to newly discovered web sites. You can find the five most recent links under My Web Bookmarks on the left-hand sidebar. By selecting "My Web 2.0 Links," you will be directed to all bookmarks I've collected since the last update of The Style Page web site - it is simply too laborious to update the static HTML pages anymore.

Pai skin care

Pai is a new skin care brand from the UK (via New Zealand) that uses natural ingredients such as chamomile and rosehip in this lotion. Other faves from Pai include the Bergamot Lip Balm.

Pai was developed by Sarah Brown, who had suffered from skin rashes and itching and decided to create her own plant-based skin care line.

Pai is available only in UK, but plans to expand internationally later this year. For more information about Pai and its products, visit Pai's web site at www.paiskincare.com.

UPDATE 11:36 PM
Sarah writes, "I've had a few enquiries from the US over the past month or so, so am planning to get my an international orders function set-up on the site over the next few weeks."