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.

Lioele Beyond the Solution BB Cream

The Washington, DC metro area is home to a large Korean community. Koreans have found a niche in dry-cleaning establishments, nail salons, and cafés that serve office workers breakfast and lunch. They have also been active in establishing church congregations. Two Korean firms Lotte and H Mart have opened large supermarkets-cum-department stores in the Washington, DC metro area to serve the Korean community.

I was roaming around the recently opened Lotte Plaza in Chantilly, VA, outside Washington, DC. I stopped at the beauty counter, where the beauty advisor graciously supplied me with samples of skin care products by Lioele.

One of the most popular cosmetics products to come out of Korea is BB Cream, a combination foundation and acne treatment. BB stands for Blemish Balm. Several Korean companies in addition to Lioele market BB Cream.

Lioele Beyond the Solution BB Cream

In hot, humid weather, my skin gets oily and I get pimples on my nose. Paula Begoun, in her book The Original Beauty Bible, identifies bacteria, clogged pores, and oil secretions as the culprits in forming pimples. Benzoyl peroxide lotions disinfect and BHA preparations penetrate the pore and exfoliate. I’ve found that BB Cream handles the oil problem nicely. I apply it to my nose in lieu of ordinary foundation or mineral makeup. It stays matte all day, and there’s no need to use blotting papers on my nose.

Bésame Voluptuous Lipstick

Bésame described its Enchanting Lipstick as "absolutely the perfect lipstick." I'm not readily given to superlatives, but Bésame (Spanish for "kiss me") Enchanting Lipstick certainly is one of my favorite full-coverage lipsticks, along with MAC Satin and Lustre lipsticks and American Beauty Enduring Beauty™ Longwear Lipcolor. All three have the not too matte, not too creamy finish that I seek in a lipstick. In addition, I loved the retro look of the goldtone metal tube.

Lately, Bésame founder and owner Gabriela Hernandez has been re-designing her brand. The first product from the re-launch of Bésame is the Voluptuous Lip Color Set. The set consists of a full-size lipstick (Enchanting Lipstick is a mini-size) with a "fishtail" tip, a matching lip liner, and a lip brush.


Voluptuous Lip Color Set in Red Velvet

I received the Voluptuous Lip Color Set in Red Velvet. It is also available in Rapture Rose and Champagne. I chose Red Velvet because red lips are Gabriela's signature: she's her own best advertisement for the retro glamour of Bésame.


Gabriela Hernandez, founder, Bésame Cosmetics

On my lips, at least, the Voluptuous lipstick set very quickly and felt drying. I wrote to Gabriela and told her I still prefer the Enchanting lipstick. She was surprised, as Voluptuous lipstick was supposed to be more emollient than the Enchanting lipstick. In both Voluptuous and Enchanting lipsticks, clay is used to makes the color stick and lock on color to your lips.

Good news: Gabriela also told me that a new Classic lipstick will be released in the fall with the Enchanting lipstick formula and a full size chisel tip. I prefer the chisel tip to the fishtail tip, as the chisel tip contours to the lips. Other new Bésame products will be launched this fall.