Jezebel
sephora spy
Posts Tagged “
Cosmetics
”
Today in where your cosmetics come from: John Liebhardt from Global Voices Online reports that Western beauty companies "have been falling over themselves trying to purchase fresh raw shea from cooperatives of African women." He links to an American expat in Burkina Faso, who deconstructs a self-congratulatory ad for L'Occitane's shea butter products and issues this correction: women are not making money from the collection of nuts from shea trees, but the processing of them into butter, which, she points out, "is lots of work...there's not one word about the labor actually involved. It is invisible." (More on that labor and the profits made from it here and here.) [Global Voices Online, Burkina Mom's Life In Africa]
sephora spy
opportunity cost cutting
5 Ways For Ladies To Make The Most Of All That Time They Waste Applying Makeup
Today the UK is issuing a lofty challenge to female citizens: Go A Day Without Makeup! Horrors! Thankfully, famous pundit Michael Kinsley knows this is not possible in American society. He knows because he goes on TV and has to wear makeup himself, which explains why men on TV are so much more empathetic with the feminist cause than other men, and ha ha ha that is a serious statement is what is sad about that. Kinsley says this with regards to Hillary Clinton, and how the fact that she is a woman means she gets at least forty minutes less sleep per night than Barack Obama, and wow, it is so simple that men are finally getting a grasp of this. There is nothing I regret more than the opportunity cost of putting on makeup and looking perfect all the time; no seriously, there was a time in my life during which I actually did that: adolescence. Adolescence! When the brain is at its most agile and capable of absorbing information, my brain was preoccupied absorbing ... stray droplets of T-Zone oil. But I have a solution, womenfolk of the land! More »
pointless rich people
Everyone In The Estee Lauder Clan Is Somewhat Despicable
If there is anyone I can't stand reading about it would have to be Aerin Lauder. She is Estee Lauder's granddaughter, and apparently some important high-powered executive at the makeup company, but she spends most of her time hosting parties and giving interviews to magazines so the world can read sentences like "She is every inch the star, with her swan-like neck, her graceful composure and her gorgeous designer dress" or "Perfect is the only way to describe Aerin Lauder" or "Aerin continues the legacy of stylish American women like C.Z. Guest and Jackie O., who combine the idea of simplicity and luxury with an eye toward quality and timelessness," on a steady basis. (Oh yeah, and isn't it absolutely AMAZING that she doesn't hire a stylist? Her style is all her own.) So I was kind of keen to see a story in today's Wall Street Journal promising to roll back the glossy swan-necked exterior on the Lauder family and show what life is really like for the dysfunctional family behind all the department store cosmetic brands you used to buy when you still went to department stores. More »
rag trade
March Vogue: Just Us, Or Does Drew Look Scarymore?
- (Photoshop of) Horrors! It's Drew Barrymore on the March Vogue and something just does not look right. [Just Jared]
- You won't be seeing Lily Allen in her underwear anytime soon: the rumors about her being the latest face of Agent Provocateur are allegedly BS. [Sassybella]
- The Gap's spring advertising campaign features Coco Rocha, Anja Rubik and other top models. Think this will finally be the advertising campaign that convinces everyone to start buying their crappy clothes again? [Sassybella]
- Because the Oscars are actually on (thanks WGA!), the WWD reports that all the big celebs are already headed out to Hollywood to primp for Sunday night — you know it takes a week of preparation for these things — meaning the biggest celebs that can be wrangled for the front row of the Milan shows are James Blunt and some soccer players who are not Beckham. [WWD, 1st item]
Moisture-Wise
Intensive-care patients at a hospital in Barcelona suffered from lower-body respiratory tract infections and urinary tract infections after using a contaminated body moisturizer, according to the medical journal Critical Care. If you're healthy, the low levels of bacteria occasionally found in cosmetics won't harm you, but severely-ill patients can contract life-threatening infections. Sealed products were tested and found to have bacteria that invaded during manufacturing, transportation or storage. (Skin care items sold in the European Union are not required to be sterile.) Dry skin sucks, but a UTI sucks more. [EurekAlert!]
Intensive-care patients at a hospital in Barcelona suffered from lower-body respiratory tract infections and urinary tract infections after using a contaminated body moisturizer, according to the medical journal Critical Care. If you're healthy, the low levels of bacteria occasionally found in cosmetics won't harm you, but severely-ill patients can contract life-threatening infections. Sealed products were tested and found to have bacteria that invaded during manufacturing, transportation or storage. (Skin care items sold in the European Union are not required to be sterile.) Dry skin sucks, but a UTI sucks more. [EurekAlert!]
pretty ugly
Getting Ahead In Beauty Biz Can Mean Convincing The Poor To Be "Prettier"
According to a story in the Los Angeles Times, the Mary Kay cosmetic company — known for its eponymous blonde Texas founder and pink Cadillacs — has more and more Spanish-speaking women in its sales force. As writer Molly Hennessy-Fiske points out, getting a foot in the door at the beauty business doesn't require a high school diploma, or even that the salesperson speak English, making it appealing to California's immigrant population. Women like 60-year-old Altagracia Valdez work long hours selling makeup, often trying to convince women who do not have cash to spare. Valdez often deals with this by recruiting the women onto the sales force. Explains Valdez's boss, Sandra Chamorro, a single mother and immigrant from Nicaragua: "Sometimes a woman can have an empty stomach, but she has to have lipstick." More »
Ooh fun! Forbes magazine's list of the most expensive beauty products on the market! #1? ReVive's Intensite Volumising Serum for a whopping $600 for a 1-oz. flacon. Whoah. [Forbes]
dangerous beauty
Is Your Lipstick Poisoning You?
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics which tested 33 brand-name lipsticks, including brands like Cover Girl, L'Oreal, and Christian Dior, is reporting that "61% had detectable lead levels of 0.03 to 0.65 parts per million (ppm)." A third of the lipsticks tested had levels higher than 0.1 ppm — the FDA safety limit for lead in candy. Although lipstick is not candy, the group says it is easily and often ingested, and pregnant women are vulnerable to lead exposure since "lead has been linked to infertility and miscarriage." According to Dr. Mark Mitchell, president of the Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice,"Lead builds up in the body over time and lead-containing lipstick applied several times a day, every day, can add up to significant exposure levels. The latest studies show there is no safe level of lead exposure."More »
oldies but goodies
Cosmetics That Woulda Made Dorothy Parker Proud
Long before the advent of strawberry-flavored cocaine and the Cosmopolitan cocktail, women were enjoying other adventures in mixing fun flavors with mood-altering substances. According to this news item taken from an old issue of Popular Science, the cosmetics-minded, booze-drinking women of America were painting their lips with lipcolors in flavors of Champagne and Jesus Juice. (And for those with black belts in alcoholism... rye!). Full article after the jump. More »
maghag
Vanessa Minnillo Kinda Sorta Tries To Make It Up To The Editors Of 'Lucky' Magazine
Vanessa Minnillo no doubt embarrassed the editors of Lucky magazine when those pictures of her posing suggestively with Lindsay Lohan (and a knife!) turned up around the same time her July cover hit newsstands. But at least the former MTV veejay/Miss Teen USA is — to use an annoying phrase oft-employed by the magazine — staying "on-trend"! At a party thrown by Lucky in New York City the other night, Minnillo showed up wearing a dress with a very-unique but strangely-familiar neckline to readers of the magazine. In fact, we could have sworn we saw it, like, in the July issue! More »
expensive shit
The Problem With The $26 Lipstick
British women are doing everything wrong when it comes to makeup. According to a survey done by Britain's College of Optometrists, one in five women in her late 30s or 40s uses a cosmetic that is over five years old, leaving her open to dangerous or annoying infections from a buildup of harmful bacteria. This, despite the fact that the British spend more on makeup than any other nation in Europe. Dr. Susan Blakeney, an optometric adviser to the college, says that a large reason women hoard "expired" makeup is that they are "constantly topping up their make-up bags with new products that they never actually finish any older products." More »
year of the living dolls
Year Of The Living Dolls
News from the headquarters of San Francisco-based, female-run Benefit Cosmetics: A new makeup collection for fall that will be modeled by dolls. "They're great to work with since they agree to everything and don't talk back," explains company co-founder Jane Ford of her well-behaved mannequins. Ford, of course, is one-half of the same duo (her twin-sister Jean also helps run the company) who recently suggested that the company's cheek and lip color Benetint be used as a way to make nipples "pert and fresh-looking." More »
jackie
Martial arts man Jackie Chan has launched an eponymous line of organic skincare products. Just what the world's been waiting for! First supermodel Cindy Crawford and now Chan. Isn't everyone just dying to look like the 52-year old Asian stuntman?
http://www.jackiechan.com/news_view?cid=543
Kung Fu Cosmetics
Martial arts man Jackie Chan has launched an eponymous line of organic skincare products. Just what the world's been waiting for! First supermodel Cindy Crawford and now Chan. Isn't everyone just dying to look like the 52-year old Asian stuntman?http://www.jackiechan.com/news_view?cid=543
