Sorry: No Sales Post This Week!

Truth be told, I had a long weekend out of town and simply couldn't find the time to post this week's sales here, it takes longer than you'd think to track them down, add in the links, etc...

I have, however, been posting daily updates on Twitter, so if you're following me, you've not missed anything. If you're not, well- serves you right :)

I will resume the Sales post this Sunday, so stay tuned!

This Week's Sales: Introducing...The Skinny

We have a full slate this week, starting off at Rue La La when they host hair-care guru Oscar Blandi on Monday September 28th.

When you're done there, skip over to Billion Dollar Babes and check out luxury skin care line Z. Bigatti. On Friday, October 2nd the site features anti-aging skin specialists, Kaplan MD. (BTW, for other mommies out there, it's a great week for kids clothes over at BDB!)

On Tuesday, September 29th, HauteLook has Fusion Beauty, followed by skincare from Freeze 24-7 on Thursday October 1st.

Gilt Groupe introduces us to Rodial Skincare on Wed the 30th, followed by D.L. & Co. Thursday October 1st. Their personal fragrances may grant them a spot on this list, but with Halloween right around the corner, it's their delightfully dark decor that I'll be eyeing!

Forgive the repeats, I still haven't gotten the pattern over at The Fairest, but we can look forward to Sonya Dakar, Burn, Primal Elements, Pop Beauty and Pixi in the coming days.

I'm also excited to bring you a new site that goes one step further than just great deals. Of course, with a focus solely on skin care, The Skinny does promises access to unbelievable prices, but they'll also have educational videos and personalized recommendations if you're not sure what you need. The site launches this Thursday, October 1st. Hop on over now, and they'll enter you to win a Bliss moisturizer when you sign up for your free account!

Foundation 101: Finding Your Best Shade

I'm decidedly a cosmo-anarchist. In my makeup land, there are no rules, no laws- anything goes. However, if there were one, it would have something to do with the abolition of what we makeup artists know as "lines of demarcation." We've all seen them, the horrid mask lines on the jaw that appear when someone has applied a shade of foundation that is appallingly wrong. Lines that leave you asking yourself: "Can't she see it? Who does she think she's fooling?" As obvious as this condition is to the rest of us, it is rarely the choice of the afflicted. Choosing the correct foundation shade can be a daunting task; with an ever widening span of shades and tones available, how's a girl to tell what's the best for her? Believe it or not, a little 4th grade math can help. Confused? Read on.

The first step is to decide what depth your skin is: are you light, medium or dark? This is most likely something you're already aware of. If you're lighter or darker than most, then it's probably pretty obvious where you'll fall. If you're not sure, then you're most likely in the medium range. For now, don't worry about your undertones, just the depth of your skin.

When you get to the store, look at the entire range of foundation you're considering, and divide it into 3 equal parts- for light, medium, dark. If a line has 15 shades, you'll end up with 5 light, 5 medium and 5 dark shades. Realistically, most lines have more shades that will fall into the medium category than the light and deep, so if you can't divide the range into equal parts, lump the extras into this middle category. Ergo: If a line has 17 shades, consider 5 light, 5 dark and the other 7 medium.

Next it's swatch time. You're always going to swatch 3 shades to begin with. Say it with me- 3 shades! Even if you're positive where you fit in the spectrum, testing a few shades will ensure that you get the best match not only to the depth, but also the tone of your skin. So, going back to our example- say you've decided you're light. That means one of the first five shades should be your match. How do you decide which one without swatching all five? Simple- just decide where you fall in the spectrum of "light"; are you the lightest of the light, or more light/medium?If you decide you're definitely among the lightest, then the first 3 shades in your light group will be your test shades. If you're fair, but not super pale, go with the last 3 in that group. The same goes for medium and deep tones, just evaluate where you fall in that individual category.

When you're ready to swatch, make sure you're doing it on bare skin along your jaw line, since the goal is finding a match that blends seamlessly from your face to your neck. Testing on the back of your hand or the inside of your wrist won't cut it, the shades of skin from body part to body part can vary widely. Take a clean Q-tip for each test, and draw a vertical line with the makeup along your jaw, spacing the shades about an inch apart.

Chances are, at least one of the 3 you've tested will jump right out and scream WRONG!!! If the shade looks chalky or dry, it's probably too light. If the shade looks orange or muddy, it may be too dark or the wrong undertone for your skin. Obviously, this one is out of the running. Keep in mind, any foundation striped on is probably going to be visible, so you may want to lightly smudge the bottom half of each line to see how the shades blend. If you're still not sure, step away from the mirror, squint your eyes, and see which shade disappears.

It's not uncommon to find you may be able to wear more than one shade, especially with sheer formulas. Of course, some skin tones are harder to match than others, and some lines may not work for some people, so if you're having a hard time finding a match in one line, try another formula, or another brand all together. Luckily, most major brands have associates that are trained to help you find your best shade. Take advantage of color matching services when they're offered, and if you're unsure, there's nothing wrong with asking for a sample to take home (as long as your planning to buy when you find the right shade!)

Hopefully this makes sense to you all, when I was a manager, this was the technique that always seemed to click with my associates; I think it translates just as well to the home shopper. Nest time you're out, give it a try & let me know how it worked for you!

This Week's Sales: ICS, Sonya Dakar, Purlisse, and more!

This week on Haute Look: If the idea of a prenatal wax sounds appealing to you, then you're obviously much more considerate of your OBGYN than I was- it's just one of the serviced offered by the hair removal specialists at Completely Bare. Check out their boutique this Tuesday, September 22nd!

In a last minute change of plans (very last minute, as in 2 minutes before the sale!) Gilt Groupe removes the Whish, Methven and Neil George sales. Now on the slate: men's skincare specialists Task Essential on Thursday and ICS Skin Therapie on Friday.

Finally, here's what the folks at The Fairest have coming up: Skin Nutrition, David Kirsch Wellness, Purlisse (try the "pur-lip comfort" if you can!), Sonya Dakar, and BURN Candles, designed by the famous Fred Segal studios.

Of course, according to my source at Illamasqua, their highly anticipated Dystopia Eye Shadow Quads are due in this week. Combine that with the facts that MAC's Style Black collection launches this Thursday and Nordstrom Cincinnati opens Friday, and I'm really kind of hoping the online sales have a lot of passes for me!

The Match of the Century:Retail-vs-Wholesale Pigments

If you're a true beauty junkie, then you've likely noticed a HUGE beauty trend over the past year. Independently run mineral pigment retailers are cropping up like mulberry weeds (they're rampant, trust me!) I've tried a few, and overall have been impressed with the smooth texture, vivid finish, and endless range of colors that these retailers provide.

Ignorance was bliss, until my friend Anastasia over at Lipsticks & Lightsabers did a post pointing out the extreme similarities between pigments from companies like Lime Crime Makeup and Beauty From The Earth and those from wholesalers like TKB Trading. I'd been thinking about ordering some wholesale samples for quite some time, and I decided this was the perfect excuse. Here's what I found.

So, a picture is worth 1000 words- but here you get both! If you're thinking this is a trick, I can assure you, it is not. Here's what you're looking at, read from left to right like a book!

Top: TKB Lemon Drop Pop!, Lime Crime Circus Girl, Calypso Mineral Beauty Bandana

Middle: TKB Apple Green Pop!, Lime Crime Elf, Barry M Dazzle Dust Mint Green #82 (don't worry about the darker green to the right, I've got another pic for that one!

Bottom: TKB Grape Pop!, Calypso MineralsTramp, MAC Violet Pigment

As you can see from the photo, the differences in the shades are almost imperceptible. (BTW, click the images to see the photos supersized!) Looking at the yellow and green shades, Lime Crime's and TKB's are virtually identical, both in color and texture. I tried to be as scientific as I could when applying these, but any small difference I noticed (are the Lime Crime colors slightly more sheer, maybe a tiny bit more pearlized?) could easily be attributed to the amount applied, or the difference of the skin texture in the areas I applied them.

Even the notable differences weren't that drastic. Most apparent, Calypso's Bandana yellow was more opaque than it's doppelgangers. The Barry M Dazzle Dust seemed like the same base shade as the other greens, but had a dose of fine silver sparkle. Even the MAC pigment looks fairly similar to it's counterparts, though the texture of MAC's pigments are almost moist and spongy, and the finish is more metallic. I think it's safe to say these products are different than the others, because though close in color, they'd definitely achieve different effects.

Lets ponder a few more:

Top row is shown with MAC Blackground Paint Pot as a base.

Left: Lime Crime Fairy Wings Right: TKB Hilite Violet

With these pretty violet duo-chromes, I could not tell the difference no matter how they were applied.

Left: Star Gazer Eye Dust #33 Right: TKB True Green

Two more that look identical. If I were going to say any of these pigments were the EXACT same, it would be these two.

So here's my final opinion (for now, anyway.) Other than the exceptions that I talked about, all of these pigments were virtually identical. I'm not going to say they're the same exact formulations, but I'm also not ready to say they're not. All it would take is a pinch in a pound to say a shade is custom blended, that doesn't mean it will look much different on the skin.

Is it somewhat nefarious to repackage wholesale product and mark it up (literally) 4000%? Maybe, but I can assure you, this is nothing new, nor is it limited to small businesses. One major (and I mean MAJOR) cosmetics company I worked for paid around $2.00 for lipsticks that retailed at $22. The justification is that you're not just paying for the product, you're paying for the image. That means that the retailer is including all of the costs involved in producing the item you're purchasing; things like packaging, website production and maintenance, models, makeup artists and photographers that make the company's promotional images, the cost of placing those images in magazines, on-line in banner ads- the list goes on and on. That's capitalism, kids.

There's nothing wrong with buying a particular brand because you like the way their compacts look, or because you prefer supporting small businesses. Just be aware that there are alternatives out there. For anyone shopping around, here's a price by the ounce comparison of the brands I've shown in this post:

Lime Crime Makeup Magic Dusts: $12 for .07 oz= $171.43 per ounce

UPDATE: In October '09, Lime Crime doubled the size of their Magic Dusts, which now come in .14oz sizes for the original $12 price. The adjusted price is $85.71 per ounce.

Calypso Mineral Beauty Pigments*: about .052 oz for $6.00= $115.38 per ounce

Barry M Dazzle Dusts*: about .07 oz for $7.43= $106.14 per ounce

Stargazer Eye Dusts: about $4.96 for .063 oz= $78.73 per ounce

MAC Pigments: $19.50 for .26 oz= $75 per ounce

UPDATE: In January, '10 MAC repackaged their pigments, reducing the size to .15oz with no price change. This brings the current cost of MAC pigments to $130 per ounce.

TKB Trading: prices vary, ,most are $4.00-4.50 per ounce (no, that's not a typo, the $1.25 SAMPLE size has more product than some brand's full sizes!)

*Calypso weight per 5g jar is approximate. According to Jen, the owner, jars aren't weighed, they're just packed until they're full. Price is also an average price provided to me by the owner.

Barry M Dazzle Dust weight was determined by me weighing my own jar (after swatching) I have contacted the company for an exact weight and will update this if I hear back.

Prescriptives Closing Worldwide

It was announced today that by January 31st, 2010 cosmetics brand Prescriptives will end all retail operations, save for it's online sales, which will continue for a time period in order to sell through remaining inventory.

Parent company Estee Lauder says this move will allow the company "to focus on those areas which we expect to benefit the Company, our shareholders and business partners." Estee Lauder claims they are committed to placing as many impacted employees as possible into open positions within the company.

Established in 1979, Prescriptives became widely known for it's Colorprinting service and wide range of foundation shades. They remain the only widely available brand to offer custom foundation blending. Unfortunately, that means there's one fewer place we pale girls can find a foundation!

This Week's Sales:Lorac, Too Faced, Flashy Lights & More!

Check out the sales this week as brands clear out summer stock to make room for this fall's rich, vampy shades. Keep an eye out for warm golds and bronzes that work no matter the season. If the sale sites seem a bit quiet to you this week also, make sure you're following me on Twitter since I have a strong feeling we'll be seeing some last minute additions (Gilt Groupe's Friday and weekend sales weren't posted as of press time, and I'd put money down that something good is coming up!)

Start your week off at HauteLook when they feature Lorac Monday September 14th. It's pronounced "la-rock", it spells Carol backwards (as in founder/celebrity makeup artist Carol Shaw) and the Porcelain Coverup is the fairest concealer I've ever seen. They do have some great VIP deals on their web page, so make sure you check those out too! Next, preempt some of the damage you're likely to do with all of those Pumpkin Spice Lattes (yum!) with Go Smile this Tuesday. Finally, give into the the light therapy buzz with EViS MD on Wednesday, September 16th.

On Gilt Groupe this week, the only beauty sale scheduled thus far is Too Faced Cosmetics, which starts Tuesday the 15th. If you're in the market for a lip plumper, I recommend their Lip Injection Extreme; it contains capsicum to instantly plump and peptides to stimulate your skin's own collagen production, which can increase volume and reduce lines long term. And, yes ladies, it's gonna burn a bit- capsicum is hot pepper extract! Like I said, Gilt's weekend sales aren't posted yet, so stay tuned on that front.

Finally, the slate of upcoming sales on The Fairest: Juara, Bodyography, Clark's Botanicals, Panpuri, and LaROCCA Skincare. Week one at the beauty only site saw 4 or 5 separate sales, while week two only cycled through 3, so it's a bit hard to tell what to expect- regardless, I'll be checking daily!