Dressed

I lost my beauty virginity at five to Tinkerbell’s BO-PO nail polish. It was the 80’s, and many girls were experiencing the same satisfaction as they brushed on, and simply pealed off–hence, BO-PO–the same candy colors.  Commitment did not interest me then, so the ability to repaint my nails again and again made me feel like my glamorous teenage babysitter, changing boyfriends as often as she changed her Lee Press-Ons.                                                                 

 As summer nears, I crave the freedom of picking at the edges of my dark red nail polish, and peeling it off to make way for something seasonally lighter. 

So, I was thrilled to find Eyeko Cosmetic’s web site is back up and running, which hopefully means we can expect a fresh delivery stateside of this London favorite. While the packaging echos the careless fun of Tinkerbell, the make up inside is sheer, sophisticated, and all smells like candy. This final attribute is to be expected, as Eyeko was the creation of the former BF of Hard Candy cosmetics creator, Dineh Mohajer.

Their eye cream is soft and shimmering, highlighting while relaxing the tiny overworked muscles around the eyes. The mascara is a perfect complement, truly clump-free, with a rich texture that doesn’t smell toxic-like.  The newest items are a convenient Blackberry-size makeup compact, and concealer I can’t yet vouch for, but am looking forward to trying.  

If the latest Eyeko products aren’t picked up by Sephora, who carried the line five years ago, the  Web site promises that they will begin shipping world wide. 

Apparently, Target hooked up with goth-outfitter Hot Topic for their latest GO International line. This time the collection is not attributed to a particular designer, which is good for everyone as it will hopefully enable us to forget and move on after this nameless gaffe.

I swear, some of it is made of vinyl. There is a piece that is pure black/silver wetsuit, and a dress featuring colorblocks that wouldn’t even work as a Leigh bowery costume. Who buys this stuff? Seriously! I’d ask for answers, but unfortunately, while I was eyeing it slack-jawed, people were pulling it off the hangers and stuffing it in their baskets.

Target’s next GO International collection will be out in early may, featuring a line by Rogan. Judging from the picture’s I’ve seen in their press materials, it is a lot of animal prints and bikinis.

I’m not a status shopper when it comes to jewelry. Finding an antique broach for $5 at a flea market is as exciting for me as I imagine receiving an engagement ring from Tiffany’s would be for someone else. That said, there are a few pieces of status jewlery that have become so entrenched in my definition of style that I can’t help but acknowledge that despite their boring simplicity, they would be the only way a vintage ensemble could transcendcliche hipsterhood to become truly timelessly stylish.

Yes, the chastity-belt inspiration behind the Cartier LOVE collection is quite possibly the stupidest marketing gimmick ever, but I’m not interested in “love” in its floaty sense. I just love the strong, yet some how dainty, look of a sold gold band, like this piece from the collection. 

In the words of Coco,  Women don’t wear costume jewelry to look wealthy, they wear it to look beautiful. I am sure this vintage Chanel bow fetches millions. It’s pretty much my favorite.

 I’d wear Van Cleef & Arpels’ take on pearls with a prairie dress and heels.

The next sure to be timeless collection is Paloma Picasso’s gemstone rings for Tiffany’s. They are so juicy, just one would be statement enough.

The difficult thing about not liking the trendy pieces from the major jewelery designers is that Forever 21 and H&M will never knock them off. Those institutions of style piracy are too busy designing even cheesier versions of the Tiffany chain lockets to sell to thier customers.   

Despitemy constant harping on the subject,  I’m scared of cosmetics. The ingredients are horrifying, from crushed insects in lipstick (yes, they still do this), to talc in face powder–even my YSL, at $58 a compact, has this cheap filler product. I’ve resisted the mineral powder trend for four years. When I worked for a natural beauty magazine “back then”, the editors refused to profile and endorce Bare Mineral because it wasn’t in fact natural, just crushed “stuff”. This refusal was always in the back of my head as I am tempted by those Bare Mineral “starter” kits, everything for just $60.

But, recently I’ve become scared of stuff in my regular products–especially when I put it on and it sort of tingles. What makes it tingle?

Unfortuantely, those natural mineral products that don’t have the “tingle” quality, are hideous. They all look ripped from an Avon catalogue from the 1980s. Why do natural products always have to have the eco-friendly packaging touch? Why can’t they come in something as glamorous as Chanel’s sleek black compacts and bottles, or the glinted powders of Gerlaine? I promise their marketing experts they will open their products to a whole different cosmetic consumer population if they improve on this. Women who love the natural lifestyle don’t even want makeup, so why market it to them?

Just because my makeup is wholesome, I don’t want the packaging to be, bringing to mind people who look down on women who wear under a size 8, drink coffee instead of tea, and preface most of their sentences with,  ”I hate…”  instead of Love Peace Charity.

One of my Beauty Insider emails from Sephora this morning featured the new Color collection from Korres, the packaging wasn’t a huge improvement over those from other natural cosmetics companies, but it was minimalist, a la Kiehl’s, which is timelessly elegant.

From their Web site: 

        “Korres is committed to developing products using technology and research in the most environmentally-friendly and skin-compatible ways possible. They do this by avoiding synthetic compounds such as petroleum derivatives (mineral oil), silicones (synthetic non-biodegradable compounds), propylene glycol (extraction solvent linked to a number of allergies), and ethanolamines (pH regulators linked with skin irritations) and replacing them with the naturally occurring extracts and vitamins that are loaded with skin beautifying benefits.”

It seems like a descent balance, at least for now, until someone gets it into their heads that lead-free and toxin-free makeup is still natural when elegantly packaged.

TodayI received the most genius marketing piece in the mail from Saks Fifth Avenue. It was square booklet titled, “ageless beauty 101: a saks how-to handbook”. It broke down the best beauty products for those in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50+, covering all of the spring/summer trends: pink lips, luminous skin, “lively locks,” fresh complexion, and shimmery eye.

TRISH MCEVOY, plumper gloss in sex kitten

LAURA MERCIER, mineral powder foundation

KIEHL’S, olive fruit oil deeply repairative hair pak

 REVIVE, masques des Yeux

CHANEL, coco mademoiselle

LAURA MERCIER, eye color duo in violet

This marketing campaign is a huge success in that it preys on my fear of aging. I want to buy everything on the list, just to stave off fading into the next category, 30s. None of these products would otherwise interest me, but seeing they were prescribed for the youngest group, I want them to flaunt what is left of my 20s.

I wonder what those that fall into the latter categories, 30s, 40s, and 50+, think this about this. Do they look crossly at those products in the 20s category, wondering why Saks thinks that they are too good for them? Or, do they covet their respective cosmetics, thankful they are not in the next generation of makeup? But, just maybe, some see this as something to look forward to, considering  Saks reserves the Clive Christian perfume, a brand that boasts on its label to be ”The World’s Most Expensive Perfume”, for those 50+.

Last week someone pulled me aside at a work function. Carrying a conversation over the music was difficult, so I assumed she was going to inquire as to a project on which I was working. But, as she led me to the bathroom, her important question was, “Do you were foundation?”

She following this with, “I’ve wanted to ask you for awhile.”

Let me tell you about my face. I have acne scars, there is one so deep in my chin that when I smile it puckers.  I have “expression” lines–which seems to be the politically correct label these days–around my mouth. And the bags under my eyes are more of black holes, sucking the rest of my face into their mysterious abyss. That said, I can only hope one understands how flattered, thrilled really, I was to have a beautiful woman ask me if I was wearing foundation.  Of course the answer is a deafening, YES!

Was I really that great of a makeup artists that I made it look natural? I’ve long debated when dabbing concealer on blemishes which option was worse: letting the redness shine through; or, covering the red at the expense of letting the makeup cover-up be obvious?

For the past year, I’ve worn YSL’s Perfect Touch Radiant Brush Foundation. It is truly worth the $52, and is only enhanced by the combined use of the miracle Touche Eclat highlighter, $40, which I use under my eyes.

Several weeks ago, when they simultaneously ran out, I had to turn to a cheaper option. WAY cheaper–as in OTC (over the counter) cosmetic land at the drug store. Even though my family has an, uh, conflict of interest with Garnier, the French cosmetic company that owns Maybelline, I love their Pure Makeup. I bought the foundation for only $5.25, and it is terrific. The lightest color matches my skin perfectly–YSL was always a little dark, even the most pale shade–and because it is composed of 50 per-cent water, my skin does not break out because of it.

The foundation covers perfectly, and stays matte all day. I actually look forward to putting it on because there isn’t any oily residue I have to wash off after touch ups. Best yet, it comes off at night with even the most mile soap, no scrubbing needed! Even better for delicate, maturing skin. I’d like to believe their marketing blurbs that attribute this to the natural ingredients: chamomile, H2O, and aloe. It comes in the whole range of skin colors–12 different shades!

             

             

Even though it less chic than YSL, having someone tell me my skin looked lovely when I was wearing the cheap stuff made me feel a little better about having to spend all my money on student loans instead of glamorous Saks Fifth Avenue-worthy cosmetics.

Ingredients (INCI): Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond), Sesamum Indicum (Sesame), Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender), Fragrance (Parfum)*, Limonene*, Linalool*, Geraniol*, Coumarin*.

After reading the ingredient list, I was a little concerned about the generic “Fragrance” additive Weleda  slipped in to their lavender body oil, but a little research led me to assurance it was plant, not toxin or animal, derived.

With all of the natural products I’ve been selecting recently, my bathroom is starting to resemble a hippy commune. More on that tradgedy later.

I HATE… 

I’ve been searching for a body oil for the past three years. Every spring as it starts to get warm and the thought of rubbing on a heavy lotion makes me sweat, I start Googling combinations of adjectives I hope will deliver the “most potent,” “non mineral oil-based,” and “lightly scented,” oil to my computer screen. Last year, this random search brought up Tom Ford for Estee Lauder’s body oil. Estee Lauder always recalls dated, tragically unglamourous navy packaging, but it was pretty amazing. Today, I went to purchase the result of this year’s Google search, Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse.    

When I got to the store, I sprayed it on my hand and rubbed it in. The store smelled of so many different candles and perfumes that I couldn’t really make out the scent of this oil. When the shop manager told me she was actually out of the product, I almost decided to go to their other store to pick up a bottle. The second I stepped out of the store, and smelled make wrist, I honest instantly got a headache. It smelled like cheap air freshener sprayed to cover cigarette smoke–I would know, because I’ve lived with roommates where I had to spray cheap air freshener to try and override the smoke. 

There are always the over-the-counter oils: baby oil, neutrogena, now even Nivea. 

Here are four other prospects I’ve found–Bliss, Weleda, Clarins and Dr. Hauschka’s offerings are a little hippy-esque, but possibilities I will search out this week. If anyone has any suggestions, I would GREATLY appreciate them. Until then, I will reach for the beautiful Estee Lauder Tom Ford oil prominantly displayed in my bathroom.

And because I can’t get enough of him, here is Tom Ford making out with a robot (sigh: jealousy)

Inan earlier post, The View from (Outside) the Tents, I bemoaned my removal from the fashion world. There are benefits to being outside the tents, however. There is a better show outside the white draped Mecca for most aspiring designers. Street style is much more inspiring–I am even more convinced of this after seeing the highly anticipated Friday shows, include Mark Jacobs, all of which were a total snooze. My favorite street style sites are Face Hunter, Cobra Snake, and Altamira NYC. Outside those tents I was luck enough to meet Craig, the man behind Altamira, and a wonderful trendy woman behind a Turkish style blog. Although I don’t speak Turkish, the pictures are wonderful, and I am not just saying that because she included me in her Fashion Week entry: http://www.mordolap.com/trendler/sokak-modasi/new-york-moda-haftasi-sokak-modasi.html

http://www.facehunter.blogspot.com/

http://www.altamiranyc.blogspot.com/

 This morning on the subway when the conductor reminded us at each stop to, “take all of our personal belongings,” he added, “And don’t forget to vote!” On Super Tuesday, when 24 states are casting votes for their presidential delegates, the only thing I am more excited about than Hillary’s rising popularity (so far she has clinched AK, MA, NY, TN, OK, NJ) is the Catherine Malandrino and Proenza Schouler collection in the tents. All day at work, as I read cover copy and sorted through book maps, I looked forward to sitting on my couch and clicking through the runway shows from yesterday while listening to the election results come in on NPR.

While I am thrilled that Hillary Clinton is in the lead as the democratic presidential candidate, I felt a little let down by Proenza Schouler and Catherine Malandrino. Try as I might to select at least a few pieces I loved to feature in this entry, I found only one in each collection. I should note, though, that these were also the only TWO I loved in the total of Monday’s offerings. The beautiful teal, navy, and magenta ensemble, topped with a larger than life bow at Proenza Schouler, contrasted perfectly with my favorite puffy, black, sweater dress at Malandrino.

The polls are just now closing on the West Coast, so I won’t be able to stay up long enough to hear the results in those states. But, I know I will have no problem getting up as soon as my alarm goes off at 6:00 am tomorrow morning, as I will want to check the results of the elections, as well as today’s runway shows.