With winter coming to an end, pampering your pout doesn’t have to be an emergency application of chapstick. For Valentine’s Day (yes, we know it was corny) we came up with Five Best for kissable lips. An obvious is inclusion was Revolution Organics Lip Glosses as they are natural and tres glam (they are available in the TIA store). And for the ultimate lip line eraser, there was Define from Your Best Face (we keep twisting YBF’s arm to let us have some more of the bundle that they put together exclusively for us and we have a limited supply left in the shop).
To get cocktail party lips, follow the tips in Erica Lytton-Miles’ video. She demonstrates a three-layer technique that will last you for several Cosmopolitans.
I’ve never really taken to Napoleon Perdis as a brand. The products seem to be undifferentiated, the logo reeks of a gold medallion nestling in a hairy chest, and the NP body scrub has the dubious honor of being the first in its genre that I don’t like (usually I am a pushover when it comes to body scrubs). So I was intrigued to see Napoleon Perdis Devine Goddess lipsticks in Ulta for $22 that boasted being “enriched with herbal extracts and antioxidants”. Perhaps NP was about to win me over.
To be sure, Devine Goddess lipsticks have a dash of Matrixyl (palmitoyl oligopeptide). It also has lemon balm (melissa officinalis) and the good news is that this is also a proven antioxidant. However, given that both come at the end of the ingredient list, I expect the antioxidant quotient to be not much more than angel dusting (as it is known in the trade). As Copley reported, angel dusting is an unfortunately common practice in the cosmetics, cosmeceuticals, and dietary supplement industries. In formulating a product, certain suspect manufacturers incorporate a miniscule portion of an active ingredient, insufficient to produce any measurable benefit. Read more...
I was recently introduced to the Kaplan MD line of antiaging cosmetics and I’ll be writing more on the full range and the approach behind it in future posts. In the meantime, I have been getting acquainted with the Lip 20 Treatment ($30), a lip plumper with Dr Kaplan’s signature tally of ten antiaging actives.
The first thing to say about Lip 20 is that it does plump the lips. Mine are thinner than a snake’s when left to their own devices and lip plumpers generally don’t work or are uncomfortable. When I looked up into the mirror after applying Lip 20, I couldn’t help but break into a big grin. My lips were pleasantly full, darker and smooth. This is a look I could get used to. Read more...
Tarte has finally launched a Lip Stain ($24) based on its wildly popular tarte Cheek Stain. Although tarte is noted for its green credentials (it was one of our Five Best eco friendly makeup companies last year), its marketing people bring a whiff of the lab to this lip gloss with something called “LipSurgence Technology” that is supposed to increase the moisture of our smackers by 6000%.
Whereas the Cheek Stain majors on fruit extracts, Lip Stain has a peptide, palmitoyl heaxapeptide-14. This appears to have been borrowed from tarte Recreate Wrinkle Rewind Techolnogy. There is also salicornia extract, a coastal growing herb (mainly in western Europe) that has strong antioxidant properties.
Otherwise there are couple of waxes (eg cera alba) and around seven oils, including meadowfoam. Meadowform seeds are 60% omega-9 fatty acids. In practice, it behaves like a safe silicone, adding gloss and helping with the retention of moisture. Read more...
Part way through the year, Buxom Lips by Bare Escentuals was one of Sephora’s top picks that we liked. So, I was pleased to see a holiday gift set of four plumpers called Winter Escapade Buxom Babes ($28).
Everyone likes a lip plumper and as well being relatively benign (as war paint goes), Buxom Babes has a a couple of things that may be good for you. The standout ingredient is Matrixyl, or palmitoyl oligopeptide, a stimulator of collagen and an increasingly fashionable addition to lip products. There is also some vitamin A to keep lips smooth and kissable.
And while we are on that subject, we have just been finding out that there is more to mistletoe than an excuse to make out.
