Manolo for the Beauty

Well, let me clarify.  I think that the actual products themselves, which are completely vegan, are a great idea.  Because of their non-chemical construction, you can wear the color pretty much anywhere, whether on your body, your eyes, lips, cheeks, wherever.  That part I like.  You may not truly wish to wear neon-green lipstick but you CAN IF YOU WANT TO, and that is the point here. I’m always a fan of multi-tasking makeup, and this stuff fits the bill.

But, the presentation that I was semi-forced to listen to in the store was so new-agey, so hokey, that I had a difficult time not rolling my eyes at the poor salesgirl who was probably just trying to earn a commission for herself.  Which I totally understand.  However, I was told by a complete stranger what my personality was like based on the three colors that I chose off a color wheel.  Whatever.  I don’t know why Lush figures that an elaborate sales pitch would help move what seems to be an already fairly impressive product.

If she had just told me that I could use the makeup anywhere for anything, there was a fairly good chance that I would have bought one just to try it out.

But the high-pressure sales pitch that claimed to know all about my subconscious completely turned me off and had me running out the door at the nearest, polite-est opportunity.

Lush, you may want to rethink this.

If you want to experience the color-wheel experience but without the well-meaning but annoying sales person, click here.

It seems I am in the very tiny minority of people who don’t like Hourglass Femme Rouge Lipstick.

I got it because I tried it on my hand (see: phobias about applying lipstick in stores) at my local Sephora and the Sephora employee could not stop gushing about how popular it was and how wonderful it was.

I didn’t purchase it that day, but I recently ordered the same shade I had sampled in the store.  I had liked Edition, touted to be a “soft neutral pink shimmer,” and hey, it certainly looked good on my hand. 

I had also read the glowing reviews around the ‘net and I truly wanted to love this lipstick because I am simply a lipstick collecter and was excited to have found a new (to me) brand.

Unfortunately, when I put it on my lips, I vainly tried to find shimmer, but there was absolutely no shimmer to be found.   It didn’t glide on smoothly at all, and instead of hydrating my lips, dried them out terribly.  The color didn’t last long and I have bought drugstore lipstick at a third of the price that made me happier.

To say I was disappointed is a vast understatement.  Maybe I got a bad batch, but the purty but very heavy tube (which I believe is due to the refillable color cartridge) is going back ASAP.

I was just browsing through the sale “rack” at Sephora and thought I would pass some of these on…  I’m almost tempted to get the Tarina Tarantino palette for the price…  Oh, and be sure to read the reviews before buying! I always do!

Tarina Tarantino Jewel Box Palette   Mixed reviews on this, although a four-star rating overall.  The price can’t be beat for what it includes, though.

Sephora Collection Concealer Palette  If I still wore this type of concealer, I would strongly consider this.  Half off!

MUFE Beauty in a Box: Make Up Tricks & Treats OK, so this is a holdover from Halloween.  So what? It has almost all regular-sized products and it is more than half off!

Korres Color With Skincare Benefits Collection  I have not personally tried Korres products, but I hear lots of good things about them.  Positive ratings on this one, although I hate people who take stars off because they were upset that the sizes are “too small.”  Then read the damn description before you buy!

Balmshell Lip Gloss  At eleven bucks I’m not enitrely sure how great a deal it is, but the reviews are quite good. Lots of different colors, too.

Sephora Collection Black Sequined Bag Collection  If you are looking for a good makeup bag, the prices will make you smile.

Urban Decay Beauty In A Box  This was given 4.7 stars out of 5 from 123 people, so I’m going to guess this is some good stuff.  Not bad for forty bucks.

It was sometime in the late 1970’s.

I was a young girl who was forbidden by my parents to wear makeup.  Except for Halloween, when I would be a Gypsy, as politically incorrect as that was, and get to wear blue eyeshadow and blush and lots of necklaces.

But to a lassie such as myself, one night a year just wasn’t good enough.  I yearned for cosmetics, but my parents and their iron fist (not to mention the Catholic nuns who would certainly inform my parents if I showed up at school looking like a harlot with makeup on) kept me from them.

So in a distant second place finish, I was allowed to wear Rachel Perry Lip Lover.  Oh, it didn’t color your lips, but it did have a wonderful texture, lasted for ages, and have I mentioned the smell? So many different to choose from, all of them great.  My favorite was the cantaloupe, and it was heady stuff indeed.  It was the kind of lip balm where you would deliberately pucker your lips under your nose all day in order to get the full scent, rather than take a chance that at whatever wafted randomly.

It was all natural and therefore parent-approved, but I didn’t even care.  The smell was what kept me coming back for more.

I thought about Lip Lover the other week, and decided to go online and see if it was even being made lo these thirty or so years later.

Alack and alas!  It seems I am too late.

Discontinued!  And only last year!

Damn.  I hate it when that happens.

Last week I wanted to know if you would consider getting a vaginal steam bath as a spa service, and 52% of you voted nay.  30% didn’t know what the hell I was talking about, and 14% said they would consider it.  Only 2% answered in the affirmative.  I posted the question not as a referendum on Western versus Eastern medicine, but curious as to whether people would consider it appropriate that it was being offered as a spa treatment rather than a medical service.  And I really couldn’t resist after the woman I quoted from the article referring to it as a “facial for her private area.” 

Today, I’m all about the green.  Green cosmetics, anyway.

In this essay and accompanying interview with the founder of Aveda cosmetics, Ms. Kamali says she has given up wearing lipstick altogether.  Horst Rechelbacher apparently scared the bejusus out of Ms. Kamali by stating that we ingest liptsick (which is true, to some extent) and therefore we are poisoning ourselves with lead and arsenic and who knows what else.

I did some research, including here, here, and here to find out if Mr. Rechelbacher knew what he was talking about. 

 Because I’m not going to say that I’m a big fan of putting poisonous things on myself on a daily basis.  Monthly, maybe, but daily is a bit much.

I also went here, here, and here to read a bit more from the other side.

My thoughts?

We are exposed to toxins on a daily basis, including from our homes, work, and the environment.  So there is no escaping toxins, really. 

Second, I’m not necessarily a big fan of the FDA, and I do believe that the ingredients in cosmetics should be listed for all to see and that there should be more transparency in that department from the cosmetics industry.

Third, I noticed that almost all of the more “inflammatory” articles were either from sources with a vested interest in people buying their “green” products, or people who are heavily invested in a green lifestyle.  Nothing wrong with a green lifestyle, but some of these people are the same ones who believe that children shouldn’t be vaccinated, which I highly disagree with, so there’s that. 

The consensus seems to be that in a lifetime, a woman will ingest about four pounds of lipstick.  Over a lifetime, not a year, as stated in one of the articles above.

In taking all of this information into account, as well as my love for lipstick, I’m going to say that Ms. Kamali is just slightly overreacting.  I’m not going to tell her to put on some red lipstick because she apparently believes that lipstick is toxic, but man, talk about living in fear.  I’m thinking that she is exposed to more toxins breathing the exhaust-laden New York air on a brisk walk than she is wearing lipstick.

And Mr. Rechelbacher, while technically being correct about what lipstick contains, doesn’t go into the specifics, which are actually very important.  Which is a shame, because I really do love Aveda lipsticks, they smell fantastic. Shame on you, Mr. Rechelbacher.  But I’m not sure it’s enough to get me to stop wearing your lipstick.

Do I trust everything companies and the goverment tell me? No.

Am I already being poisoned by lots of other things, including the air that I breathe? Yes.

Is four pounds over a lifetime all that much? I’m thinking no.

With all the research I’ve done and facts at my disposal, I’m going to pick my poison, in a manner of speaking, and continue wearing lipstick.

Wanna join me?