Beware the Beauty Claims!

You know those skincare ads that say something like 95% of users said their skin looked more radiant or 89% of users saw a reduction in lines and wrinkles?

I got the scoop from a big-time research dermatologist on how they get those claims. Skincare companies will take the subjects' regular skincare away for a week or two so their skin gets all dehydrated and haggard. Then they'll give them the new "miracle" cream or whatever it is. Gee -- what do you think happens?

Of course their skin looks better! You could put Vaseline on your face after two weeks of using nothing but soap and you'll look a thousand times better.

Plus there's a placebo effect thing that happens. When you tell people to look for improvements on their face they'll typically "see" them.

Clarins HydraQuench Lip Balm is Awesome

I was always whatever about lip balm and never understood why people would obsess over finding the perfect one. I mean, entire magazine pages are dedicated to this useful but semi-lame beauty product.

I never got it. Until Clarins sent me perfection in a tube: HydraQuench Moisture Replenishing Lip Balm.

I received it last winter, fell in love, and then thought I lost it while moving apartments. But yesterday I found it in a bag's side pocket! HUZZAH!

Why is it so great? The texture is the softest, yummiest, non-greasy, non-sticky consistency ever and it has a very, very light floral scent. It stays on your lips for a decent amount of time so you don't have to reapply every half hour.

It's beyond perfect for dry winter weather and makes lips all cushiony and soft. I freaking love it.

And I can't believe I just wrote an entire post about lip balm. Buy it at clarins.com.

Luna Twilight!

Twilight Beauty (the official makeup line based on the movies) has a collection called Luna Twilight.

This should be their promo campaign.

Meet my dog Luna and her vampire toy.

New Moon - Ever Heard Of It?

Hey, did you know New Moon is out today? It's kind of an underground movie so you probably aren't familiar with it.

For the record, I don't get the Twilight craze. I got halfway through the first book and stopped because it was the biggest piece of crap I have ever read. Same with the first movie, although the movie was slightly better than the awful book.

But I love the idea of Twilight. Pale, luminous skin, just-bitten lips and spooky mist-covered forests are all lifelong loves of mine. Naturally there are a bunch of Twilight-inspired beauty products out there right now -- some official, some just sponging off the current vampire craze. I'm into them.

• Twilight Beauty: The official Twilight beauty brand has two collections -- Luna Twilight and Volturi Twilight. I particularly enjoy the First Light Face Glow. Maybe I just like it because my dog is named Luna.
• Julie Hewett: Her Twilight palette is a quad of soft, muted eye shadow and I love the Vampie Cheekie, which is a dark red cream blush. GORGEOUS.
• Bath & Body Works: Twilight Woods eau de toilette. (I just like the bottle.)
• DuWop: Twilight Venom is a lip-plumper/crimson stain in one.

The lead makeup artist from New Moon told me she used DuWop Gray Eyes Palette for Dakota Fanning's mega-smoky Jane-the-Volturi eye look. Pair it with a velvet cape from Hot Topic and you're good to go! (Please don't do that.)

Yesterday's Post Has Me Depressed About My Hair

My ode to Practical Magic got me thinking about the sad state of my hair. About two years ago a whole bunch of it fell out -- I think due to the stress of Jane magazine folding (I was the beauty editor there) -- and it never grew back. So I would say I have about a quarter less hair now then I did in 2007.

I never really had thick, abundant hair to begin with so that's a big loss for me.

Plus, and I can't quite figure out why this is, the hair on the top of my head is getting coarser and more flyaway-y. I have all these short, rough-feeling hairs up there and it annoys the hell out of me. I don't use heat styling tools EVER and I rarely even brush my hair, so what can be causing it? Yes, Mai at Bumble colors my gray patch but that's only in the front and she uses temporary (read: less damaging) hair color.

So while my hair is still very, very long, now it's kind of straggly looking. I've tried to embrace it for what it is but the Practical Magic hair post has inspired me to fight back.

I'm going to dig around and try to find a solution to this. If anyone has any ideas on how to start, let me know!!!!

Tour de Force - Practical Magic Hair

My friend Tara and I bond over many things. One of them is our love of the movie Practical Magic. Sure, the witchy stuff is cool and all (and lord knows I love a good witch movie) but recently we both admitted to each other that the real reason we watch the movie is for the hair and the house.

My god the hair. Thick, super long, gorgeous color -- it's fantasy hair. Fantasy hair courtesy of extensions, of course. There is no way Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock grew that sh*t out of their heads.

The annoying thing is that Tara totally has that kind of hair, so I don't know what she's "fantasizing" about. She has the most healthy, gorgeous hair out of all my friends. [It actually reminds me of another witch-with-amazing-hair: Piper Halliwell from Charmed. Piper has the best hair on TV in my opinion.] My hair has the length but it's more 70s junkie than New England sorceress.

The house is just out of control awesome. Maybe I can find one for foreclosure.

5 Natural Ways to Better Skin

Nothing in this post is about homemade fruit and honey masks or drinking lots of water. Neither of those things will make your skin look a whole lot better.

1. Sleep - Sure, a night or two of zero sleep is no big deal, but at some point chronic sleeplessness is going to cause more damage than a solid 8 hours can undo. So hit the hay and if you're an insomniac, why not try some...
2. Yoga - Regular yoga will help you sleep, and another side benefit is it'll make you less stressed out which means you won't be squishing your face up with anxiety. That means less wrinkles!
3. Sunglasses - Ok, sunglasses aren't "natural" but wearing big dark (none of those lilac-y fashion aviators!) shades protects your eye skin (that sounds gross) from sun damage and keeps you from getting squint-induced crow's feet.
4. Fish Oil - I've talked about how fish oil helps your fried hair, but they also help keep your skin supple. (Supple is a weird word.) They also helped me get over chronic dry eye.
   
5. Eat Fat - This kind of goes with the fish oil thing. Low fat diets will make your skin papery and old before it's time. You need fat in your body, just get it from things like olive oil, avocados and nuts rather than McDonald's.
   

Make Up For Ever HD Foundation Kinda Rules

I haven't worn liquid foundation since I went through that high school teenage girl phase where you want to wear a full face of foundation even though you don't need it. But the other day I was having a bad face day and I just wanted to cover it all up so I went to town with Make Up For Ever HD Invisible Cover Foundation.


And boy did it cover! I didn't even need concealer. I used a foundation brush to put it all over my whole face (because you know how I feel about that weird tip saying only put foundation where you need it), even under my eyes where I get dark circles. My skin still looked like skin and I felt like I was wearing nothing.

Then I went out with my fellow beauty editor friend Erin who asked what I was doing with my skin because I looked 10 years younger. At first I was stoked but then I thought, jeez what do I look like when I'm not wearing this stuff? And she didn't believe me that I was wearing foundation, which just proves how natural it looks.

Buy it exclusively at Sephora. They also have a slew of HD concealers, primers and powders which are probably pretty good, too.

Yes, Soap Can Save the Earth. Or At Least Some Orangutans.

I've decided that from now on I am only using soaps from The Body Shop because they use sustainable palm oil from Columbia instead of from Malaysia and Indonesia where deforestation is running rampant and killing all the orangutans.

When I find out things like this it makes me so, so sad. I mean, soap? Orangutans are dying so we can have SOAP? Talk about stupid.

The Body Shop is also involved with an international effort trying to make palm oil harvesting less destructive. So buy your soap from The Body Shop! They're always having deals where you can buy 5 for $15 and they come in yummy fragrances like strawberry, pink grapefruit and coconut.

On another note, once I switched to these soaps the eczema on my leg cleared up. Just saying.

Tour de Force - Labyrinth

Those eyes! That hair! I don't mean Jennifer Connelly.

The weekend is here so in celebration I'm leaving you with a scene from one of my ALL TIME favorite movies. I love it so much I'm thinking of having a Labyrinth theme wedding. Kidding! Sort of.

There are some major beauty moments going on here - David Bowie as the amazing Jareth with his 80s goblin hair and weird eye makeup. (Did Marc Jacobs steal this makeup look for his Fall 2009 runway show? I think so!) And a young J. Connelly looking as fresh as a dewy petal on a summer's morn. Enjoy!

Rad Gift Alert! Juliette Has A Gun (And So Can You)

Or at least the bullet.

The new purse-sized bullet perfume from Juliette Has A Gun is so fantastic. How much fun to travel with this instead of leaky perfume bottles. You can get any of the Juliette scents:

• Citizen Queen: echos of classic French perfumery; leather, iris absolute and amber
• Lady Vengeance: very fancy and rich; Bulgarian rose, vanilla and patchouli
  
• Miss Charming: ingenue-y; wild fruit, musk and Moroccan rose

Juliette creator and perfumer Romano Ricci told me he sees fragrances as "weapons of seduction." And that doesn't sound like a cheesy pick up line when it's delivered with a French accent.

Get your bullets at luckyscent.com and look for my review of Romano's newest scent (launching in December) in an upcoming issue of Nylon. I can't tell you about it yet, but it's a good one!

5 Eye Makeup Tips You Don't Hear Every Day

I got these tips from makeup artists who know what they're talking about. (PS - This model looks so mad that I took her picture.)

1. If you wear dark eye makeup a lot and you have dark eyebrows, have your hair colorist lighten your brows just a tiny bit. It makes the whole sitch look less theatrical. J. Lo does it, and chica knows how to rock a smoky eye.
2. On the flip side, if you like a bare eye look, have your colorist darken your brows just a tiny bit, even if you already have dark-ish brows. Makes your whole face look more polished.
3. You don't have to wear the same shadow/liner color on top and bottom. Keep the darker color on top and try combos like eggplant/taupe or charcoal gray/light gray.
4. Mascara on the bottom lashes can look feathery and 80s-ish (which is cool, if that's what you're going for). Use a stiff, flat eye shadow brush to gently press mascara into the base of your bottom lashes.
5. If you have an eye shadow quad that came with a glittery shade, it's not meant to be spread all over your lids. Use a small brush to dab a little along the upper lash line so it catches the light when you blink.