If there’s one thing a girl can’t have too much of in her arsenal, it’s lipstick.
As we said in the book, it’s gotta be the single most powerful cosmetic going: With just one swipe it can completely change the appearance of your face. I’ve always loved the stuff and cringe to think how often I put it on as a kid to play dress up. As most of you surely know, mainstream lipsticks are usually contaminated with lead, and intentionally filled with a host of unfriendly chemicals—which we absorb and unintentionally ingest off our lips. Blargh.
Which is why it’s such a treat to find a good clean one you love. And when it’s clean, it works double duty, because if it can go on my lips, it can go on my cheeks—and from RMS to Ilia, every lipstick I love does just that.
Enter Vapour Organics. A brand whose breadth, for no apparent reason, I’ve never fully explored beyond foundation. Now I realize there’s a whole world of products to uncover, and I’ve started with their lipstick. The color I’m in love with is called Tempest, but there are others in the palette catching my eye too. Have you tried any of these? (Color recs please!)
Tempest, on this mug anyways—isn’t it weird how differently colors can read from one face to the next?—is hitting that perfect balance between orange and pink. I know orange is all the rage right now, but I can’t wear a real one without feeling like someone’s grandma. But there’s enough pink and red in this one that it doesn’t scream Florida retirement home, but instead feels youthful and peachy. Especially on the cheeks! Such a good find for summer.
The texture also feels good and hydrating, and it’s got impressive lasting power for a natural (some tips on that here).
Are you a Vapour fan? Which products of theirs have you tried?
P.S. We have a deal running on Open Sky of our beloved Kahina Eye Cream. For the next 24 hours you save ten smackers.
I’m having a small case of the beauty blahs and I don’t know what to do… I want to feel fresh and new for spring but I’m a bit stumped on ideas. Who has done something totally drastic—but not totally chemy—in the last little while? Hair cuts, new makeup colors, awesome discoveries?
Here are my ideas so far…
1. White eye liner. Has anybody tried this? Word is that it really makes eyes pop.
2. A bold new lip color. Maybe coral? Suggestions?
3. More semi-natch highlights. Do I? Don’t I? I’ve trimmed off a lot of my golden pieces from last summer, but can I put myself through all that hair washing again?
One thing I’ve never gotten into at all is eye shadow. Maybe it’s time. I know there are some really fun colors right now, even among naturals. I just feel like shadow looks a little silly on me—even though I often love it on others. Is there a trick to wearing? Help!
Have you guys seen these ads for Maybelline’s new Super Stay 14Lipstick?
The other night, after a week-long vacation from television, I went on a bit of a marathon, and I must have seen this thing 10 times. It’s good. Catchy jingle. Pretty girls. Bright pop-colored mouths. For a moment I was like: OMG 14 hour lipstick! What a great idea!
Just kidding. But I definitely saw the appeal. So around time four, I lazily reached for the old laptop and did a quick search. I had to know what sorts of weird chemicals it could possibly take to keep something on your mouth—where you will inevitably ingest at least some of what you put on there—for 14 hours. We’re talking all the way from breakfast to post-dinner drinks, folks. And thanks to Ulta, Sephora’s ugly cousin, the list was right there.
I am posting this with one goal, and one goal only. To make you (and Siobhan) laugh as much as I did when I saw this. Here are the ingredients:
Trimethylsiloxyphenyl Dimethicone, Isododecane, Polypropylsilsesquioxane, Cyclopentasiloxane, Polyethylene, Stearyl Heptanoate, Ozokerite, Hydrogenated Styrene/Methyl Styrene/Indene Copolymer, C30-45 Alkyldimethylsilyl Polypropylsilsesquioxane, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Alumina, Parfum / Fragrance, Cyclomethicone, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Benzyl Alcohol, Silica, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Polyethylene Terephthalate, Tin Oxide, Aluminum Hydroxide, Acrylates Copolymer, Paraffin, Dimethicone. May Contain: Mica, CI 77891 / Titanium Dioxide, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 / Iron Oxides, CI 15850 / Red 7, CI 45410 / Red 28 Lake, CI 45380 / Red 22 Lake, CI 15985 / Yellow 6 Lake, CI 19140 / Yellow 5 Lake, CI 42090 / Blue 1 Lake, CI 75470 / Carmine.
I mean? #*%*$#@!! I don’t even know what to say, because I don’t have the slightest clue what most of these ingredients are. (And we’ve spent, oh several years, researching this stuff.) For a large part, neither does Skin Deep—not a good sign. Note: If an ingredient gets a zero on their site, and is only listed in like 3 products, that doesn’t mean it’s safe: It likely means there’s just no information available on it.
Anyways, just wanted to share. According to the shoppers on Ulta who reviewed it, the whole 14 hours thing is pretty much a hoax (though it does have some lasting power—I mean, I should hope so!). And despite the bold claim of “No dragging. No drying. No letdowns at all.” several women wrote that the product indeed dried the dickens out of their lips, one woman writing: “This product has a great line of colors that look just as good on, but it severely dried my lips… like, painfully chapped. I do not think the color is worth the pain.”
Now let’s have some fun: What’s the dumbest product you’ve ever bought based on a ridiculous promise? I can remember this one very expensive stretch mark cream—stretch mark cream always equals lie—that also claimed was “discovered” (by happenstance!) to be the most effective wrinkle cream on the market. Remember the name? You’ll win a special place in my heart if you post it in the comments.
Image via Maybelline’s site
Ooooooooweeeeeee! You guys! A few weeks ago we told you (again) about our love for the high-quality, luxurious and PIGMENTED makeup from W3ll People. Many of you said you would love for us to do a Friday Deal with them… And now a Friday Deal is upon you! Get super excited. It’s our first ever makeup deal.
(Confidential to the men of NMDL: You cannot go wrong shoving any of these goodies in your girl’s stocking—trust.)
Here are the details:
W3ll People is offering a very generous 20% site-wide discount for No More Dirty Looks readers. Simply shop till you drop, then when you’re checking out, enter the promo code NMDL in all caps. Your total will change, and 20% of the total will be shaved off. (And yes, they do ship to Canada.) Better yet: Deal lasts until December 18, so you have time to stock up!
They have wonderful mineral makeup (loose), lipsticks, blushes, eye colors, cake eyeliner, lip-and-cheek sticks, cream foundation we can’t get enough of, terrific makeup brushes—and more.
If you have questions about colors, give them a call or ask in the comments! Happy face painting, y’all.
Image via W3ll People
Life got a little bit better a few weeks ago when I noticed that Mad Men had become available on Netflix Instant. I love television. From Breaking Bad to Boardwalk Empire, I think that the little box often has movies beat these days. But nothing is as close to my heart as Mad Men.
Part of it is that I’m an ad gal myself, so I get excited around that creation process. But what gets me even more is the women: Joan, Betty, and Peggy, in all of their outward beauty and inner suffering. As I rewatch the early seasons I catch myself constantly pausing to take a picture of the screen to capture a look, a moment, a color—all of my senses being satisfied at once.
This gave me an idea:
What if we tried to recreate three big beauty trends from that time—with natural products, of course—that also happen to be hot right now?
A quick cross reference with Elle’s Spring Beauty Preview proved very fruitful indeed, so here goes…
1. Top lining: I’ve always loved heavily lined eyes, but as I get a little bit more mature I’ve become a bigger fan of the top-only line. There’s something classy and clean about it, though a lot of women are intimidated because the mags make it look like this. If you look at Betty’s eyes here though, you can see that there’s a much more subtle version of this style—one that doesn’t even require using that pesky liquid liner! Instead I use my basic Jane Iredale Eye Pencil in black, which is way more forgiving if you don’t have a steady hand. The trick is running the pencil right at the lash line. I start toward the middle, getting thicker as I go.
2. Bold lips: Still in in a big way: Elle may be calling it red, but really the word for lips is bold (whatever your color choice is).
Since nobody needs a lesson in lipstick application, I’ll just say that if you have yet to try the pretty and poppy hues from Ilia, or the seriously strong colors from W3LL People, you are missing out. Find our full favorite lipstick recap here, then share your own in the comments.
3. Hair with height: High retro hair has definitely gotten a modern makeover. I told you a few weeks ago how I made a blowout last for days with dry shampoo, but the best kept secret about this stuff is the height it can give to hair. It’s so easy too: Simply shake a little bit onto the area you plan to raise, and then fluff and move it around with your fingers at the root until you can’t see the powder (you’ll start seeing volume immediately). Then, using a comb, tease the spot just a tiny bit and see it rise to the next level. Now take the piece of hair right in front and smooth it over the little mound for a more finished Joan-type look.
Questions? Comments? You know what to do!
