Expert Reviews

I am late on the band wagon for a great resource guide to the world of makeup and skin care product reviews.

Paula Begoun has a book that I have constantly passed by at the book store called Don't Go To The Cosmetics Counter Without Me. It always seemed like a losing proposition - a huge tome proposing to catalog the virtues and sins of every cosmetic on the market. With the speed that companies develop new product, the book is out of date before it goes to press!

WELL, last season Sharon Stone started reciting all these very informative insider facts she said she had learned them from Paula's book. E.g. Eye Cream is JUST regular cream in a smaller, more expensive jar. So I finally rushed to Amazon.com for the 8th edition of DGTTCCWOM.
It arrived and I pored over it. Her introduction and methods for testing are very interesting and honest. She is not wowed by packaging or marketing. Its: Does this product work or not?
Personally, I don't need as much help deciphering high and low quality makeup. I work with different products all day long and I can tell immediately if I like how an eyeshadow, foundation or lipstick applies and holds. What often does stymie me is skin care. The effect of a skin care product rather than a cosmetic is more often apparent after long term use.

Will the expensive eye cream fend off wrinkles 10 years down the road if I am consistent? Is it worth it to "invest" in your skin with an expensive night cream? Do the latest "it" ingredients really work better than Ponds Cold Cream or Noxema? Paula gets into the nitty gritty answering these types of questions. Often citing brands like Olay and Clinique as All-Stars and ripping skin care like Dior's for being overpriced, over fragranced and under ingrediented (that's now a word).

As I predicted, the book didn't have half of the product lines I use on a daily basis. However, this is the genius of her website. For an annual subscription fee, her website is continuously updated with pretty much every makeup and skin care line on the market. So if you are at the department store being tempted by a Dior creme for $275 that touts the rejuvenating effect of the whispers of fetal kittens, you can log on to her website, read the review, and then save yourself $275.

So, while I don't think the book is such a great investment, the website is something worth looking into if you, like me, find yourself susceptible to a shiny new jar of expensive miracle nothing.

Inner-Eye Concealer

So I've been thinking about how and why we use concealer. One of the deep issues of the ages.

Specifically what got me thinking was the phrase "under-eye concealer". When dealing with darkness, I would venture that 90% of the time we don't need concealer "under" the eye so much as in the outer and inner corner down into the orbital socket (the area created where your bone ends and your eye socket begins). That is where most darkness peeks through the thin, delicate skin.

The problem with the idea of "under eye" concealer, especially if you are using a concealer that is slightly lighter than your foundation, is that you get left with the dreaded Reverse Raccoon Effect. No one wants this!

I think using a brightening concealer is great, don't get me wrong. But ideally, you want to bring the fresh brightness to the center of your face. Not just UNDER your eyes. Highlight down below your orbital socket into the naso-labial folds. Add a dab between your eyebrows and in the middle of your chin. This creates a diamond of brightness to make your whole face sparkle! And maybe we should start a revolution to change "under eye concealer" to "inner eye concealer".

It could happen, right?