Meet Your Makeup Match: Bare Esentuals Offers More Shades

Life is all about having options, honey - that, and being a natural glow-getter.

Bare Escentuals added more! more! more! to their super-popular (and skin-loving) line of bareMineral SPF 15 makeup. The lineup now includes more shades for girls with yellow-toned complexions, and more options for darker-skinned girls.

The brightest thing about a vial of bareMinerals, though, is everything that's not there: No preservatives, talc, oil, waxes, fragrance, or any other spooky chemicals that can irritate skin and cause breakouts.

There's even a fast and easy way to find your shade: Use our Shade Finder.

The NUDE Review: Week One

Right now, my skin is lacking that certain A-list glow. You know what I mean—that gorgeous lit from within quality that looks like my whole life is one endless string of healthy meals a la personal chef, morning workouts on the beach with a trainer and 8 hours of sleep (nightly!) on 1,500 thread count sheets.

But if you can't make it, fake it.

In my search for a shortcut to clearer, brighter and more hydrated skin, I came across NUDE Skincare, a line of products that’s as good for the environment as it’s reported to be for my skin. The line is paraben-free, formulated with fair-trade ingredients and comes in recycled packaging. No wonder Christy Turlington and Bono are fans. And, hey, if it’s good enough for supermodel Christy and rock star Bono, it’s good enough for me.

I met with the experts at NUDE who recommended I try out the following products for a head-to-toe regimen. The payoff: I’ll be red-carpet ready in a month.

One month to a total about-face (and body)? I'll go NUDE for that. Hey, I'll go publicly NUDE for that - check back weekly as I post my progress.
-Stacy Baker

The Skin List:

Cleansing Facial Wash (am)
Cleansing Facial Oil (pm and weekends)
Hydrating Water (am, pm after cleansing, and mist throughout the day)
Advanced Smoothing Serum (am and pm)
Moisture Balance (am)
Age Defence Moisturiser (pm)
Replenishing Night Oil (weekends)
Miracle Mask (twice a week)
Moisturising Body Cream (after showering)
Moisturising Body Polish (twice a week)

Second Opinion: Philosophy's Help Me

If you're a regular here, you know I just spent four weeks blogging about my testin' & tryin' experience with Philosophy's help me cream. As you also may recall, I went positively bananas over this stuff - loved it!

I ended my trial period with a giveaway on BellaSugar. Well, we picked a winner...and well, I'm the curious type, so after we sent Grace from Bridgeport, CT her tube of help me, I absolutely had to ask: Did you love it or hate it?

Her response:

"I received my tube of Philosophy's help me and have been using it for a week now. I am pretty impressed so far!

I have combination/sensitive skin and have not had a reaction yet. Usually I have problems with retinol products - I put them on at night and wake up in the morning with pimples. Not with this (at least so far).

I have also noticed that with one week of use my skin seems to be evening out. I have 2 sunspots that appear lighter and my skin's texture also appears smoother.

I love testing new products and when I hit on one that works it is like winning the lottery. I can say that if my skin continues to react positively to this product this will be my H.G. retinol cream."

Good to know all the magical skin-clearing up I saw on my own skin wasn't just a figment of my imagination.

Perk Alert! Beauty Insiders Get A Flawless Face First

Sometimes it pays to run around with a perfectionist. Especially when that perfectionist is a makeup artist, and especially especially when the subject up for scrutiny is your face.

Because honestly, who doesn't want a flawless face?

Laura Mercier isn't mincing her words with her newest kit. She's calling it, "The Flawless Face" because that's exactly what it gets you.

The set contains everything you need to recreate the famously fresh and dewy complextions La Mercier is known for, meaning that this bag is basically the take-home version of what she considers essential for creating peau parfaite:

1.0 oz Foundation Primer (Step 1)
1.0 oz Tinted Moisturizer (Step 2)
Undercover Pot plus Translucent Loose Setting Powder (Step 3 and 4)
Secret Camouflage Brush
Camouflage Powder Brush
Velour Puff
Egg-Shaped Sponge

This kit is a Sephora exclusive (whoo!), and is due in stores next month. Unless you're a Beauty Insider, in which case, it's available for you right now.

Pssst! It takes, like, 45 seconds to sign up and become a Beauty Insider. Not that you heard that from me.

Inside SOS: The Complexion Section!

I'm back from today's complexion trainings with some great expert tips to share. Without further ado, here are some gems to maximize your coverage and applications.

-Talc, an ingredient found in many powders, is an ingredient that reflects light from camera flashes. Use it sparingly for photos.


-For down-turned or aging eyes, draw a line of concealer from the outer corners, up to the hair line and blend. This will give an optical lift.



-When opening a new container of Bare Escentuals bareMinerals, keep the clear sticker that's covering the openings on. Instead, poke about 3-4 holes in the sticker. This will keep the powder from spilling and give you more control when pouring it into the cap to apply.


-Speaking of the bareMinerals cap...the plastic-coated paper on the inside is there for a reason! It warms the minerals as you swirl, preparing it for optimal application. Therefore, the cap is crucial for complexion perfection.

See more beauty facts and tips here! Tomorrow's topics: Eyes, lips, and cheeks!

Bare It: We Dare You

Is your own bare skin even sexier than actual clothing?

No, neither is mine. Which is why I'm target locked and loaded on our newest campaign: Dare to Bare Your Skin.

If you'd opt for "Truth" over "Bare" this is the spot for finding the scoop on serious skinlove. The truth on sun protection, the truth about wrinkle fighters, even the straight dirt on making blemishy boo-boos go bye-bye. All right here.

If you're past the point of truth and are ready to go bare, give yourself a no-makeup makeover. (Cheat! Copy the movies in an easy how-to video).

With the official first day of summer practically just hours away (this Saturday, in fact. Not that my cellulite is getting worried), Dare To Bare is a manual for making your skin look so polished, buff, gold, and fabulous, that out of respect alone, UVA rays don't even touch it.

Lights, Camera, Satisfaction: Hi-Def Makeup

I have pores so big you could park Cadillacs in them. You know what that looks like in high-definition, the new format of TV so famous for mimicking the nasty 500x magnification side of your mirror?

Perfection!

You'd think this was a set-up for a bad skin joke, but it's true. The secret: High-definition makeup. Simply pat some hi-def powder on, and poof! Pores go sayonara, wrinkles say auf wiedersehen, and (the best part) it magically looks like you're wearing no makeup at all.

An emerging trend in the beauty market, hi-def makeup was originally created to keep actors looking flawless and natural, despite the zoom-in-and-sharpen effect of hi-def. Watch CBS' Liz Keptner head to Hollywood for the scoop

It used to be available to A-listers only, but brands like Make Up Forever, Cargo, and Smashbox have brought Hollywood to Sephora with new lines of hi-def foundation, powders, mascaras, and lip glosses. (click each brand name to see thier hi def products)

The magic ingredient? "Photochromatic pigments that react to the ambient light that you're in at a given moment," says Ranella Hirsch, M.D. To the actor on set this means that the makeup will scatter enough light to visually smooth wrinkles and minimize pores, even in the unforgiving, 6x magnification of high definition camcorders. To the everyday gal, this means your skin will look as flawless in direct sunlight as it does under fluorescent lighting.

"This makeup stands up to intense scrutiny," says Kevin Bennett, the Director of Artistry at Make Up For Ever (MUFE), which launched their best-selling HD High Definition Microfinish Powder this spring, and is rounding out the line in early August with HD Primer and HD Foundation, available in 25 shades.

And MUFE stylists are quick to add that if hi-def makeup looks this good on a camera that sees six times closer than the human eye, imagine how imperceptible it will look on the street.

While you may not find yourself under the bright lights of a movie set, it's a star trick for looking a little perkier under the flickering fluorescent office lights you're sitting beneath.

And with pores like these, I could use an extra does of Hollywood FX.

Perricone Packaging, Part II

A few days ago, we posted Big News! about the new packaging for Perricone Cosmeceuticals.

Everybody's favorite doc is now color-coded by skin troubles - blue for acne-clearing potions, green for age-fighters, brown for age correctors.

Wait, brown? As in...brown? That prompted one blog reader to write, "I really, really wonder what they were thinking."

A brownie befuddler! We're nothing if not eager to answer beauty Qs, so we decided to make finding the answer our new mission. Bewildered 'bout the brown, we solved this Riddle of the Brown Boxes by going straight to the source: Tania Toubba, Perricone's Director of Marketing.

"We anchored the Age Correct category with brown as brown has traditionally been our brand color," explained Tania. "We wanted a subtle reminder that the product integrity customers have come to expect has not changed."

There you have it. Brown = brand pride. And now that we think about it, you know what else is brown and fabulous? Chocolate. It's so obvious! Brown things = good stuff.

Dr. Perricone Will See You Now

Are you a blue? Or a brown? Or maybe you're a color mixer, going blue at night and green all day?

Why all the rainbow references? Because these are the new colors on the freshly relaunched packaging for Perricone M.D. Cosmeceuticals.

Of course Dr. Nicholas Perricone himself has always been good to our skin, and I secretly love telling everyone that the reason my skin glows is because, "I'm seeing a doctor."

But now shopping for (and fixing!) skin woes is as easy as knowing what color look for. Perricone's new packages are color-coded - and here's the cheat sheet:

Age Prevent = Green
Age Correct = Bronze Brown
Age Less = Silver
Skin Clear = Blue

Of course you can color outside the lines, too: There's a Targeted Care line (hint: the boxes are white) that lets you add additional spot-treat formulas to create a custom skincare routine. Say you need the arsenal of acne-fighting blue beauty treats, but wanna soften up those little eye lines. No problem - you can toss in a crow's feet fighter from the white products.

Watch for these new pretty (easy!) packages in Sephora stores and on Sephora.com. And it's not skipping work to go pick up a few, either: It's just an appointment with your doctor.

Damaged, Controlled: The Finale

It's been four weeks since I first started slathering my skin with Philosophy's retinol-stuffed Help Me cream.

So now the big question is: has Help Me helped me?

In a word: BrotherDidItEver!

I'm minus a few icky brown spots I'm frankly better off without. My skin is a bit smoother and my complexion got a clear-up. Best of all, once I stopped being such an, "I don't need no moisturizer!" maverick, the peeling stopped.

Think it would work the same wonders for you?
Hey, give it a shot: BellaSugar is giving away a few tubs of what may just prove to be your own little miracle-worker, too!

Poopsie Daisy: The Solid Waste Face (Mask)

*Sniff. sniff.*

Ok, everybody needs to check the bottoms of their shoes. Or the contents of their face mask.

The latest beauty trend we are definitely not stepping in is a face mask said to brighten and whiten skin. The magical ingredient: Uguisu no fun. That's Japanese for "nightingale excrement" (let's pause here for a collective shudder followed by an, "Ewwww!").

The bird droppings are turned into powder before being added to a special face mask. And before it's smeared on faces, this poo-wder is treated with high heat to kill off bacteria.

But...are you ready for this? One bright skin-seeking spa gal described the mask as, "Creamy and rich" (gag me!).

Better idea? These products that brighten skin without the poopy parts:

Shiseido White Lucent Brightening Protective Moisturizer

Brightens, hydrates, and protects with plant extracts, thankyouverymuch.

Rx For Brown Skin Bright and Healthy Regimen Set

Say so long to dry flakes and ashy color, and hello to hydration.

Want more excrement-free brightener? We got 'em. Hey, I'm all too happy to help.

Damage, Controlled III: The Skin Strikes Back

Didja know this? The process of creating new cells and pushing old ones to the surface of your skin takes about 28 days.

And that's for relatively young skin - for more mature skin, the regeneration cycle is more like two full months.

First off, no wonder docs and derms always recommend trying a product for at least a month before throwing in the towel.

And secondly....ain't it the truth! I'm Week 3 into my test-drive of Philosophy's Help Me retinol cream and I'm starting to feel like my face is molting. But..uh, in a good way.

As I confes- er, mentioned last week, I didn't do such a hot job following package directions, instead mentally modifying the, "Follow application with your favorite moisturizer" to "...but only if you really feel like it, Jenny. Maybe you'd just rather go watch reruns of 'The Nanny.'"

Yes, I'm lazy, and because I'm lazy, I've got a light bit of peeling going on around my nose. But in a way, it's almost better I'm a flop at directions because hey, my momma didn't raise no peeler....and yet here I am with flaky little confirmation tickets from my skin telling me, "28 days? Pshaw! We can beat that."

Waking Up When You Have No Go-Go

I came across the world's oldest existing copy of Women's Day magazine (2002 - positively ancient!). In it was a recipe for a homemade face mask good for reviving pooped and puffy skin. I call this “Morning After Face”- the kind of pug-mug that won’t fool anyone into thinking you went straight home after work last night.

The recipe called for instant coffee mixed with enough witch hazel to make a paste. Apply the paste to your puss, rinse, and glow on about your day.

Great, but…hello, instant coffee?

I don’t know about you gals, but instant coffee is a mais non! in my house. But it’s true that caffeine temporarily firms and tightens faces.

Lucky us, it’s not 2002 anymore. Rather than keeping instant coffee around, I’d go the pre-mixed route with one of these:



Murad Essential-C Eye Cream
Pow! Caffeine shrivels up puff! Bam! Antioxidant vitamin C KOs free radicals!









Clinique Repairwear Deep Wrinkle Concentrate For Face and Eye
Short term de-puff lust with caffeine leads to long-term wrinkle-zapping love with collagen boosters. Might be your best relationship ever.







Lancome Renergie Eye Anti-Wrinkle and Firming Eye Crème
The puff stops here: Skin-firming proteins mingle with vitamin E and caffeine.

Damage, Controlled II: Help Me Is Helping Me

To all the Cadillac-sized pores and root vegetable-colored brown spots currently squatting on my face:

Your days are numbered.

Exactly one week ago I started buttering a thin layer of Philosophy's Help Me cream onto my face every night before going to bed. My 7-day review so far? Hallelujah! It works it works!

Normally when I read about products that promise to minimize little lines and smooth out the rough stuff, all I can think about are the bridges in Brooklyn and oceanfront properties in Arizona I could be buying instead.

But there's just enough more face-rejuvenating retinol in here (.010%, exactly) than in other products I've tried, and that's just enough more to make the difference. Turns out there really is something to be said for that extra half an inch. And! There are also face-loving vitamins in here, too.

I'm not an all-new girl - yet. But I'm already seeing a visible difference in the tone, clarity, and texture of my skin. Pretty!

Word of warning: There's a note on the package that says, "Follow application with your favorite moisturizer." Yeah, you'll wanna. I skipped this part for the first few days and was rewarded with "Tight Face" until complying with the rules.

She Who Sleeps With Makeup On

People magazine just published their 100 Most Beautiful list. I'm not going to spoil the surprise, but I will tell you that the cover girl confesses to what is known as The Worst Cosmetic Crime Ever Committed: She sleeps (gasp!) in her makeup.

You left-brainers can probably hear her pores screaming all the way from Hollywood. To all the right-brainers who are too busy popping your pimples, flatironing your hair and lining the insides of your eyes to wipe down your faces at night, I hear ya.

In fact, I have a list of favorite things to sleep in:

Bare Escentuals RareMinerals Blemish Therapy
I know I mentioned this before, but try going to bed sans washing and still waking up with fewer blemishes. Ding! Instant fan!





Stila Smudge Pots
Jenny's Best Tip Ever Alert! Master smoky eyes by grabbing a Smudge Pot and sleeping in it. The formula is creamy enough to self-smudge just a little, but still rich enough to outlast the effects of your pillow.




Bliss The Youth As We Know It
This luxe moisturizing cream is chock o'block with hydrators, ceramides, wrinkle relaxers, peptides...I mean, who in their right mind would ever wipe it off?





Urban Decay Liquid Liner
Put this on, go to work, come home, go to bed, and wake up the next morning with your liner STILL INTACT. It's black magic beauty.





Benefit You Rebel Lite SPF 15
I put this on during the day, and if I fudge and sleep with it on, who cares? It's full of antioxidants, aloe vera, and allantoin for soft and pretty morning-after skin.







Party girl photo courtesy of spoiledpretty.blogspot.com

Damage, Controlled: Philosophy’s Anti-Aging Secret Weapon

“When it comes to anti-aging, our money’s on retinoids.”
- Linda Wells, Allure editor in chief and author of Confessions Of A Beauty Editor

I’m not what I’d call "actively wrinkled" [insert the harsh-sounding caw! caw! from the crow’s feet around my eyes], but I’m paying more attention to anti-aging products now than, say, 10 years ago when I ruled my face with a tightly coiled tube of benzoyl peroxide.

Apart from beauty booboos like using rubbing alcohol to dry up zits (hey, we all make mistakes!), at the peak of my brainless beautifications I even had standing weekly appointments at Tan A Rama. Note to my skin: I am sooo sorry, but honestly, shouldn’t you have said something?

So! I’m hitting the Edit/Undo button on my face with Philosophy’s Help Me treatment.

Billed as a retinol treatment for fine lines (I have ‘em), discoloration (yup), and large pores (check again), Help Me also has the highest percentage of retinol of any product at Sephora - .010%, which is the magic number at which results appear but irritation does not.

Help Me’s packaging has an encouraging little note explaining how regular use leads to clean pores, smoother skin, and an all over glow. How do I know they aren’t fibbing? Retinoids, in addition to zapping wrinkles, speed cell turnover and spur the production of new collagen.

(This is enough to make me write, “I love retinoids” and “Jenny + Philosophy = TLA” all over my Pee-Chee).

Anyway, if it’s good enough to win the Editor’s Choice award from Allure, I figure I’ll give it a shot myself.

Starting tonight, I’m changing my face by cracking open Help Me and applying my first layer. I raise my 1.05 oz tube as a toast to my future face!

Will it work? You’ll know when I do – I’ll be posting my results regularly.

Pan Stick Gone Wrong: Criminally Ugly Makeup

If you’re reading a blog about makeup, chances are you already know the basics of foundation. I bet we share the same rules:

1. Your face shouldn’t be a different color than your neck

2. You should not be able to spackle walls, putty tiles, or caulk a tub with your foundation

3. Unless you’re dressed in a sequined costume, standing to the left of stage and waiting for your cue, your foundation doesn’t need to stand up to stage lights

Not following makeup application rules can have hideous results. Say, for example, you rob a bank in Salem, Oregon and are caught on film with really bad makeup. So embarrassing! Because then not only would you be on the lam, but you’d be nationally identified as “that suspect with really bad makeup.”

Kind of makes you want to check your face in natural light, doesn’t it?

Photo credit: thelostandprofound.com

Sephora: The Ultimate Guide to Makeup, Skin, and Hair

Can't judge a book by its cover? Ok ... what if it defines beauty perfection on the inside and the outside? ;) Sephora: The Ultimate Guide to Makeup, Skin and Hair From the Beauty Authority—a collection of beauty tips, tricks, and predictions written in honor of our 10 year anniversary—makes its big debut in April! At the gallery event last night, Melissa Schweiger (our beauty editor who wrote the book!) was on hand discussing the heart and inspiration behind it. "Over the past 10 years, Sephora has revolutionized the beauty industry, so who better to create the ultimate beauty book makeup obsessed gals will go gaga for?" she said. "A true beauty junkie must-have, it's an exciting way to celebrate the Sephora experience. With the help of incredible brand partners and Sephora experts, each chapter is filled with information and imagery that's fun, helpful, and insightful." Guess we know what Mom's getting for Mother's Day, huh? —Jessica Anderson, Sephora

It's Not You, It's Me

I know the rules. Though they bother me, I follow them, if only because not doing so causes such an issue. You know what I’m talking about: airport security. Well, coming home this past weekend from a skiing trip for my birthday, I got held up. My bag was searched, and do you know what the cause of it was? No, I had taken off my belt and shoes for scanning. I even had my stuff in that clear baggie. What was it? My almost empty tube of toothpaste that wasn’t in the baggie because it was hiding under some clothing (admittedly my fault) when I was packing. My Crest isn’t gonna harm anyone except some germs. Sigh…maybe it was because I had the first flight of the morning home and I was really still asleep, or maybe it was just my sense that all of this was a bit overdone, but my tube was only 3.2 ounces (did I mention crimped and almost empty)! Well, there’s a solution--I have no reason to have forgotten: Airline Approved Beauty! Guys may have no clue about this and/or you ladies may not even realize that this cool way to shop has more than a few items that men can appreciate. Don’t believe me? Check out Ole Henriksen’s Blemish Stick, or Jack Black’s Jet Set Shave Set. So if you’ve got a jet set beau or even the occasional plane hopper, remember to save him the hassle that we all now can avoid. -- Cade Peterson, Sephora

Justifying My Next Fix ... I Mean, Cup

My name is Cade ... Hi Cade …and I’m a tea junkie. I admit it. I love tea. I love coffee too, but it’s the leafy stuff in hot water that I go for. I’m an equal opportunity tea lover too—I love black, green, white, red (it’s a tea, too, don’t argue with me!), oolong, and all the flavor combinations that exist. I must have picked it up from my mom because she always drank tea in the mornings and throughout her school days as a teacher. Anyway, though teas are healthy for us because they contain antioxidants, some new and exciting information may change the way we protect our skin. This is especially cool because, while it may block lots of UV rays from getting to our skin, it does something other sunscreen products don't—naturally heals damage already sustained. This is especially good if you like natural or organic lines like CARE By Stella McCartney or Dr Hauschka’s Skin Care. These two lines do not have SPF ingredients in them, because they refuse to include chemicals to provide this protection. I believe we should be able to have it all—maybe soon we will. Now only if they could make honey a sunscreen ... —Cade Peterson, Sephora