Better Than All The Rest: Sephora Bestsellers

Books! Mascaras! Movies! Lipsticks! I love best sellers.

There's something to be said for products capable of sparking mass adoration and a fawning devotion normally reserved for pets small enough to dress in sweaters. For me, products with strong fan-based following at least merit a one-time trial. I can't help it - I've gotta know what all the fuss is about.

Then there's that moment where you pull out your NARS lip gloss or Aquolina Pink Sugar for a spiff-up, and blurted out from two tables across (or more typically, five stalls down), is an, "OHMYGAWDILOVETHATSTUFF!!!" And just like that, you're bonding over Diorshow.

You can find the top fan favs on our Sephora Best Sellers list. Take a peek and see if your OMGs are on here, too.

And if you so totally already know what's everybody's favorite is, maybe you should put those talents to better use.

It's Dog-Head, Darling, Not Bed-Head

You've got a wedding/reunion/party in the Hamptons to attend this summer.

Accordingly, you're getting a blowout/fancy updo/classic chignon.

*Yawn.*

Forget telling your hairdresser, "Style as usual" and go for something with a little extra edge...like a dog-shaped 'do.

True beauty trendsetters know that special occasions aren't just day-planner reminders to go get a blowout the afternoon before.

They're a chance to make bold fashion statements, and to let down the parts of your hair not formed into the shape of, for example, a lion.

Remember, haute couture includes the hair, and there's no better way...oh, I give up. Just kidding! Of course you didn't really think The Dalmatian Do was coming into vogue, right? Even if it does, I'm not that brave.

These artfully styled locks are the hair hats of the (obviously) creative Nagi Noda.

Although...I mean, maybe just for a tiny gathering...just for a minute...would you?

Oh, Why Don't You Go Eat Makeup!

Here's one for the vocab list: Nutricosmetics. As in, cosmetics you eat.

This sounds like a trick. Like something I would have hissed under my breath to my baby sister so mom wouldn't hear, "Mom's mascara? You can eat that. Go on, Emmy. I dare you."

In fairness to what sounds like a creepy word, nutricosmetics aren't objects you'd either eat OR wear. We aren't talking lipsticks that double as a stick of jerky or loose powder that also mixes up like Lipton's Dry Onion Soup mix.

Nutricosmetics are more like beauty products you ingest to look pretty. Getting gorgeous from the inside out. Still, while nutricosmetics are big news in Europe and Japan, U.S. shoppers are not exactly biting.

Is it because the word "nutricosmetics" sounds soo....weird? And is syllabically too close to "neti pots"?

If this is basically a fancy word for being able to buy twice as many beauty products (inside and outside!), I'm for it - and suggesting the NutriCos Starter List for the U.S.:

Phyto Phytophanere Dietary Supplement - Hair & Nails
Dr. Brandt Anti-Oxidant Water Booster - Pomegranate
Murad Pure Skin Supplements

Braids & Legs: Things You Thought Were Gone...Aren't

Zac Posen's catwalkers turned up in nude and suntan pantyhose at Fashion Week a few months ago. Only then, it was easier to dismiss the whole thing with, "Not unless you're on the clock at Hooters and are accessorizing with a plate of hot wings!"

It's scads harder to dismiss pantyhose when they start showing up at big retailers like American Apparel. And if that weren't twisted-reality enough, trendcentral reports that now French braids are making a comeback, too (if you can't remember how-to, bone up here before this fad reaches critical mass in summer).

I personally did a brief stint in suntan pantyhose (L'Eggs, filched from mom's dresser, from a stash of L'Eggs still packaged in plastic eggs) - before realizing that my source for fashion shouldn't be my mom's underwear drawer.

I think I'd have less trouble getting in line with the "sun hose" trend if there weren't so many bronzing options out there. When your choices are jeans or blinding white legs, suntan hose look like a great idea. When your options are 30 different bronzers in 57 shades of gold shimmer, suddenly the only thing golden about tan pantyhose are the Golden Girls still wearing them.

As for the French braids....if I'm going to copy anything this summer, it's going to be this.



Photos courtesy of eBay and trendcentral

Suds In The Tub, Suds In The Mug: Soap Made From Beer

Yes, what you are looking at is soap made from actual PBR beer.

To me, this is #6 on the list with those other seven signs of the Apocalypse. To others, beer apparently makes a great soap. No word on specifically how anyone found this out.

As I've never taken a can of beer with me to the shower, I'm having trouble imagining this process of discovery. Was this created by someone who regularly raids kitchens for "soap-like things?" Not that I'm judging. Hey, I get it. We all need a break from smelling like roses...uh, I guess.


But beer? I have some better ideas.

How about coconuts?

Philosophy's The Tiki Hut Gift Set comes with coconut-scented treats that smell just like pie. Or, for you beer-washers, just like a pina colada.







Or! Brown sugar?



Fresh's Brown Sugar Body Wash can make your whole tub smell like a bakery. And doesn't that sound nicer than a brewery?





Or how about an entire fruit basket?


Sephora's got an entire line of bubble bath that smells like fresh fruit. Guava? Lime? Nectarine? Peaches? Grapefruit?









Plus, just think: By not turning that beer into soap, you won't have to field any more of those pesky, "Whoa, someone have a late night last night?" questions from your coworkers.


Beauty Counterpoint Alert! We just heard from a soapmaker who uses brews in his bubbly blends. Here's the haps on those hops: The barley in beer can soothe skin (hey, we've done it with our oatmeal), and hops are full of b vitamins, calcium, zinc, and manganese. How about a toast to your tub!

Historical Hot Stuff: How Beauty Standards Change

1720: The bigger the mouth, the hotter the girl. Beauty points for girls with a big schnoz to match.

1890: Behold the measurements of a perfect woman: 5'5" and about 160 pounds.

1950: Two words: Marilyn Monroe. No, wait, make that platinum blond.

1980s: Out of necessity, the word "Supermodel" is invented to describe the catwalk glamazons trolling fashion shows with their big hair, long legs, and dingy rocker boyfriends.

Ok. So we're fickle about beauty.

ABC News has an absolutely don't-miss-it article about how our standards of beauty have changed over time (anyone else here wanna load up on size 12 pants and transport back to 1890?).

Thanks to the benefit of a historical overview, we can tell you that the Ideal American Beauty is this: We have no Ideal. At least, not ones that stick for more than a few years. I smell a corny joke somewhere in here: "If you don't have looks like a model, wait five minutes!"

So what's hot now? Luckily, it's the good stuff. Accessible beauty, "cute" little flaws, and a look of casual imperfection. Hey!! That pretty much describes my makeup routine every morning. Huh. I guess I must be pretty hot.


Photos courtesy of ABC News and my own Yahoo! avatar from three hairstyles ago.

Fingered! The Fluorescent Manicure

Time for your next mani? Ask for neon.

According to trendcentral, retina-searing shades were spotted on every hipster fingernail at Coachella last weekend. For the unfamiliar, this desert-scene indie music fest is a veritable hotbed (Oh ha! Ladies & germs, I’m here all week!) of new trends.

Brilliantly lame jokes aside, I've been waiting since Thriller came out the first time for neon to come back - along with, apparently, 2 out of 3 Glamour staffers.

I say, break out your “Electric Youth” mix tape and grab a bottle of your favorite BRITE LITE:

Sephora Brand Nail Polish in Orange #60 or Turquoise Blue #55



Sephora Lacquer Nail Polish in Myrtille (a bright, deep blue) or Mangue (vibrant orange)


BONUS ROUND: Are you brave? Then pair up you fingers with Make Up Forever Lipstick in Fluorescent Orange Pink.

ICKY sidenote: Fluorescents weren’t the only thing spotted at Coachella. I regretfully inform readers that fanny packs (please forgive me for typing that, Karl Lagerfeld) also made what I hope is a first and final appearance.

Gonna Party Like It’s 1992

The style report on trendcentral has declared a new trend: The 90s are back.

Phat!

This is major news for all the girls (mememe!) who spent 1994 in baggy “boyfriend” jeans, refused to pluck bushy eyebrows, and lived in Clinique’s Rum Raisin lipstick. And, of course, never left home without a scrunchie....

The article points to some very specific 90s trends, but I’m taking this a step deeper: I’m going to tell you which modern makeup match will let you relive the 90s - without actually having to grow out your brows:

Totally 90's: Flower Prints
To Donna Martin, Brenda Walsh, Kelly Taylor, and the entire collection of hats that appeared in every episode of Blossom, we salute you.

Modern Match: Cargo’s PlantLove™ Botanical Lipstick
The packaging isn’t the only thing infused with flowers (literally! Plant the box and sprout a fleur-ty bouquet). These hothouse hues are crafted with Cargo’s own natural Orchid Complex.

Totally 90's: Color Changing Fabric
The best part about wearing those Hypercolor tank tops was letting the hot boy in Homeroom leave his heated handprint on your back.

Modern Match: Smashbox’s O-Gloss
This intuitive lip gloss is nothing like the mood lipsticks of 1991 (why did they always turn hot pink?). Thanks to the marvels of modern chemistry, this gloss actually reacts to your individual skin chemistry for the right rosy flush that’s perfect on you.

Totally 90's: Manic Panic Hair Dye
What Mother Nature herself didn’t produce, Manic Panic took care of in shades like Electric Banana, Atomic Turquoise, and Vampire Red.

Modern Match: Make Up For Ever’s Flash Color
The names are a bit more subtle (gentle-sounding Gold, Violet, and Wine), but the colors certainly aren’t. These high-watt shadows stay bold and stay put all day. ROY G BIV couldn’t have done a better job.

Photo credit: Novelty-t-shirts.net

Yore Beautiful

I just had a blast from the past. While sipping my morning coffee, I was looking through our fairly well-organized magazine archive here at work, hoping to grab one of the newest publications before someone else (bratty, I know). Instead, I ran across a gargantuan stack of mags (blocking our neat archive) of magazines from yesteryear. I found one from Summer 2001, which led me to flipping through and wondering what we were loving 6 years ago. Turns out, we were still into metallics, chunky heels and plastic surgery articles. A shocker was that on the 4th page (yes, I counted) was a 2-page cigarette ad! When's the last time you saw that in a beauty magazine? A true pleasant surprise was that makeup genius Kevyn Aucoin had his very own page in this mag, which brought a little tear to my eye (before I was allowed to read grown-up lady magazines, I read his books, which is likely why I'm sitting in the Sephora office today). This got me thinking: What were you loving at the millennium? Pop princesses? Chunky highlights? Y2K hysteria? I'd love to know.
--Brianne Rieck, Sephora
P.S. That's me, circa 2001. Don't judge - the blonde is gone now!

A New Kind of Day Care?

When the holidays rolled in, did you ever find yourself glaring at your younger sister when she opened her revamped version of your favorite toy? This brings present envy to a whole new level. According to MSNBC, the International Spa Association is reporting that nearly half of the 14,000 spas in the U.S. are offering Child and Teen services. Children in grade school are receiving services such as massages, nail care, facials and hair removal. At Eclips Kid's Day Spa in McLean, Va. little Ashley and Suzzie are ditching the clowns and princesses and having their birthday parties at the spa. Eclips has done so well they are opening a second, larger location in Asburn, Va. When did the old school Birthday Bashes go out of style? When did eight year-olds have style? Instead of gold stars and cartoon time, parents are using the spa as a reward. “My daughter is a good girl and she makes good choices." Says Kiddie Spa supporter Pam Cappo. "I want to reward her and let her know that I appreciate that she’s a good kid.” Whether all this pampering is creating a new crop of princesses or girls fixated on beauty too young, is too soon to call. -Gabrielle Katz, Sephora

The Sephora Show!

Some kids like jump-rope; others, the monkey bars. But this little girl on YouTube? She sits in her bedroom and doggedly hosts "The Sephora Show," literally applying product on herself as she dishes out (impressively accurate) beauty advice. Absolutely A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E. Watch her in action, applying and advising with brand new Benefit products.

Beauty and the Book

Props to Kathy Patrick for doing something most of us dream of: Combining two passions and making a business out of it. Kathy's Texas-based hair salon Beauty and the Book is a full service cut, color and curl up with a good read salon and bookstore. Yes. Bookstore. Kathy, who's also a makeup artist, is part of a "bad-ass beauty" group called the Pulpwood Queens. (Think Pink Ladies + Ya-Ya Sisterhood, with hot-pink tees, not leather jackets.) And in a place dubbed "Home of Texas Big Hair," shelves are lined with, not only books, but tiaras, vintage jewelry, rhinestones and anything else her clan deems "leopardlicious." Author of The Pulpwood Queen's Tiara Wearing, Book-Sharing Guide to Life, Kathy feels that writers, not just starlets, deserve "pink carpet" treatment: "I offer them all our hair care services. We love to treat them royally and bow to the feet of our author Kings and Queens!" If Ms. Patrick proves one thing, it's that a big brain is best with big hair.

Your Perfect ManQuarium

Sure, there are lots of fish in the sea, but where do we go fishing? Thankfully, the new Gillette Venus Breeze website lets us pick Mr. Right right out of a bachelor-bubbling ManQuarium. Just type in your preferences—poetry, theater tickets, tattoos?—and fish out your personalized Prince Charming. Unfortunately, mine wears purple, heart-printed board shorts ...

The Darkside of Light

Women in America slather on self-tanner and gorge themselves in the sun to get tan, while women in Eastern countries such as India slather on "lightening" cream to make their dark skin lighter. Grass is always greener, right? But where do we draw the line when it comes to what we should do in the name of beauty? This Sunday's New York Times addressed the growing competition among beauty companies to dominate the "skin lightening" market: 60-65% of Indian women use a lightening product, and a Unilever company called Fair and Lovely dominates the Indian roobal. Fair and Lovely's sales have skyrocketed each year, which explains why western companies like Avon, Loreal, Garnier and Jolen want in. Their marketing department hit a home run here; their packaging features a sad, dark woman morphing into a happy, light-skinned woman. Really, skin whitening has been a trend in our culture since the colonial era when women powdered their faces and wigs (yes wigs, white), and again in the Victorian age when tan skin was a sign of low class. The civil rights era also drew a deep line between white and dark skin, providing a slew of human and civil rights issues. In the 50's and 60's, Ebony magazine ran ads for "skin brightening" or "whitening" creams; in the 70's (and still today) these products shifted to blemish removers and radiating creams that promise to brighten "spots and dullness." I can see how someone would want to reduce sunspots on their face, but not to make their face lighter. Then again, tanning itself is a staple in American culture and isn't that changing our natural skin color?

Break Up Beautifully

Essie is unveiling a collection of pink and red polishes this summer, all in honor of The Starter Wife, the much-awaited show that gets its start on USA Networks this Thursday. (It's about a Hollywood "starter wife" who gets kicked to the curb; starring our favorite redhead.) The polish names are hilarious: Wife Goes On, E-Nuff, Starter Wife, Pinking Up The Pieces, My Way and Red-Y Set Ex.

Excuse Me, Are You In Line For The Straightener

You know, just your typical night out: You break it down on the dance floor, pausing only to refill your Bacardi Diet and to re-straighten your hair in the bathroom. (I wish.) But in the UK, party-goers can primp mid-party with "Straight Up"—wall-mounted, "community" straighteners propped in 700+ bars, clubs, gyms and malls—making that tumbleweed dance do' a thing of the past. Just imagine the concept of a payphone, but with a straightener; for $2, you can use the iron for 90 seconds, anytime you need a tressy touch-up, and then pass it on to fellow frizzy friends. Germs apparently aren't an issue either: Beautiful Vending, the company behind Straight Up, says the irons' 200 degree temperature makes bacteria-swaping impossible. "They couldn't be any more bacteria-free," co-founder Neil Mackay insists. So, a brilliant idea that could do incredibly well this side of the pond, too? Certainly sounds like it. Let's just hope those perfume-pushing bathroom employees don't try to help with hair now, too.

Celebeauty Wives

I used to say I would hate being a celebrity wife. Sure, you have buckets of money, but you never see your husband, spend a lifetime in someone else's shadow, and are still exposed to unsolicited tabloid criticism ... mmm, no thanks. But an unconsidered perk? The entrepreneurial potential. According to The New York Times, a lot of these "celebrities-once-removed" are coming out with their own beauty lines lately—body creams, perfumes, oils, you name it—which are wildly successful due solely to (or mostly to) the name attached to them. "Manufacturers, stores and those in the marketing chain tend to bend over backward for people with celebrity connections," The Times says. After all, you have the capital to throw behind the product, the shoe-in media attention, and a high-profile, hunky husband to throw in his ringing endorsement whenever he gets the chance. Honestly, how could it not be wildly successful? Cue the Hollywood husband hunt.

A Re-touching Tale

Where was this equipment when I took my passport photo?

A Multi-Million Dollar Bet(ty)

There's no question teeth are tres importante—this coming from a girl who hoards those little GoSMILE ampoules like they're gold chips, after all. But, still, there's overdoing it in the land of pearly whites: PEOPLE says Lloyd's of London, a British insurance market, just insured one famous brace face's teeth for $10 million! Granted, the whole point is to raise money for Smiles for Success—a charity that gives free dental care to woman in need—but yikes. When the tooth-fairy has to start leaving a few G's under the pillow? Time to rethink things.

Fresh-Faced Fearlessness

Call it shallow, high maintenance, whatever—but as a fair-skinned redhead, mascara is my non-negotiable. I once went to the gas station near my cabin without it, and I swear I got disapproving looks from the toothless men by the slushy machine. So the fact that these high-profile women bared entirely makeup-less skin for PEOPLE magazine, and millions of critical readers? I'm floored, and more importantly, impressed. Hey, if you got it, flaunt it ... just cleanse, tone and moisturize it too.