RSSCategory: Paula's Choice
Goodbye, Lipliner
February 1, 2010
A line around the lips first seems like overkill. It’s too much paint and too much time. What if you could apply a transparent sealant around the lipline that sets a shape for everything to come, and didn’t let it smear?
Read moreRead “Ultimate Showdown at Ulta”
November 11, 2009
Daynah Burnett, a Paula’s Choice employee recounts her tale of embarrassment and insult at an Ulta store. Can this store be this dumb?
Read moreGifts From Real People 1
October 23, 2009
Here we go again. Every magazine is showing gift suggestions. There are some lovely ideas but if you live in Canada, if you live in a small town, and/or if you can’t spend $50 on each person (nevermind the $250 bar set), what do real people give? What do real people want?
Read moreProduct Review : Paula’s Choice Resist Barrier Repair Moisturizer
October 19, 2009
This article may be better titled “The Language That Sells To Women”. It is not a review in the traditional sense. I apologize if I offend, that is not my intention.
Read moreThe Best Skin Softening Treatment
March 19, 2009
Paula’s Choice Hydrating Treatment Mask is what you hope moisturizing masks will turn out to be when you buy them but somehow they never quite deliver. It leaves your skin the way you hope wonderful moisturizers will but with a more lasting effect. This mask is a hybrid of the most effective cream you’ve ever used and a fantastic softening mask. There is not a trace of greasiness. The feeling is more of drawing water from the air.
My skin is generally oily. I haven’t much need for hydrating masks. But there is no product that comes close to the performance of this one when
- I’ve gotten too exuberant with the exfoliants and my skin is very sensitive and a bit inflamed. Even my regular non-irritating products will sting, but not this wonderful stuff. Wear this for a couple of night and I promise you, your skin will feel baby-ish – moist, plumped, relaxed. It allows a very healing environment. Each morning, I can tell that my skin has healed significantly just overnight.
- It’s a case of sunburned skin, which should never happen but if you believe that, you don’t have children. The product applies very soft and velvety. It doesn’t sting, spreads easily, is not greasy or slippy, and feels calming and cooling to skin.
- I do my usual Skin Balancing Carbon Mask which is quite lovely in a green-black swamp mud sort of way. I place this around my eyes as an eye mask. I gob it on but it’s thick enough to not migrate into your eyes even if the mask is on an hour because you forgot it and the green stuff is crunchy and itchy but your book is so good you didn’t rinse it off. The consistency is of a thick cream, like DQ soft ice cream. It holds a formed swirly shape.
- My children had very very dry skin as toddlers and one still does to this day. Chlorinated pools are particularly offensive. You know those patches of scaly, itchy skin they get on their back? Nothing, and I mean nothing, solved the problem as well as this product. I tried Eucerin. Dormer. Keri. Shea. Akerat. Hydrocortisone. Curel. Lubriderm. Body Shop Butters, though I was averse to using something scented. This is the stuff they ask for. All 3 have a tube by their bed. They haven’t outgrown the dry chapped hands in winter tendency but we have the solution for all these problems.
- I want the best hand and foot cream I know. Sleeping with socks is more than I can bear but with this mask, I don’t need to because it stays put. I add a few drops of lavender or rose oil for this purpose only, barricade the door to my room, and dare someone to get me out of bed. Wear this at night and the Pure Mineral Sunscreen SPF 15 in the day and your kids will very soon stop telling you that you have old lady hands. These are 2 of the most skin-soothing products I know, no matter how sensitive or irritated the skin might be.
- You have a friend whose skin reacts to everything she puts on it. This is the only thing that doesn’t require a few days of indecision about whether it will irritate. She can tell almost immediately that it will be fine. She uses it as her everyday moisturizer. I was glad to give her some to try. I gave her the whole tube 4 days later. Many of you with reactive or sensitive skin will do the same when you see how your skin looks and feels after replacing your moisturizer with this for 3 days. (Of course, it contains no sunscreen so either you use that as well in the daytime, or just use this for a few nights and leave your day routine as is.)
- Your husband is going out with skin so dry that it looks like it has a layer of chalk on it. God knows why that would be after scrubbing his face with Irish Spring. It has no scent and it won’t get in his eyes or make his face shine. He can feel the effect so quickly that he figures he’s getting some bang for his buck. Thankfully, neither the bottle nor cream are peachy pink, so with the words turned towards the wall, the tube can live on his bathroom shelf.
It doesn’t apply thick and white and masky. It goes on invisibly in a thin layer and translucent in a thicker layer, but it’s not white like sunscreen can be. There is absolutely no color residue. It feels much more soft and velvety than any other cream or mask I know, including Paula’s other creams. The texture really is quite unique, more like whipped cream rather than oil. You can put makeup over it within 5 minutes if you want to and there would be no trace of color. I never ever rinse it off, though you could, like any mask.
I believe this is one of the superstars of Paula’s lineup, I really do.
Do you know that cleansers and toners are 25% off in March AND shipping is $3 on all orders? So, that’s Canadian money at par and free shipping from a US site. The next step is obvious. Lay in your summer supplies and pick up a tube of this mask. You will not regret it.
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Paula’s Choice Hydrating Treatment Mask is what you hope moisturizing masks will turn out to be when you buy them but somehow they never quite deliver. It leaves your skin the way you hope wonderful moisturizers will but with a more lasting effect. This mask is a hybrid of the most effective cream you’ve ever used and a fantastic softening mask. There is not a trace of greasiness. The feeling is more of drawing water from the air.
Read moreNever Buy Lipliner Again
November 15, 2008
On October 17th, I told you about my purchases from Paula’s Choice 50% Sale page (Friday’s Gift Better Be Good). It seems the company is shifting its position more closely to its original mission of producing the finest skin care products at the fairest price. I think it’s a good plan. The beauty business must be tough enough, let alone doing it over the internet.
I didn’t buy many of the makeup items because I’ve been scared off by so many unhappy purchases from Avon, where you can’t handle the real product before you buy. Samples are helpful but add another step to the purchase process, and by then you’ve found the product elsewhere. Returns from Canada are always a pain.
Anyhow, I did buy the Toffee lipliner. It is GREAT! A light flesh-tone a la Kevyn Aucoin that goes on with good opacity, and disappears into lips. Do you know the wonder of Aucoin’s work? You can read more about him in the article Kevyn Aucoin : Anything is Possible. Words cannot describe the fine man and makeup artist that he was.
Have you ever looked at Aucoin’s makeup and colors in a store? They look a little strange in the display but freakishly couture on the skin. It shows a masterful undertstanding of makeup and skin coloration which I completely aspire to. I’d be lying if I said I come close to grasping it, but W-O-W.
Other colors look spineless by comparison, but I understand why that is. The consumer is the mass market, not a population of makeup artists, so colors and textures have to be blander or women like me wouldn’t know how to use the product. Have you ever seen Kevyn’s Sensual Skin Enhancer? I am dying to buy some but cannot figure out which color to buy. It looks a bit like glistening putty.
Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer
To assist us, we have the cosmetician. Her makeup has a Tammy Faye resemblance, like a thick yellow layer on her face that seems to magnify every pore. It makes it hard to concentrate on anything else. If you scraped your thumbnail along her cheek, you’d have a big gob of rainbow gunk to wipe off. There are 2 smears of blush right across the cheekbones upon which rest the mandatory magenta rectangular glasses with jewels embedded in the bars. The lipliner, which is probably scented, is present in abundance. There is lots of gold, most notably in the form of a chain you could use to drag a tree stump out of a ditch. You know the obligatory Chanel bag is stashed back there somewhere.
Oh my. This individual is not coming from my imagination. In her defense, she quickly and correctly identified me as being from another planet, wished me fun, and left me to play. I left without the SSE.
My apologies, I always seem to digress…
The Toffee lipliner (not scented) stays put for 2-3 hours, even with gloss over top, a cup of green tea, and a morning of non-stop appointments. The color is quite shockingly neutral, not at all pink or orange. I may reapply the gloss or lipstick, but the liner is still doing its job. Among lipliner’s duties, one of the most important is to not draw attention to itself and this product does that admirably. Check out this fantastic color.
L to R, Clarins 03 Naturel-Just Nude, L'Oreal The Sexy Beiges, Paula's Choice Toffee
Same colors, L to R, as picture above.
You can sample this, but even if you don’t, you’re only out $3.98 (and remember there’s a colorless option (not on sale)).
I ordered 8 of them. Shut up, did I really? Oh, yes I did. And everything’s 10% off in November. I’ve decided I need more moisture, so I bought the Skin Recovery and Moisture Boost Toners, as well as the jumbo bottles of Skin Recovery and Skin Balancing Normal/Dry Cleansers. Every winter, my skin feels drier. This year, I’m doing something about it.
-->On October 17th, I told you about my purchases from Paula’s Choice 50% Sale page (Friday’s Gift Better Be Good). I did buy the Toffee lipliner. It is GREAT! A light flesh-tone a la Kevyn Aucoin that goes on with good opacity, and disappears into lips. The color is quite shockingly neutral, not at all pink. I may reapply the gloss but the liner is still doing its job. Check out this fantastic color.
Read more4 More Makeup Tricks For Mature Faces 2
October 27, 2008
Back in September, I posted an article about eye makeup for older women in The First 4 Ways To Modify Makeup For Age.
Aging faces develop sharper angles because the layer of fat under the skin becomes thinner with time. Applying makeup with sharp lines and edges, be it poorly blended blush or a sharp edge of eyeliner, only emphasizes this feature of aging. Soft blurred edges that dissolve into one another flatter a mature face. This look is more softly rounded which imparts a youthfulness.
I agree with Lauren Hutton that sheer colors are more attractive that a heavy color deposit. When I say “a soft look”, I don’t mean dusty or watery colors. In most cases, unless you’re a Summer, dilute colors add no liveliness to the face at all. “Soft” here means a light hand in putting on the product and using products that don’t put down a heavy layer of pigment. The colors are pure and vibrant but the consistency is diaphanous, or sheer.
Today’s four are about the mouth.
1. Easy on the lipstick. Steer clear of too much or too dark. This is a very difficult look to pull off unless you really know how to balance the rest of the face. Watch out for “old lady” cliché colors like frosty coral, flat pink, and the nondescript burgundy-dusty rose blend.
Since I don’t have time to reapply lip products ever few minutes, but I find a soft, natural color becoming, I look for long-lasting glosses that work (Clinique Glosswear, L’Oreal Color Juice, and L’Oreal Infallible being among of the best in the affordable category) and use lipliner on the whole lip first.
Gloss is often marketed to younger women, so the colors tend to be fresher. The tradeoff is that it’s very difficult to find gloss without frost or sparkle. The cosmetics industry is producing makeup for 25 year olds. Hey, anyone want to put together a makeup line for us? I’m in.
Stick with colors in your season. Once you know which color type you belong to, you can choose colors that are very true (but sheer! they’re not the same, right?) and look great.
A Summer might look at L’Oreal Color Juice in Watermelon Crush. Summer is the group where frost doesn’t add anything. Their coloring is so soft that anything harsh is jarring.
A Spring is looking for a peachy pink. A light gold shimmer is nice on a Spring. Look at MAC Lustreglass in Instant Gold.
An Autumn does better with some metallic than any other because the whole look is toasty, like this.
Metallic goes overboard all too easily in today’s shimmer swamp. Subtle shimmer is always better.
Look at Almay Ideal Gloss in Bronze Shimmer or Lise Watier Plumpissimo Gloss in Bronze. Warm orange-red looks good too, especially for darker Autumns who need more color in makeup to coordinate with the extra intensity in their natural coloring.
It could be this, but even more red.
A Winter wears icy pink, like the lightest shades here, in her clothing. It looks gorgeous. As lipstick, it’s too faded. For any season, mouth color that is lighter than skin color is hard to do well. A makeup artist could probably balance this look with a stronger eye, but that’s not you and me for every day.
A bright clear blue-pink is also good.
L’Oreal Colour Juice in Raspberry Smash and Tutti Frutti are worth looking at.
If your lip color bleeds easily, gloss won’t work well. The colors stay the same, but you need to look for more tenacious formulas. Revlon’s Color Stay and Color Stay Sheers will get you there. And of course, there’s every imaginable texture in between.
2. Place light concealer at the corners of the mouth and along the outer edges of the lower lip. There are entire articles in this site on the Light Concealer’s ability to create a face lift effect. You still have to work with your own face. For instance, if the nose is thin, don’t put a stripe of light concealer, or shimmer either, down the center or your nose will look even thinner.
Some application spots apply to all of us, some more than others of course, and are easy to forget. Remember to blend light concealer at the corner of the mouth and continue it under the outer edges of the lower lip. The corners of the mouth often turn down a little with time and it can look severe. This technique is anti-aging because it lifts the corners up a little, brings some light, and makes the lower lip look fuller and more supported.
3. Discover a very effective anti-bleed lip liner. Choose a shade in the same color as the lips or a colorless product, to offset lip color’s tendency to move into cracks. Don’t spend a lot of money on this product. The best ones are often the cheaper ones. Search MUA and Beautypedia to find the lipliners that really work to prevent lipstick from bleeding into lines around the mouth. With a clear product, you could even apply it a little outside your natural lip line. Who would know?
The easiest place to buy a great clear one is from Paula’s Choice – works great, feels great, no sharpening, really does last, good price point. This is one of those you can buy several of the first time out.
4. Using concealer instead of lip liner to keep lipstick in place. If you don’t care for lip liner, another way to keep lip color from wandering is to apply a thin layer of concealer all around the lips and blend it out really well.
If you look carefully at lipstick ads, you can almost see it, because it makes the lips come out more, as will any light color. This idea is best reserved for women with a small mouth or thin lips.
A thick concealer will look heavy on lined skin, definitely not helpful. MAC Select Cover-Up comes in great colors, is thin in consistency, and doesn’t move once it’s dry.
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Aging faces develop sharper angles because the layer of fat under the skin becomes thinner with time. Applying makeup with sharp lines and edges, be it poorly blended blush or a sharp edge of eyeliner, only emphasizes this feature of aging. Soft blurred edges that dissolve into one another flatter a mature face. This look is more softly rounded which imparts a youthfulness.
Today’s 4 are about the mouth.
Friday’s Gift Better Be Good
October 17, 2008
Hallelujah!! What kind of women are we?!?
A Happy Dance will not suffice.
Have you checked in with Paula lately?
Hello Joe Mama ! Till the end of October, shipping is $3 on any order large or small, 5% is donated to breast cancer research, and have you checked the 50% off page lately?
Pour a glass of red wine, sit down in front of your computer, and go look.
For $39 total, I bought
1 Sheer Matte Blush in Flawless Nude : $4.98 .( These are gorgeously sheer, great players in building the watercolor diffusion that I think makeup should be. Hover your mouse over each color swatch on the page to read the verbal description of the color. It helps.)
3 Silky Start Sugar Scrub (stocking stuffers, home pedicures, teacher gifts!!) : $5.48 (Anyone buying Fresh Brown Sugar Body Polish? It costs $ WHAT??? $65 a jar.)
Oh, is that all?? Dying here.
Long Lasting Anti-Feather Lip Liner in Toffee (I have high hopes for this one. If it’s wonderful, I’m going to order 10 more, still on $3 shipping till Halloween) : $3.98 . Women with pink undertones should look at Mocha, at least from the color on my monitor. “Mocha” implies that it might be brown, so test it first.
Longevity Base and Top Coat : $3.98. (dibutyl phthalate and toluene – free ; do I know what that means? certainly not, but I’m sure I don’t want them on my hands or in my children’s lungs. Sheer Crystal and Sheer Lilac would be pretty for little girls who like nail polish.) [UPDATE: Nail polish cannot be sent into Canada.]
Soft Matte Eyeshadow in Beige : $4.48. (A perfect classic neutral is worth more than that.)
Sheer Shimmer Illuminating Liquid in Glistening Bronze : $5.48.( I’m on my third tube of this stuff. For warm complexions, fair to medium, it is perfect.)
There’s loads more on sale. Whether you’re a lover of neutrals like me, or you crave brighter shades, you’ll have trouble making choices. I’m already kicking myself for not buying the Sheer Matte Blush in Rose Whisper, but I have 15 days left. If you’re a Spring, take a good look at this one, it’s a lovely soft warm pink. Summers would give some thought to Translucent Rose. Autumns and Winters, look at the Charcoal Brown shadow- a brilliant eyeliner color. Get them while the getting’s good.
I hope you’ll wake up tomorrow and not have anywhere to be, at least till after lunch. May your morning plans consist of nothing more than tea so strong, it’s syrup and so bitter, it’s Aspirin, with toast and honey, and some exercise to top it off.
Enjoy your home this weekend, whatever its shape.
-->A Happy Dance will not suffice.
Have you checked in with Paula lately?
Hello Joe Mama ! Till the end of October, shipping is $3 on any order large or small, 5% is donated to breast cancer research, and have you checked the 50% off page lately?
For a total of $39, I bought these 8 items (and I’ll be going back for more)…
A Cheap Gift To You From You
October 13, 2008
It’s “A Cheap Gift To You From You” every day this week ! We’ve survived September, one of the toughest months. We’re back to carrying the burden of our childrens’ social, athletic, academic, and artistic schedules and frustrations … oh, yes, and run our own lives as well.
Have you learned to expect that three weeks into school, the kids all get sick ? Even without kids, you’re exposed because the viruses disseminate like rockets.
Dammit, we deserve a gift. Throw this cleanser into the cart when you’re wondering if buying Motrin in bulk is somehow defeatist, or setting yourself up for a self-fulfilling prophecy you’ll regret.
Product Review : Neutrogena Extra Gentle Cleanser
A reader emailed to tell me that she called Neutrogena to inquire about animal testing policies. While they do not test their products, the parent company (Johnson&Johnson) does. I’m glad to know this because I can be more discerning when I shop (no J&J), while supporting subsidiaries with humane ethics.
A thick, creamy, white liquid, this cleanser is just plain agreeable. It feels like you’re taking special care of yourself. It is so incredibly non-irritating that it crosses over to being calming to skin and soul.
You may feel like a slightly waxy layer on the skin as you rinse but once you’ve dried your face it’s not perceptible. I have noticed no breakouts or clogged pores or any other negative issues with its use.
For those of you, and you know you are, who are still using soap and water, try this one.
Don’t expect a great makeup remover. It is not that. On makeup days, I still use my Paula’s Choice One Step Balancing in the evening. This cleanser is just a very pleasant way to start the day.
-->We’ve survived September, one of the toughest months. We’re back to carrying the burden of our childrens’ social, athletic, academic, and artistic schedules and frustrations … oh, yes, and run our own lives as well.
Neutrogena Extra Gentle Cleanser is so incredibly non-irritating that it crosses over to being calming to skin and soul.
Unrivaled Products 3 : Super Antioxidant Concentrate Serum
October 10, 2008
If I had to pick the one product that I most credit for allowing the age and behavior of my skin to proceed more gently, it would be this. Of the three Paula’s Choice products presented in this Unrivaled Products series (see the previous articles on Beta Hydroxy Acid Gel and Hydrating Treatment Cream), this one appears for its unbelievable ability to improve the look of skin.
Several companies now make serums and some of them are probably pretty decent. But do you know one that is remarkable and costs $22 per tube? I did look but couldn’t find a reason to jump this ship.
Skin Recovery and Skin Balancing
There is a version of the serum for Normal/Dry skin called Skin Recovery. I apply it around my eyes, and to throat, forearms/hands, and upper chest. Why, yes, I do buy 3 tubes at a time.
The Normal/Oily product version is called Skin Balancing and I apply it to my face. The Balancing version contains some mattifying ingredients so you could wear it under makeup. It is equally fabulous. On truly oily skin, it could serve as moisturizer as well as serum.
For me, both serums go on at night after cleansing and toning. Then I read for 10 minutes, and follow with moisturizer : Skin Recovery Moisturizer everywhere the serum of the same name went and Hydrating Treatment Cream right on top of the Skin Balancing serum.
There is a third serum called Super Antioxidant Concentrate Serum . It lives somewhere between the other two. You can read about it at Product FAQ. That’s oddly buried under Contact Us in the left column on the Paula’s Choice website. Click FAQ, then the >> PRODUCTS >> Skin care >>Super Antioxidant Serums breadcrumbs. The information will help you find the right one for you.
Across the horizontal bar at the top, follow the Learn >>Skin Care Facts >> Basics and Beyond >> Antioxidants and Free Radical Damage trail to find a more detailed explanation.
What I absolutely love about the ingredient list (available for every product), like this one for Skin Balancing Serum is that the list includes not just the ingredient but also its purpose in the final composition. Somehow, they even managed to get the list printed on the back of the tube. The variety of oils and antioxidants makes this an unrivaled product and that’s before we discuss the price.
Read the product reviews below the ingredient list. Those women said it all and I corroborate every word.
Prepare to be amazed. These serums are that good. If you don’t like them, you can always return them. But I don’t think you will.
-->If I had to pick the one product that I most credit for allowing the age of my skin to proceed more gently, it would be this.Several companies now make serums and some of them are probably pretty decent. But do you know one that is remarkable and costs $22 per tube? I did look but couldn’t find a reason to jump this ship.
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