by Abbey Potts

Our Faux Glow Self-Tanning Product Report

There’s no avoiding it—skirt season is here! So we searched the Valley for self-tanning products that are easy to apply, provide natural-looking results and affordable price points. Your gorgeous back-from-the-beach faux glow starts here!

By Abbey Potts

Lead isn’t just found in pencils anymore, but surprisingly makes its way into your favorite makeup products. In fact, we discovered that many of our favorite high-end makeup brands are major offenders of including lead in their products.

Lead primarily gets into lipsticks through FD&C and D&C dyes which give them their color. While the Food and Drug Administration’s monitoring of the small, “safe” amounts of lead is slightly reassuring, we thought it best to avoid these contaminants and opt for a more organic way to beautify. Luckily, so many cosmetic brands are coming out with organic makeup products that have all-natural ingredients.

Take off those gloves, ladies, because winter is almost over! If your hands are looking less than fabulous, fear not. We have compiled the best tricks to transform your hands from dry and damaged to smooth and sleek before springs arrives.

From time to time (and rather often, actually), press releases for awesome beauty products come across my desk or sit in my inbox just waiting for some attention. I have a great one to share with you this week! If you remember, we recently launched a new section called Brands We Love in our July issue. Kiehl’s just so happened to be the premiere brand, and let me tell you, I have fallen head over heels for several of its products.

Need to get ready in a flash? You can do it in four fast steps:

1. Dot concealer under the eyes, around the nose, and around the mouth.

2. Swipe bronzing powder over the eye lids, cheeks, nose, forehead, and chin.

3. Dot lips with a neutral-toned lip gloss or lipstick.

4. Bend lashes with eyelash curler. Go!

Photo by John Falocco

What is blot powder? Blot powder is a unique pressed powder designed primarily to provide shine control without adding any noticeable color or texture to your face. When your face produces too much oil, your makeup will slip, smudge, and fade. Because blot powder absorbs excess oils, your makeup then stays in place longer. Most women are accustomed to using standard loose or pressed powders; however those types of powders contain color that will build and cake. By adding more layers of powder, your original makeup application will become heavy and “cakey”. Blot powder is invisible, therefore it doesn’t cake or build, it only absorbs. For years, blot powder was only available to professional makeup artists for use on film and television sets. It is and was the superior product for frequent touch-ups and shine control on the set. Now many cosmetic brands have made blot powder available to the public to satisfy the growing demand of professionally minded products. Blot powder comes in pressed, loose, and throw away sheet form. These brands carry blot powder or blot sheets: Almay, Laura Gellar, MAC, Tarte, and Avon.