If you are looking for a skincare regime that uses high quality organic ingredients and does not contain nasty chemicals, consider Dr. Alkaitis. I came across this relatively new product line recently when I received a travel kit containing the purifying facial cleanser, herbal toner, soothing gel, treatment oil, day creme, night creme, eye creme [...]

I love Bobbi Brown’s eye and lip palettes. The colors are suit so many different skin tones and the textures are wonderful. For spring 2010, Bobbi Brown does a palette that is much more colorful than her usual neutral tones.

Eye shades include:
Ivory Eye Shadow, Bermuda Pink Metallic Eye Shadow, Seashell Metallic Eye Shadow, Bonfire [...]

Spring 2010 Makeup Picks by Esme Vos on Polyvore.com
Items in this set:
LES QUATRE OMBRES DE CHANEL QUADRA EYE SHADOW – CHANEL -…, $56
Yves Saint Laurent Ombres 5 Lumières – Powder – Bloomingdales.com, $56
Yves Saint Laurent Complexion Palette Collectors Edition – Beauty -…, $65
Armani White Contrast Palette For Eyes – New Arrivals -…, $58
Lancôme Color [...]

MAC is best known for its flamboyant, dazzling ads showing models with lots of bright, sparkly makeup. But occasionally, the cosmetics company brings out color collections that are more suitable to daytime wear. MAC’s latest – All Ages, All Races, All Sexes – is one of those. In a way, it’s misleading because MAC already [...]

When it’s cold and gray outside and winter seems to last forever, I cheer myself up by looking at the beautiful new spring makeup colors that we will soon be seeing in the shops. Here is my initial selection of spring makeup favorites from Dior, Guerlain and Clinique. I love the gorgeous packaging and the [...]

It’s that time of the year when we have to attend a lot of holiday parties and galas. We’re tired, have too much to drink and not enough sleep, and our skin may not look as bright and cheerful as the holiday decorations around us. My skin rescue secret is none other than Clarins’s brilliant [...]

Fans of Bobbi Brown cosmetics have an extra incentive to get the new holiday palettes now and to stock up on items they use regularly: 20 percent off all orders from the Bobbi Brown website between November 30 and December 2. The savings are quite significant given that there is no shipping charge if you [...]

I’m keeping my eye out for the best Black Friday deals. Drugstore.com (and its affiliate Beauty.com) are holding amazing sales. These are the items I have my eye on:
(1) Borghese Essentials Holiday Set: this includes the Fango Active Mud, Tono body cream, Bagno di Vita foaming bath gel, two facial moisturizers (the moisture intensifier and [...]

There’s something reassuring and comforting about rituals. Instead of rushing around, mindlessly going through the motions without paying attention, how about slowing down and focusing on each movement, as in a Japanese tea ceremony? During these darker, colder days of winter, I’ve revived the beauty cleansing ritual with Clarins Crème Douce Démaquillante (Extra-Comfort Cleansing Cream). [...]

Giorgio Armani makeup favorites by Esme Vos on Polyvore.com

By now, you have seen the holiday makeup kits stacked up on cosmetics counters in department stores. For some reason, cosmetics companies believe that our faces should be as decked out as Christmas trees: that means lots of sparkly eye shadows, heavy blush, glittery powders in lurid [...]

You can tell the Great Recession has not receded judging from the uninspiring holiday makeup palettes this year. Compared to previous years, I did not see anything that I really had to have. If this is the maximum that cosmetics companies can do to get us to spend money, heaven help us all. The best [...]

I know it’s a bit too early to be talking about Christmas but I have to start reviewing the holiday makeup kits and palettes right now because they run out quickly. Many of these palettes are limited editions and they do fly out the door. So here goes.
The Bobbi Brown Chrome Palette is, in my [...]

Here’s an excellent video showing Ruby Hammer, a well-known British makeup artist, giving tips on how to do autumn makeup. Ruby has a wonderful cosmetics line with partner, Millie Kendall. What I like about this video is that Ruby uses very subtle, natural colors on the model. I hate glops of brightly colored, shiny makeup [...]

I’m very skeptical about the marketing babble around beauty products because most of the time, the products do not deliver the promised results. Philosophy’s Microdelivery Peel, however, was a huge surprise. I was expecting to be disappointed but I ended up with a very smooth, soft face. The results are so impressive that I decided [...]

Fall is just around the corner. You can feel the chill in the evening air. With the cold and dry weather, we need to nourish our skin a little bit more and pamper ourselves as the days get shorter and the darkness falls upon us.
Here are my shopping picks of the day: the theme is [...]

There’s no reason to spend massive amounts of money on shower gels and moisturizers for the body. If you go to department stores, you’ll see body lotions selling for over $30. Although they may smell better than drugstore brands, the truth is that they do not make your skin softer. In my experience, the best [...]

It’s fall once again and that means cosmetics companies are launching new skincare and makeup products. I visited a department store in downtown San Francisco and was amazed to see that some companies are pricing their new facial creams at over $200. Have they spent the last 15 months in a spaceship orbiting Earth detached [...]

It seems a bit early to be thinking about autumn makeup colors, especially if you’re still baking in the sun. But August is the month when we get the much awaited September issues of our favorite fashion magazines and they’re filled with clothes and accessories, as well as makeup suggestions, for the upcoming season.
This year [...]

Although economists and politicians keep pointing to “green shoots” of joy spreading through the economy, few of us are feeling optimistic enough to begin splurging on beauty products. I have trimmed my beauty budget and searched for drugstore alternatives to the expensive department store brands. It was a very illuminating search. For one thing, I [...]

Looking at the Fall/Winter fashion shows, one of the beauty trends that came out was the return of facial shaping using makeup. The contoured faces at Marc Jacobs and Chloe may seem extreme, but they give direction to new trends in make-up.
When you think of contouring your face with make-up images of 1980s style warpaint [...]

Benjamin Puckey, a stylist who has worked on fashion shows and photo shoots around the world, is joining Shopplr as beauty editor. I met Benjamin in Amsterdam many years ago and have relied on him for beauty and style advice. He has also written many articles for Dutch fashion magazines.
I have been the beneficiary of [...]

Every year, the US department store Nordstrom holds an Anniversary Sale (July 17 to August 2, 2009). This is the best of all their sales and it has brought hundreds of shoppers to their stores, despite (or maybe because of) the financial crisis.
Unlike their other sales, Nordstrom lowers prices dramatically on upcoming season items. So, [...]

For many women, the days of spending $40 on a bottle of foundation or $25 on blush are over, at least temporarily. Many of us are discovering the joys or horrors of shopping for cosmetics in the local drugstore. Unfortunately, the average American drugstore is hopeless: the choices are bewildering and the displays are utterly [...]