Showing posts with label Random. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Random. Show all posts

Happy Holidays!

And with that, we’re on vaca. Hopefully, same for you! Have a wonderful holiday break, spend some quality time with the fam, and make sure you party like a (candy-colored) rock-star on New Year's. Happy holidays from Sephora!


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Most beautiful meal of the day

Water-cooler scene, take one: "Wow, you look fabulous! Eating more yogurt, are ya?" Okay, yeah right, but just when beauty couldn’t get easier: a good-for-you yogurt with skin benefits. Rumor has it, French manufacturer Danone – who we all know best for its yogurt and fancy bottled water – will unveil a skin-moisturizing yogurt early next year, according to WWD. And what will they call this little, mealtime miracle? Essensis. Fitting too, since Danone’s clever marketers already used “Bifidus Essensis” to name a strain of good bacteria in its probiotic yogurt. So grab a spoon; yogurt might just be the new cup of Joe. The only question now is, do you take your moisturizer in mixed berry or peach?


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Start Slouching Young Lady!

Granny lied to you: turns out, bad posture may be good for you (collective sigh.) Despite generations of doctors advising otherwise, studies prove that perfect sitting-posture actually strains lumbar disks in your lower back. According to the New York Times, a new study used magnetic resonance imaging to compare people in three different positions–sitting upright, hunching forward, and leaning back at a 135-degree angle with feet on the floor. The results? Sitting up straight and leaning forward caused spinal disks to become misaligned, whereas leaning back didn’t. So today’s medical lesson: sit back and relax! Meanwhile, finishing schools around the nation are shuddering.


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You're So Hollywood

We can't promise a star on the Walk of Fame, but this is the next best thing. Thanks to MyHeritage.com, you can use facial recognition to find out which celebrity looks most like you! Just upload your picture, ooh and ahh for a while over your star look-alike status, and then brag to all your friends over drinks. Oh, it doesn't stop there: the site can search your ancestors by name, match features to track relatives, and even find your facial soul mate. Uh, you had me at … nice nose ...


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Rest in Peace, dear junk Food


This just in: the Board of Health has officially banned trans fat from all New York City restaurants. Trans fat – a common ingredient in cookies, pizza, and everything else we really want – has (unfortunately) been linked to heart disease. Not only does it raise bad cholesterol; it lowers good cholesterol too. The ban isn't effective until July 2008, but before you slink back to that burger, consider this: the FDA says the average American eats almost 5 pounds of trans fat each year. (Think: bowling ball. Enough said.) Looks like the proof is in the pudding this time ... literally.


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When Mascara Runs


We've all seen running mascara--on ourselves, and others. But now, you can witness mascara running down billboards. The blog Engadget reported today that The Leo Burnett advertising agency has created billboards for Max Factor that feature a woman with gorgeous lashes. But when it rains, the black mascara runs, just like in real life. We're assuming, though, that somewhere in the ad it says that "this WON'T happen" with Max Factor.


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Stop the 'Stache: Me Against Moustaches

Whenever I leave town, my fiancé stops shaving. And I come home to find his upper lip sporting a 'stache that's somewhere between stubble and handlebar. I love him, but what the heck? Does he think that some magical day I'll walk through the door and say "Honey, that moustache H-O-T." Unfortunately, I'm just not that cool: From afar, I think they're fun, but not when I have to touch them. I would, however, love to see 26-year old film maker Jay Della Valle's movie, “The Glorius Moustache Challenge.” The NY times writes about it today in Skin Deep: One Hairy Lip, a Mix of Messages. The film chronicles 50 guys as they “rock the ’stache” for a month. “It was just a funny and quirky idea that people reacted to,” said Mr. Della Valle. “I thought it would be fun to grow mustaches because most guys didn’t have them.” Love the idea, but hope this doesn't bring it back. All I know is my fiancé is not allowed to see it.


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Calorie Restriction Diets: Eat less, look younger?

I'm obsessed with this NY Times article: One for the Ages: A Prescription That May Extend Life. In it, they show two different monkeys. Canto, who's 25 (old for a monkey in captivity) has been on a caloric restriction diet his whole life, and he looks and acts half his age. Owen, 26, has been eating like a normal monkey for his whole life, and looks old, is frail and moves slowly. The implication is that caloric restriction slows the aging process. But from a beauty perspective, it does what we want every anti-aging product to do--makes you look younger. Check out the picture of Mike (scroll down in the article), a 36 year old who has been following a caloric restriction diet for 6 years. He's practically emaciated (6 feet tall and 135 lbs) but he looks like he's 16! This approach, called caloric restriction, involves eating about 30 percent fewer calories than normal while still getting adequate amounts of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. According to the Times article, aside from direct genetic manipulation, calorie restriction is the only strategy known to extend life consistently in a variety of animal species. It's really intriguing, but is it worth it? Would I give up cupcakes in favor of a few more years and a few less wrinkles? I'm not so sure...I really love cupcakes.


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Fringe Benefits: The Skinny on Lash Implants

Just when you thought eyelash extensions were the next best thing (for those of us who have eyelash envy, that is), something bigger and better has come along: Eyelash Implants. That's right, implants, for your lashes. A recent article in Yahoo News' Health Section talks about a medical procedure that transplants hair follicles from your scalp (about 30-40 of them) to your eyelids under nothing more than a local anesthesia and light sedation. The procedure costs approximately $3000 per eye, but (here's the best part), just like real hair, those newly transplanted lashes actually keep growing. Down side? They've gotta be trimmed like head hair, and if you are a curly-haired girl, you my experience kinky lashes---which sounds enticingly naughty. Cosmetic surgery can only take you so far -- but hey -- let's hear it for huge leaps and bounds in medical advancements for beauty! Hear! Hear!


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Love Bites

That last post got us thinking...what are our craftiest ways to use Benefit's fab fix-it products? One beauty writer (who will remain unnamed), confessed that she once camouflaged a couple of harmless “love bites”—and evaded detection and embarrassment—using some Lemon-aid and Eye Bright. Much smarter than a turtleneck, right? Got a smart makeup cover up story? Please share!


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I want to live in Los Angeles...

Sorry I've been MIA. I'm covering LA Fashion Week and, between finagling my way backstage, hanging at Sephora Hollywood and Highland, and driving, driving and more driving, it's been very hectic (and stressful--LA highways are scary places). The good news? I have tons of juicy beauty news for you, that I'll be posting in the next couple of days. From the gorgeous backstage looks created by Stila, Smashbox, DuWop and Urban Decay, to fun tidbits from shoots I did with our LA-based brands. So check back here tomorrow and thursday for you LA fix!


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The New Cup

The folks at the blog People Against Dirty have rounded up a sampling of creative marketing ideas. Running the gamut from billboards that give you a new 'do to cups that offer a nose job (pictured), these clever marketing vehicles play with our perceptions of beauty. At Sephora, we've made coffee cups printed with false lipstick kisses, to give to coffee vendors in Seattle and New York. Most coffee drinkers loved the idea, but a few were disgusted--they thought the lipstick stain was real!


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Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and many beauty brands have created special products to benefit breast cancer related charities. Here's a sampling of our beauty that's thinking pink:

Fusion Beauty LipFusion Color Shine in Kiss, $38
For the month of October, five percent of the proceeds of this gorgeous shade will be donated to the Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation.
Clarins Lip Colour Tint in Pink Sorbet, $19
15 percent of the sales of this lip-smacking gloss to the Evelyn Lauder Breast Cancer Foundation.
Sephora BCA Mini Kabuki Brush, $10
The net proceeds from each sale will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Stila BCA It Gloss Trio, $34
A portion of proceeds will benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
LORAC Perfectly Pink, $25
A portion of proceeds will benefit the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund.
DuWop Power Kiss, $22.50
A portion of proceeds go to Cancer and Careers, an organization that inspires career women with cancer to charge ahead.

For more beauty with a purpose, Visit Sephora.com's Beauty with a Cause.


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An Ugly Pretty Penalty

A recent study by Rice University found that in general, people are more likely to trust a pretty face. If that trust is betrayed, however, the backlash can be very un-pretty. As published in today's Dallas Morning News, Study finds 'beauty penalty' can be harsh, numerous studies have shown that attractive people generally make more money, get higher reviews from their supervisors and are viewed as being more intelligent and trustworthy. But researchers at Rice added a new twist to their study, measuring the degree of disappointment people feel when attractive people fail to meet their high expectations. “The takeaway message here is that people have the wrong idea about attractiveness,” said Catherine Eckel, a professor of economics at the University of Texas at Dallas who co-authored the study. “Attractive people, well, they’re not less trustworthy than other people, but they’re not more trustworthy either. So if we’re aware of our biases we can do a little better job of making decisions.”


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20 year-old Virgin


In a stroke of voyeuristic genius, Jane magazine is chronicling the adventures of a 29 year old virgin as she attempts to find the right guy before her 30th birthday. Readers can nominate guy friends to be her date, and she's keeping a blog of the whole shebang (pun intended) here. Not sure if this makes me laugh or cry, but I DO know I won't be able to NOT read this.


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European Vacation

For once, the US is more liberal than Europe: In American airports, we're now able to pass through security with 7.5" x 8" clear plastic bags filled with 3oz (or less) bottles of our liquid and gel beauty essentials (yay!). But if you're flying to Europe, these rules do not yet apply. All liquids and gels are still prohibited beyond security checkpoints. The EU is taking steps toward introducing new airport regulations allowing small amounts of liquids onboard aircrafts, but the proposed regulations must be formally accepted by European commissioners before becoming law. “I expect this to be adopted in the course of next week,” Jacques Barrot, Commission vice president, said in the statement. If accepted, the changes should be implemented by early November. In the meantime, if you're jumping the pond, remember that you'll have to check your beauty on the return flight.


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Allure 2006 Best of Beauty Winners

This just in: Allure has announced it's 2006 Best of Beauty Winners, and--not to brag--but lots of Sephora products rocked the vote. So we're sitting here beaming like proud mother hens. Our little babies are alls growns up! Here's a sneek peek at our winning products:

EYES
Best Day Mascara: Clinique High Definition Lashes Mascara
Best Night Mascara-reader’s choice: Lancome Definicils High Definition Mascara
Best Brown Eye Shadow: Girlactik Star Shadow in Timeless
Best Beige Eye Shadow: Stila Eye Shadow in Sun
LIPS
Best Bright Lipstick: Vincent Longo Velvet Riche Lipstick in Ignition
Best Nude Lipstick: Laura Mercier Lip Color in Discretion
Best Red Lipstick: Deluxe Beauty Lipstick in Vinnie
Best Sheer Lipstick: Dior Rouge Dior Lipstick in Academy Beige
Best Overall Lip Gloss: Nars Lip Gloss
Best Lip Stain: Becca Beach Tint
FACE
Best Blush Over $13- reader’s choice: Nars Blush in Orgasm
Best Foundation Over $14- reader’s choice: Bare Escentuals i.d. BareMinerals Foundation SPF 15
Best Concealer: Benefit Boi-ing Industrial Strength Concealer
Best Cream Blush: Paula Dorf Cheek Color Cream in Candy Apple
Best Powder: Shiseido The Makeup Pressed Powder
Best Bronzer: Guerlain Terracotta Light Sheer Bronzing Powder in Blondes 01
SKIN
Best Cleanser Over $10: Clinique Rinse Off Foaming Cleanser
Best Facial Moisturizer Over $21-reader’s choice: Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion
Best Scrub Over $10- reader’s choice: Clinique 7 Day Scrub Cream
Best Mask: Lancome Pure Focus Mask
Best Facial Self-Tanner: Clarins Radiance-Plus Self Tanning Cream-Gel
Best Anti-Aging Treatment: Kinerase Cream
Best Facial Moisturizer: Dr. Brandt Lineless Cream Anti-Oxidant Moisturizer
Best Facial Sunscreen: Murad Oil Free Sunblock SPF 30
HAIR
Best Defrizzer: Phyto Phytodefrisant Botancial Hair Relaxing Balm
BODY
Best Body Scrub: Clarins Smoothing body Scrub for a New Skin
Self Tanner Over $11: Clarins Self Tanning Instant Gel
FRAGRANCE
Best Spicy Scent: Fresh Cannabis Santal
Best Men’s Scent: Prada Amber Pour Homme
Best New Fragrance Over $30- reader’s choice: Calvin Klein Euphoria
Best New Fragrance Over $30- reader’s choice: DKNY Red Delicious


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Waif Backlash

In its second article on the topic in as many days, The New York Times asks today, When is Thin Too Thin? The answer, says Allure's editor in chief, who said she could hear gasps in the audience when certain models walked by, is: “What becomes alarming is when you see bones and start counting ribs.” The debate centers on whether fashion shows perpetuate an unhealthy image of beauty, encouraging body image issues and in the most extreme cases, eating disorders, among women. Even the chief executive of DNA Models, who represents many of the top runway faces, thinks it's gone too far. He said that designers and model bookers were encouraging extreme thinness. “This goes against everything we stand for as an industry,” he said. “I am kicking and screaming about it now because this should be an industry of beauty and luxury, not famished-looking people that look pale and sick.”


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Is Your Gloss Running? Better Catch It

The best way to cure runny, soupy lip gloss? Stash it in the refrigerator overnight. The chill, SELF magazine says, will re-thicken its formula in no time. —Jessica Anderson, Sephora


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Lip Balm at the Copa, Copacabana ...

Sure, pop princesses have their perfumes, and socialites have their sprays, but this is still unexpected: Barry Manilow has a lip balm! Packed with aloe vera and SPF 15, it's cleverly named "Music and Passion Fruit," in honor of the singer-songwriter's infamous adage. Amusing, yes. But what's next, Sinatra Sunscreen? Elvis Exfoliation Wipes? Johny Mathis Makeup Remover? —Jessica Anderson, Sephora


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