I recently received an email from a woman who read my article on facial exercises and passed it on to Carole Maggio. Ms. Maggio runs the Web site www.facercise.com which is devoted to, you guessed it, facial exercises. According to the Web site, Maggio is considered “the world’s foremost authority on facial exercises.” I’m not going to argue with that attribute, but from my point of view that’s sort of like being the foremost authority on how to use a rotary dial phone.

Obviously, Ms. Maggio didn’t like what I wrote about facial exercises, which is that they do not work to reduce wrinkles or improve sagging skin in any way, shape, or form. For any signs of aging, including sagging skin, facial exercises can do more harm than good.

Maggio’s criticism was not only of my information but on my expertise. She states in her newsletter that my “only real tie to the skin-care industry is as a former makeup artist” and that I am not a doctor. It is true I am not a doctor, but I have given presentations at international dermatology conferences; I belong to the Society of Cosmetic Chemists; I have been actively involved in the cosmetic industry for 30 years; and, I have written over 18 best-selling books on skin care and makeup. Oops, I almost forgot, I also formulate all of my Paula’s Choice products. Yes, I am also a former makeup artist but clearly my credentials go far beyond that.

Maggio also wrote that Doctors Nicholas Perricone and Mehmet C. Oz have recommended facial exercises as a means to look younger. I am not surprised Perricone gave a nod to this silly practice, as history has shown he’ll say just about anything to get the attention of those concerned with aging (regardless of whether there’s solid research to support his advice). After all, Perricone sells over a dozen products priced over $100 claiming to get rid of wrinkles, yet like most dermatologists, he has done Botox injections for his patients.

But Maggio is wrong about Dr. Oz. In the book he co-wrote with Dr. Michael F. Roizen, You Being Beautiful, they state the following: “Exercising the facial muscles is a sure way to increase wrinkles. The facial muscles pull on the skin to give you facial expressions. And the repetitive movements of the skin, over the years, combined with the normal thinning of the collagen and elastin of the dermis, will eventually crack the skin, causing wrinkles. Botox is the reverse of exercise; it paralyzes muscles and lessens wrinkles.”

However, despite what Oz wrote in the book, he mentioned on his show a Japanese study that may give credence to the idea that facial exercises work. However, this study was not about facial exercises but about measuring skin elasticity at different ages (Source: Journal of Dermatological Science, September 2007, pages 233–239). Of course Maggio left out the discrepancy between Oz’s comment on his show, the actual study, and what was written in his book.

Speaking of Botox, Maggio was very upset that I’d recommend this procedure over facial exercises. According to her, facial exercises are natural, which they are, but they don’t work, so it doesn’t matter if they are natural. Actually, Botox is natural as well: it comes from a naturally occurring neurotoxin that’s purified and made safe for use in people. You may not know that there are over 4,000 studies showing Botox’s benefit for everything from wrinkles to cerebral palsy, while no such studies exist for facial exercises.

Maggio seemingly couldn’t find any of those 4,000+ studies as she asks in her newsletter, “Where are the studies proving Botox is effective and safe for long-term use?” She should have checked the United States National Library of Medicine National Institutes’ of Health’s web site at www.pubmed.com; they are all there.

Suffice to say, I strongly stand by my article and research about facial exercises. According to abundant research, facial exercises provide no benefit because lack of muscle tone is not the cause of wrinkles or sagging. In fact, muscle tone is barely involved in these at all. The skin’s sagging and drooping are caused by 10 major factors:

1. Deteriorated collagen and elastin (due primarily to sun damage and inflammation)
2. Depletion and movement of the skin’s fat layer
3. Repetitive facial movement (particularly true for the forehead frown lines and for smile lines from the nose to the mouth)—muscle movement causes wrinkles
4. Muscle sagging due to the loosening of facial ligaments that hold the muscles in place, not because muscles aren’t toned
5. Hormone loss
6. Bone loss
7. Gravity
8. Genetics
9. Skin cells stop reproducing as we age
10. SUN DAMAGE!

You can exercise your face if you want, but I would strongly suggest taking the time to exercise your body and applying sunscreen during the day—it will serve you far better than making funny faces in the mirror, manipulating your facial skin toward more wrinkles.

Our Product Development Manager, Kate, recently gave me a lab sample of a new product she and Paula are working on for the RESIST line. It’s a serum with retinol, an ingredient which typically makes me run scared. It’s not that I’m unaware of what a great ingredient retinol is for skin (if you’re only going to use one antiaging ingredient beyond a good sunscreen, retinol or retinoids should be it), but my skin and retinol don’t have the best relationship. In fact, retinol is sort of like the out-of-town relative you love to have visit, but for no more than a couple of days. Beyond that, things start unraveling. The shine wears off, and you’re reminded of why you don’t suggest said relative stay for a whole week.

Kate can get very enthusiastic about the Paula’s Choice products in development, and she was practically giddy over this serum. Her enthusiasm was contagious, as I willingly agreed to try it, past history with retinol be damned. Imagine my surprise when I actually liked the product. I really liked it because after using it for just one night, my skin looked better. It was smoother, brighter, and, if I’m not mistaken, a bit firmer too (or at least it felt firmer). Being aware of the placebo effect, I kept using the product and monitoring the results. That’s when things got interesting…

By the fourth night in a row of using this concentrated retinol serum (it has an amazing texture and is really easy to apply) I was sure the results weren’t just placebo. How? Because in addition to my skin, including minor wrinkles, looking better, it was also looking worse—a side effect I’ve experienced with other retinol products, but this was different…it was a better kind of worse.

Allow me to explain: Lots of people cannot tolerate efficacious levels of retinol (at least not daily) because they get a strong kickback as it works. Redness, peeling, or skin feeling sunburned are not uncommon side effects. I’ve experienced all of these in the past, which led me to develop what I thought was a case of “retinol-itis.” The cure? Avoid anything with retinol, period. But I’m glad I wasn’t so resolute about that because I discovered the side effects from this retinol serum were brief and fleeting. I adjusted usage to once every two days, then two days off, and my skin acclimated beautifully! The initial peeling and minor sensation of sunburn (there was no visible effect) went away—and my skin keeps improving! Not only are my fine lines becoming much less apparent (though, full disclosure here, they weren’t all that obvious to begin with), but my skin tone is much better and minor freckles are fading. It appears I can finally use retinol as an ally in my fight against signs of aging!

All of this is to let you know I am over my retinol-itis thanks to this potential new serum from Paula’s Choice! I’ll make sure Paula gives this retinol serum strong consideration for approval. It’s a marvelous formula that I know our RESIST customers will love.

There are many things I love about owning a cosmetic company. I love that I can provide the real information consumers need to make intelligent, rational decisions about their skin care. Presenting the facts doesn’t always make me money; obviously, it would be easier to promise women miracle ingredients that replace cosmetic surgery rather than tell the truth about exactly what my products can and can’t do. Mostly I love formulating new products—that’s the best! Taking research about new ingredients and new understanding of how skin works and then putting that knowledge together in a new formula is thrilling. It is challenging, stimulating, endlessly creative and always rewarding, especially when my customers love the results.

What is often difficult is helping customers understand how to put a skin-care routine together or how one formula differs from another. For example, often one formula is different from another only because the base formula’s chemistry affects the rate of efficacy or a different base is needed to support the product’s claims. How do you explain such technicalities to thousands of people?

Here is where I need your help: The two toners I created for my CLEAR anti-acne line are confusing customers. One is Regular Strength and the other Extra Strength, BUT they both contain 2% salicylic acid. Therein lies the problem! The difference between the two is the base ingredients which don’t seem significant—but they are. Both formulas are liquids but one allows the salicylic acid to penetrate better (that’s the Extra Strength), and the other allows the 2% salicylic acid to be effective but less penetrating so it is essentially a more gentle formula. See what I mean? It’s not so easy to explain when the amount of active ingredient is the same for both products. Based on customer feedback, the names and descriptions we have aren’t helping.

So we are considering renaming both CLEAR toners. Here’s what my team and I have come up with:

The Regular Strength could be named: Soothing Acne Relief Toner with Salicylic Acid
The Extra Strength could be named: Extra Strength Deep Targeted Acne Relief Toner with Salicylic Acid

On the back of the container the percentage of salicylic acid would still be there with the appropriate description.

The Soothing Acne Relief Toner would state:

This toner contains 2% salicylic acid in a gentle formula that allows for effective exfoliation on skin’s surface and inside the pore lining. It is best for sensitive skin or for those with mild acne.

The Extra Strength Deep Targeted Acne Relief Toner would state:

This toner contains 2% salicylic in a penetrating formula that allows for maximum exfoliation on the surface of skin and in the pore, making it more effective for those with moderate or stubborn acne.

So tell me what you think. If this was your cosmetic line, with anti-acne products you knew were some of the most effective available, but there were formula nuances the consumer needed to understand to determine which one to use, what would you change on the label (keeping in mind there isn’t much room)? I would sincerely appreciate your input!

Exhaustion has set in big time. I’m tired of saying so much about the cosmetic industry as I watch it endlessly spiral out of control in an ugly tangle of lies, half-truths, and just plain idiocy. I don’t know what else to do to help women, so I keep writing and ranting. Maybe I just need a new job because the business of beauty seems to be getting worse, not better. I think some people would call what I’m going through burnout; after 30 years I’ve probably passed burnout and am on my way to the loony bin!

We’re dealing with an incessant parade of beauty products, and the claims keep getting crazier. There are products with stem cells, growth hormones, all sorts of exotic plant extracts, neuropeptides, and on and on. Oxygen therapy won’t go away, either: I actually had a salon in France spray my scalp with pure oxygen to encourage hair growth! Topical products aside, there’s also beauty pills being promoted (as if there are only certain vitamins or plant extracts that help skin make collagen, elastin, and get rid of wrinkles), and carbon dioxide injections which are supposed to get rid of excess fat, scars, wrinkles, you name it. Never mind that all of these conditions are physiologically unique—apparently, good old CO2 can do it all! Perhaps the saddest thing is that women fall for this stuff like kids in a candy shop, pleading for more just like the hungry orphans in Oliver!

But let me get to the most typical stupidity at the counters, drugstore, spas, infomercials, and in-home sales companies around the world: eye creams. Though I have said it hundreds of times before maybe the 1000th time will finally be the charm: there is no need for a separate product for the eye area labeled as an eye cream. If a product is well-formulated and is appropriate for your skin type, it would work just as well for the face as for the eye area. The eye area doesn’t require different ingredients than the face (assuming both have the same skin type: dry, oily, etc). If anything, most eye creams don’t contain sunscreen which would make them little more than wrinkle-causing creams. And don’t get me started on the jar packaging they usually come in, either, because that irks me to no end.

There are absolutely no eye creams that can deal with dark circles (that’s either from natural melanin color or thin skin that shows muscle and blood vessels through skin), puffy eyes (that’s either genetic, muscle laxity, or from fat pads pouching through), or eliminating wrinkles (Has anyone ever bought an eye cream that got rid of wrinkles? I mean, really!).

The myths about why you need an eye cream abound:

• Dark circles are caused by poor circulation. They aren’t. If anything, increasing circulation would cause blood vessels to be more apparent under thin skin. Thin skin around the eye can also make the color of muscle around the eye look more apparent. As I mentioned above, dark circles can also be about the skin’s natural melanin content. Other than a skin lightener with hydroquinone (which actually isn’t the best for use around the eyes), it’s almost impossible to change melanin-related dark circles without a medical treatment such as Intense Pulse Laser or other laser system. But even if circulation was the issue, what ingredients are special for that and why doesn’t the face need them too?

• The skin around the eye is more sensitive so it needs gentle ingredients. What pathetic reasoning! Why? Because the entire face needs gentle ingredients, not just the eye area. Needless irritation is bad for skin anywhere on the face, body, or eye area. Ironically, when you look at the ingredients in eye creams they aren’t gentler than other products! More often than not, they contain fragrance, coloring agents, or the same potentially irritating plant extracts as poorly formulated facial-care products.

• The skin around the eye is thinner so it needs lighter-weight ingredients. Now that is one of my favorites because it’s so easy to refute. All you have to do is look at the texture of most eye creams and you can readily tell the formulations are not lighter weight in the least! They are usually thicker than the face product. In fact, most face creams/lotions are often far lighter or just plain better formulated than the eye cream counterpart. Here’s what you need to know: if the skin around the eye is exceptionally dry it absolutely needs a more emollient product. That product may have a “heavier” texture than a standard facial moisturizer, but there are “heavier” facial moisturizers that work beautifully as eye creams. What does heavier mean anyway? It isn’t like you’re putting actual extra weight around the eye. It’s all about the texture, and eye creams don’t have a unique texture no other facial-care product does.

So there it is. If you’re still of the opinion that you need an eye cream and that there are special ingredients for the eye area over and above what the face needs, let me know. I will respond to the myths you’ve heard and maybe settle this issue once and for all (I know, wishful thinking, but that’s probably what has kept me in this industry for so long!).

The May issue of Marie Claire hit shelves and mailboxes this week with much ado surrounding its cover shot and photo editorial spread of Jessica Simpson. Appearing with no makeup, air-dried hair and, perhaps most noteworthy, no photo re-touching, Simpson’s willingness to go au naturale is startlingly brave. At a time when digital technology is allowing models to appear more unnaturally perfect than ever, this kind of mainstream exposure of natural beauty is a site for very sore eyes.

It’s worth acknowledging that even on her worst day, Jessica Simpson is probably stunning, and this photo shoot, which utilizes natural light and Simpson’s best angles, is indisputably gorgeous—there’s not a bad shot in the bunch. While some blogs are magnifying the images in an effort to figure out if she’s wearing a smidge of mascara or a hint of blush, I say, who cares? That’s exactly the kind of nit-picking that got us to the point at which we demand our models strive to look freakishly perfect for fear that someone might see that they might have—gasp— flaws! Given the candor of the photos and the accompanying interviews with women of all shapes and sizes, it’s hard to dispute that Simpson’s heart is in the right place: her intentions clearly are not to mislead, they are to educate and empower.

This issue of Marie Claire coincides with the airing of Simpson’s VH-1 show “The Price of Beauty,” a series that takes Simpson around the world to discover firsthand the often archaic and unusually extreme measures women take to be considered beautiful within their own cultures. From skin lightening in Mumbai to “fattening huts” in Uganda, the lengths that women will go to in order to be beautiful may seem alarming, but no more so than Westerners’ meticulous carb counting or frequent injecting of Botox. Simpson’s series is not only a critique of the beauty industry at large, but it also shows viewers that, at least culturally-speaking, beauty is completely subjective. How refreshing is that?

As if she weren’t walking the walk enough already, Simpson’s other beauty-related endeavor is an outreach initiative called A Beautiful Me, one that has her working hands-on with grade school to college-aged students to improve their self-image and self-esteem (and, oh, how the two are always indelibly linked!). Helping young people recognize their own individual beauty gives them the tools they need to combat the thousands of images of unattainable “beauty” that we’re all confronted with on a daily basis. As we mature and grow more comfortable in our own skin, it’s easy to forget how fraught youth is with insecurities about looks—and of course, for some of us, that never goes away completely. Raising three school-aged girls, I’m witness to that struggle daily, and can see firsthand the importance of having positive role models and healthy concepts of beauty that I can show them. If only there were more of them in the mainstream!

Jessica Simpson’s newly found commitment to positive self-image is especially resonant since she’s had her own fair share of media scrutiny (her recent “Mom Jeans” photo controversy springs to mind). In an industry that’s ruled by empty promises and hypocrisy, it’s truly beautiful that Simpson is willing to embrace her inspiring philosophies on the cover of a national magazine. Given Simpson’s oft-seen past persona as a ditzy bombshell, it’s particularly exhilarating to see a woman reclaim and rewrite her own identity. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m impressed with you Jessica Simpson!

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Traveling from London, to Amsterdam, Edinburgh, and now Monte Carlo is like going from Mars to Neptune and then onto Uranus and finally Venus. Each locale is a completely separate world with little comparison other than an ancient history spanning from Roman times to Medieval and now into the current world of political and financial turmoil. That is where the similarities stop and start; otherwise, each place has such a distinctive character you’d never mistake one for the other!

What I find most interesting is that in every other place I’ve been I feel like I blend in to some extent (though of course once someone starts talking to me it is clear I am as American as apple pie and Tiger Woods—he has been in every newspaper all over Europe), but I definitely do not belong in Monte Carlo. Money—and I mean serious money—spills over from every nook and cranny. It practically rolls in on the Mediterranean waves like a tsunami! This is tax haven heaven for the world as Monaco has no income tax or capital gains tax. That’s enticing enough to make me think ‘Paula’s Choice Monaco’ has a nice ring to it!

Money not only talks here, it walks all over the place and does so in 5-inch tall Manolo Blahniks and Jimmy Choos. All of the clothes you see on runways or in Vogue adorn these size 0, modelesque young women on the arms of incredibly wealthy men, or fathers, or, well, who knows what the relationship is. Long-legged, perfect women, in unbelievable outfits along with $20,000 Valentino handbags is a site to behold. I’m not sure whether I feel jealous or relieved; the clothes certainly weren’t made for me and the shoes would kill me as soon as I stood up! I’m not sure, but I suspect this kind of lifestyle comes with a price that involves some sort of soul-demeaning competition that can be easily toppled. For most of the women, all of this ostentatious display is almost certainly dependent on the good will of men, and we know how reliable that is!

Back in my own idyllic state, Harsha and I are in a lovely room at the Fairmont overlooking the sea (actually it’s right on the Mediterranean, with towering, rocky cliffs framing the background). Monaco is a teeny country with no borders but you absolutely know when you are here. The town is centered on the famed Le Casino which is simply magnificent: like a gaudy Versailles with a stuffy crowd. It wasn’t the swank experience I was hoping for and no one looked like Sean Connery or Cary Grant. I felt far more comfortable coming back to my hotel that has a small Vegas-style casino to gamble there. I understand a Vegas crowd, they laugh and the dealers are charming and helpful (I still lose money but at least I’m having a good time during the experience). In contrast, Le Casino seems designed to take your money and run, minus the fun in between.

Of course, we do venture outside our hotel. In fact, the ancient villages we traveled to were wonderful. Eze and St. Paul de Vence were striking examples of walled citadels built on precipices with 360-degree views of the surrounding hillside painted with adobe homes, Italian cedars, and pine trees. St. Paul de Vence was especially amazing as it is an art community that I could have spent all day wandering the spiraling stone-clad streets looking at the blown glass, oil paintings, and history poring from the steep alleyways.

For the most part, we have been relaxing. Late mornings, leisurely breakfasts overlooking the changing mood of the weather, reading the newspapers, and having long talks. Surprisingly, there is a cosmetic dermatology conference in town that I decided to attend. It was a great experience. How unexpected, and it dovetailed perfectly with my BlogTalk Radio show for this week (yes, even on vacation I am still keeping you “Beautifully Informed”).

Harsha and I are going to the tennis open here in Monaco on Saturday. The names of the players are the who’s who of the tennis world and Harsha can’t wait. He loves tennis and he has taught me to appreciate the game.

For now, that’s about it. I’m off to see what the Europeans know about anti-aging (I suspect not much; these are deeply sun-damaged faces akin to the Miami crowd). There are over 100 cosmetic companies with booths at this event, none that I have ever heard of before. Being a cosmetic cop has no end in sight but at least my downtime is filled with memorable moment after memorable moment. Viva Monaco!

I’m sick and tired of reading quotes from doctors and estheticians in fashion magazines or on beauty or medical websites saying you should absolutely never squeeze a pimple or blackhead. They adamantly state, in no uncertain terms, that you must leave any ugly red swollen, white, raised bump on your face alone. Like any woman is going to leave that sitting on her face to stare at all day!

Even more absurd is the recurrent idiotic advice that the only way to deal with these unsightly protrusions is to go see your doctor or esthetician so they can remove them for you. What complete and utter nonsense and about as practical as going to your auto mechanic every morning to get your car started. If I had to go see my doctor or esthetician every time I had a pimple or blackhead, I would have to move in and set up housekeeping in their workplace because they would need to do that for me on almost a daily basis!

Going to the doctor each time you see a pimple or blackhead on your face or body is as stupid and unrealistic a recommendation as I can imagine (well, there are lot of stupid recommendations in the world of cosmetics and beauty but this one is beyond the pale for me personally). Think about it: doctors let their patients administer their own insulin shots for diabetes, take antibiotics when they’re sick, re-bandage wounds, irrigate stuffed sinuses, give ourselves serious laxatives for colonoscopy procedures, use vaginal suppositories for yeast infections, but we can’t be trusted to deflate a pimple. Geesh!

What should you do? Go ahead and pop that pimple, just be really, really careful how you do it. Follow the steps below for best results!

Here’s How To Do It:

PREPARATION

1. Buy a comedone extractor (comedone is a term for a clogged pore).
2. Be gentle; the goal is to remove the whitehead without creating a scab or damaging the surrounding skin (scabs are not better to look at than a pimple).
3. Cleanse your face first but do not use cold or hot water (that makes the blemish redder and hurts the skin’s ability to heal). Hot water does not help get rid of a blemish and cold water does not close pores! Get over this myth; it is hurting your skin.
4. Use a soft washcloth with a gentle water-soluble cleanser. Lightly massage skin with the damp washcloth and cleanser to ensure dead skin cells are removed. This makes extracting the pimple easier.
5. Do not use the comedone extractor or squeeze when your skin is wet. When skin is wet it is more vulnerable to tearing and creating a scab which can cause scarring.
6. Dry your skin gently.

This is a typical comedone extractor:

HOW TO USE THE EXTRACTOR

1. Take the comedone extractor and center the opening over the pimple. Then gently (and I mean really gently) and with very little pressure (and I mean very little pressure) push the comedone extractor down on the whitehead and move it across the pimple. That should release the contents.

2. You may have to repeat this one or two more times, but that’s it.

3. If you overdo it you will create a scab and risk scarring (a reminder of your acne you don’t want with you for the rest of your life).

YOU STILL MAY HAVE TO SQUEEZE A BIT

If the blemish is raised or swollen there may still be some white content lurking below that the extractor can’t get to. In that case follow these steps:

1. Using the flat of your fingertips (not your nails) place your fingers just on the edge of the red swelling.

2. Gently (and I mean really gently) push down and in slightly on the swelling. If that does not release the contents the first time, change the positions of your fingers and try again. If the second time doesn’t do it, you’re done. Any more, and you risk creating a scab which can eventually turn into a scar.

WHAT YOU ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NEVER DO!

Never ever scratch, pick, abrade, over-scrub, burn, prick with needles or pins, or attack your blemishes. This is a surefire way to make an unpleasant, unattractive situation even uglier which almost always leads to long-term damage. If you think you’ll be prone to this type of behavior, think twice before following the directions outlined above.

THERE ARE THOSE BLEMISHES YOU SHOULD ABSOLUTELY NOT SQUEEZE

1. Deep red swollen bumps that have no white head showing can be very problematic to squeeze and the comedone extractor will most likely not be effective either. You can try a bit, but these sore, large blemishes are most likely too deep to remove. They also tend to turn into scabs and scars when you overzealously try to remove them. Be careful: you don’t want to make matters worse.

2. If you have particularly deep, cystic acne, those bumps should NOT be squeezed. In those situations you would want to consult a dermatologist for a treatment regimen. If you get one of these and have a special occasion, a dermatologist can inject the swelling with a cortisone shot for immediate relief (there are risks to this so you want to be sure to discuss the pros and cons with your physician if you want to go this route).

THE FINAL STEPS

You must follow up with a 2.5% or 5% benzoyl peroxide product (Paula’s Choice has excellent options but you can also check Beautypedia.com for other recommendations) and/or a 1% or 2% salicylic acid product (again, Paula’s Choice has several beautifully formulated options, but Beautypedia.com can help you with other options). This will not only help reduce inflammation it will also help prevent further breakouts.

There you have it! These steps work, you just have to be careful and realistic. I suspect most of us are doing some version of this anyway when we see a pimple, but now you know exactly how to do it without making matters worse and more unattractive. In fact, when you follow these steps you’re doing exactly what any doctor or esthetician would do, just without the inconvenience of making an appointment every time a pimple rears its ugly head!

Paula and I get lots of requests to review the glut of lash growth products being sold. We’ve covered the big ones, but there was one we hadn’t reviewed until recently: RapidLash. After analyzing the formula and scouring published research to serve as the basis for our review, we came to the following conclusion: RapidLash doesn’t work as claimed.

I am sure many women were disappointed, as they really wanted to believe this was a slam-dunk alternative to prescription lash-growth product Latisse (which really does work and, unlike RapidLash, is supported by published studies confirming its efficacy). After all, RapidLash is widely available (I’m surprised I haven’t seen it sold at my local Safeway, right there in the checkout aisle) and, at $49.95 per tube, is a relative bargain compared to Latisse.

Even though we couldn’t find any ingredient in RapidLash that is proven to grow longer, thicker, darker lashes (and eyebrows), the number of online comments from women who use this product were too great to ignore. In fact, I mentioned this in our review: “What I can’t account for is the number of women who’ve tried RapidLash and swear that it worked for them. You can find pages and pages of positive reviews for this product, not to mention a legion of fans on Facebook, and endless mentions in fashion magazines.” Even though we presented this perspective, it hasn’t stopped several women from writing to us, describing our assessment of RapidLash as unfair, one-sided, or just plain wrong.

Sigh. I admit, to some extent, I expected a bit of a backlash. After all, if RapidLash works for you you’ll know it: the results are staring back at you with each glance in the mirror. It could be (and probably is) a placebo effect, something that often happens in the cosmetic industry, but that doesn’t change the emotional personal experience. However, there may be another reason we hadn’t considered before. Given that RapidLash doesn’t contain anything proven to grow longer, thicker lashes, perhaps the company that makes it (International Research Laboratories) is using something in their product without revealing to consumers what it is. We have no proof that this is true—it’s merely speculation on our part—but it would explain why women are seeing results if it isn’t just a placebo effect.

Arkansas plastic surgeon Dr. Ramona Bates also thinks something may be amiss with RapidLash. Why? As she reports on emaxhealth.com, there have been concerns from consumers over irritation along the lash line and pigmentation changes to the eye from RapidLash, two potential side effects for the prescription eyelash growth product Latisse. We know Latisse’s active ingredient and how it functions. We also know its potential side effects, which include what some users of RapidLash have reported. Whether or not there’s a legitimate connection has yet to (and may never) be confirmed. If it were me, and I have used lash growth products in the past, I’d go for the one with research behind its formula, not to mention up front information about safety concerns and known side effects. That means Latisse, even though it’s more expensive and requires a prescription. When it comes to the health and safety of your eyes, why wouldn’t you go with what’s been proven safe and effective rather than a similar product awash in the art of cosmetic claims?

People often assume that because I’m Paula Begoun’s assistant, and given that I work alongside The Cosmetics Cop Team who reviews products for the most comprehensive beauty resource in the world (Beautypedia.com), I must know all the latest and greatest makeup and skin-care products. While I do feel blessed to have such invaluable knowledge at my fingertips, I still sometimes struggle when shopping for cosmetics. In some ways, the more I learn, the harder it becomes.

Fortunately in the realm of skin care, I’ll never have to gamble another dollar on a “miracle treatment” again. Since I started using Paula’s Choice products my skin is in the best shape it’s ever been, and I can rest easy knowing that I’m only using ingredients that have proven benefit for skin. (Not to mention the fact that Paula wouldn’t hire me unless I agreed to stop tanning, and I can already see my skin is better for it.)

But shopping for makeup, on the other hand, is a different story. While I used to impulsively stroll into Sephora for my makeup fix, I am now all too conscious of what’s lurking on those shelves. Are the ingredients bad for my skin? Is it worth the price? Is the packaging conducive to the active ingredients? Does it contain fragrance? Will it live up to the claims? How does it compare to other products in the category? Despite my efforts to research products on Beautypedia.com before I leave the house, once I’m surrounded by a sea of options on display I can’t help but be tempted to stray from my list. It’s frustrating because I know that even if something looks great initially, it may not be good for my skin below the surface or have the longevity I’m looking for.

Then it dawned on me… hello, the name of Paula’s book is Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me! So I did just as the title says and hit the stores with my copy of the book knowing fully well that I’d be attracting attention from every salesperson in sight. Some were intrigued or impressed, while others were apprehensive, but either way I had peace of mind knowing that I didn’t have to second-guess whether or not a particular mascara would end up flaking by the day’s end or if that long-wear lipstick really held true to it’s name—all the answers were right there in the palm of my hand.

Interestingly, the instant I pulled out the book the sales pitch changed. It’s as if the consultants realized they weren’t going to be able to pull the wool over my eyes. One woman, who was trying to sell me a kit of products including an eye cream, completely changed her tune as soon as I spoke up about Paula’s theory about eye creams. She went on to not only agree with my point, but then also began recommending products from a line other than the one she was working for. What a breath of fresh air!

Another salesman wasn’t so congenial. He watched me as I flipped through pages of the book and exclaimed, “Oh honey, that is so cute,” as if to say that I was so naïve in the world of cosmetics. I didn’t let his demeaning attitude get to me. Instead, when he began rambling on about how magnificent a particular line of products were, I cut him off and told him “Thank you, but I’d rather look it up in my book.” The look on his face was priceless!

Would I go shopping with my copy of Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me again and again and again? In a heartbeat! Not only did I have peace of mind and a more informed experience with salespeople, I also had a quick and easy way to shut them up if need be!

Insider’s tip: Soon you will be able to access Beautypedia.com from your iPhone or other smart phone device!  Now that will be something to really get excited about! Stay tuned…