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…

My partner and I recently took a trip to the beautiful Chelan area of Washington State, an area known for its scenic beauty as well as an abundance of wineries. Given that we enjoy Washington wines immensely, both of us were eager to explore some wineries and see what was new.

While visiting a hilltop winery that overlooked Lake Chelan and the surrounding valley (a stunning view), I struck up a conversation with the young woman in charge of the winery’s tasting room. After small talk and lots of accolades from me about the wines she was sampling that day, she asked what I did for a living. I mentioned I was a writer, which immediately prompted my partner to chime in “He’s a published author who writes books with one of the best-selling beauty authors of all time!” Well, so much for being low key about my career…

Once she learned this, she paused mid-pour. Then she asked for the name of the book. I told her it was Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me—and she went nuts. “Are you serious? I love that book. We all do.” I have to admit I was a bit surprised this young woman (she was only 20) had heard of the book. Come to find out, she holds a second job as a saleswoman for Lancome at Macys in a neighboring town. She told me that her district manager is a big fan of Paula’s work and insisted her teams have our book at their cosmetic counters! Imagine that!

I stopped to enjoy a sip of some estate-grown Syrah before responding, after which I asked “But didn’t your manager notice that we don’t say a lot of nice things about Lancome, especially their skin care?” She knew, but apparently that didn’t bother her. In fact, the young woman stated that she agrees with a lot of what we wrote, but was glad we were complimentary about Lancome’s makeup (Lancome has always excelled with makeup). As it turns out, she and her co-workers routinely consult the book while at work! They use it to learn more about what they’re selling as well as what neighboring lines offer.

I can’t tell you how great it was to visit a small town and run into someone who was not only aware of the books I write with Paula, but truly appreciated our hard work (really hard work!). In fact, as a thank you, she gave me a complimentary bottle of merlot (we bought a few bottles of their other wines, too). I felt like a celebrity.

Most of the time, and understandably so, cosmetic salespeople are quick to dismiss the vast amount of work that goes into each book unless we only write positive things about the brand they represent. I definitely raised a glass to this young woman’s cosmetics manager for not being afraid to show her team the perspective of someone not unduly influenced by cosmetics industry’s hype! And that brief exchange set the tone for a great weekend; after all, who doesn’t enjoy hearing that what they put out there in the world makes a real difference in the lives of lots of women?

Subscribers to Beautypedia.com know that our Web site is home to reviews of thousands of skin-care, makeup, hair-care, and body-care products. From Avon to Zo Skin Health, if it’s on the market, Beautypedia probably has a review of it—or we’ll get to it eventually!

Part of my job as Beautypedia Database Coordinator at Paula’s Choice is to keep our Web site’s information as current as possible, and that means tracking the launch of all new beauty products as well as discontinuations and reformulations of existing ones. Something as innocuous as a single new shade of a foundation means that research must be done—in fact, any change to a product means that its review needs to be revisited and potentially revised. With over 300 brands represented on Beautypedia, simply saying that keeping up with the industry is “a lot of work” is somewhat of an understatement. Sometimes, my head swims just thinking about it! But thanks to our readers, my job and that of the rest of the Beautypedia team isn’t nearly as difficult as it could be.

On a regular basis, my inbox teems with your insider tips, alerts and feedback. Many of our Beautypedia subscribers have become an important part of our Cosmetics Cop Team. Fielding these emails is a part of my job I always enjoy, because I’m continually impressed at the insights, knowledge, and tenacity of our readers—and I’m grateful for their willingness to share information with us! Those of you who take the time to let us know what cosmetic counter representatives are telling you, or what you’re seeing (or not seeing) on stores shelves are helpful to us in ways that defy words.

Not surprisingly, a good number of our readers are industry insiders themselves, and they let us know what new products are in the works, or just take the time to thank us for our hard work and dedication to holding this industry accountable for the empty promises it makes to consumers. And let me tell you, those thanks fill us with a lot of pride in what we do!

The email product alerts we receive makes Beautypedia (the big, beautiful, information-laden beast that it is) a more interactive experience for us and our subscribers. What amazes me about this process is that the information you give us gets cycled through Paula and the Cosmetics Cop Team and right back to other subscribers. And often, there’s very little lag. If a reader alerts us to a reformulation, we can research it, confirm it, and have the team revise the review and rating, usually the same day. Same thing goes for discontinuations. That’s pretty cool, and it makes Beautypedia more than a Web site—it’s an active community of fellow Cosmetic Cops!

As Twilight fever continues to sweep the nation with the release of New Moon last month ($230 million in ticket sales and counting!), it’s hard to deny that the film hasn’t only had a marked impact at the box office, but on the cosmetics industry as well. Now, and I’ll say this up front, I’m definitely not a Twihard (though we do have a few in the office, and I have one tweenage member of Team Jacob at home), but I’ve read the books, seen both films, and can most definitely see the appeal and its natural progression toward influencing beauty trends. Between its target demographic of makeup-loving teenage girls, its stars gracing every possible magazine cover, and the fact that Edward, Bella, and co-stars are all just so unbelievably attractive (at least as measured by the average teen girl’s “scream-o-meter”), it makes sense that the beauty world is taking cues from Twilight.

First of all (and this is great news for skin), we can all thank vampire chic for making pale cool again. Fashion magazines and beauty blogs across the globe are reporting that tanning and bronzer sales have seen a huge drop-off, seemingly replaced with sales of ivory and rose powders, particularly Bare Escentual’s illuminating Mineral Veil, all of which have skyrocketed 200% in the past month. No doubt it’s in an effort to capture Bella’s wan complexion (courtesy of Washington’s lack of sunlight from tall trees and overcast skies) and the Cullen lady vamps’ luminous translucent skin (courtesy of their immortal, bloodless, inhuman state). We can only hope that in everyone’s effort to look pale that the sunscreen gets slathered on as well!

Not surprisingly, a Twilight-themed line of cosmetics called Twilight Beauty is now available at Nordstrom, and even though Beautypedia doesn’t review limited edition makeup lines (nor have we had any subscriber request to review the line—not that we expected to), professional curiosity brought me out to Nordstrom to see for myself what this Twilight Beauty was all about, and I have to admit that what I found more than surprised me.

Designed by the team behind mid-range makeup brand DuWop, Twilight Beauty is actually not novelty junk. Sure, the testers looked like they’d been handled by every teenager in the state (and they probably had), but the products themselves were better than I expected. Consisting of two sub-brands—Luna Twilight and Volturi Twilight—the products aim to provide lots of shimmer in body sprays, illuminators and cream-to-powder mousse blushes, all with swirls of pearlescent shine (even the mascaras all had metallic sheen to them!). The effect is overtly glowy and shiny, but if that’s the look you’re going for, product-wise you could do a lot worse. To my surprise, I was slightly enamored with the lip glosses; the texture was lovely; the color opaque, and the finish was perfectly glossy, but not high-shine. (Word of warning: avoid the awful Lip Venom stain: it’s a stinging cinnamon lip plumper made to look like a vial of blood that can end up making lips chapped and dry).

To me, the most impressive products were the palettes. In fact, I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but I might have bought the Rosalie palette had it not been sold out (the salesperson told me that she couldn’t believe the amount of stock they’ve gone through: “Piles and piles,” she said.). They’re all smartly-packaged in slim plastic cases, with two eye shadows, two lip glosses and a creamy blush. The powder shadows were butter-smooth, intensely pigmented and the shades (apart from the ghastly Alice) were distinctive and gorgeous. The thing that really appealed to me about the products was that even though, yes, they’re blatantly cashing in on the Twilight phenomenon, everything seemed age-appropriate for their demographic, and the quality was hard to deny.

While I can’t imagine a grown woman wanting to wear any of these products on a regular basis, the line really reflected the frivolous freedom of being a teenager without any of the obnoxious pandering (I’m looking at you Too-Faced!). I left the counter feeling more than a little nostalgic for my own teenagehood, which is very much how I felt when I read the books and saw the movies—a fact which makes me think that, for better or worse, DuWop did an excellent job of capturing the spirit of Twilight.

I listen to women say this all the time. It doesn’t matter if it is reporters, beauty editors, or women I encounter every day. They exclaim how much they love a product and this love is almost always for an expensive product, especially if it’s skin care. And other women listen (or overhear) and wonder if they would love it too. After all, love is a pretty powerful sentiment. Why would someone love a bad product or one that didn’t work as claimed?

Regardless of price, proclaiming that you love a product is one of the most useless remarks to make about any skin care product (makeup is another story altogether). First we all “love” things that are bad for us. We love that guy who won’t call us back or is rude and demeaning. Or we love chocolate cake and french fries. Or we love skin care products with bad formulas (useless or harmful ingredients), jar packaging, low SPF ratings, and on and on.

Of course makeup is a completely different issue because the benefits are completely subjective (there is nothing subjective about what is healthy for skin any more than it is subjective about what is healthy for your heart and hips—yes, I went back to the chocolate cake and french fries example).

My message is that it’s a good idea to stop loving your products until you know what you are buying and whether or not the product (or, if you prefer, object of your potential affection) is beneficial. Once you have that information then you can decide whether or not you “love” the way it feels on your skin. And I’ll be among the many women ready to listen as you spread the love for whatever product is truly giving you the results your skin deserves!

I know “mineral” makeup remains a popular choice for many women. There are some great mineral makeup options available for those who are fans of this type of product. But without question this is one cosmetic product where the claims has spiraled out of control and taken on a fairytale life of their own (and I don’t mean Aesop’s Fables, because at least those have a good homily at the end, the story behind mineral makeup is all lies and puffery to the max!).

I read an article about mineral makeup in the April issue of Day Spa magazine. This is a publication that is tailored for estheticians and other spa professionals (the ones that are going to be selling you the myth). There were so much false, ridiculous information I lost count. In fact, I couldn’t even finish the article; it was that bogus. Here are a few of the big lies the article intended to position as key selling points and benefits of using mineral makeup, followed by my response.

• Cleopatra started the mineral makeup trend centuries ago, so once again modern-day women can learn from the ancient wisdom of this Egyptian ruler.
  Does anyone still believe that Cleopatra had such forward-thinking knowledge of beauty? The woman lived at a time when products resembling what we refer to as mineral makeup were impossible to make. And if they dug up iron oxides, titanium, and other earth minerals they had no idea these were contaminated with toxic minerals such as lead, mercury, and cadmium. Cosmetic-grade ingredients are what are allowed today, and they’re purified to remove contaminants. And ancient wisdom? The Egyptians sacrificed human beings to their gods, buried family members alive with the king, and had hordes of slaves. Clearly an advance civilization we should learn from! Puhlease!!!
• The spa industry likes mineral makeup as something that sets them apart from the cosmetics industry at large.
  Perhaps that was true several years ago, when the only place to find mineral makeup was in small salons and spas carrying such lines as Youngblood or Jane Iredale. That’s definitely not the case anymore—mineral makeup is everywhere, from small cosmetic lines sold at Ulta to brands known worldwide such as Estee Lauder and Lancôme and Neutrogena and Maybelline. If anything, these non-spa cosmetic lines have improved mineral makeup considerably while many spa brands seem to be resting on their laurels and have not kept up with new technology.
• “Mineral makeup is all-natural and there are no by-products created during their production.”
  This one is patently false. Although the minerals in mineral makeup may have begun as a natural source, the process that turns titanium into titanium dioxide or bismuth into bismuth oxychloride is anything but natural—and it certainly produces by-products as they are chemically manipulated and manufactured to be suitable as cosmetic pigments and binding agents. Remember, in most cases these naturally-occurring minerals must be purified to remove harmful elements that, while also natural, aren’t what you’d ever want to put on your face.
• Mineral makeup is a green alternative to chemical-based cosmetics.
  This is a big selling point used by many lines selling mineral makeup exclusively. They attempt to scare consumers into believing that mineral makeup is the only safe, pure option and everything else is laden with “chemicals”. The word “chemicals” is used to inspire fear (and it works remarkably well, at least based on the emails we get) even though the basic truth is…..EVERYTHING is made up of chemicals! Yes, even natural ingredients are composed of chemicals (so many, in fact, that in some instances a synthetic version of a natural ingredient is actually safer and more beneficial because the potentially harmful chemicals are not included). Please don’t fall for the “chemical-free” claim many mineral makeup brands promote. It’s a lie, and the consumer is being duped big time.
• Bismuth oxychloride is “one of the best ingredients because it helps clear bacteria and heal skin”.
  The quote above is from the owner of a small mineral makeup company, and she is soooo wrong! Bismuth oxychloride is a synthetic ingredient that has no substantiated research anywhere proving it has antibacterial properties or has any healing effect on skin. It is used in mineral makeup due to its opacity and pearlescent finish, plus it adheres well to skin. In contrast, zinc oxide (another ingredient in some mineral makeups) has healing properties for wounds and there is documented evidence to support this (Sources: Wound Repair and Regeneration, January-February 2007, pages 2-16; and September-October 2006, pages 526-535) but lots of cosmetic companies use zinc oxide, this is hardly unique to mineral makeup!
• Mineral makeup helps keep skin hydrated.
  Anyone with dry skin who has tried mineral makeup without the benefit of a moisturizer underneath knows what a bunch of bunk that statement is! Traditional loose powder mineral makeup is composed of absorbent materials that are incapable of hydrating skin. Some of the ingredients may have natural water content, but their absorbent nature won’t transfer that water to your thirsty skin. Even it did, skin needs more than water to rebuild its barrier and reduce dryness. Believing that mineral makeup is the least bit hydrating is akin to thinking you can scrub away acne and blackheads. In both cases, it just isn’t going to happen.

There’s more, but I am sure by now you’re getting what a puff piece of reporting this story is—and this is the type of garbage well-meaning estheticians read, believe, and then pass on to their clients. Misinformation begetting misinformation, but hey, it’s selling product so why not? I’m not out to bad-mouth any esthetician. Even with their skills and experience, they can be just as prone to hyperbole as the rest of us. But if you are an esthetician and you read this blog, please think twice before jumping on the mineral makeup bandwagon for the reasons listed above. Mineral makeup has its place and certainly its proponents, but it doesn’t deserve its prefabricated status as the safe and natural.

As some of you know, I often get letters challenging how can I possibly review products without trying them myself? I am always astounded by that question, because other then makeup (which we actually panel test, I don’t try it myself), how can someone evaluate a skin care or makeup product simply because they like it. If they liked smoking does that mean it’s good for them? If they like sun tanning, is that good?

Think about it this way: does a scientist studying a new cancer-fighting drug have to have cancer and take the drug in order to comment on its efficacy? The same holds true for research about skin care and hair care ingredients.

The most recent letter I received was from a woman who thought my review of EverPure from L’Oreal (supposedly sulfate free) was off the mark because she felt it did help her hair color stay longer. My review was based on the fact that there is no research proving the surfactants EverPure contains are more beneficial for color-treated hair. (By the way, although the surfactants in these shampoos aren’t labeled as sulfates, their function and safety profile is essentially identical).

What personal experience doesn’t account for is that several things separate from the shampoo itself could explain why her hair is holding color better. For example:

• She may be using a new hair dye formula (company’s change their formulations all the time without announcing the change on the label)
• She may have a shorter hair cut and shorter hair holds color better (the hair at the root is new and healthier and can hold onto hair color better)
• She may be going in the sun less frequently (that makes a huge difference)
• She may have changed how she styles her hair (flat irons and blow dryers are a primary cause of hair damage and color fading, if she stopped using those for a more natural hair do, that would be a major factor to consider)
• She may have changed how long she processes her hair when she dyes it (the longer the better for some hair types)
• She may have changed from a reddish toned dye to a more ash or gold tone dye (red hair tones are notorious for poor stability)

As I’ve stated before, I can’t account for how millions of women will respond to any particular product I review, but the basic fact is that many of us like what isn’t good for us and I want women to only use what works and then decide from what works what they like!

I met with a business reporter yesterday who interviewed me about my business and my role as the CEO. Her questions were a great exercise. Really made me think about how I run my company and what is important to me. Here are some of the questions she asked and my answers:

What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received?
It was from my father. He always struggled to keep his own business. I was very young when he told me nothing was as important as being your own boss. He said you will work harder then you can imagine and the money risks will be frightening, but at the end of the day, no one controls your time but you. It has been my mantra since I was 12 years old.

How do you motivate your team?
Mostly through empathy and blatant honesty which can be quite a balancing act. A fundamental concept of my company is don’t do to anyone else what you wouldn’t want them to do to you, and don’t ask anyone to do what you wouldn’t be willing to do yourself. I’m in there doing it with them every day. We also often talk about our fundamental mission is to change the world for women, giving them what other companies won’t. It’s important to almost all of us.

What is the most remarkable thing you’ve done to increase your business?
Found a way to maintain my integrity and retail skin care and makeup products. Believe me, that is unique in my industry.

Ihave been doing speaking and book-signing appearances at bookstores around the country over the past several months. It has been wonderful meeting women who have known me for a long time as well as women who are just getting to know my work. The feedback and questions I get range from the basic fundamentals of skin care to the challenging scientific queries about formulations. That’s what I love about the up close and personal interactions. That’s the upside, but there is a downside.

What I can live without are the women who want to tell me what they know about skin care and makeup that is as far removed from the facts as you can get.

A perfect example of this happened recently. I won’t tell you the city, but this woman came up to me and said that she just used olive oil because Cleopatra used it and ancient information is the best source of tried and true skin care. She was so certain she was right. Her emphatic tone made me hesitate responding. It isn’t my goal to get into arguments (I know that’s hard to believe given how opinionated and critical I can be, but all I really want to do is present information based on research and then let women decide for themselves what they want to use).

This time I couldn’t resist. Her comment was so wrong and silly. I just let it fly and said you’ve got to be kidding, you don’t really believe that do you? Cleopatra? Do you really know anything about her? No one has ever seen a picture of her. What did she wash her hair or face with, brush her teeth with (or if she lost a tooth what replaced it?), use for toilet paper, tampons, sunscreen, or acne?

Cleopatra died young so maybe her beauty was fleeting. Maybe she wasn’t beautiful at all and she was just politically advantageous for the men involved? If she was beautiful it certainly wasn’t about olive oil any more then it would be for Beyonce or Angelina Jolie today.

Bottom line: I wouldn’t use “ancient” information that was even a decade or two old more or less a few thousand years old. Research, technology, science, knowledge, capacity, and on and on are light years ahead of where we have come from and still have yet to go. (Had she never heard of the genome project?)

Relying on ancient information, whatever that means would suggest the world is flat, the gods are appeased by human sacrifice, body sweat and mud makes a great skin care product (really, that’s what the Greeks used), and lead in powder was a great makeup base (which caused necrotic skin and that was only from the 1700s).

Facts are so much better then bromides and myth. I hate the term ‘old wives tales’, but when the phrase fits, it fits.

One of the reasons occurred just recently. I had an argument with a woman the other day. She said what I did for a living was superficial, and she didn’t mean that in a good way. If anything, she was being overtly condescending. Well of course to some extent she was right. Skin care and makeup is by definition superficial. But should we feel guilty caring about how we look?

She clearly and boldly thought it was a waste of time, a waste of money, and inane; something that enslaved a woman’s mind and spirit. I agreed that some women can turn makeup and fashion into a religion but in balance, when it’s about looking attractive and groomed, reducing skin problems and flaws, what’s wrong with that? I mean how could you disagree with that?

I swear, she snorted with contempt and said that “beauty emanates from the soul, not the skin”. What we are on the inside is where we should put our attention. She went on to say that “we are lost from our true nature if we don’t seek the divine inside of us”.

Whoa, now that’s about as judgmental as you can get. Talk about evangelizing!

Then it dawned on me that she had a fashionable headband on, fairly nice shoes, a pair of pants that looked good on her, a bit of what looked like lip gloss, she was wearing some crystal-like jewelry (rings, earrings, bracelets, and a necklace), and she had a decent haircut. She was adorned as superficially as I was!

I said to her, “Did you take a shower this morning? Use soap? Wash your hair? Put on a conditioner? Use a blow dryer? Are you wearing clean clothes? Get dressed in the outfit you’re wearing?” The answer to every question was yes. I insisted, without contempt by the way, that she was without question paying a lot of attention to her outside, superficial beauty. Thankfully she ended the conversation there and then.

Beauty was OK to focus on as long as it met the standards of her belief system? Anyone whose style or beauty ideas strayed from hers was overindulgent, wasteful, and irrelevant. It is so easy to feel better than someone else regardless of how you try to whitewash it in pithy spiritual phrases. In the long run, fashion is fun, makeup applied well enhances self esteem, and skin care is important for health and attractiveness. That is a basis in all cultures, regardless of where beauty falls on a person’s spirituality meter.