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…

On a recent trip to Sephora to gather ingredient lists for a couple of products, a saleperson approached me while I browsed the blushes. The young man was wearing a fitted black tee shirt and a spiky Mohawk, what has become the standard Sephora uniform (well at least in Seattle). Before I knew it, I was somehow sucked into an on-the-spot makeover! He escorted me over to a well-lit mirror, where he began going through the array of makeup brushes he wore on his belt, placing one after another them on the small table like serious medical tools. Even as I protested, he continued, saying that he just wanted to show me what a good bronzer could do — that alone made me very nervous because my complexion is extremely fair! I wanted to leave, to run away screaming as soon as his kabuki brush hit the bronzer, but by that point I felt bound to humor him, imagining this is exactly how many women feel when they are corralled into mini-makeovers either willingly or unwillingly like me who succumb under sales pressure.

When he finished my face, I was visibly unimpressed. I looked 10 years older and like I’d been streaked with lines of brownish gold. Personally, the only makeup I really needed was a new mascara and even though I knew I should consult Beautypedia.com before I hit the stores, in a desperate move to end the makeover before things went from bad to worse I blurted out that all I needed was a new mascara. Before I knew it, he had lead me to the cashier to purchase an $18 tube of Bare Escetuals’ Buxom Lash Mascara, an “amazing” lengthening and volumizing mascara, he explained, with a “ridiculous” oversized rubber brush and intense black color that doesn’t budge. “You’ll love it,” he promised. I was so flummoxed I paid for the mascara and went to get the ingredient information I needed from another store.

When I got it home, it turned out the mascara brush was indeed ridiculous, but not in a good way. Applying the product felt like a circus act, the brush so unwieldy that I couldn’t keep from getting mascara on my upper lids no matter how hard I tried. Even worse, the sheer size of the brush made any discrete application to the corner of my eye impossible. As the day wore on, I noticed the mascara had flaked and smudged below my eyes. Turns out, the product was anything but amazing and I certainly didn’t love it. I was angry at myself for letting the Sephora salesperson have his way with my face and I felt silly and bamboozled into an overpriced and inadequate product. And I know better than this!

After I calmed down, I decided to look up Bare Escetuals’ Buxom Lash Mascara on the web site I work for, Beautypedia.com, just to see what Paula thought of the product, and wouldn’t you know it… Paula’s review voiced every single problem I’d encountered! If only I’d referred to it first, I would’ve saved time, money and could’ve told Mr. Sephora salesperson to get a hair cut and leave me alone!

I do a lot of media interviews, newspapers, radio, TV talk shows, that kind of thing. I’ve been doing these for years. I love the attention it gives my books. Of late I’ve been getting a lot of requests for talking about recession-proof makeup. I don’t mind because in essence it’s what I always talk about: not wasting money on skin care and makeup. Just because you have a job or don’t need to worry about money, in any economy, doesn’t mean you should buy products that don’t work or are poorly packaged so they can’t work. There is nothing beautiful about wasting money.

One producer I’ve worked with for years called me awhile ago to shoot a series of pieces on this topic. She wanted to know how to do “beauty” cheaper without sacrificing anything. Of course I would never recommend anything else. The hitch was she wanted me to only recommend products under ten dollars. I thought that’s fairly easy, but when I suggested two products that cost $12 for 10 ounces that were brilliantly formulated and didn’t sacrifice one penny of performance, she said it wouldn’t fit into the piece because it didn’t cost under $10 or less.

I said you’ve got to be kidding, both these products price out per ounce to be less then any of the other products that had a $10 price tag. One of the hand creams was $8.99 for 4 ounces, another was $4 for 0.5 ounces. When you do the math, how does that make sense? She held firm, her executive producer had the title for the series and wouldn’t budge.

I almost felt like canceling. It seemed so stupid and blatantly cheated the viewer from getting the best information. When I calmed down I decided to do it anyway. They would just get someone else for the series, probably from Sephora or Saks or a fashion magazine who were either paid to represent the products they recommended or had no idea what they were recommending. At least I could recommend products that would exceed expectations. I did the shoot, biting my tongue the whole time.

Over the years that I have worked for Paula’s Choice many customers have asked “ You must use only her products right?” While I do use several of Paula’s products and follow her advice, one item in my cosmetics wardrobe that is not a Paula’s Choice product is mascara.

I’ve been wearing it since I was 11 and found a tube on my mom’s vanity table. I noticed it made my eyes appear larger, which was a great help given that I wore giant red Sally Jesse Raphael style glasses which made my eyes appear diminutive at best. Combine that with shoulder length mall hair, jelly bracelets, frosty pink lip gloss and I was quite a sight to behold.

Until recently, I had never found a mascara that truly performed for me in all aspects. Most had provided thickness but not much length, or length but not much thickness. Call me greedy, but I just really want a mascara to do both. Last December, while doing some Christmas shopping, I stopped into a local Sephora to check out a mascara I had heard about called Blackout by Dior. It was $25 and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to spend that much money on a mascara when Paula suggests several which cost much less. I justified this purchase on the principle that a $25 mascara is infinitely cheaper than a Hermes Birkin Bag.  I know Paula would cringe, I didn’t check her review of this product and I spent well over the amount she considers necessary. Thankfully Paula is patient and rarely cares about her employees straying from her path.

I tried the mascara the next day by itself without liner but with a bit of concealer and powder on my eyelids. I had to run to the grocery store for some last minute baking ingredients. As I am pondering the difference between pre-sifted and non pre-sifted flour a customer had asked if I wore false eyelashes or had eyelash extensions. When I told her they were not she asked which brand of mascara I used. This was the first time I had ever had someone stop me in all my years of wearing mascara, so it must be doing something right! The compliments did not end there, I probably did more business for Dior then some of their sales reps!

I’ve since purchased this product two or three more times while, of course, still trying the ‘latest and greatest’. It’s nice to know my Holy Grail of mascara is attainable for less than a designer handbag.