First of all, the eyes need to be lined, top and bottom. If the eyes are deep set and close together, make sure you start the lines from the middle and out to the corners. If you are over 40, don’t use liquid eye liner – it is just too harsh. Use an eye pencil lightly or smudged for daytime, or apply a thin line of powder with a wet angled brush.

Then, use the medium tone on the brow bone edge – not in the crease. The mid tone should be only a shade or two darker than your skin tone. This creates eye definition by receding the bone.

Next, use a highlighting shadow under the brow, on the inner corner of the eye, and on the lid itself. This will bring the eye out. Then top it off with a few coats of black or black brown mascara. Voila! Very nice!

Hint: The mid tone should be matte, and the highlighter can contain some frosting or shine. If you want to use a darker contour color, use it only near the lash line on your top lashes, or possibly under the bottom lashes near the outer corner.

1) If you have hit menopause and you can’t see your lashes clearly, the solution is simple – get a magnifying mirror. It works great for accurate application of mascara. (Just make sure you don’t focus on the lines on your face – they tend to look a bit scary in a magnifying mirror!)

2) Put mascara on the lower lashes first. Why? Because then you avoid smearing on your brow bone from your top lashes being wet. This is especially important if your eyes are deep set.

3) Put a coat of mascara on before and after you apply eye shadow. That way the first coat gets to dry properly before applying a second coat.

4) Comb away clumps

5) Clean up smudges with a clean q-tip

6) Use black, brown or blackish brown for daytime. If you love colored mascara, apply black first, and then coat only the tips with the colored mascara. At night, you can be bolder.

7) Use mascara, no matter what your age is. It really opens the eyes.

If you have a problem with mascara that flakes, try a gel based mascara instead, such as Max Factor’s 2000 Aqualash or Lash Perfection Volume Couture.

Physicians Formula:
I discovered that Physicians Formula is breaking the FDA rules by selling lip plumpers that contain ferric ferrocyanide which is only approved for eye makeup and not for lips!!! DONT’T BUY!!! The lady in Walgreens could hardly believe her eyes when I showed her the ingredients. Luckily she had good eyes, since the ingredients were written in tiny letters!
However, even Physicians Formula is trying to adapt to the green wave that is happening. They have also introduced a new skincare line called “Organic wear,” that offers a tinted moisturizer $14.50/1.5oz and blush, bronzer and powder, pressed and loose @$13.00-15.00 each. The products still contain talc, unfortunately, which is an asbestos like compound that should no longer be used in makeup! However, I can see that they are trying to move towards healthier makeup, which is good, but I’m still not impressed when I find lip glosses that contain cyanide! Booh!

Neutrogena:
Their lipglosses still contain parabens and pretroleum products, but now they also contain aloe, jojoba, beeswax, evening primrose oil, safflower oil, rose oil and tangerine oil, which is a nice choice of natural ingredients. The price is still reasonable @ $7.29. I also noticed that most of the things they sell contain SPF, which is good, even though it isn’t a very high protection factor.

And here comes the real news! Almay and Loreal are REALLY taking steps in the right direction:

Almay:
This company has a completely new line of products out. It is a natural product line where they use a minimal amount of chemicals, and they even state how many percent natural ingredients it contains. For example the lipgloss, called nourishing luminous lipgloss. It has 95.8% natural ingredients. It contains almond oil, beeswax, jojoba, acai fruit extract, lotus flower extract, papaya, wild pansy, orange oil, and it is preserved with sorbic acid and no parabens. It still contains FD&C dyes and carmine, but I’m happy to see that the main ingredients are completely natural, healthy and good for you. They also offer a 97.4% natural foundation that is paraben free and talc free @ $13.99/oz in eco friendly packaging. They have 2 colors of blush @ $11.49, a translucent finishing powder and 10 colors of eye shadows in earth tones. Very nice!!!

Loreal:
Loreal also has a new line of products called “Bare Naturale.” The Bare Naturale lipgloss stated that it contained vitamins, minerals and conditioning care, but I couldn’t find any ingredients on the lip products. Price $9.99. Perhaps the tube was too tiny.
They offered a concealer made with carnauba wax @ $11.99 and also a powder foundation @ $14.99/0.35oz (10g). There is SPF in everything, which is good. Their Bare Naturale mascara is paraben free and contains beeswax, carnauba, gum., stearic acid, jojoba, phenoxy ethanol, panthenol, aloe and vitamin E, and I was actually impressed enough to buy it. I also bought Loreal Double Extend Waterproof Lash Fortifier which used to rate 4 (moderate hazard) at the cosmetic database, but the new formula, which only contains half of the chemicals it used to have, is now rating 2, which is in basically green! After wearing it for 5 hours in a hot water outdoor swimming pool today, I can say that it is so far the best waterproof mascara I have ever tried. There wasn’t a single flake on my cheeks, nor even a shadow of a smudge! OK Loreal, now I’m impressed, and I want to see more of this!

And, then we have the great pretenders:

Revlon:
Revlon sports a lot of fancy looking tubes. They also have a line called “Beyond Natural,” whatever that is supposed to mean, and the labels and display colors are in natural earth tones. However, I couldn’t find a single ingredient listed on any of their new products, and their so called mineral eye shadow still contains parabens. So, Revlon is obviously trying to cash in on the “natural movement” by pretending to create natural products and not actually using any natural ingredients at all. Very tricky! Thumbs down to Revlon!

Maybelline
I couldn’t find any green products from Maybelline. Maybelline, everyone is going green! What about you?

Tomorrow, I’ll talk about Walgreens anti-aging best sellers.
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After thinking about what she said, I bet this is a very common perception that many women have, and this is actually why the cosmetic database started exposing the truth of what the ingredients actually are in many of the products that we find in every super market and pharmacy.

However, yesterday, I took a trip to our local Walgeens to find out if anything new is happening in the makeup industry. I was actually surprised to find that things are slowly changing for the better, and that some of the big companies are actually listening and starting to create more health friendly products, which is good for us consumers! Over the next few days, I’ll write a few posts about it and tell you who is listening to the consumers, and who is not. The first company I looked at was:

CoverGirl
Here, I found huge, eye catching mascara tubes in bright colors with enormous brushes. They still contain parabens, but they also contain some natural waxes, like carnauba. In addition, they have started using just one paraben instead of many (just propyl paraben – moderate hazard, not as bad as methyl paraben), and combining it with phenoxyethanol (a moderate hazard preservative). The price range $5.00-8.00. This shows that they are starting to cut down on their worst ingredients and looking for healthier alternatives. I’ll take it as a good sign!

Other new things: Long lasting lip gloss, $8.00-10.00
Mineral powders: True blend minerals, True blend micro-minerals and minerals pressed powder. They still contain Titanium Dioxide though, which is a hazard to breathe in. Titanium dioxide is safe to use in creams, but not in powders, so I wouldn’t buy these!

Also new: “CoverGirl & Olay simply ageless foundation” that won’t settle in the fine lines, @ $15.99. Obviously, there is some kind of connection now between CoverGirl and Olay. Very interesting!

My Perception:
It is nice to see some natural ingredients in the formulas, even though CoverGirl still has a long way to go. But, at least it is a good beginning.

Olay
This company is far from natural, even though they would like people to THINK that they are a natural company! According to the cosmetic database, Olay uses 9 high hazard chemicals in their product lines, and numerous moderate hazard chemicals, so until they start producing more skin and health friendly products, I’m not giving them any of my money! I was, however, able to find 3 products that are rated green by the cosmetics database. These are:
Olay daily UV moisturizer SPF 30, for regular and sensitive skin, both rated 2, and Olay Vitamins Ester-C Collagen Support, rated 1. Out of 290 products, those are the only ones rated green so far, which basically means that they are harmless or low hazard products. So, even though it is a good beginning, it is definitely not impressive yet.

More about what the makeup industry is doing tomorrow…
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Why is this a bad thing, if the amounts of nasty chemicals are very tiny? It matters, because even tiny amounts can affect your health.

Have you ever done a fast with a colon cleanse? Have you ever experienced a detox reaction? I’m talking body odor, diarrhea, coating on the tongue, headache, even fever. What do you think is causing such a reaction? You guessed it! Toxins in your body is being released! And, where do you think those toxins came from???
Basically, anything that you take into your body, like air, water, food, and skincare or makeup products. And toxins like that will eventually bring the body to a state of imbalance that causes sickness sooner or later. Did you know that hydrogenated oils, which is in most of the stuff they call “food” in the supermarkets, can actually cause diabetes? More about that tomorrow…
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Coastal Classic Creations
Miessence lip cream
Terra Firma Cosmetics
Mineral Concepts
Signature Minerals
Beauty with a Cause
Beaute Minerals Lucious Lips
Inika Mineral Cosmetics
rms Beauty Lip2Cheek
Zosimos Lip and Cheek tint
Barefaced Mineral Cosmetics
Outside In Cosmetics
Gourmet Body Treats
Alchemy of Colour
Lauren Brooke Cosmetiques
Nature’s Boundaries
Inika Mineral Cosmetics
Afterglow
Nvey
Boots No7
Longcils
Honeybee Gardens
ColorScience
CITY Lips
Bio Elements

So, there are lots to choose from, but very few of these are well known. However, I know that some of them are available on amazon.com. You can see that none of the big, well known companies are in the green category!

Somebody told me today, that even if the industry had access to more health friendly ingredients, they wouldn’t use it because they are more expensive than the chemicals they are using now. So, it all comes down to money. However, that is also why they would have to change if women stop buying their products. Business always have to adapt if they want to stay in business.

Let’s demand green products! That’s what they did in Europe, and now they no longer allow products made with harmful chemicals. If they can do it, we can, too!
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The most common problems are smudging and flaking. Because I have deep set eyes, I often use waterproof mascara so it doesn’t smudge, but no matter what type of mascara I pick, it always end up on my cheeks before the day is over in the form of tiny little black specs, and it totally ruins a good looking makeup job.

At first I thought it had to do with the brand of mascara I was using, but after buying 7 different mascaras from walmart, I realized that they all behave pretty much the same. Then I searched the net for answers to this annoying happening, and I finally found the answer:

They put fibers in the mascara to make your lashes thicker and longer, and by the end of the day, the fibers get loose and fall off your lashes (and sometimes end up in your eyes!!!) The solution is to find a gel based mascara. However, you wont be able to build up your lashes to the same volume if the mascara doesn’t have fibers.

Today, I went back to the cosmetics database looking for green mascaras, and this is what I found:(I still don’t know if any of these are worth using, but at least they are all rated green).
Almay One Coat Triple Effect Mascara
Jane Iredale Pure Brow Fix and Mascara
Jane Iredale Pure Lash Lengthening Mascara
Physicians Formula Retro Glow Ultra dramatic mascara
Prescriptives Lash Builder
Rimmel Volume Flash Instant Thickening
Rimmel Extra Super Lash, waterproof
Raw Natural Beauty Color Lush Lash
Nature’s Boundaries, Silken Splendor mascara
Loreal Double Extend Waterproof

Maybelline Expert Eyes Moisturizing Mascara Remover for Waterproof eye makeup. This one is also rated totally green, even though it does contain mineral oil. However, it works really well for removing waterproof mascara.

It is nice to see that even the companies that normally use very harmful chemicals are actually starting to offer at least some green products now. I haven’t tried any of the mascaras listed above, so if any of you girls out there know if these are any good, please share your wisdom with the rest of us. I would love to hear from you all about what your favorite mascara is, and why you like it so much! This will help the rest of us stop wasting money on useless mascaras. So, please, share! I’d be most interested to find out if anyone knows about a non-flaking mascara. Is there such a thing???
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If you would like to keep wearing the same colors you have always worn, you must dye your hair and keep your eyebrows dark. If you go for this option, add up your numbers (CLICK HERE if you want to learn more about my new system for determining what colors to wear.) to see where you are at. For example, a person at the top end of the bright category, like a Japanese lady with black hair (8), black eyebrows (8) and pale skin (2), for a total of 18, will still stay in this category even when her hair turns gray. If her hair changes from an 8 to a 4, her numbers will still add up to 14 (so still in the bright range, which goes from 12-18). However, if someone is at the lower end of the bright category, she’ll end up in the muted category if her hair lightens a few shades, even if she keeps her eyebrows dark.

Using my number system to determine what colors to wear, makes it easy to decide what to do. Do you stay gray? Do you color? What colors do you want to wear, and what color hair and eyebrows do you need to be able to pull it off?

One of the things I see a lot, are women with grey or white hair and very light eyebrows trying to boost their coloring by wearing bright red lipstick, bright blush and bright clothes. Unfortunately, this creates a very dis-harmonious picture, and it doesn’t make anyone look younger to dress in bright colors if it no longer suits them.

The key is to dress within your color category. So, the first decision to make is whether to dye your hair or not. Before dying, add up your colors and see what category you are in right now. Then add up the colors for lightening or darkening your hair a few shades. Will a different hair color push you into a different category, or keep you in a category that you want to be in? Or, are you happy with your grey or white hair, no matter what category it takes you to?

Once you make your decision, add up your colors to find your new category, and keep your makeup and colors within this category for a harmonious and beautiful look. The most important thing is to darken your eyebrows a bit, even when your hair turns light. Eyebrows frame the face and really perks up your coloring. I like to do one of mine, just to see the difference, and it looks like half of my face has had a facelift! (And then I do the other one!) And whatever you do, don’t forget mascara and a little bit of smudged liner on your top lashes. It opens the eyes and defines them!

If your gray hair has pushed you into the pastel category, even with darkened eyebrows, use a light pastel blush, and a light color lipstick, as well as light colored clothing, and you’ll look fantastic!

As your coloring changes, your clothes and makeup has to change, too, but with my simple, but unique, system for determining what your best colors are, you can give yourself a makeover anytime you wish. No need for a color consultant! The fact is, you can look fantastic at any age, as long as you wear the right colors for you.
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Since I was born hopelessly vain, naturally, we have to talk about fashion, makeup and body image, but this is not going to be just another blog about celebrity gossip. I’m just not superficial enough to care about who ran off with who, who had a fight in public, and who went skinny dippy under the full moon and was caught on film by a photographer who happened to be lurking behind a big rock on the beach. Entertaining as it may be, it doesn’t change your life. Life is supposed to be more than just pure entertainment. We are here to question everything we experience, and learn from it all. That is how we grow, and growth is what it is all about.

If I were to describe what kind of person I am in one word or less, creative would be the word of preference. My life is always in a state of inspiration and creativity with ideas bubbling up from within. As far back as I can remember, I have always questioned everything that is old and conventional while visualizing the world being a better place. If you want to put a “label” on me, I see myself as a bohemian visionary, and I would love to share my vision of life with like minded people, so welcome to my blog!
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