Golden gifts - makeup, perfume for the holidays

What to buy the discerning makeup maven, whether it's someone on your list - or yourself? Try these limited-edition offerings that are ready to party, have serious counter appeal and make striking keepsakes, too.


Gold standard: For Marni's signature fragrance, designer Consuelo Castiglioni and nose Daniela (Roche) Andrier eschewed the usual floral and fruity formulations in favor of a spicy, woody scent laced with rose oil and incense. Only 300 bottles of Marni Metallic eau de parfum (4.1 ounces) were made, and each is numbered and comes in a white and gold gift box. $255,

Shadow play: MAC goes graphic with its festive Stroke of Midnight palettes, which come in warm, cool and smoky combos of five eye shades ($39.50, pictured) and three eye shades plus two lip colors, an eye pencil and iridescent pressed powder ($49.50). www.maccosmetics.com

Smoke and mirrors: Warm up those lids with 10 sumptuous yet subtle shades ranging from beigey golds to bronzey browns. Clarins' The Essentials Collectors eye-makeup palette comes with a lush, dual-tipped wooden brush, and a how-to diagram. As a bonus, the palette is made from eco-friendly materials, and Clarins has partnered with PurProject to help preserve the Kuntanawa culture and ecosystem in Brazil. $45,

When Novelty Is the Lure Makeup Brands Create Demand With Limited Editions Like RiRi

Annie Jimenez, 26, who works at the T-Mobile store on West 34th Street, was the first of about 70 women waiting to buy Rihanna’s RiRi Hearts collection for MAC cosmetics at Macy’s Herald Square one morning his fall.

 “I’ve been a fan of Rihanna forever,” she said. “But I’m also just a fan of makeup. I collect lipsticks.”

Ms. Jimenez had missed out on MAC’s two previous RiRi releases (“I spent two hours online just loading my cart and by then everything I wanted was sold out,” she said) and was determined to walk away with all the lipstick colors.

Also in line was Samone Rogers, 27, a lawyer in Manhattan. Less of a Rihanna devotee, she said she knew that the pop star was probably the reason for all the hype about the makeup. That and the items were available for just a short time.

“I’ve never stood in line for makeup before,” she said. “I wouldn’t do it unless it was limited edition. And actually because they are, they’ll make good gifts, too.”

As in art and fashion, releasing short runs of a product, often featuring the imprimatur of a celebrity or special packaging, like RiRi’s metallic pink tubes, has become a tactic of the cosmetics industry, one with little risk in proportion to the potential public relations payoff. If the item appeals, the venture can create excitement akin to the debut of a new iPhone. Sometimes the products are sold for many times their list price on eBay. If an item really appeals, it might become part of the permanent collection.


 If it fizzles — well, there wasn’t much of it made to begin with.

“The landscape has changed dramatically,” said James Gager, the creative director of MAC, who has been with the company for 14 years.

In 2003, when the company first dabbled in limited editions, one of the first collaborations was with the Japanese streetwear brand A Bathing Ape, Mr. Gager recalled. The brand was mostly known for men’s clothing, so “we took it as a kind of challenge,” he said. MAC released a lip conditioner and blot film wrapped in Bathing Ape’s black-and-white camouflage print.

Another early collaboration involved the cross-dressing comedian Eddie Izzard and a red glitter lipstick, which reflected the brand’s reputation for diverse takes on beauty, Mr. Gager said.

Now, MAC may be known more for a seemingly unlimited number of limited editions; this year they have included products designed around Archie’s Girls (featuring the comic-book characters), Antonio Lopez (honoring the late fashion illustrator), the Year of the Snake and vaguer themes like orange and baking.

Limited editions from other brands are crowding shelves as well, especially at this time of year, when prefabricated gift sets beckon panicked last-minute shoppers. In its holiday collection, Dior offers extravagant gilded round nail polish bottles ($26) and bulbous gold lipstick tubes ($36).

Whatever the season, more companies are replacing the notion that a customer will be loyal to one shade her whole life (think Grandma and her Cherries in the Snow) with one in which constant novelty is queen.

Dolce & Gabbana’s cosmetic line, introduced in 2009, has been built around limited editions, said Luigi Feola, vice president for luxury products at P & G Prestige, which licenses the line. Released twice annually, they help draw in new customers, he said, citing the example of the Animalier bronzer, a leopard-spotted edition that became the fourth-best-selling item for the beauty collection in 2011. Dolce & Gabbana found that 65 percent of customers who bought the bronzer were new to the brand, Mr. Feola said.

For other companies, like NARS, limited editions are a way to titillate their loyal fans. NARS has long released limited-run colors each makeup season whose purpose “is really to be fashionable,” said the company’s chief executive, Louis Desazars.

The company has also collaborated with the estates of Andy Warhol and the photographer Guy Bourdin. François Nars, the company’s founder, said that he had long been obsessed with the photographer.

“I love the decadence and the insanity of the makeup in Guy’s pictures,” Mr. Nars said. Particularly, “Guy liked pink skin. I think he liked the fragility of it. And for me, I love blush.”

Some of his more-extreme ideas for limited editions, though, have run aground.

“From a manufacturing point of view, it can be very difficult with our vendors to get François’s vision across,” Mr. Desazars said. But the effort is worth it, he said, not for marketing’s sake but because “it’s stretching the color palette” and “speaking to the consumer about their passions outside of the brand.”

Even if companies claim lofty goals, there’s no denying the potential business value of a seemingly hard-to-get set.

“Limited-edition cosmetics are like beauty’s answer to fast fashion,” said Ann Colville Somma, 36, a beauty blogger. “Women are trained to come back to retailers like Zara and H & M on a weekly basis to see what’s new. Beauty’s usual cycle doesn’t allow for that, so that’s where these one-offs come in.”

Ms. Colville Somma is not immune to the charms of short runs. She collects Chanel’s Le Vernis limited-edition nail polishes.

“Chanel always tweaks the color just enough so it’s unique or trendsetting,” she said. Her recent favorites include Peridot, a color she described as “beetle green,” and Black Pearl, an iridescent black.

“Especially if you’re on social media, you do your nails and you share it,” she said. “It has that buzz factor. You’ll get a ton of likes, and you’ll get it for a lot less money than something from the runway.”

And, Ms. Colville Somma said of her collected bottles, “They look great all kind of lined up together.”

Know the art of makeup removal

London: When makeup is removed in an incorrect manner, it leads to irritation on the face and chances of premature ageing and uneven complexion rise. So use face wipes to remove makeup, but do it the right without causing any damage to the skin.

"Using a face wipe is a great way to make sure you cleanse and tone, removing makeup at the same time to ensure your pores aren't blocked," a website quoted facialist Teresa Tarmey as saying.

She also said that wiping haphazardly before going to bed can remove makeup, but learning how to wipe without stretching your skin and minimizing pressure will reduce any damaging effects.

"Skin is the foundation for looking beautiful, so taking care of it is crucial. Removing makeup in the wrong way can not only irritate the skin but promote premature aging, causing fine lines and uneven complexion," said Tarmey.

Follow the following makeup removing steps shared by Tarmey:

Gently remove makeup from your forehead first. Wipe it from the middle of the forehead to the left and then back to the middle and to the right.

Then move on to your eyes. Wrap the wipe around your finger, exposing the other side and gently sweep it across the lids towards the outer corners. Use your ring finger for this to avoid applying more pressure on your delicate skin.

For your cheeks, repeatedly sweep the wipe upwards towards your ears. The upward movement will not cause skin to sag.

The makeup test: Six area high school girls set out find if wearing cosmetics makes a difference in how people treated them

Confidence. Enhancing natural beauty. Feeling more put-together. Experimenting. These are all reasons some area teen girls give for wearing makeup. So the statistic from the American Economic Review that women who wear makeup to work earn up to 30 percent more than their bare-faced peers shouldn’t be too much of a shock.

A study reported on by the New York Times in 2011 found that wearing makeup “increases people’s perceptions of a woman’s likability, her competence and (provided she doesn’t overdo it) her trustworthiness.”

Six area high school girls decided to put that theory to the test in a four-week experiment, curious to see what people’s reactions toward them would be in one of the most look-centered places around: high school. The participants went sans makeup for two weeks before switching back to their normal makeup-wearing routine, keeping track of people’s reactions, comments and how they themselves felt about it throughout the course of the experiment.

After reading the article, “I found that I was looking at teachers and students at school and how people interacted with them, and I found that the students who were considered the most ‘trouble’ in class wore really dark and thick makeup,” said Alyssa Kramer, a senior at Starpoint High School. “Many teachers were very plain with their makeup. However, the ones with a more polished makeup look were the ‘favorite’ teachers.’ ”

Fellow NeXt correspondent Melanie Izard, a junior at Sweet Home High School, was the only participant who did not already wear makeup, explaining that she was “surprised that makeup boosts confidence. I never wear makeup. When I was younger my older sister would put some on me sometimes, but I would always feel ridiculous, not confident.”

The reactions the girls received were much more positive when they wore makeup. Alyssa described the first two weeks as “uncomfortable.”

“Going to school without makeup was something I haven’t done since seventh grade,” she said. “People are very used to my look. So when I got to school, I got a lot of double takes, and ‘Are you sick? Did you oversleep?’ ”

“When I didn’t wear makeup, I felt different ... I didn’t feel as confident in myself when I was walking into school,” said Kallie Olear, a sophomore at Wilson High School.

Melanie noticed a big difference in how people treated her when she was wearing makeup.

“A lot of teachers and administrators came up to me, just to talk,” Melanie said. “I’m not saying I’m normally unapproachable,” but it seemed they approached her more than they usually do, and “the makeup might have had something to do with it.”

Jenna Schlosser, a sophomore at Wilson High School, said that she had started getting closer with more popular girls in the weeks prior to the experiment, but said, “once I stopped, I obviously stopped getting comments on my makeup ... and they started ignoring me if I smiled at them in the hallways.” The girls, she said, were much friendlier after she switched back to wearing makeup.

Being a cheerleader, Jenna skipped makeup during a football game. “I felt like everyone was overlooking me,” she said.

Another NeXt correspondent, Elyse Cinquino, 15, a sophomore at Kenmore East High School, and Sara Coykendall, a sophomore at Lewiston-Porter High School, were the only ones who didn’t perceive any major differences in people’s reactions toward them.

“Other than one person asking me why I wasn’t wearing makeup on the first day of the experiment, there was no change ... I was expecting that there would be some sort of difference, but there wasn’t,” Sara said.

“I may not have received feedback similar to what the others got because I don’t wear a lot of makeup, and it’s very natural,” Elyse said. “I think I’ll end up wearing makeup less than before ... if anything, I think my self-confidence has increased.”

None of the girls mentioned anything about boys’ reactions. So does such a staggering statistic have anything to do with sexism?

“I think that these reactions are sexist because people believe that girls should always be wearing makeup and that they only look good with makeup on,” Jenna said.

“I think that those are stereotypes that are true with many people, but not everyone thinks that way, even though I could understand how they could,” said Troy Dickenson, a sophomore at Wilson High School, reacting to Jenna’s comment. “I think that the real problem is that girls don’t think of themselves as pretty without having makeup on, not as much because of a guy’s reaction.”

“I don’t really think makeup has that big of an influence on it, but I think it’s the equivalent of a suit,” said Bryan Bedolla, also a sophomore at Wilson High School.

Alyssa agreed with Troy, and mentioned that her “business teacher said that most advertisements for makeup make women feel inferior so they’ll buy it and go for a ‘natural’ look, even though they’re putting $12 worth of makeup on their faces.”

For me, the purpose of makeup “is to enhance your features, not cover up things or make you look prettier,” Elyse said.

“Parents need to set an age for when their daughters wear makeup, and they need to show them how to put it on,” Alyssa said. “The girls all agreed that the earliest age should be 13.

“I still believe that girls and women should be able to be confident with their natural selves. Society ... puts a huge emphasis on appearance, and I feel that that is wrong. Makeup shouldn’t be used for popularity, it should be used for confidence and self-positivity,” Alyssa added.

“I know that people, especially the ones who know me the most and are closest to me, treat me the way they do because of who I am, not because of how I look or if I wear makeup or not,” Sara said.

So will Melanie, the sole non-makeup-wearer continue to wear makeup? She said that she was glad to have learned how to put it on, as it “took about a week of practice to get down a look I like, and I now know for future reference how to do it. I’ll probably wear makeup on some days, but I definitely don’t want to wear it every day.”

“The most important thing to remember is that people should know you for you, not your makeup,” Sara said.

“My advice to other teenage girls would be to try out what you like,” Melanie said. “If makeup gives you confidence, then by all means wear it. However, it’s also important to be yourself. Makeup can skew people’s vision of you, and I think that it’s just as important to be confident ... without makeup, but if you wear makeup all the time that might be harder to achieve.”

Anna Kane is a sophomore at Wilson High School.

Make-up tips to look like a diva at New Year party

- Apply face primer all over your face to set the base.

- Use a concealer to hide blemishes.

- Take an eye primer; apply it all over your eyelid to prevent it from creasing.
- Follow it up with a black eyeliner pencil, by lining your upper water line. This will make your lashes look voluminous.

- With the same eyeliner pencil, apply a little on your upper lash line. Then with an angled brush, extend it to make a flick.

- Apply a light gold eye shadow on your eyelids.

- Then use a white eye shadow to highlight your brow bone.

- Next is to apply a bronze eye shadow on the outer and inner crease, leaving the centre untouched. Blend it a little to soften the look.

- Then apply dark brown eye shadow on the same areas to add some depth. And then blend again.

- Use black liquid eyeliner over the pencil liner for a bolder look.

- After that take a white liquid eye liner and apply it under the black flick.

- Next use the same black liquid eye liner and apply it under the white flick.

- Then apply brown eye shadow along the lower lash line to give it a more subtle look.

- Take mascara and apply lots of coats.

- And then with some lash glue, stick crystals underneath the wing just for some fun and bling.

- Moving on to the face, touch up everything with a translucent powder.

- Then take a bronzer and apply it to contour your cheeks and highlight your cheek bones.

- Next, apply a peach blush on the apples of your cheeks.

- And finish it with a shade of red on the lips.

Best Cosmetics Elegance Tips For Young Girls

The vital factor that draws young ladies apart from guys is makeup! Girls perhaps have it in their genetics to be drawn to cosmetics. They really like to outfit and really like to put on those apparently difficult providers for guys. No wonder, they are so different!

The online is a large position and you will discover elegance advice for mature females all over. But there are rarely excellent content and perhaps no content that goes greatly into the cosmetics guidelines for young ladies.

The Top Techniques for Teenage Lady Makeup

Go Colorful: This is the benefits with young ladies. They can go vibrant and trendy without having to entice feedback such as 'weird' and 'strange'. They can manage to research with more shades and more modifications.

Hair: Because they have been gifted with a excellent variety of locks, they can manage a wide-variety of designs available. Examine up with your regional elegance salon or the world extensive web to discover a hair style that meets your experience. This is less typical in mature females because most of enough time, they are trying to protect up their baldness pate with hairpieces and what not - thanks to the contaminated atmosphere we stay in!

Eyes: Nothing goes as traditional as a easy dark eye liner used on the boundaries. The sight and experience look more unique than ever and entice a lot of excellent feedback. Sometimes, you can try some shining and trendy eyeliners, but don't create that a addiction.

Eye Lashes: Bogus eye eyelash is a outdated and certainly they look bad. Don't get too decked up. If you're welcomed to a concept celebration, create sure that your eye eyelash looks trendy as ever. Glittering mascara may not look excellent for your mom but performs for the teenager!

Nose: The nasal area is one position that looks there only for striking. No artwork can be created on it, of course only if you want to look like a clown! A easy circular and slim item of jeweler looks awesome on the nasal area. You can also go for some guys on the nasal area - they look awesome too.

Ears: The ladies now are looking for several piercings one the ear. Gone are the times when ladies just had their ear-lobes pierced. A higher ear striking with a clinging little earring looks excellent and attractive. Don't be too trial though and restrict the striking to 2 - each ear. Any more variety of piercings and you will experience the issue of disease.

Final: The best create up is no make-up if you believe us! The young epidermis of a lady should not be utilized with substances and things. Try and have traditional and simple cosmetics and you won't repent it later. For example, since your mouth is normally light red or little red, you don't actually need to put lip stick on. A easy lip shine alone would suffice!

How to Implement Lip stick

An excellence tip I've dependably sworn by is to pick your best characteristic and play it up. Assuming that you are complimented frequently on your lips, view yourself as lucky; now is the right time to emphasize them. Here are 16 tips on the most proficient method to apply lipstick.

1. Don’t play up the eyes and the mouth Women who wear substantial eye cosmetics and dull lipstick can look clownish. Assuming that you need to wear red lipstick, keep whatever is left of your cosmetics light. Assuming that you are playing up the eyes, keep your mouth light with a sparkle or light lip color that doesn't emerge.

2. For "stout" lips, apply liner simply outside your common lip line. Spot a spot of sparkle amidst your lowest part lip.

3. How to apply lipstick? I don't put stock in guidelines to applying lipstick. Some ladies utilization unique lipstick brushes (pictured here). I possess one and never, ever utilization it. Others utilize their center finger (I once said this was a delightfulness blooper and got reamed by a spectator, I have since altered my opinion). Generally ladies apply right from the tube. Pick what's a good fit for you; inasmuch as the shade gets on the lips, you're great.

4. Use liner on your lips as a base. Lipstick will keep going more drawn out assuming that you fill in your lips with the liner first. Provided that you're utilizing light lipstick, attempt a naked liner. At that point smooth your lipstick on top.

Lip sparkle is notorious for wearing off quick, yet in the event that you fill in lips first with the liner, the shine has something to adhere to.

5. You can line before or after you apply lipstick or sparkle. Some ladies want to apply liner in the first place, contending that you won't have the capacity to see the common line of your lips provided that you apply lipstick first. Be that as it may I find lips look more characteristic when I line lips after I apply lipstick.

6. Never utilize a dull liner with light lipstick. Outlined lips are incredible; however determine the liner matches the lipstick or sparkle. Dull liner and light lips is tasteless.

7. Don’t test lipstick on your lips. It's out and out unhygienic unless you wipe off the lipstick with an enormous swipe of a tissue. Far and away superior, test lipstick on your fingertips. It's a closer fit to your lips than the cover of your hand.

8. Don’t toss out a terrible shade lipstick. Excellence editors know you can make an incredible lip shade by mixing lipsticks you don't prefer. You can additionally shade in lips with a darker liner before applying a lipstick that is too splendid.

9. Keep lipstick off glass. Carefully lick your lips before taking a sample from a glass. It lives up to expectations!

10. Keep lipstick off your teeth with this trap. In the wake of applying lipstick, take your pointer and pop it in your mouth, then haul it out. The abundance lipstick will fall off on your finger instead of your teeth.

11. Lipstick can enactment as a redden. Anyway never utilize become flushed as a lipstick.

12. The more advanced in years you are, the "creamier" your lips may as well look. As we age, our lips disperse. Along these lines, you may as well escape matte and sparkle and remain faithful to a velvety lipstick. Likewise, look out for dim lipsticks.

13. Not all lipstick shades look great on everyone. Your skin shade will confirm what shades are right on you. You might like a lipstick on your companion; however it may not look great on you. Orange or tan shades, incorporating corals, look great on few individuals. These shades have a tendency to make teeth show up yellow.

14. Camouflage yellowed teeth. To downplay a yellow throws to teeth, attempt lipsticks with a somewhat blue connotation. Shades that work incorporate plums, pinks, wines and violets, consistent with Lazarus, a Nyc cosmetics specialist, in O magazine.

15. Heal --don't toss out --a broken lipstick. In the event that your lipstick severs, basically take off the broken partition with a tissue, and then gradually wave a lit match under the broken bit of lipstick. At the time its softened a spot, put it once more on the base, swivel it down and put it in the ice chest --revealed --for 30 minutes.

16. Lipstick done? You may recognize there's still a spot of lipstick down in the tube. Rub out the final bits with a cotton swap or orange stick and blend it with Vaseline or lip gleam in a lipstick palette. Utilize a lip brush to apply.

Wedding Elegance and Cosmetics Tips

The wedding day is not just the enormous occasion in a lady's existence, and yet the day in which all the visitors' eyes are upon the lady, who is brilliant from joy, needing to look picture-ideal for her enormous day. Marriage cosmetics tips, plus the best possible hair forethought are essential to look and feel that way.

Since the precise minute after the lady and groom have authoritatively reported their engagement, making arrangements for the wedding day may as well incorporate the hunting down wedding haircuts and cosmetics tips. In the event that the "Big Day" is en route, remember that it is best to look like yourself, yet accentuating uncommon characteristics of your front side.

Your eyes are the window to your soul, so give them the correct edge applying a couple of the eye cosmetics tips that you can effectively find internet, searching magazines or asking an excellence counsel. Then again, not just the eyes, recall that there are various diverse cosmetics tips to help you resemble a motion picture star.

Even though hair forethought might proceed as a common action, it might require specific consideration in understanding to the diverse wedding hairdos that you select ahead of time of your wedding outfit. It is quite fitting to make the distinct determination dependent upon your wedding dress, yet you should attempt a few hairdos preceding settling on one of them.

Eye cosmetics tips ought to be rehearsed early to assurance you won't resemble a cosmetics examination as a more terrible situation. Twisting your lashes to make your eyes open and adhere to dim shaded mascaras will make you look more characteristic, yet assuming that you need to include a sensational impact, line your easier lashes.

Wedding cosmetics tips are encased with a straightforward thought: toning it down would be ideal. On the grounds that everyone will be taking a gander at you on your wedding day, don't put on a show to put all the cosmetics on the planet onto every part of your front side. Disguising yourself behind an intensely painted front side will make you look counterfeit, especially assuming that you don't wear an excessive amount of cosmetics in your each day exercises.

Your eating regimen and lifestyle will reflect in both your skin and your hair so the healthier your eating regimen, the more delightful you will look on the Big Day. Hair consideration may as well incorporate a medicine with olive oil connected just on the hair's closures at time to retire and washing it off the following morning. Trim your hair each 4 to 5 weeks regardless of the fact that you are developing it for an up do, and don't brush it when it is wet.

Sound hair merits an extraordinary hair styling browsed the numerous wedding haircuts, incorporating undoes, medium hairdos, wavy hairdos and even famous person haircuts, simply make a point to talk about with your beauticians the diverse styles and test those that you might want to wear on your wedding day.

Orderly Bridal Makeup Application Tips

Your wedding day is nearing closer and closer and if there is one thing you need most, it is looking the best on your extraordinary day. Here is an orderly guide to applying cosmetics for your wedding day:

Planning Your Face

1. Begin with a clean, decently saturated front side. Assuming that you have sleek skin, utilize a cream specified for your skin sort. Assuming that you have dry skin, utilize a hydrating spread before you start.

2. notwithstanding select an establishment. This is an extremely vital part and you need to be extremely cautious when picking an establishment. You need to search for an item that suits your skin tone and is additionally long-remaining. In the event that you are having a spring or a vacation spot wedding, search for something water safe. The establishment may as well likewise be streak confirmation with the goal that cosmetics lines don't indicate. It might as well truly set off your composition and not make it look dull. A helpful tip is to head off to a magnificence counter and get 2-3 items tried on your front side well after the wedding.

3. In the wake of applying the establishment, set it with a translucent setting powder.

Eye Makeup

1. Hydrate the region with cream and afterward make a base. Apply an unbiased shade Eye shadow over the whole eyelid right you're your lash line to the bow.

2. Presently for some stress. Utilize a mid tone tint within the external corner of the eye to stress it. Fare thee well to utilize Eye shadow colors that suit your skin tone and run well with your embellishments, adornments and bundle shades.

3. Presently apply eyeliner. It is great to practice well previously to get a clean and straight line.

3. For thick lashes, utilize an eyelash style to twist them and layer with a twofold layer of mascara. In the event that you suppose there is even a slight risk that you may holler, go in for waterproof mascara.

Cheeks and Lips

1. Pick a color that suits your skin tone and runs with your dress and upgrade your characteristic gleam with blusher.

2. Get ready your lips by applying lip emollient. Shed and saturate lips customarily preceding the wedding to guarantee delicate and smooth lips.

3. Line your lips with a lip liner. Don't influence from your common shape. Just make your regular shape more obvious.

4. Fill in with a fitting shade of lipstick. At the end of the day, verify your lipstick in exchange safe and long remain. Put resources into an exceptional quality lipstick that gives all of you this and keeps your lips saturated.

It is dependably encouraged to put on trial cosmetics numerous times after the wedding for the purpose that you spare yourself from any keep going moment cosmetics fiascos on your for the most part uncommon day. Bunches of rest and a loose state of psyche will guarantee you have your regular gleam on your wedding day.