Anyone who knows me is well aware that I turn into Buddy the Elf (albeit a more fashionable version of the character) around this time of year, jumping up and down giddily at the sight of all the garlands, wreaths, string lights, and Santa hats.
Back in 1991, a 16-year-old boy who bore a slight resemblance to Ricky Martin took his wide-eyed little sister to the movies to watch Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. It was the ultimate treat for his baby sis, who was six years younger and thought of her older brother as the epitome of coolness, a Zack Morris type worthy of his own Saved By The Bell-esque show.
New lipsticks, shampoos, facial cleansers, and beauty gadgets are released on a near-daily basis, but how many of these have really wowed us with truly innovative ingredients based on the latest scientific findings or awed us with their cutting-edge design and professional-grade results?
When you’re planning on rocking a really bold, pigment-saturated, capable-of-stopping-traffic lip color, a precise application is a necessity.
When my son was a baby, I would sing “En Mi Viejo San Juan” to him as I was rocking him to sleep.
Does the smell of coffee instantly perk you up?
Japanese beauty brand Shu Uemura has mastered the art of kawaii packaging, collaborating with trailblazers like legendary designer and Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld, Tokyo-based jewelry brand Ambush, prolific visual artist Takashi Murakami, Parisian fashion house Kitsuné, and Korean fashion designer Kye to create limited-edition collections comprised of skincare, makeup, and haircare products packaged in playful, exuberant, dynamic, and often heart-warming bottles, jars, tubes, compacts, and palettes.
Think of all the things you associate with heat: fire, sunshine, cayenne peppers, chili, lava, molten gold and bronze, Sriracha sauce, furnaces, solar flares…
It’s 102 degrees in Austin, Texas, which means I can essentially fry an egg on the hood of my car.
Morphing textures and consistencies have been increasingly popular in the beauty realm — from gel cleansers that foam when exposed to water, moisturizing face balms that seemingly melt to become lightweight oils, hair styling products that evolve from thick balms to dry powders, clay-to-cream facial cleansers, face masks that bubble, and so forth.
