Sneak Peek: Chantecaille Fall 2011 about Eyes

Achieve timeless glamour with Chantecaille's new Faux Cils Longest Lash Mascara ($70) and Gel Liner Pencil ($32).

This new mascara isn't just about a pretty face or a chic and dynamic look. After two weeks of regular use, Chantecaille says your lashes will be 25% longer and thicker. Unlike other lash growth products, Faux Cils Longest Lash Mascara features SymPeptide 17, which will prevent irritation and discoloration (the reason I won't use the prescription product). I'm game to try Longest Lash! Peptides are great for lashes (and skin).

Chantecaille is also introducing the first gel liner housed in an easily sharpened pencil! The Gel Liner Pencil's dual-effect brush can be used to create precisely defined eyes or a sultry, smoky look. Oh my...I want one...now!

Both products will be available in September at Chantcaille.com. Additionally, they will be available at Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus, and select Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, and Saks locations. Chantecaille is also sold at Space NK and Frédéric Fekkai Salons.

Photo courtesy of Chantecaille

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Guerlain Le 2 de Guerlain Mascara Giveaway Contest

Congratulations to Jules!

Ever wonder about Guerlain's Le 2 de Guerlain Mascara? With its innovative, elegant tube and dual-ended brush for perfect application, Guerlain has made it a simple task to apply mascara flawlessly.



Breathtaking brush No. 1 boosts volume, length, and curl - all in the blink of an eye, and miniature brush No. 2 goes to the limits, enabling you to take in every lash. The first brush transforms eyelashes with a single stroke while it lengthens, curves, and separates. The second, miniature brush is designed for the inner and outer corners and tilted seven degrees to reach and grab the smallest eyelashes and cover them easily without smudges or mistakes. The result? Glam lashes all day (and night).



Courtesy of a friend in the industry, I have one Le 2 de Guerlain Mascara in Noir 2 (black) to give away. I'm pretty excited about that! How can you enter to win? Here's the "fine print."



There are a few simple steps. First, all you really have to do is leave a comment on this feature. After you comment here, feel free to send me an e-mail at bestthingsinbeautycontests@gmail.com and identify your comment. You can never be too careful about sharing an e-mail address you care about on a blog, so feel free to follow this step (an alternative is to code your e-mail, e.g., myname at gmail dot com, in your comment).



You can earn extra entries. Follow this blog (through an e-mail subscription or though one of the many Google readers - see sidebar at right) to earn a second entry. You don't have to follow to enter. I want everyone to have a chance, but I also want to reward my followers.



You can earn a third entry by tweeting this contest. Just make sure to include "@BTiBeauty" (without the quotes) in your tweet. I will tweet the contest today, and you can simply retweet it to earn that second entry. Only one tweet will be counted as an entry. I appreciate multiple tweets, but it's not necessary.



The deadline for entries will be Saturday, August 6, at midnight. The next day, I will use a random number generator (random.org) to select the winner. I will e-mail the winner on Sunday. The winner will have 48 hours to reply to my message and provide a shipping address. After 48 hours, the prize will be forfeited, and another winner will be selected. Make sure to check your e-mail - and look in your spam folder - when the contest ends.



This contest is open to anyone anywhere. Here are the terms. I will carefully pack and ship the prize (as I always do). I cannot insure the prize for overseas shipment - it's amazingly expensive to do so because of the way I have to send insured mail. If it's lost or stolen in transit, I won't be able to replace it with another. I'll do my best on this end; let's see if your mail services do right by you on the other end if we have an overseas winner.



Good luck!



Photo courtesy of Nordstrom

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Le Métier de Beauté Anamorphic Lash Mascara

This morning, I shared one of Ivan Castro's tips for summer beauty: wear Le Métier de Beauté's colored Anamorphic Lash Mascara ($34) in the summer - instead of black. Don't think you'll look surreal in these colored mascaras. Le Métier de Beauté has designed Anamorphic Lash Mascara to be gentle on your appearance and your lashes.

I was first introduced to Le Métier de Beauté's colored mascara by Lisa Lingis (when she was at Neiman Marcus Mazza Gallerie). She showed me how Midnight Blue would make the whites of my eyes appear even whiter. I was impressed. Then Le Métier de Beauté sent me a lovely gift of three shades, Midnight Blue, Jade, and Aubergine. I've been having a blast with all three of them!

My blue eyes can appear to be green under certain conditions, and I like the various effects I can achieve with these shades. They are not as harshly black as my regular black mascara, and they are amazingly appropriate for day wear, as Ivan recommended.

I'm going to show you the shades on my arm, but these photos are a bit misleading. When you swatch on pale skin, the shades look rather colorful and light. When you swatch on lashes, which normally have color of their own, the shades appear to be tinted, more subtle versions of black.

The swatch photo above right was taken in dappled shade to try to capture the intensity of the shades. The photo at left was taken in sunlight. On the lashes, they are entirely different.

How to show you without taking photos of myself, which I dread? I went to CVS and bought a set of "fashion lashes," 100% human hair lashes. I applied Aubergine and Midnight Blue to them.

Do these look wild and crazy? No! You can barely see the unique color differences in this photo, and I took it in full sun. I can barely see that Aubergine is at the top and Midnight Blue below (they do look reversed, but I'm fairly sure that's right). The lashes appear beautifully defined - and refined. In person, if you look closely, you will see the tint.

Le Métier de Beauté Anamorphic Lash Mascara is worthy of your attention. One day last year, I spent a long time talking with Dustin Lujan about the deadly ingredients that have historically been found in many popular mascaras - and how hard Le Métier de Beauté worked to ensure their own mascara was good for our lashes.

It conditions as it thickens for a soft, touchable look. It has an anti-clumping brush that defines lashes without clumps or globs. Look at how beautifully it applied to these supplemental lashes! It's long-lasting, won't flake or smudge, and removes easily. Even better, it is free of tar, mercury, and charcoal. Yes, I said mercury, which historically was found in popular mascaras. You won't find mercury in the ingredients of those mascaras; you'll find thimerosal. That conversation made me extra-conscious of ingredient labels!

The FDA banned the use of mercury compounds in all cosmetics except those used around the eyes, where levels are limited to 65 parts per million. In 2007, the use of mercury in all cosmetics was banned in Minnesota. You will find most companies have phased it out of their mascaras. I keep checking.

I'm only mentioning this because Le Métier de Beauté worked hard to develop a great mascara without harmful ingredients. In addition to these three unique and flattering shades, Anamorphic Lash Mascara is available in Black and Brownish Black - both lovely shades - but these colored mascaras are keepers at my house!

You can purchase Le Métier de Beauté makeup at Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, and Nordstrom online in the United States. Check out this link for international locations.

Photo at top courtesy of Le Métier de Beauté; other photos by Best Things in Beauty

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Bobbi Brown Lash Glamour Extreme Lengthening Mascara

Lash Glamour Extreme Lengthening Mascara ($24), the newest mascara from Bobbi Brown, is fab-u-lous. No wonder 94% of Bobbi Brown's online customers would recommend it to a friend. It makes your lashes an eye-batting feature.

People Style Watch named it one of the best new mascaras last month. Bobbi’s new gold standard for ultra-long, perfectly separated lashes does everything it promises. The secret? An upgraded good-for-your lashes formula that works in synergy with a unique brush. The brush is like the new Bess-Lash one from Edward Bess. It has widely spaced brush combs, meaning there's a thin row of combs, then a blank space, then another thin row, and more blank space as you rotate the wand.

In just one sweep you'll get noticeably longer, prominent lashes and perfect separation - no clumpy lashes. That reminds me...did anyone see Katie Couric on The Today Show the other day? Her eyelashes were so clumped together and spiky, her eyes looked like the crown on the Statue of Liberty. She could have used this fabulous new mascara.

Because it’s enriched with olive-derived emollients, Vitamin B, and humectants, this long-wearing mascara conditions lashes while staying smudge- and flake-free. I got the first one in February from a company representative who gave me the Plum shade, acknowledging that it's not the best shade for me. I bought Black, which is a nice jet black. It makes my already long lashes pop with base-to-tip color. It adds a bit of volume, but not so much that my lashes look artificial. Lash Glamour Extreme Lengthening Mascara has been added to my "Best of the Best Mascaras List." Since I am extremely picky about mascaras, that's high praise.

You can find Bobbi Brown's Lash Glamour Extreme Lengthening Mascara at the Bobbi Brown Web site and any Bobbi Brown counter. If you missed Friends & Family last week, you could check it out at Neiman Marcus, where there is an extremely nice gift with purchase.

Photo courtesy of Bobbi Brown

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Edward Bess Bess-Lash Designer Volumizing Mascara

Edward Bess has a new mascara, Bess-Lash Designer Volumizing Mascara ($30), and it's noteworthy. I'm very happy with it.

You may have noticed that I don't write about mascaras often. There's a reason. I've tried many, including the high-priced ones that get rave reviews, and I have not found them equal to or better than the Maybelline Define-A-Lash I use regularly. Why extol the qualities of a $30 mascara when you have an $8 mascara that works just as well? Finally, I am ready to recommend a $30 mascara!

I ordered Bess-Lash only because it was made by Edward Bess. Here's what his Web site has to say about it.

Your lashes deserve the Bess! Discover mega-lashes like never before. Weightless smudge-proof formula pumps up the volume. Designer brush separates and coats each lash from base to tip for ultimate definition. All eyes on you.

The description has the same spare elegance as his cosmetics. There's no hype beyond the brief description.

What I found when I applied Bess-Lash is that it has the same magnificent qualities of the volumizing Define-A-Lash mascara I've recommended to countless women - and that's a good thing! For a start, it doesn't clump. I am almost fanatical in my dislike of clumpy eyelashes. I don't think women should run around looking like they have applied a shelf of black goo over their eyes. Rather than enhancing them, it distracts. My first reaction is, "That poor makeup victim."

On my first application, I used the brush of Bess-Lash incorrectly. It has widely spaced brush combs, meaning there's a thin row of plastic combs, then a blank space, then another thin row, and more blank space as you turn the wand. The first time I used it, I had been using only the thin row of combs, without holding the wand in a way that the blank space could separate my lashes. This worked perfectly on my lower lashes, but not so well on my top lashes. I always apply mascara to my blond lower lashes - not much, just enough to make them visible.

Then I had a moment of insight and realized I needed to ensure that I was using the blank spaces in addition to the combs on my top lashes. Once I did, I had the keys to the kingdom.

This mascara easily coats my lashes, which are thankfully long, adds some volume without weight (or that dreaded shelf), and separates for a natural look. There are no nasty fibers to fall into my contacts. It stays put all day, without flaking or smudging. My lashes look as nice at the end of a work day as they did when I set off from the house. It comes off without harsh eye makeup removers. What more can you ask from a mascara?

You can purchase Bess-Lash at Edward Bess online or Edward Bess counters at Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus.

Photo courtesy of Edward Bess

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