What have we here?

Soon, my dearies…

Blogs: Ab Fab 2007

Confess: Your closet blog-reading obsession now has your “Favorites” link in your browser on overload, your work hours and coffee break times reversed, and your head crammed full of cultural trivia/fashion forward fever. Sure, the screensaver altar of your favorite beauty blog writers is a little odd, surrounded by the lit, fragrant candles they’ve recommended in the past – but there are vices worse than blog stalking.

Take all of that devotion to good use and put it in a vote on the “The Fabbies”, a lockdown of who’s who among blog writers – a People’s Choice Awards, if you will. Your contribution to pinpointing the web’s finest will be rewarded with a virtually streaming red carpet on January 31 for the winning blogs.

At a complete loss for who to rally to the finish? Here, an earnest and honest request from Shannon Nelson, a blogger who has experienced a fairy tale rise from SAHM of 3 (now 4) to full-time blogger and PR rep. Her simple start: the lone woman in a male dominated household turned to blogging to share her love of beauty. She now attends Fashion Week in NY and interviews some of the top beauty experts in the world – and shares it with all of us. It doesn’t get any more amazing than this.

Take a moment to vote for your favorites at Fabbies. VOTING ENDS JANUARY 30!

Lipstick Sales: Pucker Up or Pout?

We’ve all heard that lipstick is one of life’s affordable luxuries – and one women don’t go without in less spendy times, right? Credit Leonard Lauder, former Estee Lauder Chairman, for the insight. One wonders if this logic is the reason for their recent emphasis of the famous lipline at this point in time. However, things don’t seem to be as they once were: overall lipstick trends were reportedly down 19% last quarter(source: IRI data Deutsche Bank). Is this where raw data and real world marketing collide?

Hold up. Lipstick has not been a hot commodity for years. As with all beauty items, colors and product come and go. Lip glosses, tints and chapsticky types have been pushed so hard in recent times that I feared an entired generation would never know the beauty of lipstick. Here are a few of my theories behind the seeming demise:

A component may be the nearly decade long push to greener cosmetics. As people continue to scrutinize the ingredient lists of their beauty products, more are becoming selective. How many internet posts have you read on bugs and the like used in your lippy? Whether this is outdated information or not, it became a huge concern for the growing vegan population. Animal free glosses then become a welcome alternative and were marketed as such.

Pricing and quality have also come into play. Where ‘green’ used to be associated with ‘crunchy’, many manufacturers have caught up to the fact that a clean product does not have to be, ahem, crap on the lip or for the wallet. Beautiful, and beautifully affordable products, below $20 became bountiful.

The dramatic lifestyle changes that have occurred over the last decade is most likely a major contributor as well. There is a certain formality in the creamy coverage of color in a tube – a seriousness to beauty that seemed to fall by the wayside with pantyhose. Gloss is indeed the symbol of youth and frivality. As we ease into a corrective-action of the wild ride that was the 90’s, will that also ease us back into a bit more seriousness for the lip?

I, for one, welcome back the lipstick. Nothing provides such perfect, beautiful coverage, as a tube of lipstick. My theory is, yes, lipstick is on the decline due to intense marketing flux. It’s the same flux that is going to bring it on the upswing now. EL has been around a long while because they know what they are talking about. We’re just seeing the resurgence of the lipstick after years of submission, and it’s going to be beautiful.

Go out. Explore. Be bold. And buy.

(we like pictures too)

01/26 – Last Day for Action Jackson – NLOL – please vote

It’s Fast. It’s Free. Your vote will save lives.

New Leash On Life has a chance to be the recipient of $50,000!

Sue Chipperton, friend and supporter of NLOL, is a finalist in a photo competition
and selected New Leash to be with recipient of the winning proceeds.

We need your help and your votes.

Go to www.firedog.com/kodak, click on View Finalists To Vote. Then find the photo
titled “Jackson” taken by Sue Chipperton and vote.

Each vote counts for an additional $1.00 on top of the $50,000.

The photo with the most votes wins. Please vote and pass this along to your as many
people as possible.

The polls close on January 26th.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Stephanie Hoefener

Director of Operations

New Leash On Life Animal Rescue

661.255.0097

www.newleash.org

If you aren’t familiar with New Leash On Life, I have heard nothing but good things about the organization for a while now. Solessence previously donated for their annual walks. Any organization out to save a life is a worthy cause, but NLOL goes the extra mile to rehabilitate animals who otherwise would have a difficult time going back into society, possibly avoiding a situation of being euthanized. A great cause, and, a great photo! Find firedog and vote for Jackson – a few seconds of your time could help out thousands.