Julia Roberts’s Lancome Debut–What Do You Think?

Back in December, news broke of Julia Roberts joining the ranks of Anne Hathaway and Kate Winslet, becoming the newest face of Lancome. The news excited Roberts fans tremendously, since the actress has been busy raising a family, putting Hollywood on the backburner. Even in the newest movie she is in, Valentine’s Day, she only appeared in the film for about 6 minutes total. It may have taken a few months, but the famous smile of Julia Roberts has finally made its debut for Lancome in their just-launched French television ad with Roberts wearing their forthcoming European-market mascara, Hypnôse Precious Cells. Check out the television ad below and weigh in on what you think of it in the comments.

The first thing you may have realized about the above television ad is that yes, it is completely in French, which is a little disheartening and confusing. Julia Roberts is an actress; she’s pretty good with saying words out loud, memorizing lines and even the models of America’s Next Top Model have to try their hand at semi-perfecting foreign languages for their CoverGirl commercials. Was it just easier to have a male voiceover be the only thing you hear in this commercial? The fact that this was the debut of Julia Roberts for Lancome and her advertisement is completely in French is a bit of a letdown as well; especially considering that she is still a pretty big deal in Hollywood, retaining every bit of class she has had throughout the years. Hopefully we can see more of Julia Roberts for Lancome television advertisements in the future and perhaps they will even be in English.

Perfect Skin Probably isn’t Possible; Take Tips for Prettier Skin

I have been doing some very frequent research on simple things every day, regular women can do to help keep skin looking healthy and happy. I know as much as anyone out there who has ever scoffed at a commercial or advertisement from some beauty product or another claiming to give you flawless skin that perfect skin is probably not possible, especially when you don’t have an exuberant amount of money to toss at beauty experts. So I have come across a few tips that may help all of my fellow women out there who do all they can to keep themselves together every day and know that while we can’t strive and expect perfection in the way we look, we can aim for skin that looks healthy and keeps us happy.

I am told that I have to drink more water very frequently. With my skin that is very prone to eczema breakouts and my bouts with adult acne, every time someone feels the need to comment on any of this, they always tell me that I need to drink more water. Low and behold, the first rule of getting healthier skin is to drink two to three liters of water a day.

Yoga is already known to help stress, trauma and illnesses that affect the body and mind, but yoga can aid the skin in many different ways and it has been said that some beauty courses even use yoga exercises. While some experts will say that exercise helps acne, a lot of people found that this claim cannot be further from the truth for them because exercise obviously produces sweat and sweat often irritates the skin, which causes acne to become inflamed and makes it look even worse. Yoga, on the other hand, keeps you relaxed, fit, healthy and healthy looking and gives the people who perform yoga a glowing complexion, very much like that “after sex glow” we women (hopefully) know so well.

Switching from product to product is incredibly dangerous to your skin and when you’re trying to find that perfect product, the worst place to take that gamble is on your face. Once you get into a stable routine, from what you apply to your face after washing and before going to bed at night and what you apply to protect your skin throughout the day, you shouldn’t have surprise breakouts or bad reactions to products out of the blue. It’s best to apply a gentle face wash and moisturizing cream every morning and night and if you don’t know what products are best for you, try the greatly-rated Olay Gentle Foaming Face Wash ($4.86) or consult a dermatologist.

Frequent pimples, sudden breakouts and premature aging can all be attributed to one thing in a lot of cases–not removing your makeup every night. It is so simple to fall asleep at night after a very long day without removing your makeup, especially your eye makeup that can take a little while to get off completely. There are a ton of eye makeup removers on the market, including a formula developed by Lancome ($19.99).

What causes acne in the first place? Waste and toxins built up in your system. Your bowels and kidneys are the primary ways to get that waste out of your body, so the best way to make sure your kidneys and bowels are working the best they can is to maintain a diet high in fiber. Foods with the highest amount of fiber are apples, bananas, oranges, raspberries, strawberries, broccoli, brussel sprouts, spinach, parsnips and potatoes. If you cannot keep these foods in your diet daily, it’s also important to take fiber supplements, like Benefiber.

Who has the money and the time to get a professional facial? Yeah, not many people in the least, but facial masks do wonders for your skin and a lot of women with some pretty awesome skin have long relied on weekly DIY facial masks to suck out impurities and refresh the skin. One of the best ingredients used in a facial mask is clay–try the Lather White Clay Mask ($22).

Have 2010 Oscars Predictions? Get the New Vanity Fair Hollywood iPhone App

The Oscars are coming up in March and nearly everyone is abuzz with their predictions for this year’s winning people and films. Vanity Fair wants to know who you think will be taking home an award this year and have launched the Vanity Fair Hollywood iPhone app.

The app, said to be developed in order to engage the Vanity Fair readership with technology and social media, is sponsored by L’Oréal Paris, whose products can be found in the Gift Bag section of the app, including itmes such as the True Match Roller Foundation, Double Extend Lash Boosting Mascara (which we actually reviewed here–see week 1 and week 3,) Studio Secrets Professional Crystal Shadow Duos, Telescopic Explosion Mascara, Go 360° Clean Deep Facial Cleanser, and many others.

For those of you out there, like myself, who don’t have an iPhone or iPhone Touch, the Vanity Fair Hollywood app is also available as a web-based application. So get those predictions and votes in and tune in on March 7th for the Oscars to see if you were right!

2/365 Days: L’Oréal Paris® Lash Boosting Technology — Week 3

I have been using L’Oréal Paris® Lash Boosting Technology for the past three weeks (you can check out week one here) and according to L’Oréal Paris®, they only need four weeks to completely transform your short, almost non-existent eyelashes into phenomenal, longer, stronger lashes. Thanks to BzzAgent, I was able to give L’Oréal Paris® Lash Boosting Technology a try and in the past three weeks, have definitely seen a few slight differences.

• My eyelashes don’t fall out by the multiples when I wash my makeup off at night. Big, big plus.
• My eyelashes are most definitely longer and more defined, even with no eye makeup on at all.

There are two products in the L’Oréal Paris® Lash Boosting Technology line–the Lash Boosting Serum, which retails for around $12 and the Double Extend Lash Boosting Mascara, which retails for for around $10, or you can buy them both together. While I have been applying the Lash Boosting Serum at night for the past three weeks, if you don’t want to buy the set, I would definitely opt for the Double Extend Lash Boosting Mascara of the two. It is, hands down, the best mascara I have ever used. It goes on evenly and stays there all day long and I really love it.

L’Oréal Paris® Lash Boosting Technology — Week 1

I have never been one to wear a ton of makeup; I am a big fan of natural beauty and most often, I can be found wearing only some eyeliner and mascara. I love accentuating my eyes, I’ll dab on a little lip gloss or if I’m going out somewhere special I’ll apply a classic red lip, but that about covers me and makeup’s relationship. Needless to say, I go through a great deal of eye cosmetics, especially considering you should update your mascara once every three months; something I had not known until just a few months ago. Lucky for me, just around the same time I needed some updating, BzzAgent sent me a brand new mascara product from L’Oréal Paris®–their Lash Boosting Technology.

Of course, because I’m well, me, before even reading my literature on the product, I ran up to the bathroom and put it on, since I was getting ready to leave the house already anyway. With just the very first application, I was amazed. I ran into my partner’s office and started saying, “Look at my eyelashes! Look how much bigger and fuller they are, they look amazing!” He agreed, of course, and started comparing the literature on the product to how it really worked, such as the fact that it really does separate and accentuate each and every single lash you have, which let’s face it, most mascaras do not do without some major clumping. I was absolutely overjoyed with the product, but completely forgot that they are currently hosting a 4 week challenge to let you see just how much your lashes will change in 4 weeks while using L’Oréal Paris® Lash Boosting Technology.

So here we are at the beginning. Week 1. Here is a picture of me with absolutely no makeup on whatsoever. In fact, I have been sick with pneumonia for the past 10 days and this is what being sick, just waking up and having no makeup on looks like:

As you can see, without mascara, my eyelashes look nonexistent until I close my eyes. Hopefully this lash boosting technology fixes that. So be sure to check back here every Tuesday until February 9th to see if it really works!

After doing some research when it comes to lash boosting technology and eyelash growth cosmetics and products, L’Oréal is definitely one of the cheapest ways to go about lengthening your eyelashes in a safe, comfortable and easy way. Some products sell for up to over $100 and the entire product line of Lash Boosting Technology sells for up to $21.79. You can purchase it at Walmart and Target for pretty cheap!

Do You Know What’s in Your Cosmetics?

Very few people actually read the list of ingredients on the box of a cosmetic item. If you’re animal-friendly, you may check to see if there is a line that reads “not tested on animals,” which is most of the time at the bottom of the box, but besides that not too many people read through the list printed on their beauty products. In the same respect, what do all those grossly large and confusing words mean anyway?

If the word squalene [or squalane] seems familiar to you, it probably is. Squalene is a very common emollient used in beauty products such as lotions, creams and glosses and is used by big name companies such as L’Oréal Paris. However, squalene is being phased out of cosmetic products as of late due to the vast decline in numbers of deep-sea sharks.

Squalene, which has been an in demand ingredient for beauty products is found in large quantities in the livers of deep-sea sharks and due to the sharks being caught and killed purely for this ingredient, cosmetic companies are seeking the aid of olive extracts to replace the deep-sea shark liver oil. However, if all companies switch to olive extracts, simple supply and demand may be in trouble, as there are only so many olives to go around to big companies.

In 2006, L’Oréal eliminated squalene from their skin care products replacing it with a plant-based substitute and plan to eliminate the ingredient from 12 other lipsticks that they produce. Asian-based cosmetic companies may not be going the same route, though, as shark squalene still remains in very high demand.

So the next time you’re picking up your favorite skin care item, lipstick or gloss and you see squalene listed in the ingredients you can now say you not only know what it means, but know that the company has decided to continue to use deep-sea shark oil in their product and have not opted for either olive extracts or plant-based substitutes. Help eliminate the cause for concern over the dwindling numbers of deep-sea sharks.