A veteran magazine beauty editor/writer (and a member of the 40+ club), Genevieve Monsma created MediumBlonde to help Gen Xers and Baby Boomers age the way they want.
All in Makeup
As part of a regular series, I’ll be asking inspiring, in-the-know women (all 40+, of course) to share their best tips and favorite products. The point? As always, to find out what works. Today's beauty insiders: Lynne Florio and Renee Tavoularis, founders of Well Within Planted In Beauty
As part of a regular series, I’ll be asking inspiring, in-the-know women (all 40+, of course) to share their best tips and favorite products. The point? As always, to find out what works. Today's beauty insider: Erin Cotter, GOOP's Vice President of Beauty
Do you remember how exciting Prescriptives Custom Blend Foundation was in the ‘90s? The idea of getting makeup made just for your skin tone was so…novel. I recall going with girlfriends to a Parisian Department Store in Atlanta and being color matched for the first time. We sat in stools with flesh-colored tiger stripes along our jaws, debating which one “disappeared” into our skin. I’ve always been a sucker for customization, lured by the promise of something made just for me. Thus, when Bare Minerals partnered up with MatchCo. to create a color-matching foundation you can order from your iPhone (that’s right), I was all in.
Do you ever have days when you're just dragging? Not sick. Not more sleep deprived than usual. Not hormonal. Well, maybe a little hormonal, but not unusually so. Just tired. And, unlike in my thirties when I felt fatigue but my face didn't advertise it, 40-something tired is pretty obvious (pale, shadowy, drawn—at times verging on Ignorance and Want in A Christmas Carol). Well, I was suffering from tired face last Thursday as I was dressing for an evening event. Not pretty. Luckily, after years of interviewing experts, I do have a few fatigue-hiding tricks up my sleeve (or in my makeup bag).
Back in the dead of winter, I wrote about how I was using Vita Liberata’s Self-Tanning Serum to provide a subtle boost of color when my skin was looking late-January drab. However, now that it’s sundress-and-sandal season again, I’m finding the result is too understated. I’m not after a Giorgio Armani tan (although it does look quite chic on him, UV damage be damned), but I would like to appear lightly sun-kissed. So I’ve upgraded to Clarins Radiance-Plus Golden Glow Booster, which I find imparts deeper color, faster.
Four and half years ago, on a cloudy December afternoon, I was sitting at a picnic table in Central Park with some girlfriends, watching our 9-year-old sons play baseball. Suddenly, our smart phones began to ping simultaneously with a news alert: School shooting reported in Connecticut. As the pings revealed increasingly grim details about that horrible day, our group went from chatting animatedly about holiday plans…to silence. Two of the mothers began to cry. I’m guessing many of you also remember where you were when you first heard about Newtown.
As part of a regular series, I’ll be asking inspiring, in-the-know women (all 40+, of course) to share their best tips and favorite products. The point? As always, to find out what works. This week's beauty insider: Laura Geller, makeup artist and founder of Laura Geller New York cosmetics
Two new, easy-to-wear cheekcolors from Mary Kay are low-risk purchases. Either color will look good on you: One is a pigment-rich pink, the other a sheer peach, and both are spiked with luminescent particles that are particularly flattering on aging skin. But those aren’t the primary reasons to purchase one (or both).
Two weeks ago, I had by my brows shaped by arch expert Kristie Streicher. Here are the products she recommended (and/or used on me), many of which I’d never have thought to try on my own. And after two decades in the beauty business, that's saying something.
I had a fascinating chat with brow guru Kristie Streicher (clients include Emily Blunt and Mandy Moore) on my recent trip with Mary Kay to Blackberry Farm. I’ve assumed for years that my thin(ning) brows were the result of DNA. So, I’ve become fairly adept at using a pencil to fill in sparse spots—and have come to (mostly) accept that anemic arches are just one of my lots in life. Turns out, this may be wrong.
If you read Monday’s post, you know I spent the past week on the road (and in the air). I discovered so. many. amazing. products. But, to avoid overwhelming you with a list as long as my arm, I’m parceling them out in a series of posts. To start, these three dusty-blue finds are surprisingly versatile— neutrals (but not) that will break you out of a beige/brown/pinky-nude rut.
In the past week, I’ve been to New York City, Greenwich, Bronxville, Jersey, and Tennessee. All this traveling did prevent me from posting—but not from stockpiling new beauty and health info. My trip to the East Coast was peppered with breakfasts, lunches and cocktails with editors and publicists (and I took copious notes). Then Mary Kay took me—and about two dozen other beauty editors—to Blackberry Farm outside of Knoxville to showcase their new spring and summer launches. I’ll be weaving info from this weeklong trip into posts for weeks to come, but here, to start, are five (surprising!) tips and tricks I picked up along the way.
As part of a regular series, I’ll be asking inspiring, in-the-know women (all 40+, of course) to share their best tips and favorite products. The point? As always, to find out what works. This week's beauty insider: Jane Park, CEO and Founder of Julep
By now, most of us know that the effects of beauty products are more than skin deep. They don’t just make us look better; they can make us feel better too. Thus, my new It Cosmetics bronzer makes me feel like summer’s around the corner—and, like sunsets at 10 p.m., a full glass of Whispering Angel rosé, and days where I wear a bathing suit all day, this releases happy chemicals in my brain.
Moving to Ann Arbor two years ago provided one gift I’d like to give back: spring allergies. Each year, I sail optimistically through March, convinced I won’t get stuffy this spring. But by mid-April, I’m buying the value pack of Claritin at Costco. Taking meds does help, but on some days my eyes are still itchy and puffy no matter what I do. And that inflammation around my eyes isn’t just annoying; it creates under-eye circles. Concealer has helped a bit, but not as well as tapping on Urban Decay’s new Naked Skin Highlighting Fluid in Skywalk.
