Beauty Ebooks

When I was still on residency training, ebooks were a big help to carry around tons of information in one gadget, the palm top or cell phone. We were training for specialty areas and not growing muscles to be the next Arnold Schwarzeneger, so Instead of carrying the full volumes of the actual books, the ebooks were our security blankets.

The ebooks, however, are not limited to academic resources.  Makeup books and style guides can also be downloaded and carried around. The following are just some of the best-selling beauty books you might want to indulge on:

Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual. It’s a must-have for beauty addicts containing the tips and techniques for proper makeup application plus thorough step by step directions .

Each chapter has thorough step-by-step basic directions for makeup application and easy-to-follow photographs and line drawings, along with Bobbi’s expert, yet assuring, advice. Plus, there’s a groundbreaking section of the book that will be of special interest to women who’ve wanted to know how makeup stylists do what they do: the top beauty secrets only these artists know, essential equipment to keep on hand, how to break into the business, and how to work with photographers and celebrities.

Clueless about which makeups to buy? “The Beauty Buyble” ebook by Paula Conway is a handy guide to shopping smart in the cosmetics counter.

The Beauty Buyble is a one-stop reference to the year’s best beauty buys and products. It takes out the guesswork, making it easier for you to find the best hair care, makeup, skin care, and beauty tools available on the market. This helpful, accessible book lists products in the low-,middle-, and high-end product range so you can find the product that’s right for you and that will truly enhance your beauty. The clean, concise format helps you find just what you need-and the authors offer advice from celebrity hair stylists, makeup artists, and real women to help you get the best out of your beauty purchases!

Even Eve Pearl’s makeup corrective tips on “Plastic Surgery without the Surgery” is now available on ebook format.

With easy-to-follow, professional secrets and four-color photos throughout, Eve Pearl, the Emmy Award-winning makeup artist from ABC’s The View, teaches readers to lift their eyes, enlarge their breasts, plump their lips, reduce their nose size, and much more. From eyelift to facelift, readers will be amazed at the results-without the pain, the risk, or the cost of surgery!

If you’d rather save the trees and have the ebook version, these are all readily sold online. Plus, if you don’t want to brave the traffic, they could be a perfect Christmas present as well!

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Organic Body Products

Health-conscious beauty advocates would tell you to think twice about splurging on a product which may not be good for you in the long run. Potentially toxic preservatives could be a threat, especially for those who have delicate health issues. As a cancer survivor myself, I’ve been told the same thing by my alternative medicine doctor. Since she knew that beauty is one of the things that motivates me to keep living, I was advised to examine the body products I use for primping up.

Organic products are the healthier alternatives because  they do not contain the red flag ingredients that can possibly reprogram one’s body circuits. Although mainstream merchandises are the cheaper and more accessible options, organic goods are understandably priced  a little higher because of the extra time and effort needed to come up with a safe and quality product.  In addition, the ingredients of the organic variety are doubly difficult to cultivate without the use of pesticides and other harmful chemicals, hence requiring additional investments.

Instead of the ordinary lotion sold in supermarkets, you can always slather on a botanical body butter which is the safer way to moisturize your skin. An example is the HotHouse Botanicals Bergamot/Ylang-Ylang Body butter which is on sale at 20% off until November 20. Its special organic ingredients of Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Coconut Oil, and Rose Hip Oil aid in reviving severely dry or cracked skin. The less than 1% preservative used contains no formaldehyde or parabens, a notorious ingredient that has been associated with breast cancer.

If bathing in the relaxing scent of Vanilla is your thing, you might as well enjoy the benefits of Dead Sea bath salts which are rich in minerals to relieve muscle pains and dry skin, combined with soothing aroma to make bath time a blissful experience. Just dissolve a handful into warm bathwater and soak yourself in it for 20 to 30 minutes.

Whatever organic product you decide to splurge on, be sure to check the ingredients and see if they came from licensed suppliers. With the rising popularity of healthy alternatives, it would be wise to protect yourself from manufacturers that cash in on products that are falsely claimed to be organic.

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Labeling Your Goods

I’ve been thinking lately of putting up a small business. Ideas have been sprouting, confusing me all the more on which products I should offer. If I had my way, I’d like to formulate my own cosmetics. A long shot, I know, considering the competition. I’m no Fanny Serrano or Patrick Rosas who have built a strong following as make up artists before they created their own makeup lines. If I can come up with a miracle potion, I guess that would be an easier route but for now, do help pull me back to reality.

One of the exciting parts of coming up with your own brand of products is the packaging and labeling of your goods. Hmm… I could think of various spunky names for them. I am trying to picture how they would look on top of my products. If only I had the merchandise to start with. Oh well.

For those who actually have something to sell and are starting small, online printing services may be a better option for private labeling than expensive print shops which only accept bulk orders. Design your stickers and order them for a minimum cost. If you want posters for your establishment, you can likewise order prints at an affordable price. If you’re vain enough, you can put yourself in the poster and pose like Angelina Jolie, as though you’re you’re promoting a movie. This can be useful if you’re advertising your services as a makeup artist, for example. But do keep the pose modest.

Speaking of makeup artists services, having your own brochures for rates and packages is an effective means of attracting more clients. Distribute it during fairs or leave copies at the offices of events coordinators.  Look around online for printing services where you can order professionally made brochures.

The labeling may be secondary to the quality of the product itself you’re selling or the services you are offering but it could tell a lot about you.  Let your label speak for what’s inside it. Make the printing simple yet elegant, sophisticated yet affordable.

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Fashion and The City

Just finished watching one of my favorite 80’s movie: “The Mannequin” the Kim Catrall and Andrew McCarthy  flick which catapulted the song ” Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” to the top of the music charts. Don’t ask how old I was when the movie became a  hit.

I was amazed at how  Kim Catrall evolved from the sweetheart doll into the bombshell character that she played in the popular TV series Sex and the City’s which I enjoyed as well.  Sad that they had to end it.

Speaking of “Sex and the City,” they are currently filming the sequel to the successful movie version released last year. News is that Catrall and Sarah Jessica Parker, the actress playing the role of the fashion savvy Carrie Bradshaw are not on speaking terms which is causing a lot of stress on the set of the current movie. Here’s hoping they iron out any differences between them. I’m a big fan of the two but I totally adore Carrie’s fashion sense. Well, who doesn’t?

In case you haven’t noticed, Carrie has been spotted a lot of times wearing Mikimoto Pearls as her fashion arsenals. She can wear that little black dress without looking too safe or boring by accentuating it with these signature pieces of jewelry. Lovely, isn’t it?

Mikimoto Kōkichi is the Japanese entrepreneur who discovered the methods for culturing pearls as jewelries, hence the name. Mikimoto pearls are fine, exquisite fashion accessories which are not at all the types that you would find in the flea market. They come at a cost but then with its quality, who could complain?  If you wanna strut just like Carrie, investing in these fabulous fashion accents may be a good start.

The slated date for release of the SATC Movie part 2 is on May 28, 2010. Mark your calendar, fashionistas!

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