The top 10 products of the year...
Sheellah
Cynthia Robins, Chronicle Beauty Writer
Of the thousands of new beauty products, cosmetic colors and fragrances that
arrived on the shelves in 2000, only a very few deserve to become classics.
Here they are: the top 10 products of the year.
1. Prescriptives Magic Liquid Powder: In a year where the glow of youth was
everything, Prescriptives gave the aging beauty hope by developing an
amazing face powder created of 70 percent water and activated with exploding
cells of spherical elastomers. Refreshingly cool as you fluff it on, it
leaves a cheekbone-loving highlight sheen. Available at Macy's, Nordstrom
and Saks Fifth Avenue.
2. Sebastian Trucco 4Shadow Face Cremes Collection: Inside this smooth,
black matte compact is a four-part marbleized swirl of black, brown, silver
and greenish pewter cream shadow for a high-fashion, yet neutral eye. The
cream gives some "play time" and dries to subtle demi-matte finish. High-end
beauty salons.
3. Yves Saint Laurent Volume Effet Faux Cils mascara: Can't see to put on
trendy fake lashes? Use this thick coating and building mascara instead.
Your lashes will look so long and strong, you'd think they'd been pumping
iron instead of mascara. It's so popular that YSL can't seem to keep black
in stock, but the brown is gorgeous, the purple a soft change for evening
and the royal blue -- zut alors! Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman
Marcus.
4: Francois Nars Color Wash: Three liquid cheek colors -- Pussycat pink,
Modesty rose and Blow Up bronze -- for an apres-play glow. BeneFit started
it with BeneTint. Francois perfected it. Saks Fifth Avenue.
5: Cargo Lip Gloss: Cargo's lip glosses, a high-tech hipster line popular
with the dot-com crowd, come in miniature aluminum film canisters with names
like Fresno, Santa Ana and Kissimmee. Santa Ana is a great winter combo of
sparkly bronze and glossy brown-red. For the holiday, Kissimmee (as in
Florida) is a set of silver/gold oversheens. Sephora.
6. Chantecaille Skin Care line: Sylvie Chantecaille was the intelligence
behind the Prescriptives line. With her own products, she has fielded a
limited eight-product selection created with the luxury of expensive French
rose water, botanicals and a time-released delivery system. Textures of
comfortable, products disappear into the skin immediately. Exclusive to
Neiman Marcus.
7. Christian Dior Mati-Star Oil-Free Matifying Moisturizer: For oily or
combination skin, nothing beats a sebum-controller that sits lightly on the
skin while it moisturizes and protects. Sephora, Macy's and Saks Fifth
Avenue.
8. M.A.C Cold Cream Cleaner: A satisfyingly thick cream with no fragrance,
this stuff works like Ponds used to with a new twist. You can tissue it off
or rinse with tepid water to remove everything, including mascara and eye
makeup, without stinging or leaving a goopy afterslick. Macy's, M.A.C
Boutique (Union Street), Nordstrom.
9. Chanel Precision Age Delay Rejuvenation Serum: With regular use, you see
fine lines around the eyes reduce and clarity return to the skin. This
product is one of a recent category of cosmetics -- the "cosmeceutical,"
i.e. a topical cosmetic that may have some therapeutic effect. Age Delay is
one of the better so-called rejuvenation products on the market. Neiman
Marcus, Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom and Chanel Boutique (Maiden
Lane).
10. BeneFit Kitten Goes to Paris sparkle powder puff: The ultimate girly
gift -- a powder puff that fluffs on smoothness, scent and sparkle
simultaneously. Packed in a lavender powder box with equally lavender puff
and powder is the best treat for mother, daughter, lover, cousin and yes . .
. maybe even boss. Cute as the dickens. Makes you laugh. Sephora, Macy's,
Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue.
And in two bonus categories:
Fragrance of the Year: Bulgari BLV: That's blu(e) in Bulgari-speak.
Celebrate the return of the provocative fragrance with this
vanilla/sandalwood- infused scent. Coming from the ultimate Italian jewelry
house, you know the bottle has to be stunning -- an angular, architecturally
elegant blue square. The fragrance itself is liquid sex that starts out with
a jolt of bergamot and dries down to a powdery sensuality. Bulgari Jewelers,
Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue.
Hype of the Year: Cle de Peau: A makeup artist friend who is tight with a
penny got a sample of this hyper-rich wonder cream and loved it. When she
went back to buy the whole jar, she looked at the sales slip. "Four hundred
and fifty dollars?" she wailed. My sentiments exactly. Is anything, short of
an ounce of pure gold, worth it?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Where lipstick is concerned, the important thing is not color, but to
accept God's final word on where your lips end."
--Jerry Seinfeld