Commentary

Bi-Weekly WTF :: Vol 1 – Asbestos in Makeup from Claire’s (& Justice!)

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Ah, Claire’s. Purveyors of the overpriced cute du jour, loved by many 90s (and today’s, I suppose) girls. Probably loathed by parents who thought their pricing was insane. I got my ears pierced at Claire’s (I don’t recommend this, more on why at another time) around my fifth birthday, and most of my earrings for just over a decade after came from them. As a kid, I was a fan as were many of my friends and peers growing up.

Quality

No one who has purchased Claire’s wares will hold any illusions that they sell quality product. It isn’t meant to be quality; it is meant to be cute and satisfy the fleeting whims of children. We obviously aren’t buying Tarte products. Hell, we aren’t even buying NYX – but for the prices Claire’s wants, you might as well go buy NYX and get safer (and higher quality) product.

So while we can’t expect Claire’s to carry high quality, durable products, we ought to be able to expect safe ones – especially since their entire target demographic is children. Evidently, however, we can’t.

Recall due to Asbestos in Makeup from Claire’s

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They Want How Much? Lilumia Brush Cleaning System

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Lilumia Brush Cleaning System

The Lilumia Brush Cleaning System is far from new. At this point, they’re on the second edition of the device which is, apparently, slightly more effective. Unsurprisingly to me, it’s ending up in TJ Maxx marked down over 30% off retail.

What is the Lilumia Brush Cleaning System?

In short, it’s a washing machine for your makeup brushes. A lazy makeup lover’s dream. This system is to your makeup brushes what a dishwasher is to your plates and forks. It can hold up to twelve brushes at a time, descends into cleansing solution, and agitates against a small, nubbed plate.

At first glance, this sounds awesome. I don’t love washing brushes; it is a tedious, joyless chore on par with hand-washing dishes (#tinyapartmentproblems). My initial reaction? “Shut up and take my money!”

So What’s the Catch?

Well… there are a few.

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Refinery29 on Interview Makeup

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This is a legacy post commenting on Refinery29’s Interview Makeup article. My content has been given a facelift; it has been edited for clarity and ease-of-reading, but is ultimately the same. I winced as I re-read it and the article that inspired it. WTF.

The other day I was reading various beauty-related articles when I came across this one from Refinery29 discussing Skype or other video-call interviews. Seeing the title, I was intrigued – this could be pretty useful to a lot of people these days.

The Players

The Refinery29 article is filled with advice solicited from Michelle Phan, Nic from Pixiwoo/Real Techniques, and Deepica Mutyala; a blogger/vlogger I was unfamiliar with until I read. I’m not a regular Refinery29 reader, but was looking forward to the content.

Knowing Your Interview Audience

It starts off with sound advice from Mutyala – that you should understand who you’ll be interviewing with. Obviously, if you are interviewing in a traditionally very conservative field, like law, you need to keep your makeup understated and very safe. Advancing to the topic of lighting, she makes a point to share that thoughtful lighting is key to a web conference-style interview. It’s no secret that cameras tend to pick things up a little differently than our eyes tend to on our own – webcams, especially ones built-in to your laptop’s lid, are certainly no exception. Throw in a less-than-ideal lighting arrangement, and people could use some help presenting themselves professionally – so this is good stuff, so far.

Keep the Focus on You, Not Your Surroundings

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Clothing Imitates Makeup – Urban Decay Electric

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Have you ever seen a piece of clothing that is so representative of something else (like…makeup) that it makes you do a double-take? Today, I did.

Behold:

This is the Milly Lou Lou Sheath in Tokyo Floral Print. If it strikes your heart in some kind of way, Off 5th has it for under $80 (down from $300+).

Far from fashionable or trendy, I stumbled across this dress entirely on accident and immediately thought,

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Glambot Batch Verification

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This is a legacy post that has been giving a formatting facelift. I still feel very strongly about Glambot given this unsavory experience with them – three years later, I feel the same about not recommending them. If you weren’t around in 2014, here’s what went down.

Initially, I didn’t get much of a response from Glambot on their product intake and batch verification procedures I was seeking.

But I do now.

I reached out to Glambot and asked if they could clarify their team has some special batch verification process to see whether or not products are past their prime.

Glambot’s initial response, copied-and-pasted:

From our experience, MAC lipsticks loose their initial vanilla scent in about 1-3 years.  The exact amount of time varies with the specific color but I do believe that frost finishes, including those that have any trace of a metallic sheen, loose their vanilla scent the quickest.  Although we do not cross-reference each item’s batch number, we do handle customers concerns individually, as they come.

Well, losing a nice scent and becoming intolerable are two different things. MAC Cosmo is an amplified creme finish so the frosty/metallic information isn’t relevant. The vanilla wasn’t as strong as my new tube of Brave; even if it had no smell that would be one thing, but this was pungent. Not something I could stand to wear even not thinking it had expired.

Also – each item that comes in does not receive Glambot batch verification? Does that mean some some items do? I wasn’t sure; it was worded ambiguously.

Following Up

I followed-up, detailing my experience with my tube of MAC Cosmo I purchased from them back in June. It was reported to be in good condition, 80-100% full.

When I received it, it smelled okay, but between then and now it turned to a familiar foul, cheap-crayon scent. It is common knowledge that when lipsticks experience drastic changes like that, they are probably expired.

They came back asking how I store my lipsticks. I store them upright, away from light and heat in a closed drawer in a room that does not have significant temperature variance. They replied that I was, “doing everything right,” but left it at that.

Taking Matters into My Own Hands

At this point, I checked the batch number myself as it was clear to me that there was no interest in that on their end.

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