marketing

bareMinerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream

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I feel like it has been a while since we’ve had an absurdly long product name.

Mineral-peddling beauty brand bareMinerals is has released a new face product for its loyal fans who want simple-to-use products to improve their complexion without a bunch of fuss. A mouthful, the bareMinerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream claims to combine the best of tinted moisturizers, BB, and CC creams.

bareMinerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel CreambareMinerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream

Whoop – hold on. Really, there’s nothing that makes a CC cream especially different from a BB cream; it’s just marketing. CC usually stands for, “Color Correcting,” but it is still just a BB cream – maybe it has a bit of green to help neutralize some red, or a bit of lavender to neutralize sallowness. That doesn’t make it a different product class! So, we’ll nix that and say it claims to combine the best of tinted moisturizers and BB creams.

The bareMinerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream is an SPF 30 tinted moisturizer with a surprising first ingredient (as far as bareMinerals products are concerned, at least): Water. After that, there’s a boatload of non-mineral content – humectants, emollients, ingredients that help slow or prevent oxidation (something common with bareMinerals products). It doesn’t seem to have a super-star cast of ingredients, but it also doesn’t feature anything off the wall. It is both silicone and oil free, which is a plus if you like to avoid those things.

But it also contains mineral electrolytes that will energize your skin when you use the product. Holy shit. Really? Reading the product description makes me want to go watch Idiocracy. Even if the product contained electrolyte content, 1) it is small and 2) the skin on your face would absorb a hilariously small amount and 3) please excuse me while I beat my face off my desk at how ridiculously foolish this marketing attempt was.

Anwyay, being a tinted moisturizer, bareMinerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream offers a sheer finish which will likely be well-received by the masses of bareMinerals faithful. I, however, am a little skeptical that it is much more than a tinted moisturizer with sunscreen. Is a tinted moisturizer with SPF really worth nearly thirty dollars? I personally don’t think so (and even if I did think so, the electrolyte-marketing was really off-putting). My Ponds Luminous Finish BB+ is a third of that and isn’t relying on a lengthy, gimmicky name or marketing claims, (Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream!).

Just call the product what it is! If it’s a good product, you shouldn’t need to build a mountain of nonsense marketing buzzwords around it.

bareMinerals is selling a new complexion brush to accompany the release of the Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream, the Smoothing Face Brush.

bareMinerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream - Smoothing Face Brush

This duo-fibre brush has a domed head and looks as though it should blend and buff face products (tinted moisturizers, foundations, y’know). I liked the idea of the brush that was released with their serum foundation, but never got to check it out – I heard mixed reviews; some weren’t impressed, others loved it…if not for the efficacy, for the novelty. This brush, however, seems pretty straightforward and should do well with all types of facial base products. Personally, I wouldn’t buy it, preferring instead to spend my money on Sigma.

You can buy both products for $29 each at Sephora, Ulta, and bareMinerals directly, if you’re so inclined.

MAC Marketing is Weird, Sometimes

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Question:

If you saw the following photo in a retailer’s catalog or on their site without context, what would you imagine they were selling you?

MAC Marketing is Weird

Tartan plaid, maybe? Shirtless, kilt-and-boot-wearing long-haired men? Going barefoot in a dress with a portrait neckline?

I really wasn’t sure to think. After I looked at it for a few minutes, I decided that sometimes images used to sell fragrance are weird like this sometimes. Let’s set up a weird photoshoot with a couple mdels, dress them weird/fancy/whatever, instruct the models to put on a smoldering gaze and toss their hair around carelessly. Somehow, that is supposed to translate into, “This is the imagery this scent inspires!” Tartan Mystique, let’s call it.

Maybe it’s just trying to say, “This scent is so awesome that this is what you’ll feel like while wearing it. Off with you! Get your dress, your tartan, your random rocks and a watercolor backdrop!”

Weird.

As it turns out, however, this is not trying to sell you fragrance.

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Christian Louboutin Nail Polish

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As you may imagine, as a beauty blogger I spend a lot of time on various beauty sites to check out what it new. On one of my recent trips down the makeup-on-the-internet rabbit hole, I came across this:

Louboutin Nail Polish – Rouge

This is nail polish. The bottle looks kind of neat (in fact, the cap reminds me of Julep’s Plie wand [that I have not tried]).

Christian Louboutin Nail Polish

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Agave Healing Vapor Iron

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Agave Healing Vapor IronAgave Healing Vapor Iron (via the Wayback Machine)

If there were ever a subset of beauty whose products were laden with gimmicks, it would be hair styling and care. I’m lazily looking for a flat iron (mine is on the outs, but I’m not in a rush because I don’t use it all the time), and I came across this one on Sephora. Overlooking the fact that it is $150 for a non-professional unit, the name alone got me: Agave Healing Vapor Iron.

Healing, huh?

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Herbal Essences Reboot

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Herbal Essences RebootHerbal Essences Smooth Collection Shampoo and Conditioner

Years ago, Herbal Essences underwent a facelift and eagerly dashed away from the awkward, far-too-excited commercials of yore. But with the new look came new formulas, and people pined for the Herbal Essences formulas from back in the day. Within the last year, Proctor and Gamble decided to reboot two of the classic Herbal Essences lines: Smooth (rose-based, pink bottles shown above) and Shine (chamomile-based, the classic yellow bottles). Users rejoiced!

I’ve never used Herbal Essences products aside from a leave-in product about four years ago, so I wasn’t lining up to pluck the bottles from the shelves. I didn’t have a basis for comparison to the old stuff, so talking about it wasn’t a priority.

Recently, having finished up my Nexxus Therappe and Humectress, I was shopping for shampoo again. I perused the aisle until my gaze fell across the new-old Herbal Essences bottles. I don’t want to spoil it, but I’ll give you a hint: look at the green banners on the left side of each bottle.

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Makeup Packaging (Chatter)

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When it comes to cosmetic products, what do you value the most? Form or function?

Personally, I place performance primarily. Packaging comes second; if a product isn’t good, it could have the most elegant packaging ever and not matter.

Maybelline Instant Age-Rewind Concealer, for example, is a fantastic drugstore under-eye concealer…but the applicator is silly. I don’t loathe it as much as some others do, but I do think it could have been executed better. To dispense the product, you twist the case and it clicks as it slowly advances the product up to the built-in sponge-esque puff applicator. It isn’t ideal for application, it isn’t as hygienic as many consumers would prefer, and it is difficult to get the product onto a different applicator if you want to try it that way. The product inside the tube is fantastic, though, so many of us deal with it; it is well-worth it.

That said, there are times when packaging can be a purchase-deterrent. When I choose to invest in a product, I expect greater care to be put into the packaging during the design and manufacturing process. Let’s look at three products, here.

Makeup PackagingMakeup Packaging Comparison
elf Studio Blush, $3 / Benefit Coralista, $28 / Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush, $35
  • e.l.f. features simple, uncomplicated packaging. It is slim (bag-friendly!), straightforward, and features a window in the front so you can view the shade within while it is closed. There is a small mirror inside. It snaps shut.
  • Benefit Coralista, and all of their face powders, comes in a box. The box appeared to be made from thin, reinforced cardboard or paper that is printed with, in Coralista’s case, pink leopard print and some other motifs – I think palm trees, but I really have no idea. This makeup packaging does not latch to close.
  • Hourglass features classy, sleek packaging. On top of being aesthetically pleasing, it houses the product well, closing with a reassuring snap. If I bought one of these and it took me 20 years to finish, the packaging probably wouldn’t make me feel dated or juvenile.

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