Beauty Makeup

They all have day jobs: Shira Kastan lobbies for a university. Leslie Munsell applies makeup for photo shoots and co-owns a hair salon. And Tracy Wilson Mourning heads a charity, filling her schedule with philanthropic endeavors.

All three are busy, high-energy professional South Florida women — who still found time this year to launch new makeup and skin care lines, fulfilling their entrepreneurial dreams and tapping into an industry many feel is less sensitive to a recession.

Formulating the products with the help of outsourced manufacturers, designing the packaging, creating a logo and website, marketing and selling to distributors — all have taken loads of time, effort and resources.
But all three women are excited to harness their creativity in a new direction, mixing business with beauty, offering something different to enhance a women’s daily aesthetic ritual.

“I think there’s a market for it,” Kastan said. “I think women will still splurge on themselves. And they should.”
Experts agree that the beauty business, while highly competitive, is an industry ripe for new small businesses. Unlike some other types of start-ups, contract manufacturing helps drive new enterprises and keep costs down.
“There’s always an opportunity for somebody with an idea to start up a cosmetics company,” said Jeff Falk, editor of Global Cosmetic Industry, a trade publication based in Carol Stream, Ill. “It’s a self-regulated industry, so there’s responsibility in launching a company and a line, but there are not some of the hurdles you might have to go through to get a food on the shelf or an over-the-counter drug.”

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We’re headed into the high season for “good” movies, and I think the one I’m most excited for is Country Strong, which opens next week. Sure, it doesn’t have accents, corsets, or lavish period settings, but it does have big hair and country music. Gwyneth Paltrow and Leighton Meester are usually known for their upper east side sensibility (the former was born to it; the latter plays it to perfection as Blair Waldorf) and we spoke to Country Strong’s head makeup artist, Sherri Laurence, about how she got these city girls Nashville-ready. “The country look these days is very put together—not a hair or a lash out of place,” says Laurence. “Their hair is very curled, with lots of extensions.

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Alexander Mcqueen – Spring/Summer 2010

Check out the gorgeous makeup of this show. Not only beauty, but prosthetic makeup too!

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Copy the makeup look from the 2008 Victoria’s Secret fashion show!

The origin of make-up dates back to 3100 BC, during the 1st Egyptian Dynasty. Unguent, a substance used to prevent the skin from drying up due to heat and to avoid wrinkles, was extensively used by people of both genders during that era. The women of Egypt were known to apply kohl to their eyes to give them a smoky look. Antimony or soot was usually used to make kohl.

The use of cosmetics and make up was found among Romans also. They grew popular approximately around the middle of 1st century AD. Kohl was now used by Romans too. The cheeks were decorated with rouge. You would be amazed to know that people used to take good care of their teeth along with their skin. For cleaning teeth, Romans used pumice.

Henna dyes were used by Persian women for darkening their hair. Pale skin became very popular during the European time. A lot of women used harmful substances to achieve a pale look, which in turn spoiled their skin to a large extent. During the Renaissance period of Italy, women started using lead paint in order to lighten their skin, which in fact proved damaging.

Due to the damaging effect, makeup was criticised during the time of Elizabeth I. Cosmetics came to be seen as a threat and people started avoiding them. Except for prostitutes who donned themselves with heavy makeup, people usually shied away from it.

The French loved to adorn their lips with red lipsticks, and wore rouge on their cheeks. Though earlier it was repulsed by other countries, eventually it trickled down to other parts of the world also.

A lot of people started using herbal products to make cosmetics and makeup. Herbs, flower extracts, vegetable extracts, strawberries, brandy, spring water etc were widely used. Unfortunately pale complexion was still considered royal and so the efforts of most women were directed towards achieving skin lightness. The use of whiteners and blemish removers proved fatal at times. One of the most lethal products was white lead, which not only caused harm to the skin cells but also led to hair loss and stomach problems.

The irony is that, in spite of knowing the harm they are causing to their body, women continued using dangerous cosmetics like white lead for the face, belladonna for the eyes, and even mercury and nitric acid. Shockingly enough, coal tar was used to dye hair.

Even today a lot of people use harmful cosmetics, though thankfully the focus is shifting towards safer products.