Jack & Hill: A Beauty Blog - make-up, cosmetics, perfume, and the substance of style

Avon True Color Bronzer + Rock & Republic Trickery Tinted Illuminizer

I always groan when a PR sends me bronzer; it is always, without fail, way too dark for my skin. The faintest application makes it look like I've just got a dirty face. It looks cheap, fake, and embarrassing, as if having pale skin is something to be ashamed of.

That said, I do miss being tan. I grew up, until age 9, right on Lake Erie. I can't recall my parents ever applying sunblock to me. (The picture at right was taken in 1978, shortly before my second birthday. I've cropped out the Coppertone baby tan lines that resulted from me running around the beach in a diaper and bathing suit bottoms all summer long.)

After we moved away from the lake, I spent almost every day in the summer at the city pool - mostly because I had a crush on one of the lifeguards. I occasionally applied SPF 15, coconut-scented sunscreen because I didn't own perfume.

And as a teenager, I worked in a tanning salon, the only real benefit of which was unlimited free tanning.

Which is precisely why I am now so hyper-vigilant about not getting a real tan. At age 31, the wrinkle fear is here to stay. Not to mention that cancer sounds like an experience I can live without.

But sometimes I do want that fabled sunkissed glow. This week, I think I found the combination of products to give it to me:

1) Avon True Color Bronzer in Sunkissed (for which I could find no web link) excited me as soon as Avon's PR showed it to me. It doesn't even look like a bronzer, because the shade is so reasonable. As it turns out, it does give a very subtle hint of warmth, as if I've spent a day walking around the county fair with only SPF 15. No streaks, no dirty look.

2) Rock & Republic Trickery Tinted Illuminizer is excellent for adding highlights to your bronzed face, so the look is more three-dimensional. I use it at my temples, at the tops of my cheekbones, and along my upper eyelids. This product is a keeper, though I'm not sure I'd have paid $48 for it without a bit of angst. (I got mine for free from Rock & Republic's PR firm.)

What are your surefire ways to look subtly tanned without being mistaken for Brooke Hogan? Or do you just embrace your naturally pale skin, don a straw hat, and try to walk on the shady side of the street? (Advice Goddess Amy Alkon, a dear friend of both mine and Hillary's, really rocks the hottest sun protection look I've ever seen.)

Derek Jeter Driven Black

I have a real thing for men who smell good, and am suspicious of those who don't. (I am equally suspicious of those men who wear so much cologne that you can smell them from three feet away.) As such, I am always interested in men's fragrances, and sometimes wear one - like the magnificent Terre d'Hermès - as a comfort aroma.

So I was intrigued to smell Derek Jeter's latest scent for Avon, Driven Black, when I was offered a free sample of it from Avon's PR company. The successor to his first Avon cologne, Driven, it's priced under $30 (eau de toilette) and really knocked my socks off. Described as "a woodsy oriental fragrance with a sophisticated blend of exotic saffron, Sicilian blood orange and rich woods," this fragrance pushes all the right buttons. Any man wearing this would definitely turn my head.

I gushed to my best friend about it, who said that her husband has the original Driven and it's a big favorite at their house, too. Then I was singing the praises of Driven Black to my father, who told me that he also has Driven and wears it often. (His only complaint is that the aftershave is not very easy to dispense.) These are all people who are quite picky about how they smell, so don't just take my word for it - take theirs, too.

Mark Blushpaint & Mark Winkstick Hook-Ups

Further to my post about Mark On the Edge Liquid Eyeliner, today I tried out the Mark Blushpaint Cheek Color Hook-Up in a shade called Excited. As with my favourite Pout Flush Blush, the pink looked far too intense - almost fluorescent - in the tube, so I was a bit wary of putting it on (especially as I had a day of business meetings to attend, with people who might not find electric pink cheeks so much funky as fugly). Once applied, though, it was very natural and extremely easy to blend.

I'll also give a thumbs-up to the subtly shimmery Mark Winkstick Hook-Up Eyeshadow Stick in a green-tinged gold colour that is very appropriately called Glitzy. These aren't yet for sale (thank you to the very generous Alex Bier at Kaplow for the samples!), but will constitute more than a bargain at a measly $5 when they are.

I don't think I mentioned it in my previous post, but Mark is an Avon brand, which seems to be targeted at a younger, more urban demographic. I'm not a huge believer in such vague demographic targeting, but I am a very big believer indeed in quality products that are fun and functional, but won't put anyone into bankruptcy. From the items I'm trying from Mark, it seems like exactly that kind of brand. You could go on a mad spree from their catalogue or website and really have nothing about which to feel guilty the next day. Definitely one to watch (and buy).

Mark On the Edge Liquid Eyeliner

I always thought that I just couldn't do the liquid eyeliner thing. I'd tried in the past and my lines were always wonky, messy, and had about as much in common with Cleopatra's style as Anna Nicole Smith does. When I recently converted to MAC Fluidline eyeliner gel, I thought that was as close as I'd get to liquid liner.

Then I tried the On the Edge Liquid Eyeliner that Mark (no, I won't take part in the lowercase 'm', period sillyness of your 'branding') offers as part of its Hook-ups line. (I had to go to a lot of trouble to get that link for you, dear readers, because the Avon site - which is still using FRAMES! - makes it almost impossible to link directly to specific product pages. I can't even link to a page on their site which explains the Hook-Up concept. Deeply maddening, and no good whatsoever for getting customers to link to your products and bring you new customers, Avon.)

Okay, the website sucks, but the Hook-Ups concept is a good one: interlocking products for eyes and lips which, when combined (in any combination you wish), make a very small, discreet portable product.

The On the Edge liquid liner is particularly good: I thought it was crazy for me to even bother trying to use it, and sure enough, I did make a few boo-boos. But I was able to fix them quite easily, and the lines ended up looking pretty good. Huh. Hours later, in 90+ degree heat, the line is still there, exactly as I drew it this morning. I can assure you that this has never happened for me with any liner, be it gel, liquid, or pencil. And at $5, it's a genuine steal. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner. (Avon: Call me if you want help sorting out that website. You are - as the Brits say - pissing away cash with the current one.)

Searching for beauty

Apologies for the lack of posts here - Hillary is on vacation and I'm ear-deep in my new job. I'm now the head of marketing for Latitude, the search engine marketing company. What we do is deeply interesting (no, really), but I won't bore you with it here.

I do think of you all during my workday, though. In fact, just today I was playing around with Yahoo/Overture's bid viewing tool and thought to myself, "Hey, I wonder who's bidding on the term makeup..." So I plugged that word into the bid viewing tool and saw that Avon was bidding £1.31 per click for the number one position in the paid search results (not to be confused with the natural search results, which cannot be bid on). That means that Avon pays £1.31 (about $2.60) for every person who clicks on their text ad - not for every sale, but for every click. And the number two position for that result is only paying 39 pence per click. So Avon is overpaying by nearly a full pound for every click on their ad.

Geeky but true - that's what's keeping me from blogging as much as I like. Normal service will resume soon. (Subscribe to our RSS feed to receive updates as they're published!)