Beauty Alert! Blog » inventors of Beauty Alert! labels

Confessions of a Lipstick Hoarder

Stacya — Wed, 05 May 2010 15:06:00 +0000

My sister in law just left town, and on our last lunch she made a confession. She had this lipstick she bought…20 YEARS AGO!!!!! And she finally realized maybe it wasn’t so great anymore when she put it on and it changed color. The thing she loved about the lipstick was the color, a shade that had been discontinued. The only reason she tossed it is because she realized that the product must have gone bad to the point where the color had actually changed. I hear this story a lot, women who find a color that they believe is some magical lip transformer, never to be found again, so they save it for years, parsing out usage. At least she saw that after 20 years the composition of the product had changed. But, it had probably gone bad much sooner than that. 20 years ago was 1990, my first year in Seattle…that was a long, long time ago. Many times a lipstick or gloss that old will smell rancid. Rancid oil on your lips, that sounds so horrible. Ladies, I know you believe you stumbled across some magic lip color, and now that it is discontinued you have been cheated out of the best make-up ever. Do you know how many lipstick companies there are? Do you know how many shades of lip color are out there? Most people can use up a lipstick in two years. If you are hoarding a lip color for special occasions, stop that! Every day is a special occasion. Wear your favorite things, don’t save them. Throw out that old crusty lipstick from the 1990′s, I know you can match that color!

Studies on Mascara Use and Bacteria

Stacya — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:55:33 +0000

MICROBIAL CONTAMINATION ASSOCIATED WITH MASCARA USE
Pack LD, Wickham MG, Enloe RA, Hill DN.
Northeastern State University Oklahoma College of Optometry, Tahlequah, Oklahoma 74464, USA. packl@nsuok.edu

BACKGROUND: Microbial organisms are normally present on human eyelashes. Application of mascara to lashes has the potential to inoculate the mascara tube with microbes. This pilot study of a real-world situation investigated the microbial contamination of 2 brands of mascara used daily for 3 months.

METHODS: Forty women between the ages of 18 and 39 were randomly assigned to use 1 of 2 brands of nonwaterproof mascara. All mascara tubes were unexpired and purchased on the same day. Subjects were instructed to use the mascara on both the upper and lower lids every day for 3 months. After 3 months, the mascara tubes were collected, cultured, and examined for microbial growth.

RESULTS: Mascara tubes were collected from 33 of 40 (82.5%) subjects who began the study. Microbial growth was found in 36.4% of the subject tubes. Based on growth on selective media, most of the organisms were determined to be Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus species, or fungi. We did not attempt to quantify the numbers of bacteria or fungi present within the tubes.

CONCLUSIONS: Because microbial presence was found in 36.4% of the mascara tubes cultured after 3 months of use, we recommend a maximum 3-month use of a mascara tube used on a daily basis. More frequent replacement may be warranted with further study.

Wow! We are Thrilled!

Stacya — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 01:29:58 +0000

Inventor Spot has named us the #2 invention for women and moms! We are thrilled. Alissa and I wish we could give a heart felt speech about how we feel about this project, how long we worked on it, and what we hope for it. We want to make it better and better, and hope to make our next round a charity item. Yay! Thank you Inventor Spot!!!

Flash Back

Stacya — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:16:44 +0000

This is a photograph of my father’s ex-wife. She was an actress in New York, and this is a picture that was taken at a photo shoot for an audition. It was a test to see who would be the print model for a large cosmetics company. I don’t think she got the job, but my father kept this picture of his ex-wife in his wallet his whole life. Her stage name was Alix Taran, and she was married to my father Richard Riley Shepard back in the late 1940′s. I had this photo restored for him by Panda Lab as a gift a few years ago. She passed away a year or so after that. He passed away in November, 2009. They never spoke after they separated in 1952, but I am glad I have this photograph. I think it was for an Elizabeth Arden ad.