Friday, December 10, 2010

The Friday Forum - December 10

You know how much I hate putting photos of myself on Best Things in Beauty. I "got over it" so that I could mention my visit yesterday with Jawn Marques, Creative Director for Fresh, at Neiman Marcus at Tysons Galleria. He's the handsome guy in the photo, posing with me after he applied my makeup. You really can't see the lovely makeup. Store lighting is notoriously bad for taking photos, even though it's bright. It casts shadows and washes out any nuance of makeup. Over the weekend, I'll tell you all about our visit.

While I was at Neiman Marcus, I also had an opportunity to meet and chat with Michael Ann Guthrie, National Sales Director for Natura Bissé. She is gorgeous (her skin alone could sell a lot of skin care), charming, and a hoot. I can't wait for her to come back to the DC area!

For now, I'll tell you that I was on a "beauty high" last night as I though about how much fun I had yesterday - and how much I learned. I plan to tell you more about Fresh, all the wonderful Fresh products Jawn showed me, and the ones that came home with me. I'll be featuring Natura Bissé again soon as I try the new samples Denise and Kathy gave me.

You may have seen on Twitter how distracted I was Wednesday evening when a beauty company helped me discover that there's a "blog" that has been stealing my content - every feature I've written since August. I suspect that site will steal this feature too, despite the fact that Best Things in Beauty is copyrighted. So, as another blogger writes, if you are reading this post in its entirety (that's key) anywhere other than Best Things in Beauty, the content has been stolen. I have to wonder, "Why would anyone want to be me?" I did chuckle at the idea of giving the content thief my credit card bill.

I do appreciate and love sites, such HelloCotton, DC Blogs, the Washington Post, and beauty Web and Facebook sites (a few of many examples) that publish an introduction to my features and direct readers to Best Things in Beauty "for the rest of the story." That's a fabulous service. It's the rogue sites that publish my work like it's theirs that raise my blood pressure. Had to "share" that.

It's time for The Friday Forum. We use the forum to share information and chat. Did you find any deals you couldn't resist this week (I did)? Are you using a fabulous product and want to sing its praises? Did you find a beauty product disappointing? Do you have a question others might be able to answer? Want to talk about skin care? Just use the comments. Don't be shy. Just make sure to ask any question you might have over the weekend. By Monday, most readers have moved on.

We have busy weekends and slow ones on the forum. I'm always happy if even one reader stops by. Leave a comment, and say hello - even if you don't want to comment on beauty products. As I always do, I'll leave news of some great beauty offers (great, not just good) in the comments of this post. If you want to know where to find nice gifts with purchase, free shipping, and other deals this weekend, make sure to check the comments.

Thanks for reading Best Things in Beauty! Got anything you want to talk about?

16 comments:

jbrobeck said...

Unfortunately, there is a lot of content theft right now, but until you said this I had only heard it happening with nail bloggers. ;-(

Charlestongirl said...

Hi Jbrobeck,

It looks like those who steal have diverse tastes!

Miss Brahms said...

Charlestongirl!!! That is a FANTASTIC photo of you!! Jawn did a wonderful job with the makeup, but WOW!! And yes, NM Tysons was the place for the beautiful people in the DC Metro area yesterday - the air was electric with holiday cheer, fantastic beauty A-listers and great beauty gifts aplenty! IT's snowing outside right now in DC - hopefully we will have a white Christmas! For now, though, I need tips on a good hand cream - my hands are virtually peeling. Any suggestions?
I used my Fresh Brown Sugar body scrub this morning, and then my Brown Sugar body lotion - it smells so sinfully delicious that my little terrier Jacky started trying to lick it off my legs!

jbrobeck said...

Mrs Brahms, I wanted to let you know about my #1 favorite hand cream! I use Bliss High Intensity Hand Cream, its FAB!

Charlestongirl said...

Hey, thanks for that tip, JB!

As for hand cream, I am totally hooked at the moment on the Hand Perfection products. I am using the Night Solution I recently reviewed - every night before I go to bed - and it's making an amazing difference!

Eileen said...

What a gorgeous lady you are! I've said it before, don't worry about posting your picture. You'e a warm, vivacious, beautiful woman.

While on the subject of pictures, I think that the rampant professional photoshpping of images that appear in the media has done us all a tremendous disservice and causes many of us to hesitate putting our picture out there for all to see. Too many young girls are comparing themselves to impossible standards of beauty and end up developing feelings of inadequacy. Many middle-aged ladies who are juggling the countless demands of career and family are bombarded by images that reflect a level of perfection that is impossible to achieve. It's no wonder they question what has become of their own desirability and beauty. By the time many women reach our age, they've given up. They no longer see the beauty advertisements as having anything of relevance to offer. And that's really a terrible shame because a mature, confident woman who takes good care of herself and keeps current can be one of the most alluring of all. I'll stop ranting now!

A while back, British Beauty Blogger had a post about content/image theft and the number of responses by bloggers indicating that they had the same problem was impressive, but not surprising. I worked 38 years in a school district and had many a teenager sent to my office for cheating or plagiarizing. I was always dumbfounded by the ones who honestly thought there was nothing wrong with what they had done. They just couldn't see how it was a type of theft. When I'd talk to their parents, I'd get the same so-what's-the-big-deal type of reaction. Ugh!

Here's wishing all of you a great weekend!

Charlestongirl said...

Thank you, Eileen.

You got me going on Photoshopped of celebrities. Have you ever noticed that Julia Roberts has lost her nose? I guess Lancome didn't like her adorable nose because it has virtually disappeared in their advertisements. The bottom is still there, but the whole middle is gone.

The theft thing really bothers me. Because the thief is being hosted on Google Blogger, I filed a formal copyright infringement notice, and I expect Google to whack the thief's "blog." I just don't know how long that will take. Hope Google is more efficient than Verizon.

"Mania" is still out there stealing my content. Published yesterday's Le Metier post.

Abby said...

I continued my quest this week for a product to control the oil slick on my face. I tried Laura Mercier Secret Finish mattifying, which did nothing except make it feel like there was more product on my face and maybe make it matte for 30min. (The effects of blotting paper lasted way longer.)

I'm going to return this to Sephora, but anyone have any advice on what to try next? I was thinking of switching out my Laura Mercier primer for Smashbox Light Primer, or maybe the Urban Decay one that's supposed to minimize pores. I also thought of trying Urban Decay De-Slick, but I'm not sure it'll do anything different from the Laura Mercier product.

Anyone have any advice on what to try?

Soni said...

Hi Abby,

My sister uses Bare Escentuals "prime time" primer and loves it. She has oily skin and has tried MANY a primer.
Also Dior just came out with a new product that I'm going to try/buy this weekend. I'm including the link for you to check out. Good luck!!
http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P277906&shouldPaginate=true&categoryId=1073

Charlestongirl, why so shy??? You are GORG!!!!!!!! You should post more often even. Wish I lived closer to you...you seem like the MOST fun, educated, experienced makeup shopper. I think I would have a blast shopping with you. (we like the same brands)

Have a wonderful weekend everybody!

Charlestongirl said...

Soni, thank you so much for answering Abby's question. When we get into oily skin, I am a bit out of my zone of experience these days.

I wish I could shop with all of you! I don't really have any shopping buddies here. Most of my friends aren't beauty addicts - well, except for Miss Brahms. That's why I love to hang out at the stores and meet my local readers. We have something in common before we ever say hi!

Thanks for the sweet compliment. Really, most photos of me are horrible. Some people aren't photogenic; I'm one of them. Jawn, on the other hand, would look good in any photo!

MarciaF said...

Oh my goodness. Jawn is so fabulous looking. That's a great picture of you too by the way.
I'm curious about the blog that would steal everything. That's unreal. I've heard a lot about stealing pictures but not necessarily content. I hope they are gone soon.

Charlestongirl said...

Thanks, Marcia! You ALL need to meet Jawn when he travels to your area, and he travels constantly. Check with your local Sephora or NM. There are free-standing Fresh stores, but they are in places like NY, Vegas, LA.

Believe me, the whole blog, lock, stock, and barrel. Funny, though, they didn't steal today's Friday Forum after I called them out in the text. :)

Unknown said...

It's a beautiful picture of you both! I am amazed that nothing could be done to stop those stealing content... I would think their site will get shut down eventually....
Mrs. Brahms, I am not big on hand creams but the one cream I liked was Hand Silk by Natura Bisse- it is waterproof and not greasy at all. I also sent my mom Melvita hand cream- it has argan oil, coco and shea butters and it is all natural. I have not tried it but my mom seems to love it and it comes in a very big tube, so it will last you awhile. hope this helps.

Unknown said...

Abby, I have same problem with oily skin during summer. I use Clinique Pore Minimizer which also controls Tzone oiliness to some degree. It only costs 14 or 15 dollars, so you may want to check it out.

Mary said...

Charlestongirl, you took an amazing photo! Honestly, I don't see why you hate to have your photo taken.

web2meb@live.com

Charlestongirl said...

Mary, you are all so sweet, but seriously, I'm just an average-looking gal who tries hard. :)

I think I look better than most of my photos, but they say the camera never lies. I am sure it tells me when I'm exhausted, or when my skin starts to scream "dry," or...

I have had pros take my picture, and those turn out fine. I even had a good driver's license photo once. Figure that out!