Girl-Woman-Beauty-Brains-Blog

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How does the recession affect fashionistas and beauty addicts? This beauty addict used to dart here and there in my car, never giving a second thought to how much money I was spending on gas. But darting from here and there last weekend, I thought, "What does it cost for this pleasure trip?"

In case you haven't noticed, we're spending twice as much to fill up our gas tank as we were 2- to 2-1/2 years ago. I know you've noticed. I have, too, And it really hit home when I calculated that the price of admission for my roundtrip frivolous, pleasure trip for said darting activity, which was about 20 miles roundtrip, was $5 in gas. I know that doesn't sound like much, but I'm thinking about the poor souls that drive back and forth to work and the fill-'er-up is up to $70.

The U.S. consumer did not start altering their behavior until gas hit about $3.50 per gallon. In financial-speak, that is called demand destruction. I didn't take notice until gas crept to $4 a gallon. In right-brain artistic speak, that is called cash-in-hand obstruction.

How does this affect beauty addicts and fashionistas?

Beauty addicts and fashionistas have already changed their shopping habits and are looking for creative ways to cut costs because of the soaring prices for fuel. The daily trade-offs include buying drugstore beauty products instead of department store beauty products, switching from Armani to Target's Mossimo. I know. It hurts.

What's your recession strategy? Are you making trade-offs? Will you shop more online?

Beckie

It's Beauteous Tuesday and time for another episode of beautynomics 101. Even if you aren't as well-healed as Queen of Mean Leona Helmsley's dog Trouble, you can save big on beauty products at beauty supply stores. With the economy being so ruff, beauty supply stores are brains on beauty. They can be found on main streets and in strip malls across the country, allowing everyone to feel like a Princess of Provisions.

Nationally, the big three are Sally Beauty Supply, Ulta, and Ricky's. Shopping like a professional is easy when you know what to look for in a beauty supply store. So let's go shopping:

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2. Elchim hairdryers
   
   
   
3. Hai flatirons
   
   
   
   
   
4. Babyliss curling irons
   
   
5. Mason Pearson brushes
   
   
6. L'Oreal Elnett Hairspray
   
   
7. Nail care.
   
   
8. Tiny bottles of shampoo for travel or big bottles of shampoo for a big savings.
   
   
9. Bungee-cord elastics.
   
   
10. Nonlatex sponges. Makeup artists buy these by the dozen.
    
    
11. Empty makeup palettes that can hold concealer, lipstick, cream blusher, and eyeshadow.

Happy Shopping.

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We have not written a post recently about beautynomics, primarily because who wants to write about all that doom and gloom, but according to financial-istas (hot off the presses), it looks like Allergan --makers of Lumilash, Botox, Juvederm, Botox, and breast implants -- could have a good return on your investment. So you may want to add this to your stock portfolio investments, as well as your beauty portfolio.

According to Bernstein Research,

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• The most important development presented yesterday was the unveiling of the Lumilash program. Lumilash makes eyelashes longer, darker and fuller and has minimal side-effects (it did not, as we feared, cause a change in eye color). We expect strong uptake and peak sales approaching $500M. (Girl-Woman will be one of the first bloggers to be testing and reviewing Lumilash.)
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• The other key development was the announcement AGN is pushing forward the Juvederm with Lidocaine program where it now expects approval by YE09. This is a next generation dermal filler that could help AGN break the tie with MRX's Restylane – a largely equivalent product. Between Lumilash, Juvederm w/ Lidocaine and the Clinique products, Allergan is building a lead over other aesthetic companies, notably MRX -- Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. It is difficult to see aesthetic physicians being unhappy with AGN given the assortment of new products. (See Girl-Woman's comparison of Restylane and Juvederm). Additionally, according to my derm's office, there is a new kid on the block -- Radiesse. Radiesse is one of the longest-lasting dermal fillers available. Once it is injected, it actually stimulates the production of collagen. Girl-Woman will test Radiesse in the future and compare it to Juvederm and Restylane.
• There is also solid mid term progress which may come to fruition around 2010. The FDA may consider reducing the number of cycles required in the Botox-OAB clinical trials. There were also no delays in follow on Lap-Band programs in adolescence and lower BMI patients.

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• Kim Basinger has been the face of Prada and Miu Miu.
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• Sharon Stone became a face of the Dior skin care range.
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• Twiggy's union with Marks and Spencer is credited with attracting customers who had defected and sought clothing elsewhere.
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• Madonna modeled for Versace.
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• Dove used a woman of 95 in their last campaign which featured the skin of ordinary women.
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• More magazine, Celebrating Women Over 40, conducted a model search for women from the age of 40 to 51. (Don't even get me started on the age cutoff.)

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