Beauty Blog Backstage Dec 2010 - Featuring Sparklecrack Central!

Has it really been nearly a month since my last Beauty Blog Backstage interview? Wow, crazy. Anyway, I had the honor of interviewing LiAnn from SparkleCrack Central (also the coordinator of Beauty Blog Backstage - cool huh? I feel special). This time is a little different. Obviously you'll see the questions I came up with and LiAnn's answers. But this month, I've decided to also add my own comments to her answers. My comments will be grey, italized and be inside little squiggly {} thingies. What are those called anyway?

1. You've mentioned mineral repackagers but how do you feel about companies that buy wholesale and then get their brand name put on the package?

If they sell it for a reasonable price, with a minor markup to cover their own costs, and don't try to claim that it's their own product...I personally don't have a problem.
In all the world, most people selling something are resellers of one type or another. If a company -=adds value=- to what they're reselling, or makes available something that individuals can't buy except in large bulk lots (such the cosmetics from Lady Burd, which has a $100-minimum order), I don't have a problem with that. As an example, those indelible eye creams and gel liners from Lady Burd were (and still are) sold by many indie MMU companies. The companies that marked them at $6 or $7...I'd buy those items from them. The companies that priced the exact same items at $12 or $13...I wouldn't buy those items from them. I own several of those cream shadows and liners, but I didn't buy any of them from Aromaleigh - from which I bought LOTS of eyeshadow and blushers - because I could find those items elsewhere for less. {I feel similarly and I'll always look for the lowest price.}

I do have a problem when a company adds a 50% markup (or more...sometimes much more) without adding any value besides "branding" (there is no intrinsic value in branding) and / or when they specifically try to claim that the product in question is their own original creation. (I think my other least-favored verbiage to find on any MMU site is "I created a makeup line because I couldn't find what I wanted!" What, you don't know how to use the Internet? Ebbeh...)

2. What's your favorite drink?

COFFEE!! {a girl after my own heart} My daily stuff is Kirkland brand (Costco) house blend. Around the holidays, I'll get espresso roast and add a little bit of eggnog (generally I take my coffee black, {This not so much, I like "coffee milk", 1/2 coffee 1/2 skim milk or soy or almond...} like the depths of my soul. :D ) My favorite "treating myself" coffees are Shock-o-Rama, Mystery Manor, or Zombie Dirt from Coffee Shop of Horrors.

I also like Dr. Pepper and ginger ale (Canada Dry, sil vous plait. It tastes better than any other kinds I've tried.) {I'm a diet 'anything' kind of girl though I've been on a Diet Mountain Dew kick as of late which is probably a very very bad thing}
3. What are your top 10 mineral eyeshadows?

Oh, geez...that's a toughie!! I'd say:
Pure Luxe's Kaleidescope colors, as a group: the TKB colorshifting micas blended with a colored base (mmmmm...duochromes...)
Morgana Minerals' Chameleon Sea
Morgana Minerals' Zaria
The SheSpace's Knights Trump Dwarves
The SheSpace's Define Beauty (or Aromaleigh's Angelique, which is almost exactly the same shade)
Aromaleigh's Butterscotch
Bare Escentuals' Fire Opal
Bare Escentuals' Gigi
Meow Cosmetics' Bromeliad
Shiro Cosmetics' Clefairy

{You guys should already know I'm far too accident prone and blind to use mineral eyeshadows with any frequency!}

4. Is there a makeup brand that you've wanted to try but haven't?

Not really. I tend to look for functionality first, then price. {I so wish I could do this} I'm not quite as into brands and branding as I am "what works for me?" (This attitude utterly baffles my cousin and her mom, who are both extremely brand- and status-conscious.)

I guess I'd like to try Illamasqua, but mostly just the nail polishes - specifically, the two from the Art of Darkness collection. (Illamasqua doesn't do too much loose-powder stuff, and what they do, costs more than what I use. So unless they introduce a wicked line of duochromes, I'll leave their loose-powder stuff to the hardcore brand devotees!)

5. If you had to recommend a local restaurant in your town/city to a visitor, which one would it be?

High end: it's rather tourist-y, but the Skybar restaurant atop the Seattle Space Needle does serve really excellent meals {It's also very cool, was there a few years back}. Meals there can be about $50 a plate, though. Midrange: Scott's Bar and Grill. Good nibblies, has a great sitting area, and won't bust the bank. $10 will get you a complete entree and dessert.

6. Which products would be included in your 5-minute face or your go-to daily easy look?

After the cleanser-moisturizer-sunscreen: Meow Cosmetics' foundation, Urban Decay Primer Potion, any single medium-light pink or brown shadow (probably Aromaleigh or Shiro), Bare Escentuals' Flawless Definition mascara, Buxom lip stick in San Francisco. {A fellow UDPP girl!}

7. What's your biggest skin concern?

Skin cancer. A predilection towards things ending in "oma" runs in my family (glaucoma and melanoma on both sides, whoopee me) and so I'm damn sure to always wear actual sunscreen. Not the "SPF 25" mineral silliness, that won't protect worth beans unless the foundation is either applied wet, or REALLY caked on; but actual sunscreen. Neutrogena Dry Touch sunscreen is a part of my daily routine. Generally I wear SPF 70 - currently, it's the same price as SPF 55; and while you get diminishing returns for ever 5 points up the scale after SPF 50 or so, I'll gladly buy the highest-SPF sunscreen available, if I end up paying the same price.

Wrinkles will happen. Dry skin can be moisturized. Acne is part of the price I pay for having won the genetic lottery and looking like I'm in my 30s when I'm in my 40s. Skin cancer...now that's nasty, and horrific, and preventable. (I do not wear a hat or gloves when I go out in the sun. I do wear sunglasses, and always have my tube of SPF 70 with me, though. I don't care about staying lily-white, just "not getting skin cancer.") {hear hear, don't you all forget this!}


Thank you LiAnn for answers my hard question(s). This concludes the segment of Beauty Blogs Backstage. Stay tuned for next month as the world continues to turn. {wink}

You can see my answers to LiAnn's questions on her blog here.