When you walk into Sephora or your local drugstore and are confronted with all the new seasonal beauty launches, it can be overwhelming to try to figure out what's really new and different. What's worth spending some of that hard-earned paycheck on? Lucky for you, we have spent hours swiping, patting, and spritzing in order to bring you our picks for the best launches of the season.

• By Cheryl Wischhover
  Jun 17, 2013

While we've been distracted by spring fashion all month, let's not forget that in the real world, fall's officially here. As you're packing away sandals and sundresses, it's time to go through your beauty supplies, too. Bye-bye coconut-smelling beachy hair spray. Hello, red lips! There are tons of new products out there, many that we're sure are destined to become classics. Burberry, Bobbi Brown, MakeUp ForEver, MAC, and Tom Ford all have new goodies for you to try out. Intrigued? Mad with curiosity? Click through to see all our fragrance, nail polish, and makeup picks for fall.

• By Cheryl Wischhover
  Oct 8, 2011

Whether you love everything beauty or just swipe on the occasional bronzer, you should be reading The Beauty Brains, a website run by cosmetic scientists. In it, the anonymous scientists, called the Left Brain and the Right Brain, answer readers’ questions about everything beauty related: products, old wives’ tales, trends, ingredients, beauty advertising. And they’re not afraid to name names. They’re not trying to sell anything, so they have the luxury of being able to offer unbiased opinions and advice. And the best part? The advice is based in science and they have a cynical eye which allows them to see through the beauty advertising that sucks a lot of us in. It’s truly fascinating, and you won’t look at your products the same way. Every time something crosses my desk, I reference this site to check out the Brains’ take on the claims and ingredients.

• By Cheryl Wischhover
  Mar 22, 2011

The fashion and beauty industries are not really role models for highlighting racial diversity, nor are they known for being particularly sensitive. Often it’s just the opposite. Dove, whose “Real Beauty” ads earned a lot of kudos for portraying women of all ages, sizes, and colors, came under fire last week for an ad that showed an African American model turning white after benefitting from the Dove VisibleCare Body Wash (that's how it was perceived anyway). Were people being hypersensitive or did Unilever really eff this one up? Reading the seemingly thousands of posts about the subject, there are good arguments made in both directions--the bottom line is it depends what skin you’re in. Some 40% of women buying skin care are women of color, and this number is growing. Obviously the message of beauty companies hasn’t caught up with reality yet, though there are small moments where companies seem to be getting a clue. Estée Lauder’s new campaign featuring Joan Smalls, Liu Wen, and Constance Jablonski is a baby step. But will we someday open a magazine that isn’t Essence and see an African American model alone in a fancy skin care ad without two other races to “balance” it out? Click through to check out some of the ads that caused a lot of controversy recently.

• By Cheryl Wischhover
  May 31, 2011