Content about Cosmetics

NEW YORK — Nail care brand Essie Cosmetics is making its mark on Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week for spring 2012 by creating exclusive backstage nail looks.

The Essie team, and founder and creative director Essie Weingarten, will lend beauty expertise throughout the week. Essie will collaborate with such designers as DKNY, DKNY AMEX, Pamela Love, L.A.M.B., Zac Posen, Carolina Herrera and Tory Burch. Essie also is working with Haven Spa to provide color inspiration for Prism, Edun, Rebecca Minkoff and Preen. Chado Ralph Rucci also will use Essie nail color in its fashion show.

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. — Those within the mass-market beauty industry are wise not to rest on their laurels, as research indicates that sales of prestige makeup and skin care in U.S. department stores surpassed pre-recession volume in the first half of 2011, according to market research company the NPD Group.

In first half 2011 (January through June), prestige women’s and men’s skin care dollar sales increased 14% and 9%, respectively, compared with first half 2008. Prestige makeup sales increased as well, nearly 4%, compared with pre-recessionary levels.

NEW YORK — Revlon has signed celebrities Emma Stone and Olivia Wilde as global brand ambassadors for the Revlon brand.

As brand ambassadors for Revlon, Stone and Wilde will become the faces of new and existing Revlon products, and will appear in global, multimedia campaigns that span television, print, in-store and digital and social platforms. Their first campaigns will be tied to the launch of new color cosmetics and nail enamel products and will premiere in early 2012.

LOS ANGELES — NYX Professional Makeup has tapped industry veteran Scott Friedman as CEO. Friedman succeeds Toni Ko, who will transition to the role of founder and chief creative director.

NYX Professional Makeup is a makeup line available at major retailers across 40 countries, as well as more than 10,000 beauty supply stores in the United States and freestanding stores in Japan, Brazil and Switzerland.

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. — Total sales of prestige makeup experienced healthy gains during the first five months of the year, thanks to trends in dramatic eyes, soft lip shades and bold and bright nail colors, according to new beauty market research by NPD.

Year-to-date — January through May — total prestige makeup sales increased by 9% to $1.4 billion in U.S. department stores, according to the market research company. For the month of May alone, makeup posted its strongest dollar performance (+11%) in the last three years.

CHICAGO — Women in the higher-income bracket won't object to buying private-label cosmetics if they think that their quality and performance are on par with national brands, according to recent Mintel research.

Mintel research found that 64% of women in the $100,000 to $149,000 income bracket planned to continue buying some store-brand/private-label color cosmetics and some brand-name color cosmetics; meanwhile, only 50% of those in the $50,000 to $74,000, and 48% in the $75,000 to $99,000, bracket said the same thing.

NEW YORK — Maybelline New York has introduced its new Falsies Flared by Volum' Express mascara — the latest way to get instant false lash glam in a tube.

The new Falsies Flared mimics the look of dramatic flared false lashes, lifting lashes up, out and over the top using an exclusive brush innovation. In addition, the flexible-hold formula is enriched with Kera fibers and a film former designed to help coax lashes up and out. The brush and formula work together to coat each lash with product, filling gaps from corner to corner for a dramatic false lash look.

NEW YORK — Hyperpigmentation — from freckles to melasma (the "mask of pregnancy") to age spots to vitiligo — is a common, usually harmless condition that can be caused by a host of factors. While treatments are plentiful, many contain the controversial ingredient hydroquinone. Enter La Roche-Posay's Mela-D Pigment Control concentrated dark spot correcting serum, which does not contain hydroquinone.

I Love Cosmetics is a U.K.-based company that made waves at NACDS Marketplace with its collection of mouth-watering “I Love …” products for bath and body. Now coming to the U.S. market, I Love … is a brand that plays off the fragrances of childhood with body and bath products that really do smell good enough to eat. Fragrances include, but are not limited to, Strawberries & Milkshake, Vanilla & Ice Cream, Coconut & Cream and Raspberry & Blackberry. New members to the family include Blueberry & Smoothie, Juicy Watermelon and Tropical Paradise.

The Soho brand, which is known for its soft-sided cosmetic bags and beauty cases, highlighted at NACDS Marketplace its new collection of ergonomically designed makeup brushes for the mass market.

For spring 2012, Soho will release the 18-piece collection of brushes that was developed in partnership with makeup artists and designers.

NEW YORK — Celebrity makeup artist and critically acclaimed "brow king" Ramy Gafni has rolled out his Fall in Love makeup collection for fall 2011 — a re-release of his classic fall favorites.

The collection, available at Duane Reade Look Boutiques, highlights this upcoming season's most beautiful, rich colors. The palette includes vivid and luminous shades, while conserving the unmistakable feeling of calmness, serenity and glamour of the season. The line consists of five beauty essentials, including:

WATERBURY, Vt. — Canus Fresh Goat's Milk Skin Care has announced the expansion of its new Nature by Canus facial wellness line with the development of a hydrating cleanser and a night renewal facial cream.

The all-natural moisturizing facial cleansing milk removes dirt and makeup with a natural formula that is designed to prevent free radicals from damaging the skin and creating wrinkles. Packed with certified organic ingredients like acai, jojoba and sweet almond oils, this hydrating cleanser promises to leave skin feeling clean and refreshed.