Beauty Tips for Ministers

Because You Never Know When You Might Be Asked To Exchange The Kiss of Peace

What’s that I see in the hand of the worshiping preacher in front of me at the Festival of Homiletics?

Why, it’s none other than BURT’S BEES LIP BALM!! One of our favorite, minty lip softening products!!

Remember, though, that Burt’s Bees does not provide SPF. We discussed this here. Read the comments, too, because we have since recommended more products that will protect your kisser from the harsh rays of El Sol.

SPF Products: Lips And Face

As a self-described lip gloss addict, I love, love, love my “lippy.” I own two or three MAC lip lacquers (the very best!), a small stash of Smashbox glosses (in the same color, now defunct, that I had to research and track down to buy so the tragedy of having that color unavailable would lose its sting over time), and a little army of Rimmel Vinyl Glosses, three of which live in my car. I probably eat pounds and pounds of lip gloss every year, an unappealing prospect but probably better for me than that Reese’s Pieces sundae SweetieBang and I both had last night while watching “The Orphanage” (a very creepy, good flick but watch closely or you’ll miss what actually happened to the little boy and think it was the ghosts who did it, as I did at first).

ANYHOO, as the sun waxes stronger in these here parts, a girl starts to think about SPF products for the lips (and fellas should, too, since your lips are tender little darlings and shouldn’t be left out there all alone to bake unprotected). Turns out that most SPF products are just dull, though; waxy Chapsticky things that don’t slide easily over lipstick or Covergirl Outlast All Day Lipcolor (PeaceBang’s daily product), which is what *I* certainly want them to do. I would think that even men seek a lip product with ease of application and a decent taste (not overly minty or medicinal or herbal or fruity).

(Incidentally, there’s a lip balm called, no kidding, Chicken Poop out there. I wanted to recommend it but it has no sun protection factor. Darn.)

I did find a tropical-flavored lip balm during my January trip to Florida that has good SPF coverage, but it makes my lips taste like a shirt Don Johnson would have worn in “Miami Vice,” so it’s a choice of last resort. I want something sophisticated with little or no flavoring, thank you very much. A cruise around my local CVS yielded nothing interesting (and did you know that Burt’s Bees lip products don’t even have SPF in them??? I just assumed that they did!). A girl can’t smear Carmex all over her mouth, for heaven’s sake: have you tasted that stuff?

So I did a little googling around online and discovered that the good people at Revlon have a Super Lustrous Lip Gloss that looks to have not only nice, glossy color coverage but SPF 15. Has anyone tried this stuff? It’s expensive, so I’d rather not purchase it without having some advance word on it. It may be that getting SPF coverage into a gloss form is a costly process, which is why so few companies are doing it.

If you’re looking for a subtle hint of color, or a clear lip balm with SPF coverage, Kiehl’s makes a very fine product that lasts and lasts, and that comes in a tube, which I love. This would be a great gift for the guy in your life. I mean, isn’t that packaging positively MANLY? Kiehl’s has its own web site and is also available at upscale department stores. This lip balm costs about $9 but again, it last for a long time even if you use it every day.

Oh, and this advance word to you, my doves: do not ever rely on make-up to provide full sun coverage for your face. If you really want to protect yourself from all the ravages of the sun (and you should), it is wisest to apply your sunblock of choice before any make-up. After much searching and many flare-ups of red blotching on my face (curses on you, Neutrogena tinted sun block! Because I love your other products so much!), I am sticking this year with Alba Botanica Facial Sunscreen for Sensitive Skin.

I was using a Juice Beauty Organics product but it smells kind of yucky and I had a devil of a time getting the product out through the pump dispenser. I like that it’s entirely non-chemical and mineral based, but they’d do better to put it in a tube so a girl or guy can actually get the stuff out of the ever-lovin’ container.

When applying sunscreen, don’t forget to get your chest, your neck, the back of your neck, the edges of your face at the hairline (wherever that hairline may be), and your ears. Let’s not be worrying our dermatologists and requiring snippings of suspicious moles and bumps this year. Be safe out there and for heaven’s sake wear a hat when we’ll be in the sun for any prolonged period of time. And just this once, I’ll give you a pass: it doesn’t even have to be particularly fashionable or attractive, it just needs to keep your skin and scalp protected. Extra bonus for those who color our hair: wearing hats is a big deterrent to fading. So go get you one! They’re always on sale at TJ Maxx or Marshall’s and places like that.

Lipstick, Blush and Bronzer for Darker Skin

Sweet thangs,

A reader who isn’t clergy but who does have a job requiring public presence and lecturing wrote recently to ask PeaceBang’s recommendations for an emollient lipstick for African-American women that will last through a big talk-athon.

Since our dear reader mentioned favoring Clinique, Nars and Vincent Longo lines, she obviously knows her way around a Sephora and isn’t limiting herself to what she can find at the local drugstore.

So Lady Speaker, I’m wondering: what if you found a shade of, say, CoverGirl Outlast All Day lip color (or a similar product — one of those stay-on-forevah lip colors), and used that as a base, and polished yourself before and after your speaking engagements with a Nars lip gloss (PeaceBang loves Nars lip gloss: she finds that Nars and MAC lip lacquer are the most budge-proof, and have the most intense pigmentation)?

In fact, it just occurs to me that the lovely (and African-American) Beyonce Knowles is currently shilling for a Revlon stay-on lip color product that I’ve been meaning to try, and I think the color she’s wearing on the commercial is gorgeous. I’m just a believer in using the long-lasting lip formulas as a base at any rate — if you search the archives under “Lips” you’ll find previous posts and comments on the matter, with loads of recommendations therein for those.

As for blush and bronzer, I would get to a Nordstrom or a Sephora and shop around for lines that suit your skin tone first, and then choose formulations based on your skin type. Again, Nars makes gorgeous powder blushes (I use one called — pardon me but it’s true — “Orgasm” — that has a lovely peachy tone with a tiny bit of glow factor). It’s perfectly okay to warm up your skin tone with a fluffy, light dusting bronzer over much of your face (concentrate on the perimeter where the sun would hit) and then to accentuate the cheeks with a well-blended application of cream blush. I like to do this when layering powder on powder might make me look crusty and over-done, like when I’m dehydrated or tired and wrinkly.

If you have oily or combination skin, lightly apply (using puff or brush) a translucent powder to your forehead, chin and sides of nose (if the bridge of your nose gets oily, lightly powder that, too) before going out before the crowds. For touch-ups during the day, use blotting papers rather than build up layers of powder.

Of course, if your skin is dry, make sure you exfoliate and moisturize gently, regularly and well so that your bronzer and blush will go on evenly. I find that if I slap on my moisturizer in the morning and don’t give it time to sink in a bit before applying powder bronzer, everything is a blotchy mess.

As far as particular lines for African-American or other women of color, I know that my readers will have all kinds of brilliant recommendations which they will contribute in the comments section. Won’t you, dears? It seems to me that MAC is a good bet here - they seem to get that women come in a huge variety of skin tones and offer products accordinlgy. Clinique always strikes me as looking good in the package but whimpily pigmented when I get it home. I think the same of Chanel and Estee Lauder — neither of which seem willing to acknowledge that women of color even exist, so I don’t use their products.

There’s a drugstore line called Black Opal that looks like it has some really pretty lipstick shades and I notice they sell it on-line, too. A white friend of mine who is partial to very dramatic lip colors loves it.

Super Eye/Lip Cream

I also tested this wonderful product, Hope In A Tube by Philosophy while on vacation and am rather disappointed that I have plenty of lip moisturizers and eye creams on hand already, or I’d love an excuse to buy it. It is incredibly emollient but sinks right into the skin without leaving a greasy residue. The scent is very, very subtle so this is something I would recommend to our fellas, too.

I suspect that this eye cream would be doing even better things for my crow’s feet than my current Roc product with retinoids in it, but I’m not about to spend $33 to switch now. I’ll wait until my Roc is finished, which should be in about four months. So far I’m not impressed with it, but you do need to use an eye cream for awhile to see real benefits. I use some kind of eye cream religiously and I think it’s paying off, since a Florida woman at the karaoke bar the other night said she thought that I was TWENTY THREE or so!! God bless her dear, overly-tanned heart!! Speaking of which, the sun does still shine in the winter months, northern people, so let’s not forego our SPF protection as an excuse. PeaceBang is watching!

Trend Spot: Heavy Lip Gloss on “Oprah”

I love Oprah. I think Oprah is the Bomb. I am totally co-dependent with Oprah. I watch her while I’m on the treadmill and if she’s looking a little bit pudgy I think, “Oh, Oprah’s gained a little bit of weight back. I hope she’s not getting down on herself. She’s SO ADORABLE.” I actually fret for her.

I love how Oprah dresses. Whereas Ellen DeGeneres is all “I’m a hilarious sporty gal wearing totally sporty, casual stuff to make you feel right at home here in my studio audience,” Oprah is all, “I’m going to put on just a little bit of bling and elegance because I know my audience deserves someone to dress up for THEM once in awhile.” Watch how, as she gets a little heavier, her eyelashes get bigger and longer, and her eyeliner thicker. I’m serious. Oprah’s a genius when it comes to scale and cut. She knows that gaining ten pounds warrants MORE glam, not less, and carefully fitted garments, not shapeless garments from Omar the Tentmaker.

But I have one eensy beensy complaint. I think that when we’re doing a show on domestic abuse, the make-up artists on the show could be a little more judicious with the lip gloss, which currently looks as though they’re trowelling it on. As a result, these women’s poignant and enlightening stories are being upstaged by their big GLOSSY LEEPS, and that’s not right. There’s Oprah presiding with globs of gloss. Her interviewee is dripping with the stuff. The prosecutor who sent her abuser to prison for 36 years (I’d like to buy that gal a beer sometime) is also suspiciously uber-shiny, as though someone backstage said, “Sweetie, you’re going to be on camera, let me shine you up.”

PeaceBang is an admitted lip gloss addict but she does think that in this case, too much of good thing is a bit much. When someone is telling an important story to a national audience I certainly want them to feel confident and camera-ready, but if the make-up artists don’t cool it I’m going to have to suggest an Oprah episode called “Gloss Abuse: You CAN Get Help.”

Softlips: Product Re-Review

Ouch! I used Softlips frequently this past week because I was outside a lot and it contains 20 SPF, and now I find that my lips are burning and flaking.

Must be that the pleasant tingling-sensation is generated by some drying ingredient like mentholatum.

PeaceBang can no longer recommend Softlips products. Protect your lovely kissers some other way, O Speakers Of Love and Truth.