Beyonce' at the unvieling of the Beyonce' Cosmetology Center at Phoenix House New York, March 5, 2010 Getty Images

As if she isn’t busy enough, my favorite B girl, Beyonce’ has yet another charitable foundation under her belt. Today Beyonce’ and her mother, Tina Knowles  unveiled the Cosmetology Center in the New York chapter of Phoenix House.

Since 1967, Phoenix House has been helping people of all ages from all walks of life lead fulfilling, drug-free, lives. Phoenix House operates more than 30 residential and
outpatient programs for adults and adolescents in New York City, upstate
 New York, and Long Island, treating some 2,500 individuals every day.

Beyonce’s Cosmetology Center will prepare men and women who are going through drug treatment for a career in cosmetology. Beyonce’ has been associated with Phoenix House for some time, having donated her entire salary from Cadillac Records to the foundation.

Prior to filming Cadillac Records, Beyonce’ spent time with recovering addicts in an effort to bring some realism to her role as Etta James.

Beyonce’ and her husband both have many charities to which they contribute  including One Campaign, Save the Music Foundation, Feeding America. Beyonce’ also has the Survivor Foundation which she founded with her mother and the Knowles-Rowland Center which she founded with former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland.

Ribbon Cutting Beyonce' Cosmetology Center New York March 5, 2010 Getty Images

Tina Knowles and Beyonce at the unveiling of the Beyonce' Cosmetology Center New York March 5, 2010 Getty Images

I taped a segment for our local San Francisco CBS affiliate a few weeks ago and it finally aired yesterday. Click here to see the video.

Tips To Selecting Drugstore Anti-Aging Products

Reporting
Sue Kwon
E-mail

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) ―

A woman tries an anti-aging skin cream.

Browsing the skin care aisle at your drug store could take quite a while.  We counted at least 100 different anti-aging skin care products on the shelves of one San Francisco drug store, and many items looked the same.  So, we asked makeup artist Tracey Brown, as known as “The Beauty Guru,”  to help us make sense of the skin care aisle.

First, why are there so many items that say they can give you younger-looking skin?   According to Brown, manufacturers “are trying to address women at every single stage of their lives.”  They also want to sell more products. Brown recommends women buy products that can multi-task.

“You don’t have to get three eye creams, one for lines, one for circles, one for puffiness,” she said.

Brown recommends looking for anti-aging products that contain one or more of the following ingredients: Vitamins A, C and E, hyalauronic acid, peptides and retinol.

As far as favorites,  Brown said she’s tried most of them and likes these the most:
For the Eyes:  Neutrogena’s Ageless Intensives Lifting Eye Treatment.
For Daytime Skin:  Garnier’s Nutritionisste Daily Moisture Lotion with SPF 28.
And for Nighttime: Olay’s Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream. Consumer Reports also rated the product #1 in a recent survey.

Brown said don’t expect miracles, but with continued use, you can expect some improvement.

Brown is based in Oakland. In addition to offering makeovers, she teaches clients how to navigate the makeup and skin care aisles with one-on-one shopping trips.

I usually watch the award shows to check out the glam, the red carpet, who is hot and who is a hot mess. But when it came to the NAACP Image Awards on February 26, I found a whole new reason to watch.  Two as a matter of fact:

First

Maxwell at 41st NAACP Image awards Getty Images

and second

Lenny Kravitz 41st NAACP awards Getty Images

Give me a man in a suit and tie over saggin’ jeans, a wife beat, grillz and assorted tacky tats any day.

I am kinda sorta obsessed with lips. I’m always looking at everyone’s lips.  I’ve even written about lips I love. I think I have the Goldilocks syndrome when it comes to lips.  “Too big.”  “Too small.”  “Too pink.”  “Too dark.” “Too fake.”  “Ohhhhh, unh unh.  __________!” (Insert choice of: smoker, crackhead, too much Vaseline etc.)

When it comes to my lips however, I think they are perfect.  Full without being overbearing. Shaped well.  Perfect cupids bow.  Natural lip liner.  Well-conditioned. Soft and free of ___________ lines.”  (Insert choice of: dried up prune, smoker, water bottle sucker etc.)

For years all I wore was a pink Clinique lipstick or matte red lipstick. When lipgloss became all the rage, all I could think about was the cheesy, greasy, saccharine-sweet stuff in the roller ball applicator that I used in high school.  I sure as heck wasn’t going back to that.  I have to give a shout-out to my colleague, makeup artist Hillary Clark for helping me adjust my backwards attitude toward lipgloss.  We were working at Sephora.com at the time and her lips were always so cute.  It was the lipgloss.

Chanel Glossimer

Low and behold, I discovered Chanel Glossimers – the Bentley of lipglosses. And since that time I have discovered many other glosses that I have loved for various reason.  Dior had one that I loved;  but of course, if you fall in love with a cosmetic, the company will invariably alter the formulation, change the packaging or just discontinue it all together.

Stila Lipglaze

I still love Stila Lipglazes. Unlike others who downsize our favorite products and increase the price, they made Lipglaze bigger!  It’s one of my perennial go-to for brides.

But, it’s Budget Beauty Tuesday, so I have to tell you about my favorite budget lipgloss of the moment.  I’m in love with Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss. I have 3 colors in my rotation — Glossy Rose, Nude and Cherries in the Glow.

So why do I love Super Lustrous? Well, it’s shiny without giving me that porn-star pout.  The colors are subtle, so no matter which you choose, your own lips lusciousness come through.  The price is on point, $6.99 and most weeks you can fine a BOGO or better!  It’s not tacky as in sticky, which can be a good thing.  Means that your hair doesn’t get stuck in your gloss.  But it also means that it wears off faster.  So finding that happy medium between tacky and sheer is the gold standard with lipglosses.  Chanel and Stila have done that.  Revlon hasn’t quite done that yet.  But when I can get 3 or 4 glosses for the price of one, it’s worth it.

(pictures of my pout to come…)

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss gets a whopping 4 blings!

I’m a curvy girl. Although I haven’t always been so happy with that blessing.  My mom was 5′9′ and 122 lbs for most of her adult life.  AARRGHH. And that’s not pirate talk.  That’s frustration at being an hourglass at 12 years old and not knowing what the heck to do with all that.  And a mother who thought hips and boobs=FAT! I didn’t know then, like I do now that curvy=HOT! But I will leave that rant for the therapist’s couch…

I have been various sizes of “curvy” over the years.  From a  size 10 and up. Right now I’m not a 10, nor do I care to be in this 53rd year of my life.  Too much work.  But I would like to be a 12 again — that would eliminate a humongous shopping trip, as I have “grown”  out of my favorite size 12 clothes.  I guess it’s menopause.  Yea, I’ll blame it on that.

Anyway, as a makeup artist, I have done my share of fashion shows. From Fashion Week to hot indie shows.  But I have never had such an inspiring and exciting experience as I had a couple weekends ago.  I had the pleasure of being lead makeup artist for Kiss the Curves in my hometown, Oakland, CA.  And curves were plenty in supply.  Women from size 12 and up strutted their stuff in fashions that we big girls can be proud of.  Not big boxy ugly stuff.

Tracie Collins

Tracie Collins was the mastermind behind the event.  Marie Leggette, designer, was the stylist who kept the show tight!  Hosted by the “voice”, Sterling James of KBLX, Kiss the Curves was a successful event that gave so many women a vote of confidence.

Master San Francisco based runway coach and choreographer Charleston Pierce put together an awesome runway show.

Plenty has been written about the designers and the runway aspect of the show, so I’d like to showcase the beautiful work of my makeup team.

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Get your mind out of the gutter. I’m talking hair. I’m talking about rocking ferocious bangs.  It’s Friday so change it up.  Get fierce.  Rock some bangs. While I’m not one to follow trends (I pride myself on doing my own chic thing) I happen to love bangs.  As a matter of fact, I have worn various versions of bangs over the years, with my favorite being blunt cut bangs that graze the eyebrows.  Now that’s hot.  (Say it with a little Paris Hilton in your voice)  But, being in that phase of my life when personal summers my attack at any given moment, my bangs most often give way to a fringe of frizz.  Not cute.

What I love about bangs is that all focus is on the eyes. So whoever is checking you out can’t help but look you dead in the peepers.  Be sure that your eye makeup is perfect.  Emphasize your lashes – go faux or wear plenty of mascara. Accent cheekbones with a shimmery blush and gloss up lips and you are good to go!

So check everyone who is wearing the eyebrow fringe right now!

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