How Would You Describe Yourself?
Dove is back with another inspiring addition to their Real Beauty campaign. Unlike their last video, this one directly challenges real women to rethink their perceptions surrounding beauty—specifically, how they perceive their own beauty. Several women were selected to sit for a forensic sketch artist while hidden behind a curtain, and then described themselves to the artist who drew as they spoke. Afterwards, a person who had briefly met the original subject came in and described each woman as they saw her.
It’s surprising to see how much the final two sketches differed. Each stranger-described image appeared friendlier, softer, and more open than the original—and often the women were in awe of the disparity between what they thought and what an objective viewer saw.
We’ve all fallen prey to the bad habit of selling ourselves short. Who hasn’t told someone about their less-than-awesome eyes, nose, chin, you name it, only to hear that it’s their friend’s favorite defining feature? At the very least, we’re glad that Dove’s video is a positive reminder to pause and consider that perhaps we’re all great exactly as we are.
—Bre
Want to see more of Dove’s recent Real Beauty campaign? Here’s how they tricked photo retouchers into reversing all of their work on models’ bodies.
We’ve avoided houseplants in the past (NYC apartments are crammed enough as is), but The Sill is changing the way that we buy and display greenery. The start-up specializes in appropriately city-size (read: small) succulents and plants. In honor of our recently launched Birchbox Home: From the Garden collection, we asked Eliza, the company’s founder, and Erin, the social media manager, to bring their plant know-how to our blog.
We may spend a lot of time in the dirt here at The Sill, but that doesn’t mean we don’t like to look good, feel good, and smell good!
Below are our top five beautifully made and well-packaged beauty picks.
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Dove’s New Ad Campaign: Photoshop Trick or Reality Treat?
Dove is back with another installment of its decade-long “Campaign for Real Beauty,” which aims to inspire confidence in women when discussing beauty.
While Dove’s previous efforts (commercials like “Evolution,” “Onslaught,” and “Amy”) were directed at consumers to convince them to rethink their perceptions of beauty, this one targets those who create the ads.
The beauty brand built a Photoshop action, which is a downloadable file that can apply a certain look to an image in one click. This action file, which promised to add a skin-glowing effect to images, was released online in forums where art directors and other photo retouchers would stumble upon it and hopefully download it. In reality though, the action would revert the Photoshopped image to its original state with the tagline, “Don’t manipulate our perceptions of real beauty.”
What do you guys think? Is Dove making a good point about the beauty industry by targeting photo retouchers?
—Bre
Photoshop has been the center of controversy for many years. Find out more about this great debate here.
This past weekend, I had a trio of holiday parties to attend. Fun, I know, but also stressful! Every time I go to get dressed up for an event, I pull out one of my many eyeshadow palettes…and I freeze. Despite having been on a million video and photo shoots with pro artists, I can never recreate the beautiful, effortlessly blended looks they do on me. More often than not, I take the easy route and go for a neutral taupe shadow and loads of black liner.
But it’s high time I pulled out my big girl blending brushes and tried something a bit more fun. I asked Reiva Cruze, one of our favorite makeup artists, to give me a simple look I can wear to all my holiday parties. Here’s an easy to follow step-by-step:
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Exclusive First Look! Benefit’s New Multitasker, Fine One One
One of our favorite things about working at Birchbox is discovering new products that become fast favorites. That’s certainly the case with Benefit’s Fine One One, a brand new cheek and lip tint. Birchbox editor Meredith stopped by Benefit’s flagship boutique in New York’s SoHo neighborhood to get the exclusive first look from the brand’s Global Beauty Authority, Maggie Ford Danielson. Watch the video to learn more and go here to pre-order Fine One One now!
For another look at the tint in action, take a peek at the pop it creates on Birchbox staffer Deepica.
On dreary days like this, the quickest way to perk up is with a generous swipe of bright lips. Our Parisian counterparts share our philosophy: look at JolieBox’s Mathilde and Malvina wearing deep berry lips. The shade? Lancôme’s L’absolu Rouge 361.
Mathilde says, “We’re falling for this season’s biggest trend: Bordeaux lips!”
We’ve whittled down this season’s trends to ten that you have to try. See them all here.
Last week, we told you about Kate Spade’s Spring 2013 presentation, with its retro-inspired shapes and ultra-feminine Jouer makeup. While we’re sure everyone will be wearing powder blue (seriously!) eye shadow come spring, we don’t want to wait to try out a slightly toned-down version of the designer’s runway look. We love the way the model above is pairing clean, youthful skin with strong brows and petal pink cheeks. To get the look, start with Jouer’s new Matte Moisture Tint, which dries to a velvety (not powdery) finish and follow with a generous dusting of Jouer’s Mineral Powder Blush in Peony. The bubblegum hue looks extremely bright but we promise, it’s amazingly flattering and gives you a delicate rosy flush. For brows, we like to fill in any sparse areas with brow powder or pencil. And while we don’t know what they did at the show, we think this look demands a spritz of a flirty scent. What could be more appropriate than kate spade new york’s Twirl? Don’t be surprised if we start introducing ourselves as Holly Golightly.
—Mollie
If you’re in an extra-fancy mood, swipe on a coat of Jouer’s Moisturizing Lip Gloss in Peony, a pretty pink.
New Paul & Joe lipsticks (left to right): Silk Stockings, Avenue Montaigne, and Just Peachy
To celebrate the tenth anniversary of their beauty line, Paul & Joe has debuted a dreamy Autumn 2012 collection. Head designer Sophie Albou chose a love theme and wove it throughout the entire line, from the lovebirds design imprinted in the blush powder to the très romantic lipstick shades.
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