Commentary: Sponsorship

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This is a legacy post that has been given a facelift.

Beauty Skeptic has no ongoing sponsor relationships at this time. It’s neither good nor bad, it’s just a fact. In the past, I’ve done some minor sponsored content – i.e., received free product to review (Esqido Lashes and their eyeliners) – but I’ve never been paid for a post.

Personally – and I felt this way before I started blogging – I don’t take issue with sponsored content as long as it:

  • Is disclosed legally (i.e., per FTC guidelines or whatever governing body applies) and
  • Has been subject to the same scrutiny they would if no sponsorship was involved.

That’s my view and my approach to the matter.

Unfortunately, some content creators out there don’t feel that they need to comply with the applicable laws. It isn’t just a matter of legal compliance, though. In most cases where sponsorship is even viable, you have developed a readership, viewership, whatever following. These people like you, believe in you, trust your opinion. While it isn’t wrong to get paid for your work, it IS wrong to take (what I view as) bribes to shill products that you otherwise don’t care for or wouldn’t promote. It isn’t just a matter of legality, it is a matter of ethics.

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Manicure Monday – 5/20/2019 – Sensationail Beat the Heat

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Sensationail Beat the Heat

How ridiculous is this yellow?! Sensationail Beat the Heat is crying for summer. I’m behind the curve again (oops). I applied this manicure two weeks ago on the twelfth and wore it up until the 26th – so I got a full two weeks out of it. This week, I’m wearing Diva Bride again – maybe I’ll post that next week.

Sensationail Beat the Heat

I remember the first time I saw this rich yellow creme gel polish. Someone had done an amazing ombre sunset manicure all with gel polish and this was the yellow in it. The manicure itself was incredible, but I just remembered being like, “Damn, I’ve never seen a yellow gel polish before!”

So, from that point forth, I wanted this damn color in my collection. It has been literal years. No; this is not an exaggeration. When Sensationail launched this vibrant yellow, they first only made it available in UK. Damn!

Then, they made it available in the US – but it was online only for ages. Considering (at the time), I had all the other Sensationail colors I wanted, I wasn’t going to shell out for shipping for a single bottle of gel polish.

By wonderful happenstance, I saw an Instagram post of theirs suggesting it would be in stores. The very next time I was in Wal-Mart, I made a beeline for nail polish and

There.

It.

Was.

Yoink. Mine at last!

Application

This picture is two coats and it is damn near opaque, but I found myself wishing I’d done a third; in certain light, you could see the smile line of the free edge of my natural nail. It wasn’t bad or obvious though; most people wouldn’t notice but I’m occasionally known for being a mildly neurotic perfectionist with this and many things.

Application was good and up to par with Sensationail’s consistency. It wore like a champ with no lifting or misbehavior; I got my first chip on the thirteenth day of wear.

The Bottom Line

I actually can’t find a link to a store that carries it, but if you aren’t allergic to paying nearly as much in shipping as the product you’re buying, you can get it from Sensationail here. Their site still says its online only, but that’s not the case – I definitely picked it up in store a couple miles from my house. :) Happy painting!

Clairol Jazzing – Hair Gloss / Hair Glaze Update

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Clairol Jazzing Hair Gloss Hair Glaze

Several years ago, I shared a tutorial on how I perform a DIY hair gloss or hair glaze treatment at home. This is one of the blog’s most-popular posts – which is great, but also sad because the damn Clairol Colorgloss Radiance line upon which it was based got discontinued.

I need to create an emoji for how this makes me feel.

Anyway, since the discontinuation, finding an alternative wound up on the back-burner for me. When I started to come up for air, I decided to give another Clariol product a try.

Enter Clairol Jazzing

This time, I went with a single-step (no mixing! no mess!) product that comes in a convenient dispenser bottle. No ratios, no mixer bottles, no matching developer. Clairol Jazzing is under $7 a bottle at Sally Beauty.

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April 2019 Favorites

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April 2019 FavoritesApril 2019 Favorites
MAC Paint Pot in Painterly, $22 / L’Oreal Blow Dry It Thermal Smoother Cream, $6 /
Clarins Glow Booster, $32 / Benefit Gimme Brow+, $24

I’m so, so happy that it is consistently not-cold. My windows have been open. I have been outside. I’m eschewing jackets. It is wonderful! April was a fairly minimal beauty month for me, but details on my April 2019 Favorites are after the jump.

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Melanoma Monday – Skin Cancer & Melanoma Awareness

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This legacy post has been given a facelift but content remains the same. I will be a broken record on this topic until forever and a day.

Melanoma Awareness Ribbon - Melanoma Monday

I’ve talked about my pursuit of a good facial sunscreen before (I’m liking it, btw!) and have mentioned here and there that my Mom received a (super early) Melanoma diagnosis.

Given today, specifically, is Melanoma Monday (first Monday in May), designated by the American Academy of Dermatology, I’m sharing my mom’s melanoma story to help raise awareness.

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Mom

Growing up in the 70s and early 80s, few people gave a damn about sunscreen and fewer people made their children wear it. Kids played outside not only more frequently than they do now, but more often (which, in itself, is not a bad thing). During her youth, she managed to get some fairly intense sunburns – to the point of agonizing sun poisoning. I even recall her telling a story about using baby oil while tanning; she burned, of course, and learned her lesson about that much, but still didn’t really employ sunscreen. As an adult, her skin would still burn when we’d spend any considerable amount of time outside, but I recall her being red for just a day or two, then peeling and having a decent tan. She thought, “Eh, no big deal. I’ve had worse.”

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MAC Lover Loyalty Program

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MAC Lover

Back in 2016, I shared MAC’s then-new loyalty program, MAC Select. I went to their site to order a birthday gift last week and found that I was unable to access the MAC Select detail. Upon login, I was informed that I was enrolled into MAC Lover – their new-new loyalty program.

Well, I missed that memo. I blame my extended no/low-buy.

The 411 on MAC Lover

Really, MAC Lover seems to be mighty similar to MAC Select. The new program has some cutesier marketing, but there are a ton of similarities. Let’s jump into the tiers:

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