Behind the face of every great Hollywood beauty is a bevy of makeup and skincare technicians that spend hours on red carpet ready looks. For the rest of us, looking like a celebrity on the red carpet requires at trip to the beauty counter for special makeup application. After all, special occasions warrant a little more pampering and professional help. For the everyday woman, looking your very best and making sure your skin, hair and makeup are the best they can be can be somewhat daunting. It requires sifting through the hundreds and hundreds of products that claim to do everything before finding the right products. REDBOOK magazine, the premiere magazine focused on young married women juggling marriage, kids, careers and everything in between, held a breakfast awards ceremony at the Bryant Park Grill yesterday for the Most Valuable Beauty Products of 2011.
REDBOOK assembled 22 panelists in the beauty, skincare and hair industry to test hundreds of products and vote on the best of the best suited for all types of beauty and haircare problems. Included in the panel was model and entrepreneur Camila Alves (also the girlfriend of actor Matthew McConaughey) and Real Housewives of New York’s Cindy Barshop, owner of Completely Bare, who both attended the awards breakfast. Camila confessed to the energetic women in the room of one of her biggest hair blunders. At the age of seven, she wanted to get the “Chanel-style” haircut, a cropped bob with bangs. She snuck away to the hair salon to get her super curly hair cut into the style, despite warnings from her mother that it wouldn’t look good. Long story short, she ended up crying for hours because she looked horrible in the short cut bob and bangs.
I was surprised by some of the winners in various categories, including Almay One Coat Get Up & Grow Mascara (Retail $8.49), which won for Best Mascara and Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Smoothing Cream (Retail $4.89) for Best Frizz Buster. We all received a giant tote bag with 95% of the products included in the MVP Beauty Awards. I am excited to try all the products and do some giveaways (stay tuned). I actually tried the Avon the See below for the winners of the REDBOOK magazine 2011 Most Valuable Products.
Photo credit: Makeda Saggau-Sackey (www.glamazondiarie.staging.wpengine.com)
AND THE WINNERS ARE
FACE
Champion skin perfectors and makeup picks:
Best Primer: Shiseido Refining Makeup Primer SPF 21, $30
Best Foundation: DiorSkin Nude Natural Glow Crème-Gel Makeup SPF 20, $48
Best Concealer: Revlon PhotoReady Concealer, $10.99
Best Face Powder: Laura Mercier Mineral Finishing Powder, $32
Best Bronzer: Dr. Hauschka Powder Duo, $34
Best Blush: Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush, $25
Best Tinted Lip Balm: Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm, $6.99
Best Lip Gloss: Chanel Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss, $32
Best Lipstick: YSL Rouge Pur Couture, $30
Best Eyeliner: Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner, $20
Best Eye Shadow: Make Up For Ever Professional Aqua Cream, $22
Best Mascara: Almay One Coat Get Up & Grow Mascara, $8.49
SKIN AND NAILS
The top-ranked in antiagers, body treatments, fragrance, and nail color:
Best Makeup Remover: Benefit Remove It Makeup Remover, $21
Best Face Cleanser: Avon Anew Platinum Cleanser, $15
Best Face Exfoliator: Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Alpha Beta Extra Strength Peel, $85
Best Antiaging Serum: Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Serum, $24.99
Best Night Cream: RoC Multi Correxion Lift Anti-Gravity Night Cream, $29.99
Best Acne Treatment: SkinCeuticals Blemish + Age Defense, $78
Best Eye Cream: Prevage Eye Ultra Protection Anti-aging Moisturizer SPF 15, $98
Best Body Wash: Dove Visible Care Renewing Crème Body Wash, $7.99
Best Body Moisturizer: Kiehl’s Creme de Corps Soy Milk & Honey Whipped Body Butter, $35
Best Self-Tanner: Rodial Brazilian Tan Airbrush Instant Self-Tanning Spray, $49
Best Daytime Fragrance: Vera Wang Preppy Princess, $60
Best Nighttime Fragrance: Estée Lauder Sensuous Noir, $60
Best Bright Nail color: OPI Nail Lacquer in Do You Think I’m Tex-y?, $8.50
Best Neutral Nailcolor: Essie Topless & Barefoot, $8
Best Nail Treatment: Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle Serum, $9.99
HAIR
The gold medalists in washing, conditioning, treating, and styling:
Best Shampoo: L’Oréal Professionnel Série Expert Delicate Color Shampoo, $23
Best Conditioner: Pantene Pro-V Medium-Thick Hair Solutions Frizzy to Smooth Conditioner, $3.99
Best Leave-In Conditioner: René Furterer Okara New Radiance Enhancing Spray, $26
Best Hair Treatment: Fekkai Essential Shea Ultra Rich Mask, $30
Best Shine Booster: Alterna Bamboo Smooth Kendi Oil Pure Treatment Oil, $24
Best Volumizer: Privé Concept Vert Volumizing Froth, $24
Best Flyaway Fighter: John Frieda Full Repair Touch-up Flyaway Tamer, $9.99
Best Frizz Buster: Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Smoothing Cream, $4.89
Best Hairspray: Serge Normant Meta Luxe Hair Spray, $25
Best Curl Definer: Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk The Original Curl Definer, $20
Best Dry Shampoo: Got2b Fat-tastic Dry Shampoo, $5.99
Best Curling Iron: Keratin Complex 4-in-One Keratin Curling System, $159
Best Blow Dryer: Brazilian Heat After Dark blow dryer, $120
Best Flat Iron: T3 Single Pass Compact Flat Iron, $79
