Kat Von D at Sephora.

I am obsessed with two TLC shows currently airing on Discovery Travel and Living in Malaysia -- Miami Ink and its West Coast spin-off L.A. Ink (see pic above for cast). The show revolves around the young tattoo artist Kat Von D (white swimsuit, centre), first spotted on Miami Ink before she was fired, and her talented, quirky colleagues at High Voltage Tattoo in Hollywood California. My own fascination with tattoo art aside, I adore the alterna-chick look the women cast members rock and the absence of magazine-ready blonde glossiness (see The Hills) on the show.

You can imagine how thrilled I was when I learnt that Kat Von D was collaborating with Sephora on a makeup collection, which is now for sale online. I don't know the extent of Kat Von D's contribution (celebrity lines, y'know?), but the finished product has a romantic goth-glam feel to it so it feels like a collection the creator would wear herself. The plastic casing is stencilled with silver roses and comes in a specially silk-screened paper box.

The Kat Von D makeup collection isn't large -- there are two shadow palettes named after her favourite composer, creamy red lipsticks, liquid liner (of course) and an eye brush set. I'm personally lemming:

True Romance Eyeshadow palette in Beethoven (the other's named Ludwig. God, I'd buy both just to keep them together)

Painted Love lipstick in Hellbent because it's described as 'blood red'. Which I think is the perfect lipstick to wear when I'm carving my lover's initials into my skin while listening to My Chemical Romance.

It goes without saying that both images are from Sephora.

Prices for the Kat Von D makeup collection range from US$16 for an eyeliner and US$48 for the eye brush set, so it isn't exactly inexpensive. Still, this is one thoughtful eponymous celebrity makeup collection that may very well be worth every penny.

Lipstick as an economic indicator.

When the economy tanks, women appear to buy more lipsticks as they scrimp on traditional big-ticket items, a theory posited by Leonard Lauder, chairman of the Estee Lauder companies. From the New York Times:

After the terrorist attacks of 2001 deflated the economy, Mr. Lauder noticed that his company was selling more lipstick than usual. He hypothesized that lipstick purchases are a way to gauge the economy. When it’s shaky, he said, sales increase as women boost their mood with inexpensive lipstick purchases instead of $500 slingbacks.

Beauty brands remain true believers in the theory, even though in the last few years the lipstick market has fallen on hard times as its glistening cousin, lip gloss, has had robust sales.

With the specter of another recession, brands like Clinique and DuWop Cosmetics are preparing for a big year in lip color, for two reasons.

First, they would like to see a return to lipstick, which usually costs slightly more than gloss. Second, the companies believe that in down times women will continue to splurge on lip lacquer even as they make do with last season’s dress.

In the light of a global rise in food and gas costs, are you making or do you plan to make any changes to your beauty consumption habits? Please share in comments!

Cargo Plant Love Botanical lipstick

Image from sephora.com

Stila may have set the standard for recyclable packaging, but Cargo just kicked it up a notch with its Plant Love Botanical lipstick. The lipstick tubes are made out of corn (produced in great abundance due to heavy government subsidies that it is described as "the welfare queen of crops" by a farmer in Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma) and the outer carton will yield a bouquet of flowers when planted in soil as it is embedded with real flower seeds! Many of the colours are supposedly developed with celebrities, which I'm sceptical about since celebrities do very little even when they headline fragrances, but the line-up does include two of the coolest TV actresses ever, Mariksa Hargitay and Sarah Chalke.

Cargo cosmetics are available for purchase at Sephora in the U.S., Rescu Beauty Bar and selected David Jones stores in Australia.

Lancome Pout-a-Porter Colour Fever Shine lipstick in Pixel Pink.

I like to think before I make a purchase. I think and I think and I think, then I return to the store to contemplate the product in person, decide against it and go home to think some more. My resolve eventually collapses under the weight of my lofty thoughts which impels my body to go forth and buy the damn thing already. This often means whatever I coveted would be sold out. So, I've never been fond of shopping really. It's way too cerebral to be therapeutic or enjoyable for me.

Sometimes, just sometimes, I learn my lesson. So when I found myself in a Lancome boutique and the limited edition Colour Fever Shine lipstick in Pixel Pink was available, I suppressed my natural instincts and bought one immediately. It was the fourth and final lipstick from Lancome's Pout-a-Porter series -- a collaboration between makeup artist Gucci Westman and several fashion designers she worked with. I didn't really care for the chalky pink Proenza Pink, but I was really sore about missing P.S. Kiss, which is frankly more to my taste than Pixel Pink. As for the first PaP lipstick, Behnaz Red, lipstick wasn't even on my makeup radar then.

So, the cardboard box is different...

But enough with the regrets! What about Pixel Pink? Briefly speaking, Pixel Pink was sighted on the runways during Thakoon's Spring 2008 show, and the sheer raspberry shade is intended to complement warm, sun-kissed skin. (See video for Thakoon's inspiration for his collection) The lipstick strikes me more as a mid blue-toned pink which was closer to my MAC Electro-Lush lipglass than anything berry-hued in my stash.

Look, I've eaten many raspberries...


... and this is NOT a raspberry colour.

Like other Color Fever Shine lipsticks, Pixel Pink goes on like a gloss lipstick -- slick, shiny and weightless. As my lips are pretty pigmented to begin with, Pixel Pink wasn't the most dramatic colour to grace them. It took on a darker, slightly bruised magenta hue on my lips, though it's likely that the colour isn't being shown off to its best advantage since I lack a tan. Unlike Thakoon's inspiration, I'm a girl who quit her day job to hibernate in a cave.

I wouldn't fret too much about not being able to get a tube, especially if you already own a pink, "your lips but better" lipstick. If you want to collect it, it's still available on the Lancome USA website but you'd better hurry if you don't want to fork out a hundred bucks for it three months later on eBay.