As winter weather comes to an end and the first buds begin appearing on trees, you can’t help but feel your own sense of renewal too. It’s time to freshen things up, and that includes your makeup palette. We’re in for warmer weather, and, hopefully more sunny days (so don’t forget that sunscreen!). As you take stock of your winter makeup wardrobe and decide what to keep and what to toss, I thought it would be fun to provide a list of what my team and I consider to be some of the best beauty buys for spring. All of these makeup products were reviewed favorably, and each of them provides considerable value for the money. For more of the latest makeup reviews (and for in-depth analysis of the products mentioned below) please refer to my database of product reviews at www.Beautypedia.com.

Tarte ReCreate Anti-Aging Foundation with Wrinkle Rewind Technology SPF 15 ($37) This is a great foundation with reliable sunscreen for normal to dry skin. Skin looks smoother and perfected with a natural satin matte finish.

Rimmel Stay Matte + SkinPure Complex Clarifying Matte Foundation ($7). A best beauty buy for those with normal to oily skin looking for a sheer matte foundation that provides long-lasting shine control. This would be great if your winter foundation is beginning to feel too heavy or your skin has become oilier in the T-zone from the warmer weather.

Prescriptives Flawless Face Primer ($27). Although primers aren’t an essential step before makeup, this one has a wonderfully silky texture, provides skin with notable antioxidants, and leaves a subtle, alluring glow that enlivens any complexion. It’s great for all skin types.

Benefit CORALista ($28). There are less expensive powder blushes out there, but Benefit really hit a home run with this pinky-peach shade that has a touch of shine. No other blush we’ve seen this season looks more like spring than this. Want to spend less and get a matte finish instead? We also love Revlon Matte Powder Blush ($8.99) in Perfectly Peach (the other shades are beautiful, too).

Revlon Beyond Natural Blush & Bronzer ($8.99). Combining powder blush and bronzer in one compact, the result is sunny, softly flushed cheeks with a hint of shine. The range of sheer shades is versatile and best for fair to medium skin tones.

Jane Max Lash2 Precise ($4.99). An outstanding mascaras whose rubber-bristled brush makes the most of lashes without clumping or flaking. Application is a bit wet, but this separates lashes with ease and removes easily with a water-soluble cleanser.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Kiss & Stay Lipgloss ($7.99). In a range of spring-like colors is this 2-step lip paint and glossy top coat. The lip paint applies sheer, similar to most lip glosses, and lasts an impressively long time. You’ll need to reapply the glossy top coat to keep things shiny and comfortable, but that’s true for all lip paints. It’s the sheerness of this one that makes it a great find for spring.

Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Inspired by Carmindy Luminous Matte Pressed Powder ($11.99). A smooth-textured pressed powder that finishes skin with a sheer satin finish ideal for fresh spring makeup.

Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Inspired by Carmindy Moisture Plump Lip Balm ($8.95). This lip balm/lip gloss hybrid feels great, moisturizes winter-dry lips, and imparts sheer, juicy color complete with a soft gloss finish. A colorless version is available, too.

Neutrogena MoistureShine Lipstick SPF 20 ($9.49). This creamy lipstick comes in a spring-ready range of colors, provides sufficient sun protection thanks to its in-part titanium dioxide blend. It moisturizes without feeling slick or greasy, too. The colors go on opaque, so this isn’t for those thinking “sheer lips” but if you want an excellent lipstick with sun protection, this is tops.

$$$ NARS Firming Foundation ($50.00).
You can ignore the firming claims for this creamy liquid foundation; the amount of beneficial ingredients is practically an afterthought, and they’re not particularly stable in this formula. Moreover, none of them can firm skin, no matter the amount or the type of packaging. Despite that disappointment and this foundation’s absurd price tag, it is worth considering if the expense doesn’t bother you and if your skin is normal to slightly dry. The slightly thick texture means that it takes a little more time than usual to set while blending, with the result being a soft matte finish and medium to almost full coverage. This doesn’t look quite as skin-like as similar foundations from Laura Mercier, but NARS is getting better. Among the many shades are some notable options for fair and very dark skin tones. The darker shades actually look more natural than the lighter shades, some of which appear slightly chalky after they set. Consider the Stromboli shade carefully. Avoid Cadiz—whose skin is this orange?—and if it is, why aren’t they asking a doctor what’s wrong with them?

 SEPHORA FACE Age Prevention Moisturizer SPF 15, for Normal Skin ($20.00 for 1.69 ounces).
This talc-based pressed bronzing powder has a wonderfully smooth texture and soft, sheer application. Skin is enlivened with subtle tones of bronze, tan, and soft pink from the Spring shade or with tones of bronze, gold, and soft peach from the Summer shade. Either is great for fair to light skin. Those with medium to dark skin will have difficulty getting this bronzer to show up unless you apply a lot of it. The finish is subtle radiance with a hint of translucent sparkle. The sparkles don’t last too long, but the overall radiant/sheer color effect tends to go the distance.

AVEDA Green Science Lifting Serum ($50.00 for 1.00 ounce).
All of the Green Science products from Aveda make much a do about the argan oil they contain. This oil comes from tree nuts native to Morocco, and is said to be rich in vitamin E and linoleic acid. Of course, Aveda also mentions the Moroccan Berbers, natives who’ve supposedly used this oil for centuries for medicinal and cosmetic purposes. That must mean it’s something special (though keep in mind other natural ingredients, such as lead, were also used for cosmetic purposes until we learned how harmful it can be) but what does published research have to say about argan oil? Not much.
The only study concerning topical application of argan oil has shown its oil-controlling, not moisturizing, properties. The remaining body of research has to do with the oil’s benefits when consumed orally, and includes studies related to prostate cancer, the circulatory system, and cancer. We do know that argan oil contains beneficial components, including essential fatty acids and the antioxidants vitamin E and ferulic acid. In that sense, argan oil can be considered a reliable antioxidant, though not necessarily any better than other plant oils such as olive or pomegranate (Sources: Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, June 2007, pages 113-118; Cancer Investigation, October 2006, pages 588-592; Clinical Nutrition, October 2004, pages 1,159-1,166; and European Journal of Cancer Prevention, February 2003, pages 67-75). In the case of this serum, although it contains several beneficial ingredients, the amount of rosemary extract is cause for concern, while the plai oil (also known as Thai ginger) is a significant irritant. The synthetic fragrances don’t help matters, either, and aren’t in the least “green” ingredients. Lastly, there is no research anywhere showing that the peptides in here will help increase skin cell turnover rate, especially not on the surface of skin—that’s what a well-formulated AHA or BHA product does, something Aveda’s skin care range is missing. Estee Lauder, Clinique, and Prescriptives offer much more sophisticated serum formulas without irritants (and by the way, it’s ironic that Estee Lauder owns Aveda)

Dear Paula,

I am very confused about some of the products you recommend. Many of them have irritating ingredients such as benzyl alcohol, fragrance, boron nitride, and acrylates, just to name a few. What is your reasoning for this? I have read your books plus subscribed to Beautypedia and instead of being enlightened I am more confused than ever. How does one go about determining what products are safe for the skin when they all seem to have irritants as well as ingredients that can cause allergic reactions? Could you please shed some light on the matter? I would appreciate it. I am in the process of looking for a new foundation for my very fair, sensitive skin but am becoming increasingly concerned seeing what is in these products.

Maribella, via e-mail


Dear Maribella,

After reviewing thousands of products and researching the myriad skin-care issues that exist, I completely understand why you might find this confusing. It gets even more confusing when the topic is irritating skin-care ingredients, because there are some important variables that affect just how irritating an ingredient can be. If I advise against a product because it contains a specific irritant (or several of them), it is almost always because that ingredient is present in a high enough concentration to be problematic. However, I may favorably review another product, one that contains SD-alcohol for example, and not (or barely) mention the irritant factor, because the amount of the irritating ingredient is too minimal to be a problem for almost everyone. Still, people who know they have specific ingredient allergies should always steer clear of products with the offending ingredient(s), no matter how much is present in a formula. That’s just using common sense.

Fragrance is the one area where I feel my hands are tied, so to speak. Though substantial amounts of research show fragrance to be especially problematic for skin, women still overwhelmingly prefer their skin-care products to be fragranced. (You can see the evidence for this time and again in marketing studies and sales figures.) Therefore almost all skin-care products contain fragrance. For me to recommend avoiding an otherwise well-formulated product simply because it contains fragrance would leave women with very few options (for example, the Best Products section of my book would be about two pages). Instead, when an otherwise stellar product contains fragrance, I’ve chosen to mention that and let the consumer decide for herself. For those who do prefer fragrance-free products, I always mention which ones meet that criterion. Every product I recommended or rate highly for sensitive skin is always fragrance-free.

One area where I have recently become more critical of when it comes to fragrance is the use of fragrance chemicals. Due to relatively recent European Union regulations concerning the disclosure of such ingredients (rather than lumping the offenders into the generic term “fragrance”), we’re seeing more products that contain fragrance chemicals listed separately. When their concentration is higher than usual, I tend to advise against using the products. Examples of fragrance chemicals are eugenol, citral, limonene, linalool, and hexyl cinnamal.

While it’s relatively easy to avoid irritants once you know what to look for (and keep in mind that any irritant that falls after the preservative in a list of ingredients is barely present), it’s much more difficult to avoid allergens. If you know exactly what you are allergic to, the task is much simpler. However, since anyone can become allergic to anything at any time, how to select skin-care products that present the lowest risk of allergy is hardly a science. Again, it is mostly common sense (as in avoiding common allergens like pollen extracts or products with a long list of plant extracts) and experimentation. That is why the term "hypoallergenic" is utterly meaningless and unregulated by the FDA.

aloe vera. There is no real evidence that aloe vera (Aloe barbadenis) helps the skin in any significant way. An article in the British Journal of General Practice (October 1999, pages 823–828) stated that “Topical application of aloe vera is not an effective preventative for radiation-induced injuries…. Whether it promotes wound healing is unclear…. Even though there are some promising results, clinical effectiveness of oral or topical aloe vera is not sufficiently defined at present.” There is research indicating that isolated components of aloe vera, such as glycoprotein, can have some effectiveness for wound healing and as an anti-irritant (Sources: Journal of Ethnopharmacology, December 1999, pages 3–37; Free-Radical Biology and Medicine, January 2000, pages 261–265; and British Journal of Dermatology, October 2001, pages 535–545). However, when mixed into a cosmetic product, it is doubtful those qualities remain, although it may still play a role in binding moisture to skin (Source: Skin Research and Technology, November 2006, pages 241–246).

In pure form, aloe vera’s benefits on skin are probably its lack of occlusion and the refreshing sensation it provides. Aloe serves as a water-binding agent for skin due to its polysaccharide (complex carbohydrate) and sterol content (an example of a sterol that’s beneficial for skin is cholesterol). Although research has shown aloe also has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial qualities, no study has proven it to be superior to other ingredients with similar properties, including vitamin C, green tea, pomegranate, and many other antioxidants (Source: www.naturaldatabase.com).

1. Arcona (full line review)
2. Maybelline New York Dream Liquid Mousse Airbrush Finish Foundation
3. TIGI S Factor Smoothing Lusterizer Defrizzer & Tamer
4. Dr. Brandt Lineless Lines No More
5. Dr. Hauschka Regenerating Serum

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