meet mark.

You have a question? mark. has the answer!

What’s mark. you ask?

mark. is a product line from Avon that focuses on youth. Not just the young but those that are young at heart, young in spirit, and live their lives with that youthful energy and vigor.

All Avon representatives (anyone over the age of 18) can sell mark. Only those representatives over 24 can sell all Avon products (the larger catalog that most people know).

Currently, mark. is on the cutting edge of blemish control for those of all ages. Just check out these three new products which are available from me at a discounted from now until June 9, 2010.

Check out these three new products from mark.: 1.) break out plan, 2.) back me up, and 3.) blemish banisher.

"Acne is one of the most common skin concerns in the U.S.," says Gail Boye, VP of product development at mark, "and women - no matter what their age - suffer from the occasional breakout. Like the rest of our skincare, our anti-acne products are formulated with super food and super fruit extracts, which contain vitamins, antioxidants and other nutrients that help skin heal and keep it looking naturally radiant and healthy. Our anti-acne products also contain proven over-the-counter acne-fighting ingredients, like salicylic acid. Break out plan, back me up, and blemish banisher are all ideal for both women and men who experience regular breakouts."

break out plan

Anti-acne gel lotion, formulated with apple and cinnamon extracts, plus salicylic acid to keep skin blemish-free.

Product 411:

• quick absorbing, ultra lightweight gel lotion
• contains apple extract --> a super fruit
• contains cinnamon extract --> a super food
• contains 1.5% salicylic acid, a proven over-the-counter drying agent that treats existing blemishes and helps prevent new ones from forming
• appropriate for all skin types, especially those that experience occasional or regular breakouts
• helps reduce the appearance of redness associated with acne
• keeps pores clean and clear
• non-greasy, non-tacky
• oil-free, fragrance-free

Avon's super fruit/super food fortified formula also packs a secret weapon: pyridoxine hydrochloride.

What? Don't know what that is?

It's a fancy name for vitamin B6. With this very important vitamin, Avon's formula makes skin look more refined.

back me up

It happens. Even to the best of us ... the dreaded BACNE!!!! dun dun DUUUUUN! ... yeah get over it. It's not from being dirty. It's from bacteria that live harmoniously in your skin ... most of the time. And sometimes, mostly when you want to wear a cute top or a flirty new dress, it decides to be a pain in the ... well back. Luckily, Avon's got a new product that can help with the bacne breakouts.

Spritz a little onto the affected area as soon as the blemish appears - Avon's special 180 degree pump sprays upright and upside down so no part of the back is too hard to reach.

Product 411:

• quick absorbing treatment spray specially formulated to target "bacne"
• contains apple extract
• contains cinnamon extract
• contains 2% salicylic acid, a proven over-the-counter drying agent that treats existing blemishes and helps prevent new ones from forming
• keeps pore clean and clear
• for all skin types
• non-greasy, non-tacky, non-drying formula
• oil free, fragrance free

blemish banisher

Anti-acne treatment pads work on zits with a VENGEANCE!!

Product 411:

• saturated treatment pads infused with an acne-fighting formula
• contains apple extract
• contains cinnamon extract
• contains 1% salicylic acid, a proven over-the-counter drying agent that treats existing blemishes and helps prevent new ones from forming
• contains glycolic acid, an alpha hydroxy acid that exfoliates the skin, promoting cell turnover and a smoother appearance
• keeps pores clean and clear; gently exfoliate
• oil free, fragrance-free
• 50 pads per jar

How to use blemish banisher most effectively: if you only experience occasional breakouts and want to keep your skin super-clear, sweep a pad all over your face about two or three times a week after cleansing to further clear your skin of potentially pore-clogging dirt and oil. Then apply break out plan anti-acne gel lotion.

With a minimum $9 purchase, you can have your choice of a calm yourself face mask or shine fighter face mask for free.

(Offers on this page valid until June 9, 2010 at midnight - email BrittaOConnell@gmail.com or go to www.avon.com/BrittaOConnell for more information on prices after June 9th.)

(New) Avon Pro - Brow Enhancer

Avon Pro - Brow Enhancer

To Use: Twist base to activate product. Use light strokes to fill in sparse areas and to define brows.

Twist base … yeah. Like most new Avon products, you have to twist for a while before the product comes out of the reservoir and hits the tip of the applicator. But once it’s there, it’s there.

This gel feels a little cool to the touch once it’s applied. Avon recommended light strokes. So, we (me and my guinea pig – i.e. my mom) tried light strokes and long strokes and heavy strokes etc., etc., etc. Avon’s right (again) … light strokes seem to work the best. Even though the other ways we tried worked just as well.

This is what my mom's eye brows look like BEFORE she used the Avon Pro Brow Enhancer in Dark Brown.

My mom said she thought it looked much more natural than the other eye brow pencils that she has used in the past. As she is getting older, she is looking for more coverage in her eye brows but not as much color. Eye brow pencils are for definition and enhancing. It seems like the Avon Pro – Brow Enhancer doesn’t skimp on the enhancing but it’s not as harsh with the color.

My mom AFTER using the Avon Pro Brow Enhancer (in Dark Brown)

My mom gave it a 7 out of 10 (“because what I wanted it to do was color my eye brows and it wasn’t enough color there but it was less of a ‘drawn on’ look than pencils,” so says my mom). She recommended trying this product with an eye pencil or an eye pencil alone (making sure to blend well).

Buy it here (make sure to use my page – if you have to search for an Avon representative you can put in my last name – O’Connell and Massachusetts for the state I’m in) .

Contact me for personal delivery (in the central Worcester area) or email me at BrittaOConnell@gmail.com for a code for free or discounted shipping for Direct Delivery.

Lip Color 101

A beauty tip that most experts tout is to your best feature and play it up. If you are complimented often on your lips, consider yourself lucky, it's time to accentuate them. Here's 18 tips on how to apply lipstick:

• Don't play up the eyes and the mouth Women who wear heavy eye makeup and dark lipstick can look clownish. If you want to wear red lipstick, keep the rest of your makeup light. If you are playing up the eyes, keep your mouth light with a gloss or light lip color that doesn't stand out.

• For "plump" lips, apply liner just outside your natural lip line. Dab a bit of gloss in the middle of your bottom lip.
• How to apply lipstick? I don't believe in rules to applying lipstick. Some women use special lipstick brushes. I own one and hardly ever use it. Others use their middle finger. Most women apply right from the tube. Choose what's right for you, as long as the color gets on the lips, you're good.

• Use liner on your lips as a base. Lipstick will last longer if you fill in your lips with the liner first. If you're using light lipstick, try a nude liner. Then slick your lipstick on top.

• Lip gloss is infamous for wearing off fast, but if you fill in lips first with the liner, the gloss has something to stick to.
• You can line before or after you apply lipstick or gloss. Some women prefer to apply liner first, arguing that you won't be able to see the natural line of your lips if you apply lipstick first. But I find lips look more natural when I line lips after I apply lipstick.
• Never use a dark liner with light lipstick. Defined lips are great, but make sure the liner matches the lipstick or gloss. Dark liner and light lips is tacky.

• Never use a test lipstick on your lips. It's just plain unhygienic. Instead, test lipstick on your fingertips. It's a closer fit to your lips than the back of your hand.
• Don't throw out a bad color lipstick. Beauty editors know you can create a great lipcolor by blending lipsticks you don't like. You can also color in lips with a darker liner before applying a lipstick that's too bright.
• Keep lipstick off glass. Discreetly lick your lips before taking a sip from a glass. It works!

• Keep lipstick off your teeth with this trick. After applying lipstick, take your index finger and pop it in your mouth, then pull it out. The excess lipstick will come off on your finger rather than your teeth.
• Lipstick can act as a blush. But never use blush as a lipstick.
• The older you are, the "creamier" your lips should look. If your lips are thinned out and wrinkled, avoid matte or a gloss and stick with a creamy lipstick.
• Not all lipstick shades look good on everyone.Your skin color will determine what shades are right on you. You may like a lipstick on your friend, but it may not look good on you. Orange or brown shades, including corals, look good on few people. These shades tend to make teeth appear yellow.
• Camouflage yellowed teeth. To downplay a yellow cast to teeth, try lipsticks with a bluish undertone. Shades that work include plums, pinks, wines and violets.
• Don't throw out a broken lipstick. If your lipstick breaks off, simply take off the broken portion with a tissue, then slowly wave a lit match under the broken piece of lipstick. When it's melted a bit, put it back on the base, swivel it down and put it in the fridge -- uncovered -- for 30 minutes.

• Lipstick done? You might notice there's still a bit of lipstick down in the tube. Scrape out the last bits with a cotton swap or orange stick and mix it with Vaseline or lip gloss in a lipstick palette. Use a lip brush to apply.
• You can also scoop out the lipstick remnants from the bottoms of the tube and puts them in a pill case (the one with the days of the week individually capped). Then nuke the pill case until the lipstick melts. Then use a lip brush and enjoy new lipstick. This is perfect for the purse.

Lip Tricks from Avon

Liptricks right from Avon.com

Use lip pencils, gloss and concealer to transform lips.

1. TO MAKE COLOR LAST LONGER
Apply lip liner to entire lip area, use a lip brush to gently blend any hard lines around the edges and then apply a gloss or a lipstick.

2. TO TRANSFORM A LIPSTICK SHADE
Use a lip pencil as a base for lipstick to make it look browner, deeper or redder, depending on the shade of the pencil. For a shinier finish, use lipstick as a base for gloss.

3. TO MAKE LIPS LOOK FULLER
Apply a highlighter slightly above the natural contour of the Cupid's bow. Apply desired shade of lipcolor. Using a lip liner in a shade that matches lipcolor, follow the outer dimensions of the lips and trace around the lip line. Dab gloss on the center of lower lip.

4. TO MAKE LIPS LOOK THINNER
Blend foundation or concealer lightly over the edges of your lips. Dust translucent powder over the area. Using a nude lip liner, outline lips within the natural lip line. Fill lips with a pale shade of lipstick.

Tips For Applying Lipgloss

Sick of your gloss looking like you just stepped out of the locker room after PE in high school? Well ... here's a couple of tips (paraphrased from About.com).

1. Apply properly: Don't put on lip gloss like you would lipstick. Instead of swiping it on your lips, apply the gloss to the middle of your bottom lip only and then rub your lips together. This will keep the gloss from being gloppy and thick!
2. Put gloss on over lipstick: Try just a bit of gloss over a neutral lipstick or even a neutral colored gloss over a striking lipstick. Same as #1, just a bit on the bottom lip and spread it out from there!
3. Too much gloss?: Smack lips between a tissue paper, just like you would lipstick.
4. Make gloss pop by lightening lips with concealer before adding colored lip gloss.

Try some of these tricks and tips and don't forget to check out GLAZEWEAR Lip Gloss at www.youravon.com/BrittaOConnell for a chance to enter to win a 2010 Chevy Malibu 4 door sedan (approximate retail value: $29,000).

Contact me today!

References:

• http://beauty.about.com/od/lipgloss/qt/lipgloss1.htm

How To Choose A Lipstick Color

We've all done it. Probably a million times. I know I have. When I was in college, I had a habit of going to CVS, Target, Walmart, Macy's, Filene's ... almost anywhere they sold makeup and looking at the colors of lipstick.

My biggest problem (and yes, I know I've been told a million times by a hundred different people that women will kill for what I have) ... my biggest problem is my lips ... they put Angelina Jolie to shame. They are huge. They are prominent and they are WICKED hard to find a color, style, and finish for because they are like ... BLAM! look at me ... I'm Britta's lips.

Well, I can honestly say that I've probably spent at least $500 on lipsticks and stains ... and glosses ... and lip liners ... the list is endless.

Now I know I was making a big mistake. I was looking to change my lips into something they weren't. I was picking what colors looked good to my eye in the tube. Not what looked good on my lips.

Bobbi Brown once said "[i]f I had to teach someone just one thing about lip color it would be this: Find a lipstick that looks good on your face when you are wearing absolutely no makeup."

You should always look for a color of lipstick that is one or two colors lighter or darker than your natural lip color. And always try them out in natural lighting (aka the sun) because the overhead lights in most stores distort the color of the lipstick.

Also, for a little more in depth help, we'll go into skin tones:

- Fair skin: try shades such as nudes in a apricot shade, pinks and light corals. Stay away from browns, which will appear boring and blah

- Medium skin: go a bit darker. You'll look awesome in roses, mauves and berries. Skip the bright reds and consider a deep burgundy instead.

- Dark skin: try a deep plum, chocolate or red. What about caramel or walnut for day, and plum or wine for evening?

Avon carries various types of lipsticks in many colors. Check out Avon's lipstick choices for the different products.

A Week of Lip Gloss and Lip Stick

This weeks blogs will be devoted mostly to lipsticks and lip glosses. Post any questions you might have here or email me at BrittaOConnell@gmail.com. I'll try to answer them all.

Do you love lip gloss but hate the idea of your lips shining like they did in high school?

That's me all over. I could (and still can't) find a lip stick or a lip stain that I'm totally in love with. My solution has always been lip gloss. But, as I'm becoming an adult (and yes, I can admit this as I'm coming up on the 30 milestone!) I've realized that I can't wear all the same makeup that I did when I was in high school and college.

My newest love though is Avon's Lip Gloss line. Called Glazewear, it comes in three finishes: Intense, Shine, and Sparkle. Even Prevention Magazine called it one of their picks for "products with the sex appeal of lipstick and the youth appeal of gloss."

Above you can see all the different choices you have to pick from in each finish.

Let me explain a little more about the finishes. Let's start with Intense.

Intense is going to be just that ... intense. All the colors are going to pop. You know when you go to a drug store or a department store and there these tubes of lipstick/gloss that offer you long lasting, all day coverage? You have to put the color on first and then the gloss goes on top of that? (There are usually two tubes: one with color and one with a gloss connected by a central connector with applicators attached to it). The color is usually gloopy and the gloss is too shiny.

Avon's Glasswear in the Intense finish are nothing like those. Smooth and sophiticated, you get all the glam and color of lipstick with a kick of shine.

Shine. This finish reminds me of a classic gloss. Not too eye catching (in the "omg, what was she thinking") but more of the classy "look at my gorgeous pouty lips" way. You are inviting others to look at your fantastic lips. This colors highlight and attract rather than scream "omg are you going to the dance on Friday night" which is what most normal lip glosses do.

Sparkle. Now this is my personal favorite. It takes Shine and kicks it up a bit. The colors are explosive. I love wearing Mirage as a stand alone color or over my lipstick to make it pop even more.

Stay tuned for tips on lips, application, and hints on picking out the perfect shade for you!

To purchase Avon's Glazewear from me (Britta), go to: http://shop.avon.com/shop/product.aspx?pf_id=37553, email me at BrittaOConnell@gmail.com or call me at (508) 320 - 1580.

Reference:

http://www.prevention.com/health/beauty/makeup-how-to/lip-gloss-for-grown-ups/article/e325ece863314110VgnVCM20000012281eac