40 Days and 40 Nights of Beauty Brand Reviews

Day 9, DuWop

Cavewoman: A few years ago, Lancome discontinued my favorite brow pencil, called Ebene. It was a perfect dark charcoal with no red undertones, and matched my brows without being harsh or too dark. When my last Ebene became too short to sharpen, I reluctantly tossed the little nub into the trash, and went out to scour the counters for a substitute.

I was surprised to find that other than totally black pencils, anything called "brunette" had the red undertones that I was trying to avoid. It did not matter to me if I found a pencil or one of the new waxy pans, I just wanted the right color. After seeing the DuWop Browwow in a magazine, I headed to Nordstrom to check it out.


DuWop Browwow Brow Perfecting Kit comes in two shades, Lighter and Darker. Inside the cute compact are three pans, one a pressed powder brow color, one a tinted wax, and the third a highlighting cream shadow. Darker did not appear dark enough in the compact, but I asked my SA for a slanted brush and I applied the products to my brows. I was very pleased with the look, the color, and I think that Browwow gave my brows a nice soft shape. The two-step brow application takes a bit of practice, but once the powder is on, and the wax applied over it, brows stay in place all day. The highlighter is a pretty pale pinky-peach shade that goes right under the brow to give the eyes a little lift and brightness. I never thought I'd use anything but dark charcoal brow color, but this little kit won me over. And maybe at my age, a softer brow is prettier. I don't miss the Lancome nub at all.

Annieytown: Picking a favorite product from the DuWop line was much too hard for me tonight. I discovered the cosmetic line last year and have become a huge cheerleader for them. I love everything from the Venom lippies to the blogger's favorite tinted moisturizer, Revolotion.
DuWop was created by Christina Bartolucci and Laura DeLuisa in the late 90's. They were makeup artists who originally tinkered in their kitchens to create new makeup products. Their mad scientist experiments paid off. They now offer their products at Sephora, Nordstorm, Henri Bendel, Holt Renfrew, SpaceNK, Mecca Cosmetica, Beauty.com and Fred Segal.

The path to success was filled with some bumps along the way.
They had to fight for their name.

From Entrepreneur.com: "When [we] first started the company, I was doing graphics in a copy store, and this kid came up to me and said, 'DuWop? What a great name. Is it registered?' I said, 'I don't think so,' and he said, 'Let me register it for you,'" says Bartolucci. "In front of me, in the store, he went online and registered, and stole our name. It took us three years and a lawsuit to get it back. So now, no matter how excited I am, I take a deep breath and think 'Is silence the best response here?'"


That is a brief history lesson on the company. Now lets dish on my favorite products.

1. DuWop's Revolotion Face: The best tinted moisturizer on the market today. It kicks Laura Mercier's Tinted Moisturizers butt. It is a sheer lightweight formula that has light reflecting pigment that leaves your skin flawless and radiant. Revolotion gives you gorgeous coverage without settling into any fine lines or creases. It has a matte finish and leaves no greasy mess.

It comes in 6 shades:

Nanci: Ivory
Caitlin: Palest Beige
Tara: Light Beige
Laura C: Medium Beige
Conchita: Dark Beige
Lauren: Deep Tone

It retails for $28 and it truly gets my highest recommendation.


2. Venom Gloss: I was blown away by the quality of the glosses.

They look and feel fantastic. The ingredients are cinnamon, wintergreen and ginger(for the tingle and bite) and skin softening goodies such as jojoba, avocado, sunflower oil, beeswax and green tea. The glosses give you full and hydrated lips. There will be no mess afterwards. Your lips will feel and look like they have been treated at a spa.

The 12 fab shades are:

Lily: Perfect Mauve
Ivy: Pale Beige
Tulip: Sheer Clear Red
Lantana: Super Sheer Hot Pink
Jessamine: Copper Rose/Brown
Coral Tree Shimmery Peach
Windflower: Deep Berry Brown
Hyacinth: Clear Neutral Brown
Love in a Mist: Shimmery Pale Lavender
Snowberry: Sheer gold flecked berry
Buttercup: Light Shimmery Champagne
Firethorn: Shimmery Creamsicle Orange

The glosses retail for $18.

3. DuWop's Eyes Palettes: Each palette contains a base color, lighter and darker versions, gold or silver shimmer, and a matching cream liner. It comes with a small brush that was surprisingly handy. I usually discard these because they are useless.

The shadow's quality is very high. They have a velvety finish with good pigment power.

They have 7 shades:

Brown Eyes (useful)
Green Eyes (personal favorite)
Blue Eyes
Amber Eyes(personal favorite of Tussah)
Gray Eyes
Violet Eyes (so pretty)
Rose Eyes


The palettes retail for $32.

What are your favorite DuWop Products?
Jeanne: Tell us about your makeover!!!

Photos: Cavewoman and Sephora. Information from Duwop and Entrepreneur.com
http://shop.duwop.com/index.asp

Disclosure: This post features products purchased and press samples direct from the company or PR firm.