Welcome to this week's Cosmetic Report^™ newsletter. It's our goal to bring you unbiased information about cosmetic products and trends so you can make educated buying decisions. If you've been searching for straightforward beauty information and advice, you've found it here. The Cosmetic Connection Panel of reviewers are consumers just like you who face the same issues and challenges, and look to the beauty industry to help solve them.

This week we are featuring Vicky, a 38-year-old office manager who has always loved makeup and skincare products. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona where the dry climate and high summer temperatures make taking care of your skin and melt-proofing your makeup a challenge! Vicky has dark brown curly hair, dark brown eyes, and a medium/light olive complexion. Her skin is normal-to-oily (t-zone) with large pores and occasional breakouts. Her hair is fine, highlighted, on the dry side, and Vicky regularly straightens it with a ceramic flat iron.

Now for Vicky's reviews!

PASSPORT LA PLAYA LIP GLOSS SET
Lip gloss has always been one of the more fun makeup products--shiny, beautiful colors that are pleasing to the eye--that gals of all ages love to collect and wear at one time or another. Colored lip glosses have become a major trend, with opaque colors being slightly more trendy than the traditional sheers. As a result, many makeup lines are offering great options in lip glosses in the way of colors and textures.

I have to confess that I, too, have become caught up in the craze! I've bought a few Chanel Glossimer glosses and NARS lip lacquer, and I recently came across an article that had a blurb about the Passport makeup line, which is relatively new to me. They carry individual lip glosses, but I had the good luck of being able to try the lip gloss set in La Playa.

The set consists of four full-size lip gloss tubes with sponge-tipped applicator wands, all in a cute striped box. The colors in this set are called Ruble, a sheer bronze shimmer; Baht, a sheer pink/berry shimmer; Yen, a sheer golden peach shimmer; and Deutschmark, a cotton candy pink shimmer.

I tried all the colors and liked them all except for Deutschmark--it just didn't look right on me. I loved the light feel of these glosses; they didn't feel heavy or sticky on my lips, just comfortably moisturizing. These glosses are also lightly scented with a kind of minty/fruity flavor that was nice. Of course being lip gloss, you have to reapply it a couple of times a day, but it went on smoothly each time. I usually wear a light lip liner under the gloss to give it a little more staying power. Overall, I really liked these glosses. The price of the set is a bargain, too. Individual glosses cost $12 each, but the set of 4 is $24. You can find them at the company's website, passportcosmetics.com, and at Sephora stores and online.

BENEFIT GEORGIA ALL-OVER POWDER
Benefit is one of those companies that makes make-up fun and brings a little smile to your face when you read the names of the products. For example, Aruba-in-a-Tuba, for their self-tanner; Touch Me Then Try To Leave, for their body cream; and "Mr. Right Now" and "Don't Quit Your Day Job" for their powder eyeshadows.

One of their popular products right now is the Dandelion face highlighter, a natural, pinky-beige color powder that can be used all over the face to give it a pretty glow. On the heels of this is the new Georgia face highlighter, which is a lighter, very sheer peachy color. The product that started it all was the Hoola bronzing powder.

All of these products are packaged in a small square box with a cute little brush inside. I had read about this trio of products, but I didn't really know what to expect from them. So I was really happy when I got the chance to try the Georgia. First of all, it comes in a much smaller box than I thought it would: just about 2 inches square. For the price of $26.00, I thought you'd get a little more product than that! Inside the box sits a short-bristled brush with a square handle, and the powder, in a pressed form, sits underneath it. The brush applies the powder well enough, but some of the bristles tended to come off on my face when I used it. I prefer to use a blush or powder brush for a lighter application.. The powder is basically matte, with the tiniest hint of shimmer. I like the idea of an all-over highlighter, and the powder felt silky, but I think it is just a little too light and chalky-looking on my skin. Fair-skinned gals will probably like the light glow it will give their skin. It also smells somewhat of peaches--probably to tie-in with the name of the product, Georgia. Cute!

While I love the novelty of the Georgia all-over powder, I don't think it's a great deal for the money. If you love to collect products, then it's a cute addition, and if you're fair-skinned it will give a pretty, subtle glow to your face.

You can find Georgia at Sephora stores and online, and department stores that sell Benefit.

DuWOP BUTTERCREAM BODY LOTION
The latest craze for yummy food fragrances has brought bunches of body and bath products with such enticing names that your mouth waters just hearing them: marshmallow-cocoa body whip, cinnamon buns, strawberry milkshake...hungry yet? DuWop, famous for their Lip Venom, did not pass up the opportunity to come out with a rich, delicious-sounding body lotion called Buttercream, Dessert For Your Skin.

Since I am definitely a person who loves all the bakery smells, I had to try it!

It comes in a 4 ounce tube with a handy flip-top lid. The Buttercream is a little thicker than a lotion but not as thick as a true body cream, so the consistency was really nice and easy to spread. The smell is very yummy, very much like a vanilla cake with buttercream frosting, definitely buttery smelling with a hint of vanilla. The cute writing on the back of the tube comes with a "warning" that says you might want to eat your arm if you apply it repeatedly! Buttercream absorbs nicely, and makes the skin soft, thanks to the jojoba oil and avocado oil in the formula. I liked the smell very much, it was a true food smell, without any of the sour notes that you get with creams that don't use high-quality flavorings. My only complaint is that the smell doesn't linger on your skin for more than an hour or so. Not that I want to be smelling like cake and frosting all day long, but I would have wanted it to leave a faint scent on the skin.

Not everyone likes the bakery smells, though, so if you don't like the smell of cake, or chocolate, or honey, or frosting, then this kind of product probably won't make you happy. If you do like that type of smell, though, DuWop's Buttercream is a nice addition to your collection. Not only can you wear it by itself, but you can layer fragrance sprays on top of it to complement the smell. The 4 ounce tube costs $17.00 and you can buy it online at Sephora.com and also the company's website, duwoponline.com.

Thanks for that report, Vicky. We hope you enjoyed this issue of The Cosmetic Report!