I must first express our deep sadness and shock at the recent, untimely death of world renowned makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin. He was not only a driving force and talent in the world of makeup, but an inspiration to so many of us in this field and beyond, in so many different ways. Kevyn, we will miss you.

For this week's newsletter, let's take a trip to the drugstore! I plan to make this a monthly feature (thanks for feedback and suggestions from readers like you), so look for more drugstore-focused newsletters every month.

Aveeno Skin Brightening Daily Scrub ($6.99 for 5oz)
I like to think I am fairly well-versed in the ways of facial scrubs, as I have tried quite a few and tend to use one on a daily basis. Whenever I see a new one, I have to try it, and that's how I happened upon this new one from Aveeno. I had such great luck with their Skin Replenishing Cleansing Lotion (read my review here) that I had high hopes for the scrub, but I am sorry to say I found it to be nothing special. The sodium laureth sulfate cleansing agent makes it slightly drying, and the microbead exfoliators are so tiny and sparse that you can barely feel them. For someone with very sensitive, normal to oily skin, this combination might be fine, but for those of us who want to actually feel the effects of a scrub, don't bother with this one.

Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer ($13.99 for 4oz)
Strike two! Aveeno, what happened? I loved your Skin Brightening Daily Moisturizer (read my review here), so what do we need this one for? This is another soybean extract moisturizer that is somehow supposed to even out your skin tone and improve its texture, but there is no information on the package in plain English (instead of trying to decipher the ingredient label) about how exactly it works. All I got from two weeks of using it was a face full of pimples. No thanks! Although it claims to be oil-free, hypoallergenic and noncomedogenic, it made even my normal to dry skin feel greasy and irritated; some days, my face even reacted with a stinging feeling when I put this cream on. If Aveeno's soy products interest you, stick with the Skin Brightening Daily Moisturizer.

Revlon Lip Glide Color Gloss ($10)
I'm a now-and-again lip color user. Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't. Sometimes it's lipstick, and sometimes it's gloss. It's a mood thing :) This new lipcolor from Revlon is an interesting mix of the opacity of a lipstick and the creamy, more fluid texture of a gloss. The applicator is a twist-up pen that dispenses the color onto an angled, sponge-tip pad with little holes to let the color through. I love how the applicator makes the color go on so smoothly and easily, and I was surprised at how the coverage is more like a lipstick than sheer like a gloss. I can see wearing this all the time! My first attempt at picking a good shade for me fell flat - Berry Dazzling was lighter than I expected and made me look washed out and sickly. Looking at the shades again, I found Ruby Slippers and it's much better. The color and texture are easy to manipulate, so I can make it as bold or as sheer a red as I want. With a dark shade like this, it did have a stain effect and lasted longer than the lighter berry shade, so don't expect all day wear. If you don't mind touch-ups, this is a clever and pretty new approach to lipstick.

As usual, Revlon.com is slow in getting details of new products on their site, so you'll just have to keep checking your local stores for this Lip Glide if it's not already there. Hopefully it will be available for purchase online soon.

Sonia Kashuk Face Palette ($19.99)
I've always had good luck with Sonia Kashuk cosmetics, and you really can't beat the prices for such good quality makeup. This palette brings together a great collection of really wearable colors, including three eye shadows, three lip shades, two concealers, blush, pressed powder, small blush brush, and a dual-sided (sponge/lip brush) applicator in a slim silver compact with a very generous mirror. The palettes come in neutral or color; I chose color and love all of them. The color palette has light pink/lavender, medium gray lavender and deep plum shadows; light, medium and dark mauve/plum lipsticks; light and medium yellow-based concealers; brown-pink blush, and light pressed powder. The neutral palette, with its deeper shadow and lipstick shades, darker blush, and darker concealers, seems like the choice for dark skin tones (except that the pressed powder is more medium...). Ideally, I think there should be more skintone choices for each palette, like medium color or fair neutral, but for now these kits have excellent makeup - shadows don't crease, concealer has minimal fading, blush and powder are very smooth and silky, lipsticks are smooth and wear well. I've been using mine every day since I bought it and I think you will, too.

Look for this and other great Sonia Kashuk makeup products exclusively at Target stores and Target online.

I hope you enjoyed this issue of The Cosmetic Report!