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We’ve been blogging Solessence for years, but after several moves we finally think we’ve found home. Please stay with us as we bring over our past posts and interviews.
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How Old is Too Old for Trendy?
Christian Siriano launches his new beauty collaboration with Victoria Secret. It is a sweet little group, and sure to be picked up by many a PYT on a shopping bender.
Watching his video, I was struck by something I’ve heard for the second time in a month: marketing geared toward the 20-something.
When Christian mentioned the “young, trendy girl” could wear the blue eyeshadow OR the nude look, I had to cringe. After years of companies chasing after baby boomers, are they now tossing everyone aside for “youth”? Haven’t marketers spent the last 30 years convincing the world they are eternally youthful? That you can have a wrinkle and wear blue eyeshadow, too?
My second experience is around the relaunch of Gap jeans. A brand that is trying to reinvent itself is focusing on winning the 20 something market. Ok, I get the youth thing, but it seems puzzling Gap would not want to woo back the demographic that put it on the map. They’ll put 1969 as a historic point on the marketing materials, but they don’t want anything that old pushing their jeans?
Are 30 & 40 somethings merely the lost marketing generation? If you fall in this bracket, do you feel marketers do a decent job of addressing your needs?
Kim Kardashian won’t lose any clout as a blond
When it was exclaimed, live at the Teen Choice Awards, that Kim Kardashian had appeared as a bona fide blond, it was clear it would hit the fan.
Kardashian tried out the flaxen locks with a wig earlier this year, much to public dismay and confusion. True, her signature is sultry brunette, but this girl is young and gorgeous. All of this talk about her brand, people who wouldn’t let her color her hair if they were in charge – she is a human being, not (only) a meal ticket (for some)!
I personally love her better darker, but who wouldn’t want to have this kind of versatility? She’s human, and I bet she’ll do more for going lighter than anyone since Marilyn Monroe. If you say she looks like everyone else – hello! I want to be everyone else! She hasn’t lost any edge in the looks department.
My only beef? I wish she had timed this better to be blond for spring/summer, not fall/winter.
Beauty & Brains: Christine Mielke of Temptalia.com
Kickin’ beauty shots! Insider launch info! Makeup database spanning from 1996! What’s not to like for the nearly 200k readers that stop by every month?
This is a transcript from an interview with Christine Mielke on Solessence Radio prior to blogger/BlogHer week.
By day she’s a law student, and one of the top makeup bloggers around. At a height of 200k unique visitors a month, Christine Mielke has crafted her blog Temptalia.com into one of the hottest makeup resources. Her signature closeups of eye and lip applications, along with reviews of different brands, are top notch instructionals for readers. Combine that with her willingness to engage her audience, and you often find a lively comment trail for her posts.
You have a very unique signature for your photos, close ups of your eyes and lips, for your tutorials. How did this all come about?
CM: Well first of all, it’s great to be here and thank you for the opportunity and interest in interviewing me. Temptalia really started as a way for me to archive all of the different looks I was doing already, posting with friends and sharing with other beauty addicts. At that point there was already about 100 different looks and I said it would be really great if I could just put these in a permanent spot, in one location, where people can look back on them if they wanted to. So I went with the blog format and it just took off from there.
This is actually a second version?
CM: Kindof. I did have another website, which didn’t use the name Temptalia. It was more of a personal site and then I migrated and used Temptalia, which has been my internet user name for ten years or so. I just went with that as a brand because people knew me by that.
It has grown; your traffic is tremendous. What do you think contributes to that? Did you intend on growing it this big?
CM: Originally my intent was not anything ambitious. It was to have fun. Then it started becoming more about writing reviews and doing tutorials, and so it became more things to do and more things to write. Then it was, okay, this could be something really fun if I work really hard and take it to the next level. Now our goal is to continue to grow it as much as we have in the past.
I think one of the major reasons we’ve grown so much is that we post regularly. We post a couple of times a day. The other thing is that it is a community atmosphere. It’s talking to readers, it’s answering reader questions. It’s all that reader interaction that makes people want to come back and keep reading the site.
It is very fun to read comments on your different looks. People also look to you to find information first hand. How do you feel about that? You’re sort of the bearer of beauty news.
CM: It’s great that I can deliver that news. I like to share whatever news I have with people, because I feel that consumers and my readers want to know what’s coming out. They want to plan for purchases, or they want to get tempted by all the different launches that come out every season. So it is really great to provide all of that information for them. In some aspects, sometimes I get asked questions about upcoming launches, and I might not have information yet, so I feel sad I can’t provide the information. But I do my best to provide what I can. I never hold on to information if I can help it.
What has been your number one challenge with this blog?
CM: I think the number one challenge is just meeting the demand. How do I spend my time everyday? What do I do to prioritize what should be done first? Answering comments, writing posts, talking with different brands. I feel like that is my major challenge and sometimes it’s overwhelming that there are so many things I want to do and not enough time to do them.
For people who have not been to your site (www.temptalia.com) you really need to visit if you have an interest in beauty. You mention you’ve expended out to the different brand reviews and giveaways, but you also do alot of what I would call polls. You bring up conversations on how people treat their makeup, or different routines. In terms of that, you’ve created this tribe of beauty lovers. How would you describe your typical reader?
CM: The reader base is really diverse. I have readers as young as 13, then women over 50. I would say the typcial reader is someone who lives and breathes beauty. They may love one brand or they may love ten brands. But they live and breathe it. They may not spend a lot of money or they may spend hundreds of dollars each month, but they still find something that they love. And if they can’t buy it, they still love to hear about it. And they love to share their knowledge with everybody else.
What has been your favorite topic? What was really fun for you?
CM: I think interviewing professional in the industry like Eve Pearl or celebrities like Heidi Klum. I think that stuff is really exciting for me because it is really fun and an honor and so flattering to do it. And I feel like it gives the blog an extra dimension that I can give my readers. In terms of stuff I do on my own, I really do like the basic series. Like “Must Have” blue eyeshadow, or the brush series. These are posts that will be really valuable to anybody that comes to the blog at any time. It’s not some fall collection that is only relevent for the fall season, it is information that people will find useful time and time again.
How does this change your future plans, being in law school? Where do you see this going?
CM:To be honest, before the blog started taking off – it has taken off in the last year and a half beyond my hopes and dreams – I have been struggling with law school in sense that that is not something I want to do in my life.
I’ve always been more of an entrepreneur than anything else. I love working for myself. I’ve been working for myself since I was 13. I’ve been writing articles in magazines since I was 13. So I think my calling is writing. Writing quick articles, regular basis, so I would really like to see this go forward in the future. I know for my plans I want to do things like consulting, blogging consulting, social media consulting.
Are you looking to speak? Do you want to work one-on-one?
CM: Right now I am looking to work with people one-on-one, most likely showing them what blogging is about, or how to work with bloggers (depending on the client). Showing them how they can utilize social media in a way that works well for bloggers and works well for the brand.
You recently came out with a book. Can you tell us about that and other projects you have going on?
CM: The book is a print archive of 50 looks that I felt were diverse. I think I have done 400 looks so far, so this is the best of. We’ve done the book as a response to readers. They wanted to be able to see the photo in the bathroom (where they are applying makeup) where the computer wasn’t, so that’s been the inspiration. It’s great for people to have a piece of Temptalia in their home and be able to use it as they want or show their friends.
In terms of other projects, we launched a product in Photogallery recently, that’s been really good. And we also launched a MAC database of all of the previously launched products from 1996 until the present, so people can find that long lost discontinued lipstick. In terms of other projects going forward, I think we would like to focus on YouTube presence being a little stronger, and trying to do more regular YouTube videos.
You are getting so popular you are getting hijacked – I saw some bogus Temptalia videos out there. What do you think of that? They did give you credit and they did use your photos, but it’s a little unusual to spend time doing that. I guess it’s flattering.
CM: They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I do have to look at this as a business and work to protect my copyright and photos. When they run ads and start profiting off my tutorials or looks it is infringing on my rights. It is one of the reasons we are working to put more of our own stuff on YouTube, so it will be very obvious when people do this. It will be hard pressed for them when we’ve already done it.
With your talent in doing makeup, why didn’t the route of becoming a makeup artist pop up first?
CM: I think where my strengths lie, and what I really love to do, is in teaching and educating people. I love sharing whatever knowledge I have, and in addition to that, I love learning from other people and taking it transforming it and bringing it into my own brain. Going through it, internalizing it, and increasing that knowlege. I love being able to reach so many people in this format, this 24/7 format, that being a makeup artist would not be able to offer those things and would not be as enriching as blogging is right now.
The database had to take an incredible amount of time.
CM: It was quite an ordeal to do all of the data entry. Lot of data entry. But it was helpful for someone like me to see, “Wow, I have this eyeshadow and it’s from WHEN?” It was fun putting together as well.
We had a conversation one time where you went through, I can’t remember, 80 pounds of makeup?
CM: I did have a point where I went through and gave around 60 pounds of product to a women’s shelter, and the remaining 20 lbs to my mom and my aunt, and they enjoyed that.
How much makeup do you go through a month?
CM: I don’t think I go through any makeup, ever, but I have alot of it. I can’t remember finishing any. That is a problem, it just continues to grow and grow, (laughs) I had to move to a new two-bedroom apartment and it continues growing. I have so much because right now I’m really trying to stay on the edge and I’m always looking for the newest and greatest things. I’m always accumulating and buying all of these products (right now I am going through fall stuff). If I don’t use something, I give things away through the blog giveaways, that is how some of that is supplied. If I’ve used it I pass it on to friends and family. If I can’t part with it, it makes way into my personal stash.
In terms of building your site, what has been the #1 thing that has done it for you?
CM: I think photos. In the beginning, that is what set Temptalia apart from the other beauty blogs. Because I posted pictures of myself, which I did not see as many beauty bloggers doing when I first started posting. It made the blog really personal; people could see me and they knew who I was. I had lots of photos and they were very good quality, so people could come and see the colors. They knew they weren’t stock photos; it was real product on a real person, so they knew the colors would be accurate with no Photoshop team behind me.
Did you have any photography training? Even in an ad, colors can look one way, but then you compare with the product and they won’t match at all. How did you get yours to be true to color?
CM: To be honest, I read the manual. I used to take the worst photos, and I think it was October 2005 when I said, “Let me read my manual.” Why couldn’t my pictures be crisp and clear? My photos were terrible! I learned macro mode and that set my world aflame, because a lightbulb went on over my head. My makeup literally went overnight from, “That looks okay I guess,” to “Wow, that looks pretty good!” I still use the same camera that I used four years ago for point and shoot, and I recently upgraded to a bigger SLR camera in the past 6 months or so. I still use the same point and shoot because it has served me so well, but that macro mode is everything when it comes to taking pictures of your makeup swatches. I can’t suggest enough to read your manual.
RTFM. Well it also helps that you are attractive, and you get these super close up shots of your eyes that are so gorgeous. You can see all the details of the makeup, and your eye shape is incredible. Great job.
CM: Thank you.
Can you mention some favorites that you have, or in general trends coming up.
CM: Right now I see a lot of darks for the fall. MAC is putting out a black lipstick, Urban Decay came out with a black lipstick. I then presume that eyes will be a little lighter, because we’re not all going to run around like a runway model. So, light on the eyes. I see a lot of liner coming on for the fall, strong liner, liquid liner. But then you’ve got nude, sheer lids. Black liner, black lips, and of course flawless skin is always in every season.
The Lancôme Indigo collection is probably the best to date. It’s just very bold pops of Indigo blue. MAC came out with their collection, which will be dark and vampy, and Goth. I think that’s where fall is going.
Italian Vogue and Kim Kardashian sport the no eyebrow & Goth look look
Have you noticed the ‘no eyebrow’ trend?
CM: No I haven’t, I must have missed this trend!
I don’t know if it is strictly for shock for runway or they are expecting people to take it on, but they are shaving, covering or bleaching eyebrows out.
CM: Very interesting! I really hope nobody takes that one to heart. It would be a shame for anyone to shave off their eyebrows – those things take forever to grow back.
~~~
To contact Christine for consulting inquiries, please email her at: christine@temptalia.com
Visit Christine’s sites at:
blog: www.temptalia.com
book: http://stores.lulu.com/temptalia
guide: www.Gallery.Temptalia.com
~ Hillary Fry / solessence
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pur~lisse founder Jennier Yen launches brand on QVC
This is an edited transcript from Jennifer’s interview on Solessence Radio.
This morning we have pur~lisse skincare founder Jennifer Yen. Jennifer is joining us from New York City. Her line marries Chinese skin rituals with French technology – and it has taken off fairly quickly. Let’s get her on the line.
Hi Jennifer, you’ve been fairly busy because you’ve got some exciting news to share about this coming Wednesday.
JY: Yes, it’s this coming Wednesday and Thursday AM We’re launching on QVC!
QVC on 8/13 @ 1am EST and 8/12 @ 10pm PST
Congratulations.
JY: Thank you!
So let’s give people a background on the skincare line. You were a working actress, and you started having trouble with your skin. Let’s start there.
JY: Yes. When I graduated college I wanted to be an actress, like so many young women. Moved out to LA, and I did act. I was on a kids show called Power Rangers for about a year and a half, and I was an evil villainous, so they caked on the makeup. There were constant touchups, I had so much make-up on, and within months of the show, four months, my skin went crazy. I broke out in adult acne, I got hives, my skin was very itchy, it became extremely sensitive, and nothing was working for my skin. That’s when I starting asking around, trying everything from natural products to organic products, to high-end luxury brands. Nothing was working. I’ve always been a lover of beauty products and open to trying things, but nothing was working.
That’s when I decided to take a step back and take a very simple approach to skincare. I remembered my grandmother would always talk about the blue lotus flower. She used to use white tea on everything. We drank it, used it as an anti-septic (she would pour it on my cuts and rashes). Then I remembered she would use soy milk. She always drank it, washed her face with it. She believed it left her with a creamy appearance. I wanted to integrate these ingredients she used with advanced French skincare technology, so I found a chemist in 2004/2005, and we started developing it. That’s how I got started. It was a personal need in the beginning. Then I realized there are so many other women, and men, that can benefit from pur~lisse.
I have had a chance to try several items in the line, and it is fantastic. It reminds me of the textures that you get when you’re in Asia, and different skincare lines I would hoard when I would be in Japan. It really is just a different approach over there. I always thought it would be great to see here in the US, and you’ve done that. Now before we go further into the formulations, tell me a little more about how you approached the packaging. Was that outsourced? Was that part of your philosophy with the looks?
JY: Unfortunately I didn’t have the luxury of having a huge budget, so I’ve done everything myself in terms of, I went to every packaging show right before developing the packaging. I sourced each bottle and tube myself because I did, you’re right, I do have a certain philosophy. Because I was traveling so much you can see that. Our stuff is paraben free. We don’t use parabens as preservatives, so we don’t put anything in a jar. Everything is in dual chamber, airless or a tube. It easy for traveling, it protects the ingredients from breakdown of the ingredients. So everything is really protected, travels very well and is functional. So that is number one in what I believe in. Also, from a design perspective, because pur~lisse is inspired by the blue lotus we use a gorgeous blue. But also the product is very clean and natural, so why we use just very simple colors like blue and white, very clean and natural. That’s why we kept it that way.
Packaging is a huge hurdle for most people, initially. Did it come easily to you?
JY: I did work with a very, very talented designer, but she looked to me a lot to me for direction, and of course I had a very specific vision: Clean. Functional. Beautiful.
Also I wanted to focus on the blue lotus because it is (symbolism of) a very powerful flower. It means integrity, resurrection, potential and evolution. It is the flower all over southeast asia, it goes back 5000 years. Chinese women use it, Persian women use it, Indian women use it, to preserve their youth and beauty. It has amazing anti-oxidant benefits, anti-viral, it’s very soothing, and the entire flower can be consumed. Growing up we used to eat the lotus root, and she used to take the leaves and brew it, and also the seeds, she used to sauté and put them in our food. This blue lotus flower is very special because it has amazing detoxifying properties. It is also the flower for yogis. It is a very special flower that has so many positive meanings, and I wanted that to be communicated on the packaging.
Lotus seeds in my pantry, Jen!
I think it does that very well. It’s very striking. You also use peony.
JY:Yes, in the pur~bright, our ultra skin brightening serum. It’s great for skin, creates an overall brightening effect. It’s hydroquinone free, so it safely brightens your skin.
That ‘s very important. Are you full time with the line now?
JY: Yes, I do no more acting! (laughs)
Why don’t you mention some of the locations pur~lisse is in now?
JY: Our first store was C.O. Bigelow in West Village. It is a really great apothecary, they carry the best niche brands. So that was our first store. Now we’re at Studio Beauty Mix at Fred Segal in Los Angeles. We’re at Henri Bendel. We’re at BlissWorld.com, we’re in the Bliss catalog. We’re also on Beauty.com, Drugstore.com, and then we’re also in Woo Skincare & Cosemetics in Tennessee. And then QVC coming up this Wednesday.
How did that happen with QVC?
JY: Last summer I was introduced to a buyer, and we’ve been communicating with them forever. They loved the product, they loved the story, and it was just working out all of the logistics. We had to create a special size for them for a special price. They are value driven, so people can always find quality products with great deals. It took some time to deal with all of the logistics, all of the new production. I met with the buyer in November and it is finally happening this summer.
Are you actually doing the show live?
JY: Everything is live.
And you will be there?
JY: I will be there!
pur~lisse in Ebony Feb 2009 issue
What have you done to create awareness for the brand? How are you using the social media tools? I see you are on Twitter and Facebook. Have you seen things change since you started to use them?
JY: Absolutely, absolutely. We launched September 2007, and during this time I’ve seen so many changes in PR. Since I’ve started, which is two short years ago, all of the press was so focused on hard print. Magazines. The blog world was barely recognized as an important tool.
I love Facebook, I love Twitter. I knew when I started two years ago I wanted to use them somehow to promote. When Facebook started the business pages I immediately got on. Every friend I have, I always tell them to get on and become a fan! But I’ve noticed such a difference with magazines and blogs. Magazines work back five months. Well in five months information can change drastically, whereas blogging is instant, it’s credible. They (bloggers) try the product, and you can get information out fast. And also, one of the most important things is, once you get blogged it is always on this internet if someone searches for you. Whereas a magazine…I’m always traveling so I don’t get my subscription unless I’m at the airport and I get the magazine. So I think that blogging is so important now, and also social media. Twitter is important.
In this day and age, companies need to be transparent and it is a way for consumers to get to know what the company is about if they are authentic. The connection between the consumer and the creator, it builds a lot of trust. Now it is really important for companies to have that trust. If someone is having a problem or an issue, you can address it to someone. Not just call an 800# and get a receptionist. It is so powerful. To me, it builds trust, and is a way I can reach out to people. Because we don’t have an advertising budget. We don’t advertise. Everything we do has been grassroots.
pur~lisse in Lucky April 2009 issue
That is incredible. And it’s great to hear that you are open and embracing (social media) as a way to connect, because consumers do feel it’s thrilling to speak directly to someone they can recognize as part of the entity. When they see the brand rep, like you, the founder, it is a bit of a thrill.
JY: You know, I hope so. Because I enjoy talking to people on Twitter, and I like to hear what they say too. What their skin problems are, what their favorite products are. To me that is just as joyous.
Can we talk about your line? You have seven items. Let’s talk about how you honed in on the seven pieces to showcase.
JY: When I thought about what my needs were in the beginning, I thought “What are the most essential items woman or a man needs?” As you know, it is a very crowded space, there are so many products, there are so many options. For me I needed it to be streamline. I needed it to be essential. So I thought, what does a man do? What does a woman do? She cleanses her face. We have:
- pur~delicate, our gentle soy milk cleanser and makeup remover
- pur~protect with SPF 30, so that’s a daytime moisturizer
- pur~moist, which is our hydra-balance moisturizer for night
- pur~eye adore, which is our quadra benefit serum
- pur~lip comfort, which is our daily lip nourisher
So those are the basic essentials. Then I wanted to address beyond that, so we have two serums. Pur~youth preserve, which we are launching on QVC, and pur~bright ultra, our skin brightening serum.
I think there are three main issues we have. Women (as well as men) are concerned about
- anti-aging
- skin brightening (lackluster, uneven tones)
- acne
We don’t address acne, only anti-aging and skin losing glow. I decided to create this because I’m Asian, and a lot of Asians have problems with hyperpigmentation. But I didn’t create this just for Asians! pur~bright is great for all ethnicities, whether you’re African American, Hispanic, because it doesn’t make your skin white, it just makes it bright.
For listeners that don’t understand, hydroquinone has been shown to be a cancer causing agent and is banned in many countries, but still seems to show up a lot.
JY: Exactly. You are absolutely right, and people should be educated on hydroquinone. It is a toxic drug that is banned in countries like Australia. All of UK. All of South Africa. Japan. South Korea. Amongst a lot of other countries, and it’s actually causing a controversy in the States. The FDA is considering banning it because it is very toxic, and if it is not used properly with sunscreen, it can cause irreversible damage.
Touching on the “It’s not only for Asians” thing, all races have problems with discoloration; it just has been a focus in Asia.
JY: Exactly. It can be hormonal. If you’re on birth control it can cause more discoloration. Or if you have sun damage from ten years ago! I’m starting to see a little mark and I think, “Oh goodness, this is from when I loved the sun in high school.”
And pregnancy. I know for myself, the reddening of the skin never went away, and they told me that would happen! It only lightened up. Have you had any other big challenges with this line?
JY: Yes. On a consumer level, I never say we’re organic. If you go to our website, purlisse.com, we are very transparent. It is so clear. We are natural, but not organic. Every ingredient is listed on the back of the product. We are natural, but we integrate French technologies, so I think that consumers need to be aware we are natural, but not organic. During my research, I found people love organic. But for me, personally, organic does not work on my skin. There are some organic lines that have irritated my skin, so I knew I didn’t want that for my line. I wanted something gentle, but extremely effective. Natural, with advanced skin technology.
It’s been a hurdle. Some people get confused about whether we’re organic, but in terms of hurdle? Every day is a hurdle, Hillary, every single day there are new challenges! Everything.
(laughing) That’s great, that is a really honest answer.
JY: No it is, every day is a hurdle. (laughing) I love what I’m doing, I really do, and I’m so happy that I did it. But also, I honestly didn’t know what I was doing. And I say that with pure sincerity.
I was an actress going to auditions, and I decided, “Oh my goodness, I have skin problems. I want to start a skin company,” But the reality is, I’ve never started a beauty company, I’ve never worked for a beauty company. I’ve never worked for any company, period. So there were huge learning curves for me, and I just had to go with it. I didn’t have a lot of training. All I knew was I wanted to develop an amazing skincare line and everything else after that I had to learn on a daily basis. That’s why every day is a challenge, everyday is an obstacle, everyday is learning something new. It’s been fun but, (laughs) goodness, I don’t know if I could do this again.
Do you have mentors that are helping you?
JY: Yes, yes. When I have a problem or issue that I don’t know how to resolve, I usually ask someone who is more experienced, you know, what should I do in this situation? I have several mentors who have been extremely, extremely helpful, and it’s great. Because when you don’t know what your doing it’s good to reach out to people that do, so you can make a decision based on their advice.
It’s good to be open. Sometimes you can be so embarrassed or overwhelmed, but really it’s all about networking and reaching out.
JY: Absolutely.
Once you get past this, do you have any plans for other new launches?
JY: Yes. We’re talking to Sephora right now and Space NK, and we’ll have our schedules out for those two launches.
Are thinking of going international?
JY: I want to! If we get in Space NK we’ll be in the UK. We are in one store in Canada. I want to. I definitely need to hire more people. And I would love to bring pur~lisse to Asia. I think it would do phenomenal there, because of the texture and the way it sinks into your skin, and it’s very calming and soothing but good for age prevention. I think it would do really well. Hopefully by the end of 2010.
—SPECIAL OFFER
To celebrate her launch on QVC, purlisse founder Jennifer Yen is offering FREE purlisse lip moisturizer, $22 value! This product is getting rave reviews. Enter your shipping information HERE and mention “Solessence” and your skin type to get your full size lippy. Then get ready to shop next week. THIS OFFER GOOD UNTIL 8/12, 10PM PST (QVC launch)
Don’t forget to tune into QVC on 8/13 @ 1am EST and 8/12 @ 10pm PST. Jennifer will be launching the pur~youth preserve age delay skin serum with unique deals! The retail price on this product is $79, but the special introductory price on QVC will be $59.09 for this event.
~ Hillary Fry / solessence
