Lipstick

The beauty hounds at Self magazine have sniffed out this lipstick dirt. They have discovered why the price of lipstick has increased so much.Elizabeth Arden lipstick went from $6.50 to $12 over the last 10 years because the formula has been upgraded and there's a nifty new signature gold metal case.Chanel went from $8 to $17.50 because of added moisturizers, improvement in the lipstick's "swivel" factor and a new scratchproof lacquer case. We wonder how much the lipstick would be with an old-fashioned scratchable case.

George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" is a witty play whose classic status has never been in doubt, but this comedy is mostly known today as the literary source for the Broadway musical "My Fair Lady. " The Everyman Theatre staging of "Pygmalion" is a fine opportunity to return to the source. As a satirist keenly aware of class differences in Great Britain, Shaw has an especially good ear for how such differences are expressed through speech patterns. That's why he has a field day with this play's premise: a snobby scholar, Henry Higgins (Kyle Prue)

MINNEAPOLIS -- American-made lipstick contains "surprisingly high levels of lead," according to new product test results released yesterday by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. The lead tests were conducted by an independent laboratory last month on red lipsticks bought in Minneapolis, Boston, Hartford and San Francisco. Its findings include: Sixty-one percent of the 33 brand-name lipsticks tested contained detectable levels of lead, with levels ranging from 0.03 to 0.65 parts per million (ppm)

MINNEAPOLIS -- American-made lipstick contains "surprisingly high levels of lead," according to new product test results released yesterday by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. The lead tests were conducted by an independent laboratory last month on red lipsticks bought in Minneapolis, Boston, Hartford and San Francisco. Its findings include: Sixty-one percent of the 33 brand-name lipsticks tested contained detectable levels of lead, with levels ranging from 0.03 to 0.65 parts per million (ppm)

A man wearing red lipstick and a wig robbed a Columbia credit union yesterday morning, Howard County police said.The robber entered Tower Federal Credit Union in the 9000 block of Snowden Square Drive about 10: 20 a.m. and approached a teller, police said.The man opened his purse, displayed a handgun and passed the teller a note demanding money, police said.The man then fled with with an undetermined amount of cash, police said.Police are looking for a black man, between 5 feet 8 and 5 feet 10, with broad shoulders and a mustache.

If there is a better bargain in horse racing than Incredible Revenge, it would be difficult to find.The 7-year-old mare, purchased for $800 as a weanling, brought her lifetime earnings to nearly $500,000 yesterday with a front-running victory in the $60,000 Gold Digger Stakes at Pimlico.It was the 17th victory in 25 starts on the grass for Incredible Revenge, who seized the lead from the rail in the five-furlong race and fended off several challenges from Lipstick, who was second, 1 1/4 lengths behind.

The words on the lips of almost every cosmetics company these days are "long lasting." In their search for makeup that stays put, companies are focusing right on the kisser.For decades, cosmetics makers have attached long-wearing claims to their products. But making a lipstick that really sticks has been the big challenge. Unlike eye shadow or even foundation, lipstick is worn off by eating, talking and contact with coffee cups.Now many companies say they have discovered the secrets for lipstick that lasts at least a full workday, as well as for other long-wearing color cosmetics.

Just before passengers begin to board, a beautiful blonde in an elegant flight attendant's uniform is regally surveying the plane with a Jackie-O je ne sais quoi. Enter her cute archrival. An argument ensues, and suddenly they're shoving each other. Cheese plates are flying, arms are flailing, and one woman ends up straddling the other on the ground, grabbing her head and slamming it into a large bread roll. Sound like a WWF wrestling skit? One of those late-night B-movies that borders on soft porn?

Edgar Prado, the nation's winningest jockey each of the past two years, started fast in 1999 by riding four winners yesterday at Laurel Park, including a front-running victory aboard Lipstick in the $35,000 Toes Knows Stakes for fillies and mares.Prado gunned the 5-year-old daughter of Smarten straight to the lead and beat eight others to the wire, including runner-up Darling's Bid, in 1: 05 for 5 1/2 furlongs. Tookin Down took third.``She broke very well and made the front pretty easily,'' Prado said.

A man wearing lipstick, a wig and a silk jacket stole an undisclosed amount of money Saturday night from the Fashion Bug in Ellicott City's Chatham Mall, Howard County police said.The man opened his brown leather purse, pulled out a semiautomatic handgun and demanded money from the clerk. A companion opened his overcoat, revealing a shotgun, police said.Police suspect that the same cross-dresser robbed Sally's Beauty Supply in the 8600 block of Liberty Road about two hours earlier.The cross-dressing bandit fits the description of a man wanted in the October robbery of Tower Federal Credit Union on Snowden River Parkway.

The three friends knew they should arrive at the airport early, so they packed carefully the night before. They put everything -- clothing, cell phones, lipstick -- into the large suitcases they would check at the ticket counter. The plan was to brave the long, chaotic lines, suffer through the security checkpoints. Then, once inside Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, they'd have a big breakfast before boarding their flight to Toronto. It turns out they over-prepared.

YEARS BEFORE THE BOOM OF the Internet and reality TV, major pop stars maintained a certain mystique. If your love for them ran deep, you joined a fan club. Through snail mail, you received information about tours and album releases, and deals on rare posters and T-shirts. Perhaps you learned "personal" details about the artists in the fan club newsletter: the name of the high school Pat Benatar attended, the astrological personality traits of each member of New Edition, the brand of lipstick Boy George prefers.

THE SPEAKER of the House of Delegates, Michael E. Busch, should be widely praised -- not tarred -- for having so far blocked the arrival of slots in Maryland. But the House now could hold its first floor vote on slots as early as today, a vote that's about political expediency -- not what's best for all Marylanders. The speaker could no longer keep his finger in the dike. Mr. Busch, having beaten the Senate president and governor the last two years, finally was boxed in to allowing a bill out of a House committee yesterday.

Ellen Stern's handbags don't just hang idly from an arm. They bloom. Laden with orchids, lilies and roses, handcrafted from vintage couture flowers and leaves, these rich silk and velvet bags aren't merely accessories, they are the main event. "When people wear them they feel good about themselves," says Stern, a former fashion photographer who grew up in Pikesville and now lives in Reisterstown. "They feel beautiful." As a photographer, Stern worked for 15 years in Italy and New York, shooting advertising spreads for designers that appeared in such magazines as GQ, Washingtonian and In Style.

A skin-care product's promise of radiant, rejuvenated skin is tempting enough. Throw in a gift with a purchase and who can resist? Estee Lauder, who died Saturday at age 97, will be as remembered for her marketing prescience as her self-named beauty empire. Just say the magic words, "This special gift is yours at no extra charge," and wallets automatically opened, Lauder discovered early in her career. A gift is a gift, she realized, no matter how much you pay for it. Lauder, who started her business by selling four homemade skin-care products in 1930, "absolutely, superbly understood the counter and how to engage the customer," says Adelaide Farah, group editorial director for Beauty Fashion Magazine, a monthly trade publication.

CHICAGO -- Few lipstick wearers ever make peace with the apply / release / repeat cycle. Extended-wear lipsticks, however, promised something different when they rode into drugstores a few years ago: Namely, that a single application would stay with you through thick soup and thin-rimmed glass, from "kiss" straight through to "tell." There was just one problem with this breed. "It didn't have great wearability," said cosmetics cop Paula Begoun, author of six editions of Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me (Beginning Press)

Following Cher's lead, Dolly Parton is selling makeup via infomercial.The superstar -- having conquered Hollywood and Dollywood, not to mention music -- is moving on to the 30-minute commercial, where she introduces her "goof-proof" 12-product Beauty Confidence Collection."

You've got to hand it to Barbie -- she's a middle-aged gal who refuses to hang up her go-go boots and miniskirts. And now she wants your daughter to dress like she does, too. Her line of girls' clothing for the holidays is colorful, fashionable and sporty. Starting at $24, items include suede and leather boots embellished with butterflies and flowers, newsboy caps, thick cozy sweaters, comfy sweat pants and patterned corduroys and jeans. We can't help but wonder, why doesn't Barbie don some of these tasteful clothes herself?

Flip through any magazine for mature women, and you're likely to see ads for creams, lotions and treatments promising to erase lines and eliminate wrinkles. But if you're still sporting the same sprayed-in-place hairdo, blue eye shadow and bright pink blush you wore 40 years ago, Leon Hall, co-host of E! Entertainment's Fashion Emergency, has some advice: "Run, don't walk, to the nearest cosmetics counter and get some help updating your look." "You're throwing your money away if your skin looks great, but your cosmetics make you look like someone from The Night of the Living Dead," says Hall, who does makeovers of men and women of all ages on his show.