Linklove: best beauty reads and news

In which I get up on that soapbox (rant incoming) about double standards bloggers apparently have when it comes to cruelty free products. There’s also a weird incubator program by one of the biggest cosmetics companies with lackluster results, beauty communities, beauty shopping in London, phone sex and alllll the beauty news you need!

Beauty news

Coty buys Burberry
The cosmetics and perfume branch of Burberry has been sold before, 2012 to Shiseido. Maybe you’ll remember – that was when nearly all products underwent reformulation with mixed successes. I really hope they don’t start to mess with the powder eyeshadows again… (Cosmetics Business)

Elf, Buxom and Glossier are coming to the UK
Glossier, eh? Well, let’s see how that goes. I know there’ve been (strategically smart) waiting lists and launches that sell out in a minute, so I’d be interested how shipping to the UK will pan out. (The Sunday Girl/ Elle)

Zoella/Biore is coming to Germany
Money maker and youtuber extraordinaire Zoella will sell her product line at German drugstore chain Rossmann. (Glam & Shine)
Also, Japanese brand Biore is now sold at Rossmann and Müller – methinks Rossmann is trying to up their retail game, yes? They now carry Makeup Revolution and Zoella while dm has NYX and Müller has Sleek. What’s your go-to drugstore? (Another Kind of Beauty Blog)

Beauty

Nailderella tests the new cosrx cream and has an in-depth overview of various acids and what they do for your skin. Highly recommended if you ever wanted to know the difference between AHAs, BHAs and PHAs. All in one handy chart. Awesome work! (Nailderella)

Magi’s interactive map of beauty destinations in London. Great resource! (Magi-Mania)

Why you start to like a perfume you detested years ago. Could be something that’s going on with makeup products as well? (Bois de Jasmine)

There’re beauty communities online where women speak with and empower each other and aren’t just airheads talking about lipsticks. SURPRISE! Sometimes I’m really astonished how a medium like Racked manages to come across as condescending as in this instance. (Racked)

L’Oreal’s incubator program for tech/beauty start-ups is seriously weird. Is it just me or is everything just majorly underwhelming and unappealing? What about asking makeup geeks what they would love to see?! (The only really cool thing is that custom-made foundation.) Sun patches? Was a huge fail that nobody wanted and used. Brush? Yawn. And nobody can make that Genius app enticing for me, sorry, L’Oreal. (The New York Times)

Snails, minks and bees – Snail mucus may not be cruelty free (we covered that discussion in last month’s post), but neither your mink lashes nor your bee venom products are. My stance is that everybody deserves to know the truth if products they buy are cruelty free or not. I wish companies would be more open about that, but of course, they aren’t interested in that at all. As a consumer, I set my own boundaries – I still buy MAC, but I’d draw a line at brushes, lashes etc. I think a lot of people (me included) are grappling with this and questioning where they stand (because, really, where to draw the line – leather handbags? Angora socks?), but what I absolutely can’t stand is that ‘holier than thou’-attitude. We’re all human, and our moral compasses err and change all the time. (London Beauty Queen/ British Beauty Blogger)

Life, love and everything else

Do we travel too much? I don’t know, but the reason behind this article seems to me a simple case of “oh, travel blogging is so mainstream nowadays that all these plebs do it!” Also, there’s no correlation between travel blogging, travel startups and the traveling Jane Doe does. (Streettrotter)

What do actors do before their breakthrough? Gabourey Sidibe was a phone sex operator, and her tales are fascinating. (Glamour)

I love London, and royal logistics have a secret place in my heart, so I naturally thought this article is worth a read – what happens when the Queen will die? Spoiler: If you’ll hear a certain song played by the BBC, prepare for the worst. Also, they kind of rehearse the funeral once a year. Mind? Blown. (The Guardian)

Why writers are the worst procrastinators. Why? Because apparently, they were the kids with all those As at school, and that made them insecure. Read the article (especially if you’re a procrastinator. Or a writer.) and you’ll see! (The Atlantic)