It’s one of the most important yet intimidating tools in your makeup bag. How best to master the art of foundation?

For many of us, foundation is our siren. We love how we feel when we’re with it, but one false move and we’re suddenly  crashed up on the rocks. A bad foundation application can mean oranges for cheeks and a pancaked jawline that looks drawn in by Google Maps. What’s more, our base can settle in fine lines, highlighted so significantly as to be seen from space. And yet, when best applied, foundation grants us a flawless, irresistible skin tone.

So what are some fun, fast tips for applying foundation? And what are the best products to use?

Your phone starts ringing loud enough to wake the dead. Despite the intense collection of rocks stationed on your forehead, you reach out and silence the noise. Sure, you silence it by throwing your phone into a laundry pile which you will frantically tear into later, searching for your phone. Then you turn your aching eyeballs to your nightstand, where a full glass of water sits within reach. It mocks you like the vodka you kicked back just a few hours before. That’s when you realize with the regret of a …

To gel or not to gel? One woman’s journey.

It started on Facebook, as many first-world tragedies do. It was 2010. One moment I was staring in half-focus at the organic burrito a friend says is the best thing she’s ever eaten. An instant later, I snapped to attention. Former fearless EIC of EcoSalon, Sara Ost, had posted a picture of the Manicure to End All Manicures. Her colorful nails looked like they had each been individually sculpted by DaVinci—they were uniform, strong, and bold.

Who did your nails, NASA? I texted Sara. …

No one sets out to age poorly. Cigarettes are smoked from youthful hands, complexions are baked in an unforgiving sun—40 is forever and a day away, so why worry? Until you turn 40. Or 35. Or in certain parts of the country, at a sprightly 22 after a night of hard drinking.

So, what happens? Women and men start to seek out a little ‘tox there, a little filler here. “It’s just a light touch,” they say. “No one will be able to tell.” And yes, some people are able to …

Labeling in the natural beauty world is a lawless society.

The world of safe cosmetics is like a modern wild west, filled with outlawed ingredients, determined settlers, and wild, crazed shoot-outs. (See: the comment sections of any controversial beauty item.) And the new sheriff in town who is going to make everything right in the land? Cue dramatic music: there is no sheriff.

Call a product natural, and you’ll soon find evidence it’s not. Find something proclaiming itself organic, and maybe only 10 percent of the ingredients actually are organic. A product says …

Safe cosmetic ingredients is the name of the game for new body care line, Beautycounter.

“I believe strongly that women should never have to compromise their health in the name of beauty,” says Gregg Renfrew, who describes herself as a mother, wife, and friend. “I know we can do better, and that’s why I started Beautycounter.” Standing among a crowd of rapt women and men in a chic hotel in wintery Boston, Renfrew kicked off the launch of Beautycounter, a new beauty and skin care line designed around the safest …

Winter can turn lips dry, cracked and painful, making kissing, talking and eating a chore. Ease them back to healthy with natural lip care.

If eyes are the windows to our souls, then our lips are the sentinels to our attitudes in stilettos. We use to them whisper, scream, shout and kiss, while simultaneously dressing them up in vibrant shades to telegraph our moods. So it’s not surprising that people go nuts if they feel like their lips are in jeopardy. If you could only have chocolate or lip balm on a …

Dry, winter skin is no match for these five naturally wonderful beauty products that will keep you glowing.

After 15 sun-speckled years of giving directions to the Hollywood sign, I recently moved back to the northeast. This was not the move of a California girl who knows the best beauty products for sun protection like she knows her Sigalerts. In fact, I have a long and storied childhood steeped in ice and snow. Growing up, I scoffed at icy temperatures, baring my face to bone-chilling winds with nary a chapped cheek to …