RI Beauty Expert: Cool Summer Beauty Shopping

RI Beauty Expert: Cool Summer Beauty Shopping

Nothing was more fun as a teenager than hitting the local Rexall to play with some makeup. And that was before the days of self-service beauty emporiums where you couldn’t just dip your pinky into a Yardley Pot-O-Gloss (not that you want to dip your pinky into anything nowadays – there’s always clean tools to use). Not feeling like braving Route 1 beach traffic last Sunday, I ducked into Kohl’s to shop for a shower curtain and came away with tons of beauty tips and some hip new products.

Lay of the Land

Kohl’s cosmetic department was a complete surprise – bright, cheery, super- clean and air conditioned, it was Makeup Mecca for this beauty product-lover. Everything is arrayed in easy-to-test fashion, and even better, around every corner is a handy tall counter with a large mirror for maximum visibility along with tons of disposable brushes, cotton balls, swabs, tissues, and wipes – all meant for fiendish sampling.

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Friendly Help

Tabitha, North Kingstown’s Kohl’s in-house expert, is a trained esthetician who is friendly and helpful and offered plenty of advice on all the new lines, some of which could only be found in fancy upscale department stores just a few years ago. I was pleased to see Lorac and Cargo fully represented with eyeshadows and lipsticks galore and I got great advice from Tabitha about the cult brow line, Anastasia and how to finally get that desired arch I’ve been seeking. Per Tabitha, you can expect the same kind of help at each of Rhode Island’s store locations.

Something Unique

I was especially impressed with the new Christie Brinkley line of skin care, designed for women of a certain age. Its sleek blue packaging, great-smelling creams and potions really caught my weather eye. With Brinkley’s photo displayed, I was on board and walked away with the gentle exfoliating scrub that has already lived up to its promise of everyday gentleness. I also couldn’t resist The Balm Mr. Write Now eyeliner pencils that come in eight wearable shades and named after “boys”. Too cute. Look for other special fun stuff like the Simple Pleasures Glitter Eye Shadow Palette with 24 amazing hyper-crystalline shadows and packages of Real Technique Makeup Brushes to put them on with.

Small Helpers

Another surprise of Kohl’s cosmetic department was seeing all the inexpensive little things you never knew you needed such as cooling cucumber eye masks, chalk sticks for one-night hair-enhancing color, roll-on fragrances, and polishing callous removers. Head to toe, there’s a helpful beauty product at Kohl’s.

Used to be my Playground

The real joy of this kind of shopping is the chance to wander around testing colors and textures and getting inspired for your own summer beauty routine. It’s a girly playground and a no-pressure relaxing way to discover some fun new products for the hot days ahead. You used to do it with your girlfriends back in the day and it’s still a blast and an unfettered way to wile away a hot summer Sunday getting cooled and gorgeous. Even if you’re in the market for that new crockpot, just head over to Kohl’s and try on some lipsticks! North Kingstown, Smithfield, Warwick.

Donna Macdonald is a freelance writer who enjoys covering topics of interest to women, especially fragrance, style, beauty. She has also written marketing material for a women's book that hit the New York Times Bestseller list and netted her an up close and personal discussion on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Donna currently writes her own personal blog, alovelyinconsequence.blogspot.com where she also writes about issues close to a woman's heart. Donna believes that when a woman finds beauty in the world, she will find beauty in herself.