What beauty companies own what other beauty companies (from Defining Delphine)

In case you've wondered what big companies own what beauty brands, here's a helpful post laying it all out. Then you can shop who you want to shop or avoid who you want to avoid or identify formulas that are identical between brands (though don't forget that unaffiliated companies can use the same factories to product certain products!).

Something new to add to the list: L'Oreal just bought IT Cosmetics.

Sales and stuff: fyi

Just a note: these days I tend to post links to sales/deals/free stuff on Tumblr and Twitter, rather than spamming up the blog with them. I don't post everything I come across, because there are other blogs that are more on top of that stuff than I am (Nouveau Cheap, for instance), but if you're interested in that kind of thing, you might want to follow me one of those places. I tend to include more information in the Tumblr posts, for obvious reasons.

Why jar packaging sucks (from Paula's Choice)

It's the worst. (It's mostly cool for lip balm and other things that aren't water-based and/or don't have volatile ingredients, though.)

Ebates has a new tool to help you remember to use it

Disclosure: This post contains a referral link.
So Ebates now has a browser button that you can install, and it will change color and flash if Ebates are available for the online store you're looking at. Cool. Because I experience unreasonable levels of rage when I forget to use Ebates. There's a tab on the right site of the Ebates homepage that will direct you to more info and installation instructions. Seems like a good idea, so long as you're okay with them WATCHING YOU ALL THE TIME. (Kidding?)

If you don't know what Ebates is, I wrote about it here. If you do any online shopping, you really should use it. There's no catch.

SO MUCH USEFUL ADVICE! (from The Toast)

So much. Did you know that thing about the gas cap on cars? Damn. This is a very important exception to the Never Read the Comments rule. Read them all.

Never Buy a Razor Again (Or: Where to Get Free Shit)

Disclosure: Affiliate link.
At this point, I have 5-6 brand-new razors in my cabinet, and I didn't pay for any of them. Since I only shave a couple of times a week, those will last me months. Some of them came with refill blades, too. (And remember to use this technique to keep the blades sharp twice as long.) Razors are one of the easiest things to get free samples of online, next to shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste, and hand cream. Remember when I showed you my hoard of bath and beauty junk? Most of that was free. I have probably a year's worth of free shampoo and conditioner in there.

Everyone knows about requesting free samples online, right? Or do I only think that because it was one of the first things I did when we got the internet at school in around 1996? I like free things, I like getting (non-junk) mail - perfect. Either way, maybe I can give you at least one source here that you're not already aware of.

Of course you're "paying" for these products with your own time, whatever it takes to find the samples and fill out a form to request them. But if you tend to sit around playing on your computer/device during your downtime anyway, you could do this and get some things in return. You also have to provide some of your information to these companies. I can't emphasize this enough: make yourself a dedicated email address to use for things like this. You will get spam. You might also want to sign up for a Google voice phone number to use. Don't put in a fake phone number - I got multiple calls every day for a few months from spammy sources when someone used my phone number to sign up for something. Not cool.

But enough lecturing, here's where to get the free shit:

How to read ingredient lists so you're not a chump (from Pink Sith)

Pink Sith has a great post about how to understand the ingredients in beauty products so you can avoid getting sucked in by meaningless marketing nonsense. She also advises you on how to detect the agendas of supposedly informative sites and to disentangle the useful information from the pseudo-science. Just fucking read it.

Why you shouldn't buy eye creams (from Paula's Choice)

Basically, they're just selling you a smaller amount of moisturizer for a higher cost. You don't need a separate product for the skin around your eyes. It's skin. More info here.

Real talk about skincare ingredients from Natalie Dee

For those of you who haven’t been reading your Paula Begoun. Tsk tsk. 

“Read the labels and buy what makes you feel good, but don’t believe every thing you read on a bottle, because a lot of it is unregulated.  Just because there is a little picture of a leaf in the logo, and the plastic is all unbleached brown-looking, doesn’t mean they aren’t trying to sweet-talk you just to get your money.”

Bonus: “Also, just because it’s natural doesn’t mean it is superior and/or safe…  Arsenic and uranium and poison ivy are natural, too.”

Real talk about skincare ingredients from Natalie Dee

5 Beauty Lies Most of Us Believe (And the Truth Behind the Lies) (PaulaBegoun, The Cosmetics Cop)

No bullshit. The lies are below; click through to read the explanations.

Lie #1: Dry skin? Drink more water!

Lie #2: You can repair damaged hair.

Lie #3: There’s a product that can get rid of cellulite.

Lie #4: One special ingredient (like vitamin C or peptides) is all aging skin needs.

Lie #5: Parabens are bad for you, so avoid products that contain them.

5 Beauty Lies Most of Us Believe (And the Truth Behind the Lies) (Paula Begoun, The Cosmetics Cop)