Super-black mascara for dramatic, seductive eyes

Statement-making makeup is in vogue. Call it cosmetics with purpose. Color is as big as ever, and while brilliant nails and rich lips are chic, few things are as seductive as long, thick, black lashes. Now every woman can have the depth and drama of come-hither smoky eyes with Exotic Eyes Blackest Mascara by Destination Glamour. The super-black, water-resistant mascara is a favorite of celebrity makeup artist Shalini Vadhera, partly because rather than making lashes as brittle as twigs, it moisturizes, softens and strengthens them with Japanese camellia oil, Indian Mowrah butter and African beeswax. It’s $23 at Dillards, Victoriasecret.com and globalgoddessbeauty.com. Perfect for summer  travel is Destination Glamour’s Jet Setter Mini Tool Case Luxury Brush Set, a sari-fabric holder that houses five brushes for blush, eyeshadow-blending, crease eyeshadow, eyebrow-angling and lips-concealer. The brushes are made of fine goat and pony hair and taklon. It’s $45.

Billy Jealousy: Grooming stuff worthy of envy

If you haven’t heard of Billy Jealousy, it’s about time you discovered the quality line of men’s personal-care products. The Dallas-based brand seems to understand that tapping into the growing male grooming market requires effective, simple-to-use products with cool names and sleek packaging — and a sense of humor. The cosmeceutical line includes more than 20 products and sets, among them Sucker Punch face scrub, White Knight facial cleanser, Wipe Out eye cream, Hot Towel warming pre-shave, Illicit body wash, Cashmere Coat strengthening hair conditioner and Golden Gloves hand cream. The best part is, they actually work. And unlike many other luxury men’s lines, you get quantity along with quality. Prices range from $16 to $75.

Buy at BillyJealousy.com, www.Beauty.com or www.drugstore.com.

‘Pie in the Sky’ jewelry colorful, vintage-inspired

Pamela Squires’ cottage jewelry industry was born one day five years ago when — trying to stave off boredom while recovering from surgery — she twisted silver wire into a necklace that garnered repeated compliments. When a sister told her with love and concern that her entrepreneurial endeavor was “pie in the sky,” Ms. Squires turned the term into the name of her handmade jewelry line.

The former executive with a national health care firm, unable to continue that career, found a new passion in Pie in the Sky. From her home in the Norman Rockwellian Pittsburgh suburb of Sewickley, Ms. Squires fashions hip necklaces, earrings, bracelets and pins from materials as diverse as found objects, black diamonds, papier-mache, gold, sterling silver and precious and semi-precious gems and stones. “I work with anything that can be molded, shaped and is sustainable,” she said.

She’s inspired by antique jewelry and has a fondness for incorporating hard-to-find sterling silver antique sports medals into pieces. Another Pie in the Sky hallmark is lavishly long necklaces that can be adjusted to accommodate different looks.

“I also do a lot of intricate beadwork, such as wide cuffs, pins and very cool bugs,” she said. Dragonflies and other bugs are popular items in her “Little Tarts” children’s collection. By special order, she does custom pieces for bridesmaid gifts, proms, and other special occasions.

“I was frustrated with the high prices one-of-a-kind pieces usually carry,” she said. “One day I was looking very closely at a fairly intricate necklace. I decided to make one and cost it out. I was amazed at the mark-up on jewelry! My mission is to make high quality, sustainable, one-of-a-kind jewelry at reasonable prices.”

Prices range from $32 to $375 and above for custom pieces. They’re available at pieintheskyjewelry.com and by appointment at her studio-boutique, where she also will soon begin offering jewelry-design classes. Reach her via the site, at prsquires@yahoo.com or at 412-741-7666.

Brazilian face mask an affordable luxury

A facial at a spa is almost guaranteed to be a satisfying indulgence, but sometimes it’s more fun to do it yourself in the comfort of home sweet home. Every complexion can benefit from a good mask, and the ingredients are what separate the wheat from the chaff.

One of the Cadillacs is Previous Dermomask, a luxurious at-home alternative by Beauty By Clinica Ivo Pitanguy. It’s a gel-cream rich with Abyssinian and avocado oils, beeswax, fructan, olive leaf extract, and centella asiatica, a special tripeptide blended to leave the skin looking rejuvenated, revived, and radiantly clean.

Dr. Ivo Pitanguy, a renowned plastic surgeon and philanthropist, worked with a French physician and a nutritionist, biologist, pharmaceutist, and aesthetician to create the product for clients at his world-famous Clinica Ivo Pitanguy in Rio de Janeiro.

Dr. Gisela Pitanguy — his daughter and a medical doctor and psychotherapist who has managed the clinic for 20 years — was involved in the product’s creation. “We always say that cosmetics cannot perform miracles,” she told TheStyleArbiter.com. “But our products employ a higher concentration of active ingredients that give excellent results.”

Friends (and enemies) will think you visited a top spa. Three of us tried the 10-minute, rinse-off Dermomask and noticed that it left our faces and necks firmer, smoother, and hydrated.

The Previous line includes nine products, all with a natural scent, no artificial color, and plant essences harvested in an environmentally sustainable way. They were developed in the clinic’s Health and Beauty Center at the request of plastic surgery patients who wanted to preserve their results and have quality daily skin care.

Dermomask comes in five 15-ml. treatments in separate compartments for $160 — a sweet bargain for the budget-conscious at under $35 per treatment. Get it at Bergdorf Goodman or Neiman Marcus.

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