“Redux” is one of those elegant words, not often used. But for those who don’t know, it’s an adjective, meaning “brought back” or “resurgent”.
So this post is about Jane Cosmetics, Redux!
Before the popularity of one-word icons (e.g. Iman, JLo, Beyonce), there was “Jane.” Jane Cosmetics was a beloved budget brand started in the 1990’s to appeal to young women with kind of hip, kind of wow!” fun products, before the word “trendy” was over-used. The name was meant to be a user-friendly, all girls name, and the products featured natural, botanical ingredients include juniper, aloe, nettle and elderflower. The Advice Sisters reviewed Jane Cosmetics back in Fall 2002, in our What Works Beauty Review Columns
But Jane fell on some hard times, and basically disappeared from the shelves, leaving a lot of young women and more mature ones, too, feeling sad and blue. Now, Jane is back exclusively at Ulta Beauty, with updated products, but also retaining some of the originals that girls (now women) really loved. The “rescuer” of Jane Cosmetics is Owner & CEO, Lynn Tilton who was inspired by a field of flowers blossoming. Fittingly, the theme for the “new” Jane Cosmetics is: “that true beauty comes from giving back and that confidence comes in many colors,” and this is reflected in new packaging that displays the faces of “The Friends of Jane.” These “friends” are real, culturally diverse women who were selected because they give back and help make positive change in their communities, and in the world. They also receive grants to help jump-start their efforts. As the new owner and CEO Lynn Tilton, responsible for reviving the brand, explained, she feels that young women with big dreams are often diverted from them by the realities of economics. They enter the workplace and those big dreams take a back seat. By giving them money to get started, they have the opportunity to begin making those dreams a reality. Even the product names purport to encourage women, with names like “Empowered”, “Graceful” and “Inspire,”
With regard to economics, , Jane Cosmetics are still budget friendly, with prices still in the $6,00-$20.00 range. The packaging is simple, but it’s the products inside that matter the most. Jane has some new products as well as the more traditional ones. All the colors are fairly saturated, and appeal to a wide variety of skin tones. The only product that editor’s felt really needed more tones to try, was a tinted BB Cream with a lovely SPF 20, but an unfortunately somewhat yellow undertone. But the brand is new again so some products may need adjusting and more items will come, in time. Meanwhile, one of my new favorite products is a gloss in a wanded tube that’s a Ph Adjusting Lip Stain Gloss ($7.00) in pink, peach, berry and shimmer. Usually these are just one color and turn your lips a garish form of fuchsia, but the pink added a perfect smooth, medium pink, lasting tint to my lips, with lots of silky shine.
A Multi-Color Correcting Powder ($12.00) features a colorful mosaic of peach, lilac, green and pink, designed to subtly blend together to minimize redness, correct skin imperfections and even skin tone. The Powder Blushes, Bronzing Powders and Multi-Colored Illuminating Powder ($12.00/each) also all feature a multi-colored approach to beauty, with a literal “bouquet” of embossed blossoms in varying colors.
Other favorite include the very intense and long lasting Cream Eye Shadow ($8.00). The almost molten metallic “Copper Line” is a perfect party look, but there are plenty of other saturated color options, some in matte, some in shimmer. An additional $8.00 gets you a long lasting liquid liner (I particularly liked the glittery “Golden Black.”
There are plenty of other JANE goodies to covet, including lots of nice lip glosses, powder eye shadows, mascara, makeup bags, and much more. Jane is BACK, and we’re delighted. You can find Jane in ULTA and ulta.com, or go to http://www.janecosmetics.com to learn more, see all the products, watch a cute video, be inspired, and more!
