What's New at TKB Trading

I returned last night from a 24-hour whirl to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Sioux Falls is the kind of America's heartland I had never much expected to find myself, but when your nephew marries the daughter of a windmill farmer it's also pretty much where you end up when you attend his wedding.

Exactly one week earlier I had been in Los Angeles, at the IMATS(international Makeup Artists Trade Show)...

This year has been my tipping point. It is the year that I have gone from sleeping well at night to tossing and turning. The year that my jaw began to clench. I have my eye on a couple culprits:

• My iPhone. I can pick it up at 2:00 a.m. and do a quick check of the emails or read up on the forum or check a twitter feed. I no longer come home at night and shut the door on the day's activities.
  

• So...

This year has been my tipping point. It is the year that I have gone from sleeping well at night to tossing and turning. The year that my jaw began to clench. I have my eye on a couple culprits:

• My iPhone. I can pick it up at 2:00 a.m. and do a quick check of the emails or read up on the forum or check a twitter feed. I no longer come home at night and shut the door on the day's activities.
  

• So...

Recently, there have been videos on Youtube where concern is expressed regarding the safe use of pigments as cosmetics.

When things get confusing like this I always suggest people go to the "source" which in the case of the USA would be the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) which regulates cosmetics. The FDA is actually quite approachable by phone. Their phone number is 1-888-723-3366. When...

I attended the 2010 International Makeup Artists Trade Show (IMATS) in Los Angeles a little over a week ago.

While I have wandered many a trade show, this was my first time at the IMATS and I had heard a lot of good things about it. Primarily, I was told that there would be lots of color cosmetics and special effects companies plying their wares at deeply discounted prices.

And ... they were...

Here are two tips.

1) Set up a schedule: Monday = What's New, Tuesday = Recipe, Wednesday = Tip or Trick, and so forth. If you have a specific schedule like this, then it is kind of a no-brainer. You simply look at the calendar, see, Oh, it's Monday, and then ask yourself what you could talk about that is new. I used this tip for a few weeks and it really helped me with daily blogging.

Havin...

Here are two tips.

1) Set up a schedule: Monday = What's New, Tuesday = Recipe, Wednesday = Tip or Trick, and so forth. If you have a specific schedule like this, then it is kind of a no-brainer. You simply look at the calendar, see, Oh, it's Monday, and then ask yourself what you could talk about that is new. I used this tip for a few weeks and it really helped me with daily blogging.

Havin...

This past week, Oprah's Dr. Oz tried to increase his ratings by bashing Mineral Makeupas one of the most dangerous forms of color cosmetics. His basic concern was the inhalation hazard. Umm. OK. I'm going to set that one to the side for now and ask, "Hey, Dr. Oz, how about taking a look at the newest trend on QVC, which is color cosmetics made with fruit and vegetable pigments?" Can we say...