The UK's Advertising Standards Authority has been cracking down on misleading beauty ads lately, and a Nivea spot is the latest to get guillotined. Apparently, the ad indirectly suggested that 37 percent of Nivea Visage Anti-Wrinkle Q10 Plus ($20) users "felt more attractive now than they did 10 years ago." In reality, the data, which was completely unconnected to the product in question, came Read more

On the latest episode of Mad Men, there was a lot of talk about marketing beauty, and of course the guys at the agency had some very retro ideas of what women want. (Hint: we're all marriage-crazed hysterics.) While we're glad the days of that kind of overt advertising are mostly over, there are still things about the way beauty products are sold that can rub you the wrong way. I, for example, Read more

While watching Top Model last night, I was surprised to see this text flash on the bottom third of a Cover Girl mascara commercial: Lash inserts used prior to application to add fullness but not length. You could have knocked me over with a feather! That's the kind of full disclosure that some people are calling for, especially in the UK. But it hasn't been required of cosmetics companies yet Read more

A new year, a new banned advertisement in Britain. The Advertising Standards Authority has had this Clean & Clear commercial removed after two viewers complained about the before-and-after photos. In the "before" shots, the women are wearing only eye makeup; in the "after" pictures, they're wearing powder. It's pretty easy to tell, too: "We considered that, in order to make the before and Read more

I know that marketing in schools is nothing new, but a program in Australia is taking things to a new level. A program called Fashion Roll Call, which is sponsored in part by makeup brand NP Set Cosmetics, is touring all-girl schools around the country. Their goal is to educate girls in fashion and beauty industry careers by presenting a "lunch-time fashion parade" followed by makeup application Read more