Bookmarked for Beauty By Theane Evangelis Special to washingtonpost.com Wednesday, April 5, 2000

Click on beauty.com for both products and advice.

A plethora of products and informative editorial content awaits you at beauty.com. Noteworthy for offering hot product lines, such as Fresh and Awake, beauty.com is also a find for makeup application expertise with its wide selection of Shu Uemura brushes and other tools of the trade. It even features online beauty advice and tips from Kevin Aucoin, makeup artist to the stars. And with free shipping, free samples and free gift wrapping, it's a must to add to your beauty bookmarks.

After surfing eve.com, we think you'll agree that Eve has the best selection for Adam with its wide range of hair and skin-care products as well as fragrances for men. It also provides useful product descriptions and how-to tips. The extensive selection includes brands like Philip B. and J.F. Lazartigue for hair and Heavy Duty and I Coloniali for face and body. An impressive array of shaving products includes Peter Thomas Roth medicated shaving cream ($18) with anti-bacterial agents to prevent unsightly razor bumps and acne and luxurious silver-tip badger shave brushes ($165) from Mason Pearson. Philosophy's Afterglow smoothing gel ($20) is a must-have for men who want healthy, glowing skin.

For women, the site features "resident" makeup artist Vincent Longo and even offers instructional video clips that demonstrate his best techniques and beauty secrets. In addition to Longo's own line of makeup, this site's stellar roster includes Benefit, Cellex-C and NARS, as well as John Barrett hair products. Club Monaco is also among the selection, so be sure to snag some Eye Grease ($13) and Cheek Dew ($15) from this funky but affordable product line. Bonus: free shipping for orders more than $40.

Wild things are happening as e-commerce and online magazine converge at beautyjungle.com. Offering everything from drugstore basics to hard-to-find luxuries, this versatile site has something for everyone, including a section devoted to herbal and botanical products. Whether you covet Revlon lipstick, Kiss My Face body wash, Weleda toothpaste with myrrh ($5) or Komenuka Bijin shampoo from Japan, chances are you can find it here. An added-value feature of this site is the online magazine. The Celebrity Rip-off section divulges celebrity beauty secrets and gives you the how-tos for getting the look. Its Confessions column offers expert advice for beastly beauty problems. Of course, the solutions inevitably involve an expensive array of products, so exercise caution before you point and click your way to a bigger bill than you bargained for.

For Sephora shoppers who already love buying from the brick-and-mortar stores, sephora.com is nirvana. The selection is superior, and you probably don't need to worry that your favorite lipstick will be out of stock. The site provides many useful features, such as a list of top sellers and hot brands. And its budget-friendly search capability allows you to find products in your price range – a bonus if you tend to be e-excessive.

In spite of all its convenience, however, the biggest drawback of e-shopping on the Internet is that you can't try before you buy. After all, the only way to know if "rosy brown" is your color is to sample it. But if you know what you want or are looking for suggestions – or even a quick makeup lesson – letting your fingers do the walking can mean instant gratification. But, buyer beware, this convenience can also take a shopaholic's addiction to new levels.

Have a favorite beauty site? Send us an e-mail and tell us about its virtues.