I own between fifty-five and sixty lipsticks, more than a few of them purple. It’s rare that a mainstream brand releases a lipstick unlike any I own, and even rarer that a mainstream brand releases a purple unlike any I own (yes, I’m using a lipstick junkie’s definition of “unlike,” but still). So when Bite… Read More Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Lipstick in Lavender Jam
I didn’t learn to swim until my first year of college and still can’t traverse more than two lengths of a pool without having to rest. Strictly speaking, I’m the last person who should be laying claim to sea witchery of any kind. But that’s the great thing about makeup: it allows us to put… Read More Sea Witchery with NYX Liquid Suede in Stone Fox
At this time two months ago, I had no firsthand knowledge of Glossier. I’ve now tried seven different Glossier products, at no cost to myself and with no affiliation with the brand, because I’m lucky and people are nice. I’ve already reviewed two of those products, Generation G in Jam and Boy Brow in Brown;… Read More Glossier Grab Bag: Generation G in Cake, Balm Dotcom, Face Mask Duo, and Priming Moisturizer
I’m told that it’s May, though you wouldn’t know it from the weather, which has been utterly miserable for over a week and promises to carry on being utterly miserable for another week to come. Every day is the same: between 45 and 60 degrees, completely overcast, raining on and off, humidity around 90%. After… Read More Low-Buy Progress Report #4: April
I just did some day drinking with a friend to celebrate our last day of teaching this semester, so it’s fair to say that I won’t be getting any work done this evening. But a single dark & stormy (yes, I’m a lightweight) hardly prevents me from blogging. I’ve done a lot of product reviews… Read More The Beauty Obsessed Tag
Yellow is an underrepresented color in most people’s makeup collections, including mine. Deservedly or not, it has a dismal reputation: The Googlers have spoken: yellow is the most “visible” and “noticeable” color, but like many highly visible and noticeable things, including the Kardashian-Jenner clan, Lime Crime, and Donald Trump, it is also perceived as “annoying”… Read More Formula X Lively and a K-Pop Microtrend
It’s been so long since my last post! I’ve just been too busy to blog, despite having a pile of things to review and the desire to review those things. It’s really a terrible feeling. The science-fiction class for which I’m a TA had two paper deadlines in two weeks (don’t ask me why), so… Read More Glossier Boy Brow in Brown, and Some Brow-Related Bloviation
The NYX Liquid Suede lipsticks didn’t spark my interest when they first came out last year. So many NYX products have disappointed me that I tend to approach the brand with skepticism, and the Liquid Suede line seemed like a hasty attempt to capitalize on the liquid-matte trend of 2015. And since NYX had been… Read More NYX Liquid Suede in Amethyst
I went to Boston for a Renaissance-studies conference on Wednesday and just got home last night, so my monthly roundup post is a bit late. I was born in Boston and lived there until I was almost eight, and I’ve returned periodically since then, but the city still feels foreign—the more foreign for being slightly… Read More Low-Buy Progress Report #3: March
Into the Gloss has been one of my daily reads for at least four years, but I’ve never loved it wholeheartedly. In fact, it’s probably that frisson of irritation that keeps me coming back day after day. Where else can you find an endless string of naturally stunning women claiming that they’re “super low-maintenance” and… Read More Glossier Generation G Lipstick in Jam
Auxiliary Beauty 