Yesterday I came across a very insightful post on r/MakeupRehab, titled “A thought on the fakeness of Instagram…” It’s a long post, so I won’t quote it in full, but the writer argues that successful Instagrammers like her sister, women whose posts feature them “in trendy places in even trendier outfits,” perpetuate an internalized misogyny… Read More On the “Fakeness” of Social Media
SPRING BREAK WOOOO …oh, right. The weather may suggest otherwise, but I’m now on spring break. That doesn’t mean very much in ABD world, since I should technically spend every waking hour chipping away at my dissertation, but I’m still planning to use my extra free time (or the illusion thereof) to write some reviews… Read More Reverse Lipstick Chronology #1: MAC Whirl
I can’t remember getting as excited over any Glossier release as I did over the Cloud Paint cream blushes, which launched a week and a half ago (following a “soft launch” at the Oscars, because of course). Two days before the blushes dropped, I had a dream that I was looking at them in a… Read More In Pursuit of Pastel Pink, Part 2: Glossier Cloud Paint in Puff
For at least two years now, I’ve been searching for the perfect cool-toned pale pink blush, something that will give me that fresh-faced but slightly artificial k-beauty look. Here’s Jiwon of Spica for BNT International, back in March 2014: Source: Omona They Didn’t. Spica disbanded last month. 😦 And here’s Irene of Red Velvet for… Read More In Pursuit of Pastel Pink, Part 1: NARS Blush in Threesome
I never paid much attention to Wet n Wild until recently. They’ve truly stepped up their game in the past couple of years, and perhaps the best evidence for that is their new line of “Liquid Catsuit” lipsticks ($4.99 each). By the time Wet n Wild got around to creating liquid matte lipsticks, every sane… Read More Drugstore Liquid Lipsticks, Part 2: Wet n Wild Liquid Catsuit Lipsticks in Nudist Peach and Missy and Fierce
Milani was perhaps the first drugstore brand to release a true matte liquid lipstick, back in the summer of 2015. I tried one of the original limited-edition shades—Crush, a dark brown—but hated it. The lipstick went on patchy, felt painfully dry within an hour, wore off in noticeable flakes, and had a strong root-beer-float smell.… Read More Drugstore Liquid Lipsticks, Part 1: Milani Amore Matte Metallic Lip Crème in The Ultimatte
Having devoted the better part of a decade to studying Renaissance (we in the biz prefer “early modern”) literature, I perked up when I heard that Anastasia Beverly Hills had released an eyeshadow palette called “Modern Renaissance.” The palette came out in mid-2016 and started a warm-neutrals trend that, as of February 2017, shows little… Read More How Renaissance Is the ABH Modern Renaissance Palette?
Well, we somehow got through January, even if we spent the last third of the month refreshing various news sites in growing horror. And now it’s time for my first low-buy progress report of 2017! A reminder of the low-buy goals I’ve set myself this year: No more than two makeup products per month, excluding… Read More Low-Buy 2017 Progress Report: January
Because it’s year-end-roundup season until January 31, damn it. I’m back online, so it’s time to present my favorite new-to-me beauty products of 2016! As always, I’ve listed these items in the order in which I bought them. I listed 14 favorites in 2014 and 15 in 2015, but 16 seemed excessive somehow, so I… Read More My 15 Favorite Beauty Products of 2016
I don’t know about you, but I find it much easier to destash makeup when I’m in a foul mood. The angrier I feel at the world, the more readily I can accept that a certain lipstick will never work for me and doesn’t deserve a place on my shelf. In that spirit, I’m removing… Read More First Lipstick Inventory and Destash of 2017
Auxiliary Beauty 