La Vita è Bella, Take 2: New Milani Eyeshadows in Bella Charcoal and Bella Navy (Updated with a Tragic Footnote)

Greetings from Londinium! I’ve been trying for the last few days to write a post about the makeup I brought to England this time, but I’m never at home during prime picture-taking hours, and I’m very picky about color accuracy. Today, though, I remembered that I wrote most of a review of Milani Bella Charcoal… Read More La Vita è Bella, Take 2: New Milani Eyeshadows in Bella Charcoal and Bella Navy (Updated with a Tragic Footnote)

September 9, 2014May 7, 2021 auxiliarybeauty9 Comments

NARS Audacious Lipstick Swatches and the Allure of Audrey

Today, as a reward for finishing an article draft and setting up a meeting with my adviser, I headed to the local Bluemercury to check out the new NARS Audacious lipsticks. I limited myself to seven swatches (as many as would fit on my hand), since I’m not audacious enough to swatch a collection of… Read More NARS Audacious Lipstick Swatches and the Allure of Audrey

September 3, 2014April 24, 2023 auxiliarybeauty13 Comments

Wishlist: Early Fall Edition

I keep a running beauty wishlist over at Pinterest, and I thought I’d wax poetic about a handful of those items on the blog. 1. NARS Audacious Lipstick in Audrey Image from NARS. For the past few weeks, I’ve been zealously hunting down reviews of the NARS Audacious Lipsticks, which became available online in mid-August… Read More Wishlist: Early Fall Edition

September 1, 2014April 24, 2023 auxiliarybeauty9 Comments

August in Nail Polish

Since all but one of the nail polishes I wore in August were new to me, I thought I’d write up a month’s worth of mini-reviews! My first polish of August was Zoya Normani, which I bought at the Birmingham Ulta in July. The darkest shade in Zoya’s nude-based Naturel collection, Normani is a brown-gray-purple… Read More August in Nail Polish

August 31, 2014November 30, 2024 auxiliarybeauty10 Comments

Goldilocks and the Three Lip Brushes

If you’ve watched as many geisha documentaries as I have (she said, too casually), you’ll be familiar with the clichéd close-up shot of a geisha or maiko (apprentice geisha) painting her white-powdered lips with a brush dipped in rouge. The inevitability of this shot, in both Japanese and foreign documentaries, makes me roll my eyes… Read More Goldilocks and the Three Lip Brushes

August 28, 2014May 7, 2021 auxiliarybeauty12 Comments

The Pacific Coast Highway and an Antidote to SoCal Dryness: Sephora Rose Mask!

Long time no blog! We reached Los Angeles yesterday evening, after a two-day drive down the Pacific Coast Highway. On the first (and more scenic) day, we covered the PCH from San Francisco to San Luis Obispo. The drive included lots of opportunities to pose for windswept photos on sand dunes: And a breathtaking “historic”… Read More The Pacific Coast Highway and an Antidote to SoCal Dryness: Sephora Rose Mask!

August 24, 2014March 8, 2022 auxiliarybeauty13 Comments

La Vita è (Not Exactly) Bella: New Milani Eyeshadows in Bella Taupe and Bella Rouge

Damn it, Milani! You’ve done it again. Lured me in with the promise of a revolutionary makeup formula at an implausibly low price point, only to deliver mediocrity. Will I ever learn? (These containers remind me of portholes on a ship.) Look, Milani’s new Bella eyeshadow singles are perfectly decent. I’d give them a B… Read More La Vita è (Not Exactly) Bella: New Milani Eyeshadows in Bella Taupe and Bella Rouge

August 17, 2014May 22, 2022 auxiliarybeauty15 Comments

Good Taste, Bad Taste, and the Fear of “Too Much”

For a long time now, I’ve thought of myself as someone who takes risks with beauty. I know relatively few people who wear color makeup regularly, and even fewer who wear unconventional colors regularly. When you’re the only one in your group of friends who owns multiple purple lip colors, you start to feel smug… Read More Good Taste, Bad Taste, and the Fear of “Too Much”

August 15, 2014May 7, 2021 auxiliarybeauty11 Comments

Pistols at Dawn: NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla vs. My Dark Circles

Being a True and Compleat Account of a Recent Affair of Honour. Pistols at dawn, or swords, or concealer wands… I’ve had reddish-purple undereye circles since early childhood. Most of the time, I don’t even think about them. They’re not caused by diet choices or sleep habits, which means they’re not going anywhere; they’re as… Read More Pistols at Dawn: NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla vs. My Dark Circles

August 11, 2014April 28, 2021 auxiliarybeauty16 Comments

NYX for Eyes and Lips: Slide On Pencil in Glitzy Gold and Matte Lipstick in Alabama

It’s Christmas in August! By which I mean, it’s been so gray and gloomy in San Francisco that wearing gold eyeliner and brick-red matte lipstick–together, even–seems perfectly appropriate in early August. These are both recent purchases: I bought the eyeliner at a CVS in New York and the lipstick at an Ulta in Birmingham. I… Read More NYX for Eyes and Lips: Slide On Pencil in Glitzy Gold and Matte Lipstick in Alabama

August 7, 2014May 7, 2021 auxiliarybeauty13 Comments

Auxiliary Beauty

Dress, Paint, Patches, Setting of Eye-brows, and licking the Lipps with Red.