I hate the word “haul.” Hate it with a passion. And yet: Yesterday my long-awaited NYX package arrived: two Butter Glosses, two eyeliners, three eyeshadow singles, and an eyeshadow primer. I’m writing this from the train to Washington, so reviews will have to wait a few days, but I can give you some spoilers: I’m… Read More Preview: NYX Haul (For Lack of a Synonym)
Name: Revlon Colorburst Lip Gloss in Fire Date Purchased: Fall 2012 Grade: A- Notes: If you’re my friend for any length of time, you’ll eventually have to watch one of three films: The Draughtsman’s Contract, Revengers Tragedy, or Velvet Goldmine. If I really like you, I might make you watch all three. And since I’ve… Read More Lipstick Chronology #17: Revlon Fire (and a Tribute to Velvet Goldmine)
Name: YSL Rouge Pur Couture #8 (Belle de Rose) Date of Purchase: Fall 2012 Grade: A Notes: Of all the YSL lip colors in existence, Belle de Rose must be one of the least swatched and blogged about, despite its starring role in a Lisa Eldridge video. I suspect that YSL’s flurry of new releases–Rouge… Read More Lipstick Chronology #16: YSL Belle de Rose
Milani Showy Sea-Green nail polish, new this spring, is the Holy Roman Empire of polishes: neither showy nor sea-green. It is, however, extremely pretty. To me, “sea-green” implies something brighter and bluer; this is a muted, slightly dusty jade or pistachio green, a very unusual color for a nail polish. I can’t think of another… Read More Review: Milani Showy Sea-Green
Name: Revlon Colorburst Lip Gloss in Bordeaux Date Purchased: September 2012 Grade: A Notes: I’ve been having a major lipgloss moment. This winter has been unusually long and cold (15°-25°F below average on most days), and my lips, chronically dry to begin with, have not been happy. They’ll be fine for a day or two,… Read More Lipstick Chronology #15: Revlon Bordeaux
Names: Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick in Make Me Pink; Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Primrose; MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in Creme Cup Date of Purchase: Spring-Summer 2012 Grades: A-, A, A- Notes: Auxiliary Beauty lives, barely. I suspect that I surrendered my beauty-blogger credentials this past week, while scrambling to finish a fellowship application that was… Read More Lipstick Chronology #14: Three Mod Pinks (MAC, Maybelline, Revlon)
Name: Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry; NYX Round Lipstick in Black Cherry Date of Purchase: Summer 2012 Grades: C+, A- Notes: Why are there so many lipsticks called Black Cherry? Can makeup companies really not come up with another name for a blackened red? As fall 2012 approached, I began searching for a… Read More Lipstick Chronology #13: Two Black Cherries
Let’s just get it out of the way: this liquid lipstick looks like a vibrator, right? Buying cruelty-free makeup is more difficult than it should be, especially when you’re on a budget. Recently, though, I’ve been making more of an effort to do so. I’m a vegetarian for ethical reasons; I feel like a hypocrite… Read More Milani Spring 2014 Reviews: Pink Rave and Sweet Grapefruit
Name: Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Raspberry Pie Date of Purchase: Summer 2012 Grade: B+ Remember the rapturous hype when Revlon released its Lip Butters in late 2011? More moisturizing than a lip balm! More pigmented than a sheer lipstick! Burn all your other lipsticks in a colossal auto-da-fé, these are the only ones you… Read More Lipstick Chronology #12: Revlon Raspberry Pie
Name: Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick in Nude Lust Date of Purchase: Jan. 25, 2014 Grade: A- Notes: In the first part of Don Quixote (she began, like a totally normal beauty blogger), Don Quixote and his squire Sancho Panza meet a group of prisoners sentenced to hard labor. The galley slaves are chained together, which… Read More Review: Maybelline Nude Lust
Auxiliary Beauty 