It will surprise none of my regular readers to learn that if I could wear only one category of makeup for the rest of my life, it would be lipstick. (I could probably use nude lipstick as undereye concealer, right?…right?) I wear lipstick every single day. I’ve tried almost every color category of lipstick. I… Read More Lip Liner: An Overdue Appreciation
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 thought I’d post more after returning from England, but instead I’ve spent most of my time agonizing over a dissertation chapter that I’m revising (well, basically rewriting). You know that feeling when you read over an unfinished piece of writing one too many times, and suddenly it seems to dissolve before your very eyes,… Read More Beauty Abroad, Part 20: Barry M Nail Paints in Butterscotch Sundae, Damson, and Vintage Violet
(Apologies to a show I’ve never actually watched. I’m told that I should!) I’ve noted before that the average British woman seems to get more excited about makeup than the average American woman does. I stand by my original conclusion: “In my experience, Americans pay more attention to the overall effect of their makeup, while… Read More Beauty Abroad, Part 17: The Great British Swatch-Off
Well, I guess that was an eight-day hiatus! It crept up on me, as such things do. First the weather was gloomy for days on end, so I couldn’t take decent photos. Then I took an overnight trip to visit a friend in another city. Then I spent a couple of days in DC for… Read More 2014 in Review, Part 1: My 14 Most Disappointing Beauty Purchases
I’m generally reluctant to buy extra tools to make a beauty product work. I delayed buying an eyeshadow primer and lip brush for ages, because “I shouldn’t have to.” A good eyeshadow or lipstick, I thought, wouldn’t need extra help. My stubbornness in this matter has softened since I started this blog, but there was… Read More Beauty Abroad, Part 12: Experiments with & Other Stories Droguet Purple and Barry M Lip Liner in Plum
Sorry for the infrequent posting recently! No sooner had I recovered from jet lag and returned from my conference in York than I was felled by a bad cold. It’s now been six days; the fever is long gone, but the hacking cough and general malaise remain. We went to Oxford yesterday, my first time… Read More Beauty Abroad, Part 2: Barry M Nail Paints in Sugar Apple and Shocking Pink
(Fewer words than usual because ugh, the jetlag, and because I need to finish my conference paper.) It turns out that my boyfriend lives half a block away from a Superdrug and a Boots. This will be bad, I thought, before discovering that this particular Boots has a limited beauty selection, while the Superdrug has… Read More Beauty Abroad, Part 1: Sleek Blush in Life’s a Peach
Auxiliary Beauty 