In my personal taxonomy, most makeup falls into one of four categories: 1) products that I collect actively (lipstick, eyeshadow, nail polish); 2) products that I own in limited numbers because I use them very slowly and/or don’t find them exciting (blush, highlighter, eyeliner); 3) products that I wear regularly but purchase only when I… Read More Gambles with Gloss: NYX Gingersnap and Revlon Rosy Future
Earlier this year, as I sat watching a YouTube makeup video—a review of some gimmicky product, maybe Farsali Unicorn Oil or Ciaté Glitter Flip lipsticks—my boyfriend walked past and wondered, “Do you actually buy anything you see on YouTube?” With some pride, I said no. I’m generally immune to YouTube hype, since most influencers gravitate… Read More YouTube Made Me Buy It: Wet n Wild Megaglo Highlighter in Precious Petals
One of the less charming aspects of being an American millennial in 2017 is getting called a “special snowflake” by old bigots on the internet. From my occasional perusal of right-wing Twitter accounts (I discovered last year that my mild-mannered undergrad Shakespeare professor is an alt-right conspiracy theorist, and I’m still not over it), I… Read More A Highlighter for Special Snowflakes: Topshop Glow Stick in Otherworldly
When Urban Decay released the Naked Heat collection earlier this summer, the product that really tempted my resolve was not the Naked Heat palette itself but one of the two limited-edition 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils: Torch, a rusty orange. (Okay, the palette was also tempting, but slightly less so.) I swatched both eyeliners, as well… Read More NYX Faux Blacks Eyeliners in Blackberry and Burnt Sienna
The only makeup store close to where I live is an especially snobby Bluemercury, so when I visit my mom in San Francisco, I tend to spend more time than strictly necessary in Sephora and Ulta. During this particular visit, I was excited to check out the NYX Liquid Suede Metallic Matte lipsticks, which debuted… Read More NYX Modern Maven and a Liquid Suede Metallic Matte Anti-Haul
Most makeup collectors have their color kryptonite, particularly when it comes to lipstick: pinky nudes, corals, blue-based reds. For me that color is, and has pretty much always been, magenta. Or whatever you want to call it: bright plum, dark fuchsia, anything that walks the line between purple and deep pink. I just did a… Read More Magenta Madness: MAC Rebel and Wet n Wild Nice to Fuchsia
You know that feeling when you blind-buy a lipstick, hoping that your instincts are right and the shade will flatter you and fill a hole in your collection, and it turns out to do both of those things? That’s a nice feeling. It’s not a particularly interesting or bloggable feeling, which is perhaps the reason… Read More Maybelline Inti-Matte Nude Lipstick in Naked Coral
Happy Easter! Full disclosure: I’m one of those secular assholes who welcome the Easter season not for its religious significance but for the positively pagan abundance of egg-shaped chocolate. Growing up half-Jewish, I couldn’t help noticing the difference in quality between Easter candy and kosher-for-Passover candy, which consisted (and still consists) primarily of coconut-covered marshmallows… Read More FOTD: Cyborg Easter Bunny ft. NYX Twilight Tint
Drugstore makeup has become a lot more interesting over the past few years, and I can’t help but envy people who are just getting into makeup now and have access to so many weird lipsticks at affordable price points. I’ve always been drawn to slightly eccentric makeup, but in my early twenties it was impossible… Read More Reverse Lipstick Chronology #2: Maybelline Smoking Red
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
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