This post is going up a little later than I expected (I was out of town for the holidays for an extra week, and then I got sick), but I’m back in Philly and back on my bullshit, so here it is now: my roundup of the best beauty products I bought in 2024! I… Read More My 12 Favorite Beauty Purchases of 2024
Slim lipsticks, somewhere between regular lipsticks and lip pencils in width, have existed for decades (look no further than this Maybelline commercial from 1980). ColourPop’s original Lippie Stix, NARS’ now-discontinued Pure Matte Lipsticks, Hourglass’s Confession Ultra Slim Lipsticks, and Kevyn Aucoin’s Unforgettable Lipsticks all fall into this category. Slim lipsticks appeal to customers because of… Read More Season of the Slim Stick: MAC Powder Kiss Velvet Blur in Wild Sumac & Maybelline Color Sensational Ultimatte in More Cedar
This is the second post in a series of three. In each post, I’ll wear a supposedly indelible liquid lipstick throughout a day of teaching and track its performance under a New York Times-approved double mask: a surgical mask, ear loops tightened and ends tucked in, with a cloth mask on top. Check out the first post… Read More In Search of Maskproof Lipstick, Part 2: Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink in Cocoa Connoisseur
Product: Maybelline Color Sensational Creamy Matte Lipstick in Divine Wine Date Acquired: January or February 2020 Grade: A- My mother has strong opinions about my lipstick choices, and she’s not shy about sharing those opinions. She has expressed distaste for some of my favorite lip products, such as Pat McGrath Madame Greige (“washes you out,… Read More 2020 Lipstick Chronology #2: Maybelline Creamy Matte Lipstick in Divine Wine
No, that’s not a typo in the title. I started this post intending to write a list of my favorite new beauty products of 2020, but soon got bogged down in a Carrie Bradshaw-esque question (“I couldn’t help but wonder”): what did it mean for a beauty product to be good, let alone a favorite,… Read More My Ten Most 2020 Beauty Products of 2020
It’s time for my second year-end roundup post: the ten worst beauty products I encountered in 2018! As in my previous post, I’ve listed all these products in the order in which I bought them. 1. Glossier Milky Jelly Cleanser (reviewed here) I loved the squishy texture and light almond-rose scent of Milky Jelly, but… Read More My Most Disappointing Beauty Products of 2018
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from living in central New Jersey for the better part of a decade, it’s how to choose humidity-resistant makeup. (I would say “humidity-proof,” but nothing is truly humidity-proof except mosquitoes.) In a part of the world where the humidity index routinely hovers above 90% and occasionally creeps up to… Read More Making Up with 95% Humidity
Destashing makeup is emotionally hard for me year-round, but it becomes a little easier in the spring, as do most things. The lengthening days bring a new zest for self-improvement: I exercise more, I consume less sugar and alcohol, and I grow more decisive about streamlining my makeup collection. I recently decided to destash eight… Read More Spring Lipstick Destash
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
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
Auxiliary Beauty 