Earlier this year, Revlon finally listened to its customers and relaunched the beloved Glass Shine lipsticks. For once, a wise decision from Revlon! Of course, they wouldn’t be Revlon if they didn’t fuck up that decision somehow, so they dramatically reduced and neutered the shade range. The original lineup had twenty-five shades, but the 2025… Read More Revlon Glass Shine Balm in Glossed Up Rose (2025 Version!)
After my positive experience with NYX’s Fat Oil Lip Drip, it was inevitable that I’d try the next product in the Fat Oil series: Fat Oil Slick Click, a balmy lipstick in click-pen form. I feel ambivalent about including this review in my Cheap Thrills series—$11 for two measly grams of lipstick is a mid-priced… Read More Cheap(ish) Thrills, Part 5: NYX Fat Oil Slick Click in DM Me & Going Viral
It’s finally happened. Makeup from the era when I got into makeup, the early 2010s, has entered the “nostalgic” category in the popular imagination. Makeup ads and editorial looks from the 2009-2013 years have started showing up on my favorite beauty-of-yesteryear Instagram accounts. I mean, it makes sense: who among us wouldn’t rather be living… Read More The More Things Change, the More They Stay 2012: Revlon Super Lustrous Lipsticks in Pink Promise and Smoky Rose
Product: Revlon Super Lustrous The Luscious Mattes Lipstick in Shameless Date Purchased: Feb. 15, 2020 Grade: A Revlon has made some truly bizarre marketing decisions in the last decade. The brand built its reputation on lipstick and continues to produce such heritage shades as Cherries in the Snow and Fire and Ice, yet it went… Read More 2020 Lipstick Chronology #3: Revlon Luscious Matte Lipstick in Shameless
Product: NARS Sheer Lipstick in Dolce Vita Date Purchased: January 4, 2020 Grade: B+ I started this blog in early 2014 with a series called Lipstick Chronology, in which I set out to review all of my lipsticks in chronological order of purchase, musing on the circumstances in which I bought them and the feelings… Read More 2020 Lipstick Chronology #1: NARS Sheer Lipstick in Dolce Vita (New Formula)
Though I was skeptical of Urban Decay’s decision to pull its entire Revolution lipstick line last year and replace it with the even more extensive Vice line, I’ve come to appreciate the wisdom of that move. The lipsticks are now $5 cheaper ($17 vs. $22) and 0.6 grams larger (3.4 vs. 2.8); the bullets no… Read More Urban Decay Metallized Vice Lipstick in Amulet
I’ve owned two Glossier Generation G lipsticks, Jam and Cake, for over a year now, and I wear both pretty regularly. They have their flaws (enumerated in the reviews I’ve linked), but I love the ease and subtlety of the sheer matte finish. So when I heard that ColourPop was releasing a new lipstick formula… Read More Sheer Matte Showdown: ColourPop Blotted Lip vs. Glossier Generation G
SPRING BREAK WOOOO …oh, right. The weather may suggest otherwise, but I’m now on spring break. That doesn’t mean very much in ABD world, since I should technically spend every waking hour chipping away at my dissertation, but I’m still planning to use my extra free time (or the illusion thereof) to write some reviews… Read More Reverse Lipstick Chronology #1: MAC Whirl
During my trip to LA in August, my chronic absent-mindedness struck again: I managed to lose my tube of NARS Dolce Vita, my trusty “purse lipstick.” Despite my usual preference for bold matte or semi-matte lipsticks, I like having a sheer MLBB on me at all times, in case I don’t have a chance to… Read More Dolce Vita Dupe: Revlon Super Lustrous Sheer Lipstick in Pink Truffle
Odds are good that if you’re reading this, you fall into one of two categories: either you’ve already collected the 2015 Sephora birthday gift, or you don’t have access to Sephora and are annoyed to see the millionth review of the 2015 Sephora birthday gift pop up on your feed. In fact, I’m tempted to… Read More Because It’s Not 2016 Yet: NARS Mini Lip Pencils in Cruella and Rikugien
Auxiliary Beauty 