After three and a half years (!) of beauty blogging, I’ve learned which panning projects work for me and which are guaranteed to fail. I can usually push myself to finish a piece of makeup if three conditions apply: It’s a cream product (usually a lipstick) I like it enough that I’ve already used up… Read More Lipstick Project Pan, Fall 2017
Last month, NARS shocked many of its customers by announcing that it was expanding into China, whose government requires animal testing on all imported beauty products. Like most successful smaller beauty brands, NARS is already owned by a larger, non-CF brand (Shiseido, in NARS’ case), but it has not allowed such testing on its own… Read More Some Thoughts on NARS and "Cruelty-Free" Beauty
Something different today: a mini-review of a product that isn’t makeup! You’ve probably noticed that my obsession with color makeup is several orders of magnitude greater than my interest in skincare, brushes, haircare, or “boring makeup” (mascara, brow stuff, concealer, etc). But for variety’s sake, I thought I’d write about a new tool that’s been… Read More Real Techniques Mini Sponges
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
For at least two years now, I’ve been searching for the perfect cool-toned pale pink blush, something that will give me that fresh-faced but slightly artificial k-beauty look. Here’s Jiwon of Spica for BNT International, back in March 2014: Source: Omona They Didn’t. Spica disbanded last month. 😦 And here’s Irene of Red Velvet for… Read More In Pursuit of Pastel Pink, Part 1: NARS Blush in Threesome
…oh, and two eyeshadows, but who cares about those? I took a lipstick inventory six months ago and got rid of six products. But that didn’t come close to eliminating all the lip colors I no longer wore, and I returned from my travels last month with a clearer sense of what I could trust… Read More I Destashed 15 Lipsticks
You know those products that never quite make it onto your wishlist but inspire a low-key lust for several months? So it is with me and NARS Hammamet, a limited-edition eyeshadow duo for Spring 2016. Hammamet, named after a Tunisian resort town, comprises a light matte peachy beige and the prettiest metallic rosy copper. That’s… Read More FOTD: Who Needs Hammamet?
Now that a new semester is in full swing, I thought it would be fun to do a roundup of my favorite lipsticks to wear while teaching. Here are the basic criteria I have for a Teaching Lipstick: not too bright—no fuchsias, flaming reds, or white-based candy pinks not too dark—no blackened browns or gothtastic… Read More My Favorite Teaching Lipsticks
I meant to post this earlier, but life (in the form of interview prep, followed by actual interviewing, followed by jetlag) got in the way, so here we are almost halfway through January and I still haven’t written about my favorite beauty purchases of 2015. But that’s about to change! A few notes before we… Read More My 15 Favorite Beauty Purchases of 2015
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 