Eleven and a half years have passed since I bought my first purple blush, Tony Moly Cristal Blusher in Milky Violet, at a Korean beauty store in Manhattan. From the vantage point of 2026, late 2014 might seem like a long-lost paradise, but was it really? Sure, I’d never heard the phrases “President Trump,” “novel… Read More Paragon of Purple: Fenty Cheeks Suede Powder Blush in Drama Cla$$
This is a follow-up of sorts to a post I wrote a year and a half ago, in which I reviewed Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Fire Peach, discussed the Super Lustrous formula as a whole, and linked to previous Super Lustrous reviews I’d written. But I’ve bought four shades in the formula since then… Read More My Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick Collection (Present & Past)
There are certain beauty products, usually lipsticks, that stay on my mental wishlist for years, never quite becoming an urgent desire but never quite fading from memory, either. The original version of MAC Heroine is a good example. In 2012, dozens of Tumblr posts brainwashed me into wanting a purple lipstick (real ones will remember… Read More MAC MACximal Silky Matte Lipstick in Everybody’s Heroine + More MAC Lipstick Swatches!
Earlier this summer, Glossier finally released Wisp, the lilac Cloud Paint for which fans had been clamoring for so many years. (Wisp and the other new Cloud Paint, Soar, are supposedly limited edition for this summer, but I have a feeling that means “limited edition unless they sell well.”) A purple-blush fiend since my early… Read More Glossier Cloud Paint in Wisp & Purple Blush Comparisons
Gucci Rouge à Lèvres Mat in 702 Anne Lilac, to be precise. LOOK AT HER. I don’t even have to write anything (but you know I will). Until this month, the most I’d ever spent on a lipstick was $38, for Pat McGrath Madame Greige at the end of 2017. Madame Greige was my reward… Read More I Bought a Gucci Lipstick!
I’m back with some good lipstick and some even better tidings. First, the tidings: I’m employed again! I’ll be moving back east next week to teach English at a boarding school in New England. No fewer than four people have reacted to the news with some version of “That will be great novel fodder,” so… Read More MAC Matte Lipstick in Forget-Me-Naughty
Before I start my review, let me welcome you to the new home of Auxiliary Beauty! After years of swearing to migrate my post archive from Blogger to WordPress and purchase my own domain, I’ve finally followed through, and I’ll be making my old blog private in a week or two. Please bear with me… Read More ColourPop Lilac You a Lot Palette
My boyfriend recently left his job in the UK, which is great news relationship-wise: we met in my former graduate program and have been long-distance since I started my current program seven (!) years ago, and now we’ll actually be able to live together for more than a couple months at a time. On a… Read More Kiko Velvet Passion Matte Lipstick in 319 Chocolate
Milani was perhaps the first drugstore brand to release a true matte liquid lipstick, back in the summer of 2015. I tried one of the original limited-edition shades—Crush, a dark brown—but hated it. The lipstick went on patchy, felt painfully dry within an hour, wore off in noticeable flakes, and had a strong root-beer-float smell.… Read More Drugstore Liquid Lipsticks, Part 1: Milani Amore Matte Metallic Lip Crème in The Ultimatte
NYX expanded its matte lipstick line at the beginning of this year, adding some trendier colors to its extensive but mundane collection of reds, pinks, and nudes. The new shade that immediately caught my eye was Up the Bass, a medium purple with a large dose of gray. Because we were heading into spring at… Read More NYX Matte Lipstick in Up the Bass
Auxiliary Beauty 