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$$
That’s right, your girl is back in the workforce! I’m teaching part-time at a local community college this semester and working on my creative writing on non-teaching days. It’s going well so far; I missed being in the classroom. I also missed adapting my makeup to the demands of teaching, though there’s less distance now… Read More Classroom Makeup, Fall 2025
Glossy lip tints seem to be enjoying a renaissance in 2025, much as slim lipsticks did in 2023. And just as I did two years ago, I’ve managed to acquire two examples of the trend, one from the drugstore and one at a higher price point. I didn’t buy them specifically for this blog post,… Read More Tournament of Tints: Benefit Splashtint in Wide Brim vs. e.l.f. Sheer For It Blush Tint in Cherry Cola
“That’s the trouble with first impressions,” says a snooty country-club lady to Marge Simpson in my favorite episode of The Simpsons. “You only get to make one.” My first impression of Merit Beauty wasn’t great. Merit is one of the many beauty brands that have popped up in Sephora and Ulta and Credo in the… Read More Makeup Meritocracy: Merit Flush Balm in Le Bonbon
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!)
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!
I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of Googling makeup swatches and being directed to filtered-to-hell TikTok videos. MAC has reformulated almost all of its lipsticks over the past few years, and it’s next to impossible to find the new ones swatched even on Instagram, let alone on blogs. (Forget about coherent reviews written… Read More MAC MACximal Sleek Satin Lipstick in Guessing Game + Lots of MAC Lipstick Swatches
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
Auxiliary Beauty recently passed its tenth birthday, so it’s fitting that this post concerns one of the first lipstick formulas I ever reviewed on my blog! In fact, my very earliest lipstick purchase, way back in the fall of 2009, was a Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Certainly Red. (The only other makeup I owned… Read More Cheap Thrills, Part 4: Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Fire Peach
Around the middle of last year, I became aware of a new makeup category (or, at least, one I hadn’t previously heard of): lip oil. Seemingly overnight, brands at every price point had begun offering new ranges of lip oils. I wasn’t particularly tempted by the name, which sounded a little, well, gross. In general,… Read More Cheap Thrills, Part 3: NYX Fat Oil Lip Drip in That’s Chic
Auxiliary Beauty 