When I first got into makeup, in the early 2010s, blush was an afterthought in the Western beauty community. Everyone had a couple of blushes, generally a warm pink and a cool pink, but beauty bloggers often fretted about the prospect of looking tacky or clownish or old-ladyish (never mind the ageism and internalized misogyny… Read More The Great Blush Inventory of 2021
(Apologies to a show I’ve never actually watched. I’m told that I should!) I’ve noted before that the average British woman seems to get more excited about makeup than the average American woman does. I stand by my original conclusion: “In my experience, Americans pay more attention to the overall effect of their makeup, while… Read More Beauty Abroad, Part 17: The Great British Swatch-Off
This March has felt about twice as long as a normal month, and it’s still not over. I can’t explain what made it seem so interminable. Maybe it was that we were teased repeatedly with the promise of spring, yet the vernal equinox nine days ago brought us this: Whatever the reason, this was a… Read More March Favorites (Beauty and Otherwise)
Name: Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Streak Date Purchased: January 2014 Grade: B+ Notes: This “chronology” has gotten so woefully out of order that it doesn’t even deserve the name, but the weather is finally above freezing and the sun is out and I’m drinking an iced coffee, and I’m going to review my springiest… Read More Lipstick Chronology #33: Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Streak
Yes, I know it’s Tuesday (Wednesday, in some time zones), but I wore this makeup yesterday. Deal with it. Last week, Pantone revealed its color of the year for 2015: Marsala, a soft plummy brown. Pantone’s color of the year is supposed to predict trends in fashion, makeup, and interior design, though these days it… Read More FOTD: Marsala Monday
Toiling in the knowledge mines, one occasionally comes upon some fascinating gems. Or, more prosaically: I typed the phrase “auxiliary beauty” into Early English Books Online to see what would pop up. For those of you who aren’t pursuing graduate degrees in early modern literature, EEBO is a database containing almost every work printed in… Read More FOTD: A Discourse of Auxiliary Beauty, or Artificial Handsomeness
I’m back! Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post: your kind words were much appreciated. I did what I needed to get done, and now I’m excited to return to blogging. I’ve missed it a lot! Missed it so much, in fact, that I kept a photographic record of all the makeup… Read More F(all)OTDs: An October Makeup Diary
I can’t believe how quickly these five weeks have passed, but today was my last full day in the UK. Though I still have several new products to review on the blog for my Beauty Abroad series, I thought I’d use this post for a brief roundup of all the makeup I’ve bought here. First,… Read More Beauty Abroad, Part 6: The Reckoning
Since I photographed Flushed two days ago, think of this post as an addendum, with swatches and a couple of looks. And more than a couple of goslings. In the States, it’s almost impossible to find a high-quality matte blush in the drugstore. Most decent American drugstore blushes have some degree of shimmer or frost,… Read More Beauty Abroad, Part 4.5: Sleek Blush in Flushed (Plus Baby Birds)
As a result of moving to San Francisco at the age of seven and feeling deprived of “real seasons” for the next decade, I’m very faithful to the idea of seasonal colors. So long as there’s snow on the ground, I’m going to cling to my burgundy lipsticks and plum nail polishes. And when I… Read More Beauty Abroad, Part 4: Back to Burgundy with Sleek and Rimmel
Auxiliary Beauty 