One of the reasons I decided to resurrect my blog is, frankly, nostalgia. I never thought I’d feel nostalgic for the second half of grad school (or the first half, for that matter), but 2020 has made me nostalgic for almost everything before it. When I started Auxiliary Beauty in 2014, Obama was president, I… Read More An Old-Fashioned Lipstick Destash Post
I am not a serial depotter of beauty products. I admire people with a more utilitarian approach to makeup, people for whom packaging means little to nothing. But I’m not one of those people, and I probably never will be. I don’t insist on the fanciest, most elaborate compacts and tubes: MAC lipsticks are some… Read More Topshop Otherworldly Part 2: EXTREME MELTDOWN
One of the less charming aspects of being an American millennial in 2017 is getting called a “special snowflake” by old bigots on the internet. From my occasional perusal of right-wing Twitter accounts (I discovered last year that my mild-mannered undergrad Shakespeare professor is an alt-right conspiracy theorist, and I’m still not over it), I… Read More A Highlighter for Special Snowflakes: Topshop Glow Stick in Otherworldly
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
I’m back with some makeup and some thoughts! New Makeup: L-R: Whirl, Metal Head, Men Love Mystery, Puff, Otherworldly. Swatches, same order. Glossier Cloud Paint in Puff: $14.40 (20% off) MAC Matte Lipstick in Men Love Mystery: $15 (15% off, plus tax) MAC Metallic Lipstick in Metal Head: purchased with Nordstrom store credit (usually $18)… Read More Low-Buy 2017 Progress Report: March
I don’t know about you, but I find it much easier to destash makeup when I’m in a foul mood. The angrier I feel at the world, the more readily I can accept that a certain lipstick will never work for me and doesn’t deserve a place on my shelf. In that spirit, I’m removing… Read More First Lipstick Inventory and Destash of 2017
Welcome to the first, and saltier, of my two 2016 roundup posts! A few notes before we begin: There are thirteen products on this list simply because I was disappointed by thirteen products last year (not a large number, considering how many I tried). As always, the products are listed in chronological order of purchase,… Read More My 13 Least Favorite Beauty Products of 2016
The title of this post is misleading, since I took a break from my low-buy during my month in England (I’m writing this on my last evening here). I’ll just say it: I bought twelve new pieces of makeup and nail polish in June. This is going to be a haul post. Which is okay!… Read More Low-Buy Progress Report #6: June
I went to Boston for a Renaissance-studies conference on Wednesday and just got home last night, so my monthly roundup post is a bit late. I was born in Boston and lived there until I was almost eight, and I’ve returned periodically since then, but the city still feels foreign—the more foreign for being slightly… Read More Low-Buy Progress Report #3: March
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
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