Best Lipstick Formulas 2019

Into the Gloss has been one of my daily reads for at least four years, but I'll be honest: I've never loved it wholeheartedly. In fact, it's probably that frisson of irritation that keeps me coming back day after day. Where else can you find an endless string of naturally stunning women claiming that they're "super low-maintenance" and "don't wear much makeup"? Or Shailene Woodley explaining that "clay is great for you because your body doesn’t absorb it, and it apparently provides a negative charge, so it bonds to negative isotopes"? Or the obviously wealthy owner of an LA juice bar attributing its beginning to "God's grace" and not, you know, money? Or a French jewelry designer praising '70s-influenced makeup and adding in the next breath that eyeshadow is "so outdated" and shine on the lips is "not chic"? '70s Maybelline lady says what's up: But for every article on "toxins...

It's the vernal equinox! It's also the coldest day in about three weeks, and it's snowing as I type this, just as it snowed on last year's vernal equinox. But I still think the first day of spring is a fine day to review a bright coral lipstick, so meet my newest beauty purchase: Marc Jacobs Le Marc Lip Cr è me in So Sofia. Earlier this week, I went to the Upper West Side Sephora in search of a coral-pink lipstick, something cooler than Maybelline Vibrant Mandarin and darker than Urban Decay Streak. My go-to coral-pink lip color used to be Milani Flamingo Pose (now discontinued), but I eventually tired of the drying formula and cloying watermelon scent. I entered Sephora fairly certain that I'd buy Bite's new Amuse Bouche lipstick in Pickled Ginger, but it turned out to be the Bad Kind of Coral, at least for me: too bright and too warm and just nope nope nope get it off my face . The Amuse Bouche line had a few other coral-pinks, but they were either too warm or...

Wow, it feels like it's been forever since I last posted here. And indeed it has been forever —well, 11 days in Earth time, but forever in blog time. March has been a trying month so far, due to various academic stuff that I won't get into here because this is a beauty blog and not a bitch-about-grad-school blog, but this week is spring break and I'm trying to be aggressively nice to myself. Yesterday I took the train into New York for brunch with a friend I've known for almost ten years (!), and we ate delicious lemon-ricotta pancakes and speculated about the feasibility of burning down the academy. Then we went to the Upper West Side Sephora, conveniently located a few blocks from the brunch place. My friend bought a Bite Amuse Bouche lipstick in Sangria, a rich fuchsia, and I bought my first Marc Jacobs lipstick in So Sofia, a pinky-red coral. (I tried on a few pink and coral Amuse Bouches as well, but none of them flattered me. It was weird.) And then I got an iced...

In addition to the Ultra Matte Lip in Trap , I bought three potted products from ColourPop last month. After a few weeks of playing with them, I'm excited to finally write a review! I'll start with an overview of each item, then post a few looks I've put together. Clockwise from left: Super Shock Cheek in Rain ($8) and Super Shock Shadows in Shop and Eye Candy ($5 each). L-R, one finger-swipe per swatch: Eye Candy, Shop, Rain.   When I ordered Eye Candy , an "ethereal lavender drizzled with tons of pink and silver glitter," I knew from experience exactly what I would get: an unabashed glitterbomb.  Eye Candy's base color looks like a sheer dusty pink in the pan and in arm swatches, but it pulls more lavender on my lids. That sheer base is crammed, not drizzled, with fine pink glitter and chunkier silver glitter. You really have to squint to see the pink glitter, and only the silver comes through when the shadow is worn. Eye Candy has the same bouncy, moussey t...