Best Lipstick Formulas 2019

There were so many posts I wanted to write before the end of this year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Trump. So many! I wanted to post a roundup of my 16 favorite beauty products of 2016, and a plan for my 2017 low-buy, and a review of two Urban Decay Vice Lipsticks, and a collection of the best k-pop makeup looks of the year. But what with jetlag and a cold and stupid family drama, I've had less energy than usual for writing, and I've had to spend what energy I do have on finishing a dissertation chapter and preparing for an upcoming interview. I'll be able to return to blogging after the first week of January, but for now, I think it's best to call this an official hiatus. I can't let December end, however, without thanking you for your support in 2016 and wishing you a very happy new year. It's been one hell of a year, but it's almost over, and there's still a lot of good in the world. And a lot of makeup — which means Auxiliary Beauty will be around fo

The annual Academic Job Conference of Doom fast approaches (this is my second year preparing for it), and yesterday I had a dress-rehearsal practice interview with my advisor and another professor. This gave me an opportunity to test my interview makeup as well as my answers to questions like "But Machiavelli and Polydore Vergil are very different historians; why did you mention them in the same sentence?" I've written before about makeup in academia, and I still think there's a widespread prejudice against women who put obvious effort into their appearance. I know about the studies showing that women who wear neutral makeup come off as more competent in the workplace than women who wear no makeup at all, but I'm not sure that rule applies in academia, where both men and women often assume a negative correlation between femininity and intellectual seriousness. But I also don't see the point in angsting over this until I get a job, you know? This isn't exac

One of the best lipstick formulas that I've discovered in 2016 is the NYX Liquid Suede formula. I generally prefer solid to liquid lipstick, but I've somehow collected three Liquid Suedes: Amethyst , Stone Fox , and most recently Brooklyn Thorn, one of the 12 new shades released this past spring. I have no idea what the name "Brooklyn Thorn" means —Googling the phrase brings up nothing more than the lipstick —but maybe one of you can enlighten me. During a visit to Ulta last month, I came upon a display of the new Suede Matte Lip Liners, which NYX debuted this year in shades that match the Liquid Suedes and some of the original matte lipsticks (e.g. Alabama, Aria, Maison). Out of curiosity, I picked up the Brooklyn Thorn lip liner as well. Here are the two together —I've already sharpened the lip liner twice: The Brooklyn Thorn Liquid Suede is a very trendy amalgam of gray, brown, and purple, along the lines of ColourPop Kapow or Jeffree Star Scorpio. Accordingly,

Surfacing briefly from the dissertation abyss to give you my November update! I'm proud to say that I made only one beauty order on Black Friday —I bought some new clothes that I really needed, so I couldn't justify splurging on makeup too. And November was my birthday month, so I received a few makeup gifts, including a lipstick I'd wanted for a while. But I did yield to temptation a few times, and here are the results: New Makeup & Polish: L-R: NYX lip liner in Brooklyn Thorn, ColourPop Let's Play, Sinful Colors Nice Guise. NYX Suede Matte Lip Liner in Brooklyn Thorn: $4 ColourPop Lippie Stix in Let's Play: $5 Sinful Colors nail polish in Nice Guise: $2 Zoya nail polishes (not pictured) in Aubrey, Jules, Serenity, and Troy: $3 each plus $6.95 shipping = $18.95 Total: $29.95 NYX recently released a bunch of lip liners that match their Liquid Suede lipsticks. Since my mom sent me the Liquid Suede in Brooklyn Thorn for my birthday (more on that later), I picked u