Best Lipstick Formulas 2019

Earlier this year, as I sat watching a YouTube makeup video — a review of some gimmicky product, maybe Farsali Unicorn Oil or Ciaté Glitter Flip lipsticks — my boyfriend walked past and wondered, "Do you actually buy anything you see on YouTube?" With some pride, I said no. I'm generally immune to YouTube hype, since most influencers gravitate toward products and looks that aren't even close to my style. I use their reviews and tutorials as a brain break, a 15-minute period during which I don't have to think about my dissertation defense (Dec. 7, bitches!) or Trump or Harvey Weinstein or whether I'll have a source of income next semester. But let me not be too smug. Watching consumerist videos for fun means participating in consumerism. It means that I come home from a day of passively absorbing the advertising that we all encounter as we move through the world, and I voluntarily expose myself to yet more  advertising. And, inevitably, some of those messages w...

Since my last post, I've crossed a few thresholds: the autumnal equinox, my 30th birthday, and my dissertation deadline. (For the record, 30 feels exactly like 29, and I was so busy in the weeks leading up to my birthday that I didn't even have time to freak out over becoming an Old.) Now that the worst of the semester is over, I think I'll have more time for blogging, though I doubt I'll be able to post more than once a week. At least that's better than never. I thought I'd ease back into my posting schedule (if it even deserves that name) with a quick update to the Project Pan post I wrote two months ago. In early September, I resolved to pan four lipsticks by the end of the year: Glossier Generation Gs in Cake and Jam, Revlon Matte Balm in Sultry, and NARS Sheer Lipstick in Flamenco. On September 8, the lipsticks looked like this: L-R: Cake, Jam, Sultry, Flamenco. Almost exactly two months later, they look like this: As you can see, I've made significant...