Best Lipstick Formulas 2019

Happy New Year, friends! It's 0°F outside (that's -18°C), so we are STAYING PUT. But I'm still wearing glitter and sequins, because 2017 only dies once. And we made prosecco-raspberry jello shots and put them in French 75s. I'm still planning a post about my lipstick inventory, but before 2017 ends, let me write up my beauty-related resolutions! 1. Low-buy throughout 2018, with a maximum of two new products (excluding replacements) per month. This was my main resolution for 2017, and as I mentioned in my last post, it seemed to make me more obsessive about researching and planning for my next purchases. But I do think it's wise to have a rough limit in mind, even if I don't adhere to it every single month. So I'm going to do my best to observe that limit, and to avoid following new releases closely or looking up dozens of swatches online. This will be much easier once the new semester starts! 2. Lipstick no-buy for at least the first quarter of 2018 (through...

Welcome to my annual roundup of my 15 favorite beauty products of the past year! (Here are my lists for 2016 ,  2015 , and 2014 .) My 2017 can be summed up in this viral tumblr post: Because I had so little time for blogging in the second half of 2017, this post will double as a collection of mini-reviews for products I didn't get around to reviewing when I first bought them. As usual, I'll be listing my favorites in chronological order of purchase. This post comprises both makeup and skincare, since I never try enough new skincare for a separate list. All products are shown in their current state, to give you a sense of how much they've been used. Beauty-wise, my year was a little odd, with distinct ebbs and flows of interest. For the first few months, I restricted my spending heavily, recording every cent I spent on beauty products. I began to realize that this regimen made me obsess over makeup more , not less. Instead of just living my life and enjoying my existing coll...

(Settle in. This will be a long post.) First, some personal news: I defended my doctoral dissertation earlier this month and now have a Ph.D. in English! At my university, the dissertation defense (our official term, hilariously, is "Final Public Oral") is a pretty lowkey affair. It consists of a 30-minute presentation and another 30 minutes of questions from your dissertation committee and others at the FPO (professors outside your committee, friends, et al). Having attended several defenses before my own, I knew that most of the "questions" would be rambling suggestions from my four advisors on how to revise my dissertation into a book manuscript, and that I wouldn't be required to "defend" my work in any meaningful sense. Still, I was pretty nervous in the two weeks leading up to my defense. So I promised myself that if I got through it alive, I could order myself a truly extravagant present: Pat McGrath Labs' $38 LuxeTrance lipstick in Madame G...