Best Lipstick Formulas 2019

Welcome to the first, and saltier, of my two 2016 roundup posts! A few notes before we begin: There are 13 products on this list simply because I was disappointed by 13 products last year (not a large number, considering how many I tried).  As always, the products are listed in chronological order of purchase, not from best to worst or vice versa. I've linked to my original reviews where available.  I returned several of these products, sometimes too quickly to take photos. In those cases, I've used the brands' product shots. I also lost a number of my photos while clearing my phone's memory last year. Not all of these products are total fails. I kept and still use a few of them, since I don't subscribe to the KonMari doctrine of getting rid of anything that I don't absolutely love. Especially in the case of color cosmetics, if a product fulfills a specific purpose but isn't perfect, I'll often keep using it instead of buying yet another product in the s...

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...

A lot of stuff here! Let's get into it: New Makeup/Polish: Marc Jacobs Le Marc Lip Creme in Rei of Light: $30 Studded X mini duo (Kat Von D Studded Kiss + Formula X) in Mercy: $7.50 NYX Velvet Matte Lipstick in Midnight Muse: gift from my mom NYX Jumbo Pencil in Black Bean: ditto Total: $37.50 Rei of Light was my big-ticket planned purchase for this month. Having worn it a few times, I'm not sure it's my Platonic rusty orange, as it pulls darker and redder than I thought it would. But I really like it and think I'll wear it a lot this fall, so no harm done. By contrast, the Kat Von D/Formula X duo was a total impulse purchase. After I finished rewriting my third dissertation chapter, I slipped back into the habit of checking all my procrastination sites, including Temptalia. Christine posted about the Sephora end-of-summer sale, and I just couldn't resist the Mercy duo. I wish every lipstick came in a mini version: I don't need a full-sized metallic berry lipst...

Hello from the UK! I've spent the last two days recovering from jet lag, with the help of some delicious scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and herbs (imagine me pronouncing the H): Overview: This roundup is going to be brief, because I bought almost no new makeup in May. After several months on this low-buy, it's become easier to postpone purchases, and even to postpone them indefinitely. No matter how much I want something, I can usually persuade myself that at least one of four things is true: 1) I already own a similar product; 2) even if I don't, the shiny new product will still be around in a month; 3) even if the product is limited edition, something similar will be released eventually; 4) even if I don't end up with the product or a dupe, life will carry on exactly as before. Granted, it's also easier to avoid buying new makeup when I'm depressed, and I was fairly depressed last month. But I'd like to believe that depression isn't the only explana...

Like many of us, I go through polish phases. Sometimes I prefer neutral cremes, sometimes bright pastels, sometimes dark shimmers. The category I'm most fickle about, though, is the glitter topcoat. I've accumulated quite a few over the years (so pretty in the bottle!), but I usually find it hard to wear glitter on ordinary occasions without feeling either childish or inappropriately festive. Recently, though, I've entered something of a glitter phase. Carolina and I have discussed the temptation to buy glitter during difficult emotional periods, and I think that's part of the reason I've worn so much sparkly nail polish since the late fall. It's brutally cold outside, I'm on the academic job market, I don't know where I'll even be living in six months —glitter makes it all a bit more tolerable. Yes, gross materialism and all that, but there's nothing wrong with making your aesthetic environment a little prettier to counteract whatever else is g...