Best Lipstick Formulas 2019

After three and a half years (!) of beauty blogging, I've learned which panning projects work for me and which are guaranteed to fail. I can usually push myself to finish a piece of makeup if three conditions apply: It's a cream product (usually a lipstick) I like it enough that I've already used up at least 2/3 of it It's getting old and/or is in poor condition I believe that makeup should be a pleasure, so if I actively dislike a product, I'll destash it instead of forcing myself to finish it. If it's newer or in good condition, I'd rather just keep it around and wear it when I feel like it. And if it's almost full, I don't see much point in panning it: that's just setting myself up for frustration. So, as you can imagine, I don't undertake panning projects very often. But I managed to finish two lipsticks (Urban Decay Streak and MAC Up the Amp) earlier this year, and right now I have four more that I think I can pan by the end of 2017. All...

The title of this post is misleading, since I took a break from my low-buy during my month in England (I'm writing this on my last evening here). I'll just say it: I bought 11 12 new pieces of makeup and nail polish in June. This is going to be a haul post. Which is okay! I planned for this hiatus, I could afford it, I'm happy with what I bought, and I'm eager to get home and start experimenting. I'm also going on a replacement-only no-buy for the month of July, just to give myself some time to enjoy my new stuff. In August, I'll resume my low-buy regimen. As I'm sure you've heard, the pound has taken quite a hit in the last week. I bought seven of my new products pre-Brexit but am using the current exchange rate ($1.33 to £1 ) for the conversions in this post, so my total in dollars will be a little lower than what I actually paid. New Makeup/Polish: Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Facet: £14.50 Barry M Nail Paint in Vintage Violet: £2.99 Barry M Gelly Hi-...

(Apologies to a show I've never actually watched. I'm told that I should!) I've noted before that the average British woman seems to get more excited about makeup than the average American woman does. I stand by my original conclusion: "In my experience, Americans pay more attention to the overall effect of their makeup, while the British pay more attention to individual details." Drugstores in the UK offer more shade variety per brand, and it's not unusual to see people wearing red or fuchsia lipstick when out and about.  Experimenting with makeup is part of British culture in a way it's just not in the US; there's a sense of play here that I find so refreshing. I took this photo (faces blurred for privacy) at the MAC lipstick display at the Selfridges in Birmingham two weeks ago: I lingered in the Selfridges makeup department for about 15 minutes, and the MAC section was like this the entire time. I'd occasionally try to approach and swatch ...

I meant to post this earlier, but life (in the form of interview prep, followed by actual interviewing, followed by jetlag) got in the way, so here we are almost halfway through January and I still haven't written about my favorite beauty purchases of 2015. But that's about to change! A few notes before we get started: Few of these are technically perfect products; they're just the products that I enjoyed the most in 2015. This list is not just for new-in-2015 products, but products that were new to me in 2015. I rarely buy limited-edition products or make a purchase before reading lots of reviews, so most of the makeup and skincare I buy has been around for at least a year or two. There are a couple of exceptions on this list, though! I've listed these products not in order of preference (I'm not sure what would make a lipstick "better" than a moisturizer) but in chronological order of purchase. In order to show how much I've used each item, I've...