Best Lipstick Formulas 2019

Destashing makeup is emotionally hard for me year-round, but it becomes a little easier in the spring, as do most things. The lengthening days bring a new zest for self-improvement: I exercise more, I consume less sugar and alcohol, and I grow more decisive about streamlining my makeup collection. I recently decided to destash eight (!) neglected lipsticks, as well as a lip balm and an eyeshadow. Here are most of the victims: In this post, I'll outline my reasons for parting with these products, as well as the lessons each one taught me. I've linked to my original reviews where available: brace yourself for some potato-quality photos from 2014! (Not that my current photos are Temptalia-level clear, but they're a little better.) First, the lipsticks. L-R: NYX Amethyst, Maybelline Gunmetal, NYX Alabama, Kiko Chocolate, Revlon Fuchsia, & Other Stories Droguet Purple. Swatches, same order: Next, MAC Candy Yum-Yum (left) and Rebel. These are missing from my other photos bec...

Most makeup collectors have their color kryptonite, particularly when it comes to lipstick: pinky nudes, corals, blue-based reds. For me that color is, and has pretty much always been, magenta. Or whatever you want to call it: bright plum, dark fuchsia, anything that walks the line between purple and deep pink. I just did a lazy Google search for "magenta," and here's the image that comes closest to my Platonic ideal: Magenta isn't a particularly trendy color these days. It evokes 1980s excess, and can read especially '80s if paired with blue or green. For proof, here's my own vintage '80s dress, which I can't wear in public because I'm a somewhat self-respecting adult, but also can't get rid of because look at it : Detail of the pattern: There is something tacky and hedonistic about magenta, but my natal decade was not the only tacky, hedonistic one in history (though it sure came close). In fact, magenta is a nineteenth-century color, a produ...

Now that beauty-throwback trends have slid forward in time from the Brown '90s to the Iridescent '90s, brands are releasing a flood of metallic lipsticks — or, at least, what they call  "metallic lipsticks." But there tends to be a huge amount of variation between one formula and another, and even between one shade and another. Some "metallic" shades have an even sheen; others have big chunks of glitter; others shift their color depending on the angle and light. Can all of these finishes really be described by the same adjective? I THINK NOT. So I present to you... You might have to enlarge the image to see all of my neurotic little notes, but the main point I'm trying to make in this flow chart is that whether a lipstick can be classified as "metallic" depends on 1) the size of the shiny particles and 2) the color of the particles relative to the base color. I define a metallic lipstick as one with an even sheen (i.e. no visibly discrete part...

I'm back with some makeup and some thoughts! New Makeup: L-R: Whirl, Metal Head, Men Love Mystery, Puff, Otherworldly. Swatches, same order. Glossier Cloud Paint in Puff : $14.40 (20% off) MAC Matte Lipstick in Men Love Mystery: $15 (15% off, plus tax) MAC Metallic Lipstick in Metal Head: purchased with Nordstrom store credit (usually $18) MAC Matte Lipstick in Whirl (mini): gift from Renee Topshop Glow Stick in Otherworldly: gift from my boyfriend Total: $29.40 I acquired five new pieces of makeup last month. Technically, I bought  only two of those, but I'm not letting myself off so easy. I could have spent that store credit on something else, and I didn't have to ask my boyfriend to bring me a highlighter from the UK. A product for which I don't exchange real money takes up just as much space in my collection as a product for which I actually swipe my card or hand over cash. I'm pretty pleased with all of my new playthings, at least. Reviews to come! Here I am w...

SPRING BREAK WOOOO ...oh, right. The weather may suggest otherwise, but I'm now on spring break. That doesn't mean very much in ABD world, since I should technically spend every waking hour chipping away at my dissertation, but I'm still planning to use my extra free time (or the illusion thereof) to write some reviews I've been putting off. While looking over my lipstick inventory the other day, I realized that I have yet to review ten  of the lipsticks and glosses I've acquired in the past year. I'm not sure how many reviews I'll be able to write in the next week, but I'd like to knock out at least a few so that I can move on to more creative posts. Longtime readers of my blog will remember that in its early days, I had a series called "Lipstick Chronology," in which I reviewed all the lipsticks I owned in chronological order of purchase. Now that I have a substantial backlog of unreviewed lipsticks, I think it's time I made another chro...