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...

When I first declared my no-buy three weeks ago, I predicted that my willpower would be tested severely. Instead, I immediately felt a sense of unaccustomed freedom. I'd grown used to thinking of my beauty purchases as stress relievers, but I hadn't considered that they might actually be a source of stress. Every new purchase brought pleasure and excitement, but never without an undercurrent of guilt and worry: can I really afford this? do I really need it? will I really use it, or will it end up gathering dust? And now those anxious questions are gone. My no-buy has liberated me to play with the makeup I already own instead of constantly plotting to buy something new. I mean, ask me in a month whether I still feel this way, but for now? I'm pretty content, and I'm glad I caught an incipient problem before it became more serious. My plan for 2016 is to try a Monika-style low-buy (no more than two new items per month), but with a couple of no-buy months thrown in. Step...

(Apologies to Jenny Holzer , of course.) The stress of the job market has me feeling extra-acquisitive, as witness my latest impulse purchases: L-R: KBShimmer Open Toad Shoes, Zoya Fei Fei, Essie Leggy Legend, Milani Matte Fearless. But that's not enough, oh no. I want still more, because when I'm trying to relax I tend to immerse myself in the online beautysphere, and I have the bad habit of using Google to hunt down my Platonic ideals of color, formula, and finish. In a perfect world, I'd spend that time experimenting with new techniques using the products I already have, but this is far from a perfect world. I'm hoping that writing out my wishlist in a blog post will be just as cathartic as actually buying the stuff. If not, well, I just got my September paycheck. Lipstick: 1. Pinkish-red satin This is one of those dangerous Platonic ideals. I've spent a lot of time putting off my actual responsibilities by scouring the Internet for the epitome of cherry-red gorg...

I've been particularly short on funds this month, hence the plethora of tl;dr meditative posts and the absence of product reviews. Luckily, I just received my latest stipend check, so I'm planning to do a bit of damage during the High Holy Days of consumerism. (Only online: I can't stand the crush of people at brick-and-mortar sales.) Here are some of the products I've been coveting for the past month, listed in rough order of desire. 1. Face Stockholm Crème Blush in Paris Image via Anthropologie . Putting together my 17th-century look reminded me that I don't own a warm pink blush. I have most color categories covered--cool medium pink, psychedelic magenta, neutral pink-nude, reddish plum, soft orange, even lavender--but I'd like a pink that's warmer than NARS Mata Hari . I've heard great things about Face Stockholm's cream blushes; I even swatched a few of them back in March, but couldn't decide which one to buy and left empty- if not clean-h...

I keep a running beauty wishlist over at Pinterest , and I thought I'd wax poetic about a handful of those items on the blog. 1. NARS Audacious Lipstick in Audrey Image from NARS . For the past few weeks, I've been zealously hunting down reviews of the NARS Audacious Lipsticks, which became available online in mid-August but didn't show up in stores until today. That is, today was their official launch date, though I saw a few of them in the window of a San Francisco NARS boutique two weeks ago. Apologies for my reflected Strand tote bag and yellow paisley torso. I would have gone into the store, but I was in a hurry, so this will have to do... The lipsticks have received almost nothing but praise: Temptalia gave As to 32 of the 40 shades, and as we all know, there's no grade inflation on her blog. I confess I'm a little disappointed in the overall shade range, though. I'm not the only one who has noticed many dupes and near-dupes within the Audacious line. By ...

I seriously restricted my beauty spending in March; my only new acquisitions were a Milani liquid lipstick and nail polish (the latter of which set me back a mere $.55); an assortment of NYX products , three of which I'm going to return; and a replacement travel bottle of my favorite moisturizer , from First Aid Beauty. I even went to the FACE Stockholm store in New York and swatched their renowned cream blushes and didn't come home with a single one. I have, at least by my standards, been very, very good. But I do have a wishlist. Of course I do. 1. A peach or coral cream blush. I own only three blushes, all of them powder, and the two I wear regularly are both cool pinks from NARS: Mata Hari and Coeur Battant. In fact, I've worn Mata Hari almost every day since I bought it in February 2013. I always assumed that warm-toned blushes wouldn't suit me, but beauty blogging has made me realize that I might not be the cool-toned ice princess I thought I was. I'm pretty...