Author: vlb5221

One thing anyone who knows me could tell you is that I love  makeup.  Another thing I absolutely adore is Disney princesses. It probably has something to do with the glamour and the sparkles and the  fabulous dresses, now that I think about it. That is why when Colourpop announced their most recent collaboration with Disney, I was hysterical. Like Disney always says, dreams DO come true!  Not to dunk on Avengers: Infinity War, but THIS is the real greatest crossover ever.  All I need to live happily ever after is this entire collection- who needs Prince Charming when you have a supershock sparkly eye shadow?

The collection itself will be broken up into several mini collections, each one based on one of the iconic Disney princesses. Tiana, Cinderella, Belle, Snow White, Jasmine, and Ariel will all be featured in the mini collections, and I’m only a little heartbroken that Aurora and Elsa aren’t included. Oh well, guess I have to “let it go”! Each mini collection will include a signature lipstick, a supershock eye shadow, and a lip gloss. The overall collection will include an eye shadow palette and two highlighters.  The entire collection will be available for purchase, or you could buy an individual princess’s collection or the collection of only the lipsticks.

Am I gonna snag one (or all) of these? Of course! The individual princess sets are not that expensive ($18 for a lip gloss, lipstick, and an eye shadow), and the feature palette is $22. I will not be buying the entire collection, because like Cinderella before Prince Charming, I am broke (the entire collection is $126, which, all things considered, is still a great deal) and do not have room for all that makeup. The colors in the collection seem very versatile and wearable- lots of shimmers, golds, pinks, and reds- and I have been dreaming of some new lip glosses for a little while now.  I do have one itty bitty problem, however. Belle is by far my favorite princess (yes, we love a strong woman who reads and stands up for the ones she loves!), but the colors in her collection are a tad too pink for me. Tiana and Snow White have lipsticks that are much better suited for my complexion, and though while I adore Tiana (another independent and fierce woman who doesn’t let anyone stand in her way), Snow White is my least favorite princess. So, I am torn between buying Belle because she is my favorite, or buying Snow White because I want her dramatic red lip color. Decisions, decisions. Maybe I’ll just get Belle and Tiana, and rep the fiercest of them all!

I am expecting great things from this collection. As a self-professed makeup aficionado who also has no disposable income, I am not stranger to Colourpop makeup. Where else can I get super bold, super sparkly lip glosses and eye shadows for under $10? I love their super shock eye shadows: they have great pigmentation and very little fallout, so I can have bright pink eyelids all day (even without primer!). I also love their lip glosses because the formula is smooth and layers well, and is minimally sticky. I am not a huge fan of their lipsticks, however, because the matte formula is drying. I do like the highlighters, even though I use them as eye shadow (shhh!).

Ultimately, this collection is at the top of my To Buy list. I can’t wait until it is released!

Nobody becomes a pro overnight, and nobody can ever know everything about makeup without a few resources. In the era of social media and the internet, it can be easy to get lost in the sheer amount of information available at the tips of your fingers. That’s why I’ve compiled a list of my favorite resources on reddit- an online social media platform- to help anyone reading this and myself! Al of these communities offer great resources for both makeup and skincare, and can help answer questions you may have about your skin, makeup application, and sometimes even general life advice.

1.   r/MUAonthecheap  This subreddit is one of my all-time favorites! It is a constant feed of deals, savings, free gifts, and sample products from cosmetic and hair care companies. Make sure to check this subreddit frequently, as they keep an up-to-date list of online discount codes and special sales, as well as the gifts with purchase for various companies. It has saved me so much money and hassle! Be warned- this place is dangerous for your wallet, especially if you have low impulse control! This subreddit also does daily review threads on various products and brand, and is a great resource to help you determine whether or not a product is worth buying. I have been introduced to a lo of new and indie makeup companies through this subreddit, and it has helped me to save money both with discounts, and by helping me pick what is worth the money.
2. r/Asianbeauty This subreddit is all about East Asian beauty trends, especially the fabled Korean skincare routine (a notoriously long and tedious, but highly effective, daily regime of skincare products). China, Japan, and Korea have a booming skincare and cosmetics industry, and skincare is incredibly important. The products from Japanese and Korean brands are usually of great quality at a reasonable price, but many beginners are intimidated by foreign languages and unfamiliar ingredients (have you tried snail extract yet?). r/AsianBeauty does a great job of de-mystefying Korean and Japaneseskicare, and has very helpful advice for people just starting to develop a skincare regime. r/AsianBeauty frequently reviews products and publishes a list of the best products for various skin concerns (like acne, hyper pigmentation, or wrinkles). There’s a reason so many people swear by Asian skincare!  Are you ready to take the plunge into seriously devoted skincare?
3. r/Skincareaddition This subreddit is all about skincare as the name implies. There is a lot of great information about the causes and treatments for a variety of skin problems, from acne to scarring to uneven pigmentation. There are also reviews of different products, and people can ask for help creating and evaluating a daily skincare routine. Check out the sidebar for more information about different ingredients found in skincare products, common skin problems and their treatments, and a helpful guide to skincare terminology.
4. r/makeupaddiction This is the only true makeup (not skincare or deals) subreddit on my list. It is a great and helpful community full of tips and tricks to applying makeup and various makeup techniques. Want to know what primer you should use for glitter eye shadow? Need to learn how to do a cut-crease eye shadow look? Barely now anything about makeup but reading this post for an English class? This subreddit is the place for you. Guides for makeup application and product review threads are great for any level of ‘makeup addict’, and f you work up the courage to post a picture of your makeup look online, others will comment on were your weaknesses lie and how to solve them. 

It’s my personal pet peeve. I’ll be talking to a friend or acquaintance about skincare, or rigorously reapplying my sunscreen, when the inevitable happens. They say some variation of my least favorite phrase: “Oh, I don’t wear sunscreen.”

From a very young age, my parents had drilled into me the importance of applying (and reapplying every two hours) sunscreen. Both my mother and father see the dermatologist frequently to check for melanoma or signs of skin cancer, and the rest of my family has suffered from skin cancer. Even my twin sister has had suspected melanomas removed! Thus, the importance of sunscreen was never lost on me: I knew that I had to protect my skin from the sun to prevent (or stall) any development of skin cancer. At beaches and water parks, pool parties and festivals, my mother would drag my sister and I away from our friends and slather on another pasty white layer of sunscreen, reminding us that “any change in skin color is bad.” My friends, especially ones from other races,  never understood the ‘frivolous’ ritual and were skeptical when I insisted that they should be wearing sunblock, too. They would argue about how they were too dark to burn, or that they only tanned in the sun, or that sunscreen was too tedious, uncomfortable, or ugly to put on. As I grew older and more aware of the importance of skincare, these responses irritated me more and more. So, here’s my rant on sunscreen and why everyone should be wearing it.

1.  Even when it’s cloudy, raining, or snowing, the sun can still damage your skin. Regardless of whether you feel the heat of the sun on your skin, the sun still emits UVA and UVB rays that can damage your skin. In fact, skin damage can be more common after a snow storm- the sun’s rays can reflect off of the white snow and bounce off of your skin.
2. There’s no such thing as immunity to sun damage. Even if you do not turn lobster red after an hour in the sun, your skin is still effected by the UV radiation emitted by the sun. Though melanin does offer some protection, ultimately its the UV rays that cause the unseen and dangerous damage that leads to premature aging and skin cancer. This goes for people seeking to tan- your skin is still damaged by the sun even if you don’t get “burned”!
3. Wearing a daily sunscreen does not have to be a struggle. Sunscreens for daily use often are added to daily moisturizers, foundations, and concealers. There’s no need to stick to tacky sunscreens or white washing lotions. Sunscreens today can be lightweight, airy, and even match your skin tone, so there’s no excuse not to wear one.
4. Sunscreen is one of the best ways to prevent skin damage. In addition to causing cancer, the sun’s radiation is also responsible for causing premature aging. Wearing sunscreen helps to reduce the development of sunspots and wrinkles, while keeping you safe from melanoma.

In short, everyone should be wearing a sunscreen. There are plenty of options to fit your needs (and your budget), so lather up and protect yourself!

“In polite society, a well-maintained skincare routine is one of life’s great successes.”

• Violet Grey, “The Industry’s Beauty Edit”

It’s the largest organ in the human body, and your first defense against the outside world. Your skin is perhaps one of the most important parts of your body, and it’s also the best accessory to the perfect outfit. For your health and for your beauty, the best thing you can do is take care of your skin. But how do you ensure that your skin is being treated properly?

First, there are some key rules to follow to prevent breakouts and infections:

1.  Avoid popping, picking, or irritating your skin. Though many believe that the best way to eliminate a pimple or blemish is to pop it, this can be dangerous. If you pick at your skin with your nails or fingers, you risk introducing harmful bacteria to the site that can actually make your problems worse. Popping and picking can also lead to the development of acne scars and painful lesions.
2. Remove your makeup before going to bed. Going to sleep with your makeup on can jump start a breakout or trigger inflammation. Powders and liquids can clog your pores and trap dirt under your skin, and sleeping with makeup on can cause irritation if mascara or eye shadow gets in your eye. Makeup can also stain your pillow case!
3. Wash your face daily. This rule goes hand in hand with #2. Washing your face with a gentle daily cleanser removes dirt and oils from your skin, unblocking your pores and reducing the risk of acne.
4. Avoid touching your skin. Your hands (and cell phone screen) are cesspools of bacteria and other skin irritants. Touching your face can spread oils and gunk around your face, which can lead to breakouts.
5. Wear a daily sunscreen.  This is one of the most beneficial and most disputed recommendations. People just hate wearing sunblock! I’ve heard every complaint under the sun- “I’m too dark to wear sunscreen”, “I don’t burn/I tan”, “sunblock smells bad”, “sunblock irritates my skin”, “sunscreen causes me to have a white cast”, “sunscreen feels uncomfortable” are some of the most popular ones- but those are just excuses. I’ll rant about this in another post, but sunblock is not optional. The sun’s rays are incredibly damaging (yes, even if it’s cloud and you can’t see the damage it causes), and sunblock is the most effective way to prevent skin cancer and wrinkles.
6. Start a skincare routine. Okay, so technically this step is optional but highly recommended. A skincare routine is just a daily (or twice a day) routine that prevents and treats a variety of skin issues (from acne to wrinkles to dry skin and more). A skincare routine must be highly personalized to maximize effectiveness, as every individual’s skin is different and each routine must be designed around your own specific issues. However, there are guides and basic routines that have been tried and tested that beginners can start with, and it’s easy to find product recommendations once you know your skin type.
7. Go to the dermatologist. A dermatologist is a doctor specifically trained to treat skin disorders and concerns, and thus can help you target problems you face (from discoloration to scarring to severe acne). If a situation is bad enough, your dermatologist might prescribe more powerful products and medications to subdue and control hormonal acne or pigmentation. And, your dermatologist will check you for skin cancer, so it’s a win-win. You should go once a year, or once every six months if you’re like me and have a family history of skin cancer.

Random examples of items which are part of the canon of Camp:

Zuleika Dobson
Tiffany lamps
Scopitone films
The Brown Derby restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in LA
The Enquirer, headlines and stories
Aubrey Beardsley drawings
Swan Lake
Bellini’s operas
Visconti’s direction of Salome and ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore
certain turn-of-the-century picture postcards
Schoedsack’s King Kong
the Cuban pop singer La Lupe
Lynn Ward’s novel in woodcuts, God’s Man
the old Flash Gordon comics
women’s clothes of the twenties (feather boas, fringed and beaded dresses, etc.)
the novels of Ronald Firbank and Ivy Compton-Burnett

-Susan Sontag, Notes on “Camp”

Whether it’s been tweeted or googled, spoken or thought, the announcement of the 2019 MET Gala theme has left the public with one question: what is camp, exactly?

Let’s rewind. October 9th, 2018: the Metropolitan Museum of Art announces the theme of the 2019 MET Gala- ‘camp’ fashion, inspired by current sociopolitical events and the poignant relevancy of Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay Notes on “Camp”– prompting thousands (well, maybe just me) to frantically scour the internet in a quest for Notes on ”Camp” and some background on what camp is.

The article itself was perfectly easy to find (if you are so inclined, you can read it here). Decoding it, however, was not.

Perhaps it was Sontag’s style, perhaps it was the very concept of camp. The first three times I read the essay, I hadn’t the slightest clue as to what on Earth she was writing about.  The article is disjointed- it is, after all, a loosely related collection of musings- and the topic nebulous. If not for my sheer determination to understand the MET Gala theme (or my excitement over Harry Styles hosting the event), I certainly would have given up attempting to untangle the knotted web of “camp” and the contradictions it embodies.

Sontag insists upon the naivete of Camp,  the self-indulgent behavior of someone too consumed by empty, flitting desires that everything is whimsical. She notes that Camp is defined by its extravagance coupled with innocence,  the unintentional nature of Camp; how it walks the narrow tightrope between kitschy and cliche, cloying and overwhelming. Sontag weaves a vivid, intricate tapestry of excessive beauty and confused ideology; conjuring images of women decked in 10,000 feather boas and over-the-top works of drama.

While trying to uncatalogued the key characteristics of Camp, I ended up making my own list of sorts. Inspired by the visionary herself, here are my Notes on Notes on “Camp”

• “Camp” is not a fashion, it is an attitude- as Sontag herself writes, “Camp is the consistently aesthetic experience of the world”
• “Camp” is inherently a contradiction
  • That’s right: just like Fight Club, “to talk about Camp is therefore to betray it.” So by celebrating Camp in such a high profile manner, are we not undermining its integrity?
  • ” Camp is either completely naive or else wholly conscious”
  • According to Sontag, “pure Camp is always naive. Camp which knows itself to be Camp (“camping”) is usually less satisfying”. Thus, the MET gala attendees are doomed to failure before the event has begun; the style they imitate is defined upon its inability to be imitated.
    • See also, “the pure examples of Camp are unintentional; they are dead serious”, and “intending to be campy is always harmful.”
• Camp is bold, it is ostentatious, it is loud, it is flamboyant and boisterous and deadly serious.

How will this translate into fashion? Picture the courtly wear of Louis XIV, the Sun King, and the decadent glory of Versailles. Picture women from the roaring 20s, beaded and bedazzled. Picture the brightest colors, the boldest patterns, the loudest accessories.  Though I do not know how many celebrities will rise to the challenge, I do know that the red carpet will be a spectacle regardless.

I still do not know if intentionally imitating Camp defeats the outfit, or when Camp becomes tacky. I do know, however, that this May 6th, I will be watching the stars with a hot pink feathered boa and no cares to give.

Did any of my ramblings make sense? Probably not. But in which case, I justify my nonsensical drivel by pointing out the original work. I still do not know if I understand Camp, or if I ever will, but I am certain of one thing: the MET Gala of 2019 will be nothing short of glorious.

The key to understanding something is to research it. In the age of the internet, this task seems incredibly easy- just Google a topic and pick from hundreds of thousands of results!- but in reality, it’s daunting. With so much information (and misinformation), it is easy to drown in search results and lose yourself in a rabbit hole of websites. That’s why I’ve decided to compile a little list of my favorite print resources for makeup and fashion. Below, I’ve noted some of my favorites and some of my “most wanted” books.

When I first saw this book at Barnes & Noble, I fell in love.  Face Paint: The Story of Makeup by Lisa Eldridge is simultaneously an art and history book; both a coffee table feature and a deeply interesting read.  Not only does the book discuss the history of makeup and makeup techniques, it also delves into the production of makeup as well as the role makeup has played in the lives of women throughout human civilization. Also featured are prominent beauty trends and the founders of modern beauty, icons that have influenced the makeup industry and its followers around the globe, and the science and technological developments behind makeup. Ultimately, this book is a must read: it inspires its audience to take a deeper look into what it has historically meant to be beautiful, as well as the fascination mechanisms of skincare and makeup.

Another cult classic is the New York Times best-selling book Making Faces by Kevyn Aucoin. The book features beautiful diagrams and photographs of some of the most iconic beauty looks from the past century. Unlike “Face Paint: The Story of Makeup”, “Making Faces” focuses on makeup application and style guides. It features step by step guides to mastering makeup techniques from smokey eyes to the perfect brows, and deconstructs famous ‘looks’ from the runway and magazine features. This book is great for people who want to learn more about replicating and producing makeup looks, rather than those who seek the historical background of cosmetics, but I still consider it a great read.

This book is unconventional in the sense that it is not about ‘every day makeup’: it’s an awe-inspiring depiction of makeup artist Joel Harlow’s incredible work for the sci-fi film Star Trek Beyond. Maybe I’m a bit biased- I’ve always loved Star Trek, and a book about Star Trek costume makeup combines two of my favorite things- but this book is a masterpiece. The artistry and impeccable detail of the creatures Harlow envisions and creates is stunning, to say the least. This book details his inspirations and the tedious process of bringing aliens to life with beautiful pictures to boot. Ultimately, it’s a great read for anyone interested in movie makeup/ costume design, or the technical challenges of makeup application. Though I do not own this book (yet!), I’ve skimmed through it at Target and Barnes & Noble, and I cannot wait to add it to my collection!