lean on me, when you’re not strong

Although it can be an awful lot of fun to try out different cosmetics and perfumes, lately there are a small, select number that I keep returning to. For lipstick, I find myself reaching for Illamasqua’s Howl. Though it doesn’t really last through a meal, it is otherwise a great and longlasting product, high in pigment and nondrying. The color can’t be beat, too…a great warm tomato red. Since it may very well be the perfect lipstick, for me anyway, there is an even greater chance that (according to Murphy’s Law) it will be discontinued while I am still craving it. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen anytime soon. As for perfume, these days I have been wearing a blend of Pacifica’s Tuscan Blood Orange and Jo Malone’s Nectarine Blossom & Honey. I have been wearing this combination daily for the past…oh…couple of weeks at least. I still visit my other perfumes, and I’ll open a bottle and breathe in, but for some reason I am oddly comforted by this particular fruity-floral blend. The reason I find it odd is that I usually go for the oriental perfumes, heavy on the musks and vanillas. Maybe in a few weeks from now I won’t be able to stop wearing Angel or Kiehl’s Musk. But today I am reveling in the safety of a scent that makes me feel better, not to mention wearing a lipstick that feels familiar and comfortable. I may have woken up this morning feeling uncertain, and a little unsure of myself, but this scent and this lipstick help combat those feelings. They don’t eradicate them, but they really do help somewhat. I may not feel strong exactly…but I am determined to fake it til I make it.

i want candy

Sometimes when I buy a new cosmetic it’s like buying candy…sweet and self-indulgent. I bought two new lip products, which I already possessed in different shades. One is Revlon Matte lipstick, in Really Red. This is a great color, it’s a bright, loud red that doesn’t go pink. Of course I love the matte finish, and this proves to be a long-lasting lipstick. But perhaps not as long-lasting as the other product, which is Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Lipcolor, which is a liquid lipstick, in Top Tomato. Again, a very bold red that really does last and holds all the qualities the ads claim. The thought of wearing a full-on red lip during daylight hours can be a little daunting…but then I think of the ads for these lipsticks that caught my attention in the first place, and I decide, if they can do it, what the hell, so can I. What’s the worst that could happen? Someone might think I’ve just had a cherry popsicle? Yeah, I think I can live with that.

Here’s I Want Candy by Bow Wow Wow.

i’ve been a miner for a heart of gold

Searching for that heart of gold translates well to the search for that special perfume. Maybe, just maybe, that special perfume will help to bring that heart of gold! Or maybe I am just dreamin’. At any rate, I have sampled two more perfumes, the first being Narciso Rodriguez For Her. And to think, I never thought I’d meet a musk I didn’t like! For this is essentially a musk, which breaks down simply: floral top notes, middle notes of amber, and a woody base. I appreciate the simplicity, and I think I know where they were going with this one, but for me, it just misses the mark. In spite of what were no doubt best intentions, this perfume smells like chemicals. Musky chemicals, but chemicals nonetheless. I would never wear this perfume. The second perfume I would never wear either, but for totally different reasons. It’s Agent Provocateur. I first got a sample of it because I LOVE the bottle, which is so stunningly simple. This perfume is a floral chypre, and it is big, brash, and rosy. This is an insanely sexy perfume, wanton and unabashed. I am not absolutely in love with its heady rosy heart, but I appreciate its pale woody base of oak moss, sandalwood, and maybe ambergris. These are the notes that qualify Agent Provocateur for the category of chypre. I just wish it didn’t take so long to get there, as first one must first brave the all-engulfing floral notes. Once you get to the base notes, it is really a great perfume. The reason I won’t wear it, however, is just because I don’t think I can pull it off. It is so unapologetically sexy, so bold and heady. Maybe if I were to wear the lingerie by Agent Provocateur…but what is the point, really? I am, after all, still searching for that heart of gold.

i enjoy being a girl

Seriously, I enjoy every lipsticked, perfumed minute of it. I’ve been road-testing a product that is new to me, as well as relatively new on the market: Revlon’s ColorStay Ultimate Liquid Lipstick. The ad says it’s food-proof, lasts up to twelve hours, needs no topcoat, and wears comfortably. The color is Superb Sangria, a pretty burgundy. It is a little tricky to apply, as it sets rather quickly and the sponge-tip wand is something I need to get used to. But this morning I managed to color within the lines, so to speak, and I haven’t retouched it all day. It dries to a matte finish, so naturally it gets points in my book. The color has softened a little to a plummy shade, but it’s still really pretty, and nice and deep. The only thing I am having trouble with is the texture, which is slightly sticky, a little tacky. But other than that I have no complaints. This product comes in a wide array of shades, but for some reason the drugstore only offered half of them, so I ended up ordering it from Ulta. It also comes in a red that looks fabulous, Top Tomato. That one I’ll have to try. All in all, the ad spoke the truth. So I am really pleased with this liquid lipstick…finally one that won’t leave marks behind on cofffee cups or kissed cheeks. I can live with the stickiness. It’s a small price to pay for color that lasts pretty much all day.

morpha too small

Today I want to hide away. It is not a day for bright red lipstick, though bright red lipstick is fabulous in general, for most every occasion. But not today. Today I need a look that will let me pass the mirror without self-loathing, and it needs to be toned down. I think I have the perfect thing: Nars lipstick in Sephora Flame. It is a deep, dark brick red with a matte finish. It will allow me to feel polished but also will let me sink into the background, should I have to venture out. Which I am hoping I won’t need to do today. Sadly, this particular lipstick is a limited edition, so I had better enjoy it whilst still available. Why do so many great colors, so many great products meet this fate? Who knows…all I know for sure today is that I feel small, and fragile. It seems silly to me that I am extolling the virtues of a mere lipstick as I feel the way I do. But at the same time, I feel like this lipstick might just help get me through this day, in its own subtle manner.

Here’s a song for today, Morpha Too by Big Star.

sweet violets, sweeter than all the roses

Today I sampled a perfume that took me back in time, which I was not prepared for. I know that scent has a great effect on emotion, and can conjure memories, but still, when it happens it’s always as if it were the first time. The perfume du jour is Lolita Lempicka. It is a very feminine woody oriental. The top notes are of ivy leaves and aniseed, the heart is composed of violet and iris root, and the base notes are vanilla and musk. Often I have a difficult time discerning one element from another, but every time I passed by the tissue I had sprayed with Lolita Lempicka, I picked up on one and one alone: violet. It’s in the middle notes of this perfume but still lingers after the drydown. And it took me back to Boston, where at age eighteen, I made an attempt to go to college. I remembered my dorm room and the fifteen-minute walk from the dorm to my classes…I remembered my new friends…I remembered reading Stephen King’s “It” in the basement of the dorm. There was a beauty supply store nearby, and I used to go there to shop for hair bleach and lipstick. They had an array of products that took my breath away…including a Violet perfume from Italy, in a lovely square glass bottle with a lavender atomizer. My mother accompanied me once to the beauty supply, and she bought me that bottle of Violet perfume. It was a happy day. To me, the perfume smelled like a sweet soap, not so much like perfume per se. I packed up the bottle when my valiant attempt at college failed, and I had to leave. And today, when I smelled that strong violet note of Lolita Lempicka, I was back in Boston, scared out of my mind, and trying-and failing- to keep up with the new friends who eventually left me behind. Perfume can cast a powerful spell. I can’t see myself wearing this scent. For me, it is loaded. Maybe there is a reason of some kind that I shouldn’t forget those days in Boston, but today, it just makes me sad, and I am now going to throw out that tissue, because I would really like to forget.

mwah, and mwah

I dedicate today’s post to a couple of girls I knew in junior high. One day they decided not to be friends with me anymore, and took to drawing obscene pictures of my lips on the table in homeroom. I remember how hurt and betrayed I felt. I can still feel twinges of it to this day, but the sting is lessened by the fact that these days, full lips are “in.” So I haven’t had the need to buy the increasingly popular lip plumpers, but I have managed to wrangle samples, to satisfy my curiosity. First is Lip Injection by Too Faced. Wait, do they mean that as in “two faced?” Is that supposed to be a good thing?? I don’t get it. Alright well anyhow. This stuff does work, it seems. It does tingle, a lot, but that is temporary. In addition to plumping the lips it makes them redder, which is nice. Lip Injection basically is like a thick gloss, so it does stay on for a good long while. I’ve meant to try blotting off the shine after it has done its plumping bit, and then apply lipstick, but since this isn’t a product I use much at all, I always forget to try that. So all in all, Lip Injection is a definite thumbs-up as far as plumping goes. Next, I have Venom Flash by DuWop. This is Lip Venom with sparkle, available in silver and gold. If I didn’t prefer the matte-lipstick look, I would be using this product alot. The effect is very similar to Lip Injection, just with added shimmer. I don’t know about the vast number of other lip plumpers out there, but I would say Lip Venom and Venom Flash would be my first choice, not just because they work but also because, I think, they have the coolest name and packaging. Shallow, I know. Just like those girls from junior high. I hope that today they are agonizing over their thin lips and what plumper to try. To them I would say, “Here, take these samples. I don’t need them.” Mean? Yeah, I guess a little. Must be the Venom talking.

PS. A note: I have bought Twilight Venom and tinted Prime Venom, but they ended up in the Makeup Wasteland that is the second drawer down in my bathroom.

are you a hypnotist??

Tonight I am going out with a friend, we are going to the mall and there happens to be a Sephora store there. However, I won’t submit my friend to my browsing and hunting. She has no interest in makeup, doesn’t wear it, doesn’t need it. I have to say, I envy that in her. I remember when I was in junior high and high school, and I would go into my parents’ room to look in the mirror at the dressing table. I would sit there and stare at my reflection, thinking, wishing, praying that I could somehow be a pretty girl. I wanted to look like the girls in the magazines. I wanted to look like the popular girls. But most of all, I wanted to be able to bear looking at my own face in the mirror. Without makeup, I couldn’t do it. Sure, I knew I’d never be in a magazine or a movie, I knew I’d never be a cheerleader. But when I put on makeup, I could pass by the mirror without cringeing. So I guess I can say in all honesty that this is something I do for myself. I am not trying to impress anybody. I am not trying to get into some fancy club or win a shiny prize. I am sad that I don’t like how I look without makeup, but I just put it on in the morning and do my best to avoid mirrors for the rest of the day. Here’s a song in honor of illusions. It’s “Are You A Hypnotist??” by the Flaming Lips.

“bottle of wine, fruit of the vine…

…When you gonna let me get sober? Leave me alone, let me go home, Let me go home and start over.”

                                                                                                            -Tom Paxton

Since I am practically obsessed with finding the perfect shade of wine lipstick, I picked two to talk about today. I have mixed feelings about both of them. First there is Revlon Matte’s “Wine Not.” Ok, hate the name, they might as well have called it “Whine” and that would have been just as obnoxious. Well, regardless…it is a longlasting matte lipstick and the color does start off as a beautiful dark wine color. However, after a while it turns sort of purple-y. This is after it wears off a bit. I know, I know, such is the nature of wine, is it not? But I just wish it stayed the same color as it is when first applied. That’s all I’m sayin’. The other lipstick is by Besame Cosmetics and the color is Merlot. Now, the packaging alone would have sold me on this lipstick. It is a fabulous, retro-looking gold bullet-shaped tube with a dark red design. Swoon! The lipstick itself is small and sharp-edged. The color is more of a brownish red than what I would consider merlot. So it isn’t really a wine lipstick. Maybe it is too brown for me…but it is a good color, it stays true, doesn’t change the way the “Wine Not” does. I think, though, that regardless of the color I’d have bought it anyway just because the presentation is so damn chic. Wish I had a compact to match…Besame Cosmetics has more than just lipstick, but so far I’ve only bought the lipstick because their products are priced kind of steep. But I may have to give in just so I can have a matching compact, something that would make Dita Von Teese proud. In the meantime I’ll keep up my quest for the perfect wine lipstick and while I do that, I’ll sing a little song.

fairy wings and other sweet things

Today’s perfume sample is Feerie, from the famed jewelry house Van Cleef & Arpels. Again, I didn’t want to test it on myself and I wanted to avoid extra loads of perfumey towels, so I sprayed it on a Kleenex. So I can just chuck it when I am done, or if I decide the scent is awful. Easy enough. Anyhow, I needn’t have worried today. Feerie is a really nice scent. It is a delicate woody floral inspired by the company’s Midsummer Night’s Dream jewelry collection. Its top notes are violet, black currant and mandarin, with middle notes of bulgarian rose and egyptian jasmine. The bottom notes, the ones I pay most attention to personally, are iris butter and vetiver. Van Cleef & Arpels has managed to create a suitable counterpart to its jewelry: a scent that is sparkly and bright. And indeed, it is fairy-like with its airy and ethereal quality. This perfume would make a great gift, if you don’t mind shelling out the cash for it. It is somewhat more expensive than other perfumes I’ve come across. And that is too bad, if the cost is prohibitive, for I could see this scent as a great starter perfume, either for a young lady or someone who isn’t really into perfumes per se. I would notice this scent on someone else, and not in a bad way, but I would wonder what it was and think it was pleasant. I won’t be buying this perfume for myself but I will keep it in mind as something that would make a great gift, perhaps in its shower gel or lotion form. (Also, less expensive than the perfume.) Boyfriends out there, take note! This is a scent that would appeal to many people, I believe. It’s uncomplicated and gentle all around. I can almost hear the fluttering of little wings…almost.