Just keep in mind that this page will change with time. Holy grails are ongoing. I haven't found them all, obviously.
Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat $35: Horrendously expensive, but the most absolutely genius product ever. You'd think the $35 goes into packaging, but I've never met a concealer that performs like it—possibly because it's not a concealer after all, but a highlighter and illuminator. It melts away dark circles, so long as they're mild. It doesn't have a lot of coverage, as it was never meant to conceal. As far as I'm concerned, the lack of coverage is not a problem, but a benefit, because it's rendered supereasy to blend and absolutely undetectable. It just makes me look fantastically awake—and my sleeping habits are absolutely abhorrent. If there were an alternative, I'd snap it up in a second, but there isn't. Not for any lack of trying; there are plenty of wannabe Touche Éclats on the market.
Cetaphil $4-$12: The tried and true. I sometimes get bored and wander away to try something else, but I'm immediately punished because it never works as well. When I return to it, gloriously mundane and drugstore as it is, I'm welcomed back, like the prodigal son. And it clears up whatever skin problems immediately, and I wonder why I ever strayed. It's not the best makeup remover, that is true, but I wear little makeup so it's never been an issue.
Delux Norris Lip Gloss $15: Ever since Jane Loco Cocoa has been discontinued, I've been on the search for an alternative. Enter the ever-vaunted Delux Norris. It's got the perfect consistency, comes in a miniature tube (yet still contains more product than a MAC Lipglass), has no scent, and a myriad of beautiful colors. Norris is the favorite among the bunch, and it's my favorite too. It doesn't look like Loco Cocoa, but it's got that same, lovely, complex quality that I love. It's a rose-red flecked with gold shimmer—a currant, in short. It's brilliant, and beautiful, and my new favorite. I've even used up a tube already, an astonishing achievement.
Givenchy Organza Indécence perfume: This is favorite scent of all time. Before I bought it, I would sneak into Sephora and spray into my hair, furtively, and wander around smelling like a goddess all day. Afterwards, I'd just return to the shirt I'd worn that day just to sniff its essence. It's not a scent of the weak, or for the floral-lover. It hits you first with cinnamon, which is quickly mellowed over by vanilla, though it’s underlaid by the jacaranda wood, which is similar to rosewood (the scent is similar to a less earthy sandalwood). The vanilla becomes soft, like vanilla ice cream, but still has “bite”, because of that woody note. Some floral—it’s nearly impossible to pick out—softens it. And a fruity note like a syrupy, honeyed plum that dissipates over time. The ingredients are supposedly heavily spicy, with patchouli (which is too spicy for me straight), but honestly, the vanilla-jacaranda wood mix overpowers them all. This is the scent people like best on me. The bottle is very glamorous, though not exactly my taste. Just as a tip, you can find discounted bottles of this at TJMaxx, for like $25 for a full-size bottle.
L'Oréal Féria Hair Color $9.99: Absolutely the best home haircoloring product. It's very easy to use (fairly clutzproof), and the color it leaves is so rich and lustrous, not to mention very shiny. The conditioner that comes with it is excellent as well. I use it sporadically as a deep conditioner.
Nars Istanbul Eye Liner Pencil $18: Nars certainly has a genius for making products that look ever so godawful in the packaging, but exceptionally flattering on. This is a chalky, matte, periwinkle blue. I'm pretty sure it's been renamed from "Blue Lotus", which I first saw on Maggie Rizer--a strawberry blonde with blue eyes and deeply tanned and freckled skin--as far from my coloring as you can get, so I never thought to look into it. But on a whim while wandering Saks, I put this on and... amazing. Chic, ethereal, and somehow, incredibly, defining. It actually is a more flattering shade than regular ole brown, if you'll believe me. I'm somehow convinced that it isn't coloring that determines whether you can wear this, but facial structure. Everyone I've tried this one who looks good in it has feminine, delicate bone structure. It's about a certain attitude, rather than matching other colors or coloring. It looks better if you line your bottom lashes.
Urban Decay X Eye Shadow $15: I've been searching for THE perfect champagne for an eternity. It had to be a soft, mellow base, warm, exactly light-medium, with flecks of gold shimmer. X is a pink-gold holographic frost, equally of both, and has filled that role with perfection and ease. This evolution happened thus: I was in Sephora, fooling around with champagne eyeshadows (I never did exactly find the perfect one, though I think Stila Oasis was the final candidate). I put one of the Smashbox champagnes on my lid, and asked my friend C. for an opinion. She didn't much approve of it, though she certainly was diametrically opposed to it on moral grounds or anything. A little while later, I applied the X on a whim (without seriously considering it), and when she saw me she changed her mind and said she did like it after all, not knowing that she was talking about a completely different shade—in the pot. It then occurred to me then and there that this pink-gold was rather like an evolution on champagne-gold, and it was special and pretty as I had been looking for all my life (or at least, for several years).
Neutrogena Flirt Lip Gloss $7: I really adore the formula: somewhere between sticky and slippery, just the perfect consistency. I'm not sure how I ended up purchasing this, because it's definitely not the sort of color I would have selected. It's a sort of raspberry pink, no shimmer (it goes on sheerer than it appears in the tube). Very boring to recount. But on your lips, it's this lovely fresh, pretty pink. It's bright, yet not. It's hard to describe the effect. I'm not sure how this product does it... perhaps it's because it mixes with my skin tone and hair color, but it actually seems to make my eyes seem brighter and more open, my skin creamier. It's feminine, but not so that it's sugary and flighty. It's the sort of color that a guy would be attracted to, but it can hold its own without the male sex. Anyway,seven bucks, you can't beat that. It's become my everyday color; I reserve my Delux Norris for special occasions.
Shiseido Ultra Light Sun Block Lotion SPF 30 $29.50: It comes in a very strange teal container with an orange cap. It smells like flowers, not chemicals. It's broad-spectrum (titanium dioxide), and like milk. Really, it's as liquid as milk. On the skin, it's like a face oil. It doesn't clog my pores, and the oils in it help hydrate. It's perfect for me because it doesn't evaporate and leave my parched like some do, but it's so very light that it doesn't grease up on me.
Nars Desire Blush $20: I used to be a diehard fanatic of MAC Angel, which is actually quite the same color as this product, just severely watered down (swatched them both and they really are quite similar). But I've grown paler over the years, and I have been cursed as someone who has no natural color at all, and an inability to blush. You'd think getting paler would naturally result in an increasingly inconspicuous blush, but no. This is the most horrendous looking blush in the world--in the pan. It's a bright, pure hot pink, slightly on the cool side. But a sheer dusting (using a really soft brush like Paula Dorf Baby Cheeks) is so stunning, so fresh, that it's the one and only product that I never leave home without applying. And... just as a bonus, it's Nars. I love everything about it, from the uberchic packaging to the tightly-pressed powder.
MAC Powersurge Eye Kohl $15: This is a shade similar to Stila Holly Go Lightly... same bronze flecked with gold, but with more flecks of gold, and no olive undertone. Like the Stila, it's a neutral shade that looks good on anyone, so in a way, it's understated. But the gold... it looks lovely smudgily and thickly applied with black mascara... the gold peeks out between your lashes. So decadent, but in a very restrained, refined way. It's just the sort of thing to pair with a cocktail dress and high heels.
Revlon Colorstay Nail Polish, Ultimate Wine $7: There is no color in nail polish like pure, rich red. Like lipstick. But not everyone has the inclination, or style, that promotes the wearing of red lipstick. Nail polish is much more wearable, especially on your toes. but I mention this product, not to rave about the color, but to rave about how long it lasts. It's really, really remarkable. It NEVER chips. Not unless you actually resort to violence and try to pick it off. I find that it's so long lasting that it only comes off until I have to take it off because my nails have grown too much. It comes with a very nice, shiny topcoat that works well with other nail polish formulas too, albeit not as well.
Jane Loco Cocoa Lipstick (discontinued): Possibly *the* universal lipstick shade. Unlike Clinique Black Honey or MAC Twig, it's exuberantly complex. "Burnished rose" doesn't even begin to describe it. It has a dry, almost powdery texture, which I personally don't mind in the least. It's not *that* dry. It just doesn't feel like you have lipstick on, which to me, is a good thing. It has just enough brown not to be bright, but isn't boringly neutral. Not true shimmer, but rather iridescence. Infused with hints of peach and plum. A sheer application brings out its peachier, brownish side, like your lips, but better. A heavier coat is plummier, more shimmer, brighter. It's difficult to describe a shade such as this, because it nevers goes to any extreme, and that makes it a truly versatile color. As a matter of fact, if you put on clear lipgloss on top, it looks different from putting on clear lip balm. You're not adding any color, but there's difference nonetheless. Just imagine what you can do with colored lipglosses and lipliners. I've heard rumors about its discontinuation. I am going to throw a fit should that happen. It's my one, cannot-life-without lipstick, after all. Since its discontinuance, I've looked high and low for a replacement: Smashbox Raspberry Kreme, L'Oréal Berry Bronze Shine Delice, MAC 3D, Stila Luce, Neutrogena Whisper Rpse, but nothing compares.
Jane Purple Heart Eyeshadow (discontinued): It's a deep, iridescent amethyst, or smooth violet the shade of dusk. Looks garish in the pot, but goes on sheerer, almost grayed. One could say that it is a cool shade, but it's actually very neutral. Actually, universal. I can't imagine anyone, of any eye color, skin tone or hair color, not being able to wear this. I've personally put it on people of widely differing coloring and Purple Heart has magically morphed into perfection on all of them. I imagine it's the gray. It's as neutral as charcoal, but has a definite "kick" to it. It's just about the PERFECT smoky eye look for anyone. Too bad it's discontinued, and I've searched all over for an alternative, but there isn't a perfect match. All other similar colors are bit too pure a purple; they don't have that lovely gray undertone that cuts beneath the purple that makes Purple Heart so gloriously universal. But Prescriptives Softlining Pencil is the best match I've seen, so you might want to try it out. Saturday, September 18, 2004 »0 comments
