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The Lipstick Page Forums Beauty & Fashion Blog
Beauty Notebook SEPTEMBER 2006: School Days

Posted by Dain, Friday, September 08, 2006 10:21 AM (Eastern)

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I had a hard time choosing the theme this month, but finally I had to settle on this one.

Solipsism is a natural tendency of people who think too much, but a whole school of them turns that tendency into an art form, with its own implicit rules and regulations. Simple eccentricity is transformed into an elaborate performance. For example, one of the most fashionable things is to deprecate Yale, but to other Yalies, only. To others, you simply, embarrassedly, murmur, "It's great...", looking very obviously away so that the recipient picks up on the hint that perhaps they're not getting the whole picture.

This is, of course, very silly. At root, I really do love this place. Every place is a mixture of good and bad qualities. It's cold and rigid and awkward, and competitive, full of bullshit, and judgemental, but it's true that there is a level of mental stimulation in everyday conversation that I do honestly find hard to find. People are smart, whatever else they may be. That, I'll miss.

And it's also just beautiful. Which to me, is a reason unto itself. This is my 'dorm' room, below:

That's my little brother and sister.

This list, therefore, is all about little somethings. A mix of everyday essentials, subtle enhancements, emergency fix-its (late nights and midterms take their toll), and little luxuries to make a home away from home. Even if you're not university-bound, however, this is still a great shopping list for any homebody; it does justice to all; everything's flattering and wearable and easy to use.

Good Home Co. Pure Grass Laundry Detergent $25: Turn a weekly chore into an everyday luxury. Even during the drear months of a New England winter, the scent of Pure Grass—of cut grass and sunlight and balmy breezes—wafting from your fresh linens will bring back summer. Your laundry will smell so fresh that you'll look forward to doing your laundry just to sink your nose into the wonderful scent. You won't be able to stop sniffing. A word to the wise: buy the big 64-oz bottles, they are only $5 more expensive, but almost twice as much product! (Even if the small bottles are more stylish.)

Kevyn Aucoin Liquifuschia The Moist Creamy Glow $24: Toasty tan blushes are all very well, but my pick for universal color is a bright, garish fuschia. Don't be alarmed by the intensity of the color: applied sheerly, the color picks up the creaminess of the skin, perks up sallow, tired skin, and gives you a glow that looks natural, not overdone. Looks especially good on yellow skintones. Like all other Kevyn Aucoin products, The Moist Creamy Glow is a superb product, with a waxy texture that disappears into the skin for a glow-from-within effect. A good blush makes you look instantly better. I want them all now!

Sue Devitt Northern Lights Balanced Sheer Lipstick $20: I don't understand. I must have a dozen of these shades. They're essentially the same color, but I keep buying them! Every time I open my makeup drawer, there are dozens more! It's like they breed! This is a common complaint among makeup junkies everywhere: the same shade of lipstick multiplying in one's stash. Why do we buy the same shade over and over again? My answer: because, over time, and over many, many lipsticks, we figure out what looks good on us, and learn to detect the subtle distinctions within that particular color family, all automatically. You get to sample diversity while basking in the assurance that it looks good, no matter what. My particular vice goes the way of roses: red roses and pink roses, even the stainy blackcurrant stain of dried roses. Hence Northern Lights, part of the Fall 2006 color story by Sue Devitt, Viking Voyage, a warm, sheer salmon pink, matte but with gold and silver sparkles (all at once!). I had to have it.

Fresh Lotus Eye Gel $48: Looking haggard is de rigueur 'round campus (come visit during finals and you'll get it). When it comes to skin, no place shows this more visible than the eyes: shadows, wrinkles, puffiness. Enter Fresh Lotus Eye Gel, which is emollient enough for the delicate skin under eyes, but not so greasy that concealer slips and slides over it. Pop it in the fridge to make it refreshingly cool, and thank me in time.

NARS Push Eyeliner $25 and NARS Bengali Eye Shadow Single $21: While mascara is what most women deem "most essential" (with good reason), I've chosen eyeliner, instead. Why? It's got more versatility. With liquid eyeliner, you can make sex-kitten bedroom eyes, à la Marilyn Monroe. With smudgy kohl, you can give yourself a Cleopatra-eque smoky eyes. Bright colors are easy to wear in the form of eyeliner, so that even the most timid of gentil ladyes can venture forth with periwinkle or violet. But best of all is when eyeliner is natural, with a flat eyelining brush, like this fantastic one from NARS. It's subtle enhancement to one's eye color, lending definition to eyes, and lushifying lashes. Just blend the pigment-rich eyeshadow (here, I've chosen a looks-good-on-everyone dark brown with plummy tones) into the lash line, and you just look... instantly better, not made up.

Bvlgari BLV Notte pour Femme EDP $60: You just need to get to know BLV Notte better. When first you meet BLV Notte, it engages in olfactory theatrics: ginger, vodka, and dark chocolate. The chocolate note is rich, not sugary, and the ginger is spicy but crystalline (and I don't like ginger). But within ten to fifteen minutes, this aggression fades, into something like musky iris and velvety cocoa powder, and for most of its life, is nothing more than a glorious 'skin scent', rich and spare, cold and hot, sweet and musky, all at once. It's subtle, but sexy, like the way I would have dreamed Thierry Mugler's Angel to have smelled (except that Angel smells like cat piss on me). BLV Notte is incredibly seductive, I can see this being an incredible man-magnet, but it's cozy at the same time, so a snuggly sort of man, if you please.

Awake Vital Express $68: Tired skin is anything but radiant, clear, and healthy. The cure-all answer to dull, spotty (and aging) skin is vitamin C, which, when effective, forages free-radicals and reverses sun damage, as well lightening scars and spots, and working as a sort of anti-bacterial agent. The trouble is, of course, that vitamin C is highly unstable and loses its efficacy within a very short period of time. Awake Vital Express solves that problem, because it comes dry, so that all of its potency is retained until you apply it to your skin. I don't use this every day, but on occasion, just to effect a 'glow'.

L'Occitane Shea Butter $36: It may strike you as obscene, to buy a tin of shea butter at such prices, but if you've dry skin, it's a veritable miracle worker (it's my favorite lip balm!). There are a score of does-it-all balms out there, from Elizabeth Arden Eight-Hour Cream to Jing Jang Creme to Vaseline to Smith's Rosebud Salve, meant to target everything from elbows to heels to cuticles to lips to hair to knees—whatever is dry and sensitive—but I favor this silky stuff. It's simple and gentle, fragrance free, luxe, 100% pure, and it comes in a travel-friendly, stylish container. It's good for you, everywhere. Try the little tin ($8) for lip balm!

Kevyn Aucoin The Sensual Skin Enhancer Foundation $45: SSE, as this product is fondly called among addicts, is not really a foundation, though it certainly could be used as such (using a sponge for sheerest application, or mixed with moisturizer). It is so pigmented that it works better as concealer, and then, in the TINIEST amounts. And I do mean, TINY. A dollop the size of a grain of rice is sufficient for most. Dab it on with a point concealer brush, then blend by gently patting with your finger, and that's it! Though the jar is tiny, for $42, you'll get a lot of mileage from a product so concentrated. My perfect shade: SX 05.