7/14/2022 0 Comments Mutually Creative: @ellessentially_ -- Playfulness in Beauty, Content Creator vs. Influencer, and (Content Creators’) Workers’ RightsIn this new series, I interview one of my internet mutuals about their makeup, fashion, or whatever cool, creative thing it is that they do. While some of them may consider themselves to be "influencers," many of them are everyday people who happen to have a skill and a hobby with a platform. However they self-identify, let's dig a little deeper into their creativity and style in "Mutually Creative."
Out of all my Instagram mutuals, Elle of @ellesentially_ is one of the most "professional" as a content creator. With an impressive resume of beauty brand partnerships including Glow Recipe (skincare), Cirque Colors (nail polish), and L.A. Girl Cosmetics (makeup), she has built up a portfolio of work which she was actually paid real, American dollars to produce -- because exposure does not pay Sallie Mae.
Elle is probably best recognized for her macro shots and satisfying texture close-ups, but I also know her as someone who advocates for fair treatment of creators from beauty brands. Every so often, she will post on her IG story the exact rate information she sends to brands, putting on for public display the exact dollar amount she charges for content. From across the country via Zoom, we talked about being playful with beauty and beauty content, the role of content creators in marketing and consumerism, and her efforts in trying to get paid fairly by brands for her work.
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Back in early February, I posted my beauty (makeup, skincare, nail polish) and clothing low buy plans for 2022. A "low buy" is an intention that some people set out -- particularly in the minimalism and project panning beauty communities, at least from what I've seen -- to try and regain control of their purchasing habits. For me, my two goals were 1) to reduce spending and 2) to be more conscious about my purchasing habits.
A reason why I published a post detailing my low buy criteria, other than for ContentTM, was to try to hold myself accountable by publicly documenting/averring my plans. Now that we are halfway through the year, I am here to check back in and let you all know how I've been doing with my low buy! 6/7/2022 0 Comments Mutually Creative: @tastefulcringe — Embracing “Ugly” Makeup, Makeup as Art, and Feminism/Reconciling Internalized Beauty StandardsIn this new series, I interview one of my internet mutuals about their makeup, fashion, or whatever cool, creative thing it is that they do. While some of them may consider themselves to be "influencers," many of them are everyday people who happen to have a skill and a hobbyw ith a platform. However they self-identify, let's dig a little deeper into their creativity and style in "Mutually Creative."
Years ago, after I stumbled upon one of her makeup posts on Reddit, @tastefulcringe on Instagram was the very first non-YouTuber makeup account I ever followed on IG. Thus, it made perfect sense to feature her as the inaugural mutual in this new series "Mutually Creative." I owe to her my love for heavy blush -- 80s-inspired blush draping in particular -- that I derived from her signature style, and I was first drawn (haha) to faux freckles because of her.
Tastefulcringe can often be caught in colorful editorial looks, tagging her posts with #uglymakeuprevolution, and posting on her story either a complete shitpost or something very serious and political about the state of society. I sat (virtually) with her to talk about her journey into creative makeup, makeup as an art form, and how we (as feminists who have a lot of beef with the world) attempt to deal when our makeup loves are rooted in gendered beauty standards. Through the years, I've noticed something about myself: as I naturally flip from hobby to hobby, I don't necessarily spend less money or become more of a conscious consumer. When I drift from and subsequently spend less money on one particular hobby, I simply divert those funds to a different hobby. For the past several years, this has happened when bobbing between makeup, nail polish, and fashion. I really hope to break this habit. First of all, I'm a college student who is fortunate enough at the present moment to not need to worry about paying too my own living expenses, but that's not going to last for too much longer. Before I have too many Real Adult Responsibilities, I want to create healthy financial/consumer habits for myself that I can carry into my Real Adult Life. Second, it's just not environmentally or socially responsible. Consumerism inherently generates waste, and there will always be social repercussions because we ~live in a society~. I want to be a "conscious consumer" (whatever that actually means), and I hope to promote that on the internet and in life in general, but it's hypocritical if I myself don't necessarily do the best with intentional consumption. Yes, I find joy in my hobbies and all of the pretty things that come with those hobbies, but consumerism shouldn't be an essential aspect of that joy. My two general goals for my low buy are: In being "public" with my low buy plans, I hope that this will help me hold myself more accountable throughout the year!
1/29/2022 0 Comments 2021 Best in Beauty: My Favorite Makeup, Skincare, and Nail Products from the Past Year
Hey, it's been a while, beauty people! Turns out I do indeed have a life outside of my small corner of the internet. Nonetheless, let's go on to my 2021 best in beauty: my makeup, skincare, and nail favorites from the last year!
Just as I did with last year's favorites, I won't be listing a product for every single category, and this won't be a "most used" list. Instead, I'll only be including the products that truly ~sparked joy~. As such, I'll be omitting many categories from this compilation, and some categories will have multiple products. For each product, I will be indicating what year I bought it and if it was a repeat favorite from 2020. I think this is always interesting to see when I read/watch other people's yearly favorites. The online beauty space -- consumers, brands, and our consumerist culture as a whole -- has a tendency to latch onto new releases and immediately discard older products: with what's considered "old" becoming younger and younger with each no release. I'm no minimalist by any stretch of the imagination, but I hope to combat that crow brain, "ooh new shiny thing" mentality just a little bit. Click here for my 2020 favorites All prices listed are in USD at the time of writing. They are not affiliate links, only for your own convenience, because I am but a common man. 1/12/2021 0 Comments 2020 Best in Beauty: My Favorite Makeup, Skincare, and Nail Products from the Year
Hello, everyone, and welcome to 2021!
As we enter this brand new year, I wanted to reflect on the previous one and all of the makeup, skincare, and nail Stuff that I used -- specifically my favorites of this Stuff. You may notice that several categories are missing, and some categories have multiple products. To choose these products, I didn't go category to category -- primer to foundation to concealer, etc. -- but rather chose the products from my collection that truly sparked joy for me in 2020. As such, I didn't select from categories where I didn't have a product that truly wowed me like the rest of the things on this list do, even for categories that I use almost every single day like brow gel. Consequently, this is a "beauty favorites of 2020" and not a "most used products of 2020." I also included what year I first got the product. A majority of these 2020 favorites weren't purchased in 2020; 2020 purchases make up 30% (7/23) of this list, 2019 makes up 43% (10/23), and 2018 -- the first year I got into makeup -- makes up 26% (6/23)*. One could argue that this means the 2020 additions to my collection were not wise investments, but I like to see it as my past purchases standing up to the test of time -- and not treating my beauty products as disposables, only fun while they're still shiny and new. Unless otherwise specified, all of these products are cruelty free! *These percentages are all rounded to the nearest whole number, which is why they don't add up to 100%, haha. 8/22/2020 0 Comments range beauty true intentions hydrating foundation swatches & Review (villa, liquid sun, baked) + thoughts on "clean beauty"11/06/2020 update: today, I decided to use one of these for the first time in a while, and one of the shades had mold growth. This is the first time I have ever had a makeup product go bad, and I've had products for years and years: much longer than the couple of months that I've had these foundation samples. Range touts themselves as being paraben-free. As I explain in this post, the "clean beauty" movement has demonized parabens, an ingredient that has been proven to be safe and an effective preservative, but this is why scientific evidence-based -- and not pseudoscience trend-based -- cosmetic chemistry is so important.
Hi, everyone! I first heard about Range Beauty -- a relatively new indie makeup brand founded by Alicia Scott, a Black woman -- back in April when I got an ad for them on Instagram. Their tagline is "clean beauty for the forgotten shades" -- with their niche being catering to darker skin tones that are often overlooked by the beauty industry, particularly by "clean beauty" brands (more on my issues with "clean beauty" later in this review). The brand also describes itself as "100% cruelty-free, vegan, and never contains paraben, talc, sulfate, phthalates, or synthetic dyes and fragrances" in their product descriptions. Range's hero product is what I'll be focusing on today: the True Intentions Hydrating Foundation. I purchased samples of the foundation in the shades Villa, Liquid Sun, and Baked.
For reference: I have dry skin, and I would describe myself as somewhere around NC25-30 with strong warm, golden olive undertones. Historically, my favorite foundation is the Physician's Formula The Healthy Foundation in MW2.
Hi! Today, I'll be talking about the Colourpop No Filter Concealers in the shades Light 18 and Medium 26. Colourpop's official product description on their website is: "Our full coverage concealer was formulated with soft blurring pigments to give you a creaseproof, matte finish. No filter needed." Right now it comes in 30 shades, with 5 shades per 6 skin depths ("fair," "light," "medium," "medium dark," "dark," and "deep dark") in a mix of warm and cool undertones, including some "neutral warms" and "neutral cools" (which -- just FYI -- don't show up when you filter out "warm" or "cool" undertones in the product listing). I would definitely agree with the claim of full coverage, so you don't need to apply much product to get decent coverage.
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about @glowyminoI have dry skin and very dry and textured lips. I also have a medium-light skintone (somewhere in the realm of NC25-30) with strong warm yellow/olive undertones. I have a tendency to prefer a glowy, lightweight base and color cosmetics in shades of a warm undertone. Read more about me in the about page! Archives
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