More winter beauty...

Oh, and one needs a new lipstick or lipgloss to get through the winter as well. I couldn't decide what I wanted, I wanted some serious color but my old standby, Fresh's Sugar Lip Treatment in Berry, suddenly seemed too bright, too young, and not moody enough to match how I have been feeling lately.  (But I bought a new Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment in Berry just to keep it around, because it is a never-fail, go-to.)

http://www.sephora.com/sugar-lip-treatment-spf-15-P57002

When in doubt, I go back to Bobbi Brown. Her colors for both lips and cheeks are pretty much flawless and the formula's are so wearable that you don't feel like you are wearing makeup, makeup. I couldn't land on a lipstick color that made sense, so I went to the lipgloss. I surprised myself by circling around and around and finally buying this one, a plum with gold flecks. It's totally ock n' roll:

http://www.bobbibrowncosmetics.com/product/2340/15913/Makeup/Lips/Lip-Gloss/High-Shimmer-Lip-Gloss/SS11/index.tmpl#i.1lbupdza7vfjcs

Maybe, I'm feeling just a little bit Brooklyn, baby...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43bubsIbfoM

Winter beauty...

Let's be honest, winter is not my favorite season. I struggle with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and a general discontent for the holidays. But, a season is a season, and what the change of the seasons tell me is that it is time for a new scent and a new beauty routine. I struggled to decide on a scent for the season, winter scents are rich and heavy and sometimes too sweet. I almost went back to an old standby Stella by Stella McCartney, which is love for its rose base and moody amber notes.  I love this one when I was in my late twenties. So worn out was I from writing my dissertation, that one of my ways back into the world was to wander around Sephora trying on scents and deciding what kind of woman I would like to become next, Ph.D. in hand and one way out of Pittsburgh. The Stella, by Stella  McCartney got me out:

http://www.sephora.com/stella-P50714?skuId=1646413

But, by now I don't want to go back to wearing the same scent that I wore when I was twenty seven, but I do want something equally sultry and moody and dark to get me through the winter Solstice, and the holidays, and the general darkness that is winter in upstate New York. I went back and forth about whether or not Elizabeth and James's Nirvana Black was the next place to go, and indeed it turned out be just the thing to get me to look forward.

I love the violet and sandalwood, but was less sure about the vanilla as I did not want it to seem too powdery or overly sweet. The vanilla it turns out fades out first and you are left with violet and sandalwood and a deep need to listen to the new Lana Del Ray album, Ultraviolence, over and over and over again:

http://www.sephora.com/nirvana-black-rollerball-P384462?skuId=1570274

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFWC4SiZBao

Choppy bobs

As soon as the cold weather arrives, I feel desperate for a change. I like to acknowledge mother nature's shifts by getting my haircut. I know it is superficial and trivial and, well, just silly, but a nice haircut makes me feel that I have marked time. This year, I am once again loving the choppy bob. It is a dangerous haircut, though, because it looks great styled and terrible un-styled.  This year I am feeling more "punk-rock" than "hippy"––which is sort of how I felt (style-wise) last year––so I am especially inclined to chop off my hair right about NOW:

Diane Argon's choppy bob, August 2014.

Urban Decay's Pulp Fiction capsule collection

I am not ordinarily an Urban Decay fan––their colors and formulas seem a bit harsh for me, or not appropriate for someone my age.  However, I am willing to entertain anything that pulls on my 90s heartstrings.  Urban Decay's Pulp Fiction capsule collection does just that. I am specifically drawn to this lipstick in, Pulp Fiction.  Apparently, it is the twentieth anniversary of Pulp Fiction, and Nars, and Instyle, and well, lots of 90s things. And it's VEGAN:

The tube. 

The color.

You have to navigate around the website to find the rest of the products in the Pulp Fiction collection. See it here:

http://www.urbandecay.com/f-bomb-revolution-lipstick-by-urban-decay/604214271906.html

Nars lipstick in, Liv

More on the new Nars lipstick collection.  If I am honest with myself, my favorite one is not "Lana," but "Liv."  It is a deep, but not too deep, aubergine, that reminds me of, you guessed it, the 90s.  You know, when Steven Tyler's Crazy was on the radio every day and we lusted, improbably, after silver slip-dresses.  Here is the lipstick:

The tube

The color. 

And, here is Liv Tyler in a shot from 1994.  

Liv, we love the shearling-and-leather coat. 

Nars lipstick in, Lana

Nars just launched a new lipstick collection in honor of their 20th anniversary.  The lipstick colors share the names of famous women in film including, Greta, Audrey, Bridgette, Rita, and, of course, Lana. Again, I'm on a shopping hiatus, but I am a sucker not only for orange-red lipsticks, but lipsticks, paint colors, and perfumes with great names––ones that start me down a narrative path.  Anyway, here is is Lana if you please:

The tube. 

The color, for full effect.  

Lana Turner by Wharol. 

Green eyeshadow?

One way to conserve cash, is to change your look using makeup rather than clothing. This works well for me, because I tend to be a minimalist (minus leopard print coats) in all things clothing. Green is in this fall season, and I am loving it in forrest and emerald. But I am afraid than other than army green, investing in green-colored is just not practical for me. I tend to stay in the black, grey, white, navy zone, probably to a narrow fault.  That said, if I had money to burn, I would be all over this eyeshadow quad from Chanel. I imagine that I would like the subtle green shade mixed with the greyish/black one. Behold, my little witches:

And find it here:

http://www.chanel.com/en_US/fragrance-beauty/Makeup-Eyeshadow-LES-4-OMBRES-138006