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Happy October! Fall is upon us, dark lipstick is socially acceptable again, and these are the Highlights. This piece on the sheet mask selfie trend is hilarious and kind of true! I probably won’t taking these selfies, to be honest, because they are kind of fun… but… I’ll be thinking about this. Makeup icon Kevyn Aucoin’s life, impact and illness. I’m indeed very anxious to see the documentary, and also to...
When’s the last time you heard the term “empowering” in a context that wasn’t completely ridiculous? Empowerment has gone from being a feminist concern to an advertising buzzword used to sell anything and everything to women. I’ve seen sexy lingerie, menstrual products, snacks and pussy highlighter all being sold as “empowering”. Clearly, this word means nothing of value anymore – it’s window dressing for a “woke” female consumer. You can...
There’s a disturbing but unsurprising tendency among men – primarily straight, cisgender men – of extreme reactions to other men’s style choices. This is especially prevalent when men in one way or another uses feminine attributes in their self expression. I read an article in a major Swedish newspaper where a man was making a big deal about men who wear perfume, going so far as to compare their wearing...
In an interview with Hollywood Reporter, Peter Phillips – creative director of Dior beauty – makes the bold claim that makeup is a feminist weapon: “To Philips, it’s not something to hide behind, but a tool that enhances women’s feminine power. “A lipstick, an eyeliner is something a woman can use, and should use, to really put forward her strengths,” continues Philips. “She can totally control how she wants the...
Photo: SKØN Magazine There’s an undeniable link between cosmetics and food. Going through my own collection, I find items shaped like, named after and scented like food – primarily sweets and fruits. I have a lip gloss that looks like a cupcake, and nearly every lip product I own smells like vanilla or toffee. The NYX Butter Glosses, which I’ve mentioned before, smell like the caramel syrup you put on ice cream,...
Whether you’re discussing the American “Flapper”, the French “Garconne”, the Japanese “Moga” or the German “Neue Frau”, the new woman of the 1920s has become a fixed, international symbol of her time. With her bobbed hair, heavily made-up face and slim figure, the new woman met your gaze from the magazine covers, print ads, movie posters and satire drawings of any major city. The most conspicuous and – in the...
I’ll confess right away – I love movies (though I loathe the term cinephile…gross). I watch them a lot – I’m the kind of person who can’t focus on one thing at a time so I usually have a movie or tv show rolling in the background as I’m working on something. Now, as with any visual media, film is full of interesting aesthetic choices – including cosmetic ones. I’d...
Let’s take a serious moment. Today is Valentine’s Day, a holiday with plenty of controversy attached to it. How can a celebration of love be controversial? Isn’t love a universally pure, good thing? Well, I want to say yes. But also no. Love can be as draining as it can be energizing. It can be productive or destructive. And unfortunately, the type of love we celebrate most – especially for...
Since the concept of “weekend” posts has become rather disconnected from actual weekends, I’m renaming this series HIGHLIGHTS because it’s more descriptive. Same format, different name. Happy new year! I have high hopes for the coming year in beauty. I love these modern art-inspired beauty looks by Violette! In light of mental illness hero and all-round badass Carrie Fisher’s passing, here’s a piece on Princess Leia’s iconic hairstyle We’ve...
Short answer? No, I don’t think so. Does that surprise you? Well, the long answer is – surprise surprise – it’s complicated. I identify as a woman, a feminist and full-time aesthete. Beauty, not only in a cosmetic sense, permeates all my interests. But beauty is not apolitical, and for women, beauty is a prison. To think otherwise would be kidding yourself. For thousands of years, the way women look...