Products That Bring Us Joy When Life Feels Grim

+ AMG REALLY likes tubing mascara, the latest reason TikTok is making us cranky and lots of 90s music that sounds as good today as it did then, plus 2 new singles you need to hear.

We know we know, we’re running a little behind this month. It’s just hard to stay the course when things feel so…..ugh. But we pulled ourselves together because that’s what Gen X-ers do. 

FIVE PRODUCTS BRINGING US JOY IN THESE UNPRECEDENTED TIMES

Hey guys, it’s absolutely crackers out there. So we are each sharing five beauty things that are useful, worth the money, and actually brightening our days. No affiliate links, because we are not about that life. You can shop wherever you want to shop. 

Lesa’s current faves, a mix of high and low tech

I’m not really a fan of vegan lip balms–team lanolin forever–but I cannot stop wearing Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm in Iced Coffee because the smell is just so intoxicatingly GOOD. Seriously, what wizardry did they use to achieve this?!  I can’t stop sniffing/applying multiple times a day. And then I immediately crave an iced oat milk latte from Pilot. 

You know how Anne-Marie wrote that the thing about NuFace is you have to be consistent to see results? Well so far I’m succeeding with the Dr. Dennis Gross SpectraLite FaceWare Pro because I don’t have to do anything besides strap it on and wear it for three minutes. I do it right when I get out of the shower, easily occupy myself with other things for said amount of time and boom. That’s when 100 red light emitting diodes get to work on my face, trying to convince it to boost collagen. I can’t confirm yet that it’s doing anything but I certainly feel virtuous for staying the course.

I’ve been wearing Ilia Lip Sketch Hydrating Crayon in “Night Bloom” pretty faithfully since I got it. It’s the closest to my dream shade in the range and in spite of it being a little off the mark, I enjoy wearing it so much I don’t care. It’s just very satisfying to draw your colour on with a chunky pointed tip. I even bought a new sharpener in the right size for it. 

Obviously I don’t emerge from home without sunscreen on, ever. Lately I’ve been wearing Ultra Violette Supreme Hydrating Facial Screen SPF 50 on my face; it’s got the slightest tint and blends well without leaving me looking too greasy. [AMG Note: This brand is on my must-try list!] And I need to shout out Vacation Classic Whip SPF 30 Sunscreen Mousse; normally getting sunscreen on my 11 year old son is exhausting but when I produce a dollop of this in my palm, he is ALL IN. 

I needed to try Soft Services Buffing Bar Microcrystal Exfoliant after my friend Sarah said it was the best exfoliator she’d ever tried, especially on her heels. She was right. I can’t afford a pedicure these days so this is the best the bottom of my feet have looked since the last time I had one. They just released a green banana version too. — LESA

AMG wants epic lashes and to smell like baked goods

Tubing mascara does exactly what it says: The formula coats your entire lash in a tube. The good ones dry quickly and don’t flake or smudge. The wands tend to be spiky, which helps you comb the mascara through your lashes really thoroughly. Some come off more easily than others, but you generally don’t need to rub or tug at your lashes to completely remove. Warm water helps loosen the tubes and they slide off, maybe you need a little micellar water to finish the job. A few faves:

• Caliray Come Hell or High Water—some people hate the wand and think it’s too long, but I like it. 

• Essence Bye Bye Panda Eyes—$5! And I LOVE the bristly brush

• Maybelline Lash Sensational Sky High—it’s not marketed explicitly as a tubing formula, but it more or less is

• Zara Foolproof Daily Mascara—I worry that Zara Beauty is not doing well, but I hope I’m wrong because everything I have tried has been good, especially this

• Kevyn Aucoin The Volume Mascara—this was the first tubing formula I ever tried. I also wonder if this brand is not long for the world. If you know, LMK.

I am slowly getting back into perfume after years of being kind of disinterested in the market as a whole. So I want to thank my girl April for putting me on to shopping again at fragrance stores and sampling things. She also put me on to Akro’s Bake by Olivier Cresp, which is my current favorite fragrance. It smells like a Madeleine. It’s not much deeper than that. Cresp is the perfumer behind Angel (among many many other major scents), so the man clearly knows his way around a gourmand. Bake is a thousand times less hysterical than Angel, but shares a sugary, edible vibe. 

Rhode Pocket Blush is the girly pop version of Westman Atelier's Baby Cheeks (with a cuter shade range and price point). It’s way more fun, and a better formula, than Merit’s Flush Balm. (And I don’t mean to be prickly, because I know it’s a fan favorite, but I do NOT get the Merit hype based on what I have tested.) And what I very much appreciate is that Rhode did not market this as a lip + cheek product. OMG my irrational dislike for multiuse products, they make me mental (I said it was irrational). I don’t want a 2-in-1 beauty product like, ever. Anywho, Spicy Marg (a poppy coral) is my shade. 

Etude House Ginger Sugar Lip Balm is not going to change your life. But it’s fun. And when you’re shopping for say, an EXTREMELY SPECIFIC Toto toilet flapper on Amazon and need a little serotonin hit, maybe you will randomly come across this and add it to cart. And when that dreadfully boring package comes and this lip balm pops out, which you completely forgot you ordered, maybe its zingy flavor and pleasant lip feel will add some life to your day as you go about the task of dismantling your very touchy toilet tank. Or maybe that’s just me. 

I was in an Ulta recently and was compelled to seek out a bottle of OPI’s Lincoln Park After Dark nail polish. (I lived in Lincoln Park at one time, and am having some serious Chicago nostalgia these days!) I had no idea it was still available (LH Note: I am SO relieved it is. I loved most of the Chicago collection if memory serves). I mean, it’s an iconic shade, but as Lesa pointed out in our last newsletter, you can’t get too attached to your old favorites. I slapped it on my toes and am pleased to report that this gothy-grape color is just as cool now as it was when it came out NEARLY 20 YEARS AGO HOLY CRAP. — AMG

TIKTOK NEEDS TO CHILL
Make it stopppppp

You guys. We’re sooo tired of TT being ground zero for beauty trends. And often for things that have long existed, just given a new, stupid-ass name. We’re banging our canes over here about two:

Boyfriend blush. It’s meant to mimic the flush of Prince William and Harry and therefore, it’s applied lower on the cheek to make you look “ruddy”. Sorry, as a reference that is just NOT aspirational as they look like they have untreated rosacea. Also, I’m old enough to remember being backstage at NYFW interviewing Dick Page and him doing something JUST LIKE IT at Michael Kors in 2012. He called it a “ruddy chevron” and “wonky flush” and his description for what it's meant to convey is just so much better. [AMG Note: Dick was always good for a spicy quote, bless him.] Plus it came from the runway which used to be (sob) where we got new ideas for how to wear makeup. From real experts. Who knew history, often referencing where the look had been done before. —LESA

[Blank] Blindness: On social lately, I’ve seen this term used with blush, brows, and filler, and honestly, I find it all so weird—a rebranding of body dysmorphia. Allure attributes this “blindness” in part to, if I understood their argument, not wanting to own up to being susceptible to beauty trends and standards. (Which is a funny take from a literal purveyor of beauty trends and standards.) And that taking beauty trends to the extreme—the example Allure cites is overdrawn or overplucked brows—illustrates not a lack of awareness of what you look like (i.e., the blindness in question) but an ACUTE awareness of what you look like. (Or what you THINK you look like.) On that bit we agree.

If you haven’t seen one, the template for these “blindness” posts seems to be one of the following: Someone posts a photo/video of themselves in an old beauty trend (block brows) or a new trend (fake freckles) done poorly. They poke fun at their “mistakes,” the commenters are light with it, everyone has a laugh, done. The other kind is more insidious: I have seen this with the  “filler blindness” posts—the poster asks the audience to weigh in because they A) believe their filler is done well and are expecting positive comments, or B) worry they got bad work and want feedback. Well one thing’s for sure about social: Comments and feedback you shall receive. At best, maybe these posts are educational for someone thinking about getting filler? But mostly this content in all its forms makes me sad.

I don’t have a great point to make here beyond “SOCIAL MEDIA IS BAD FOR YOUR SELF ESTEEM,” because it very much is. So while I concur with Allure that following beauty trends is “a way for you to figure stuff out about yourself and how you like to look,” the writer adds, “I’m finally getting to that age (read: 30s) where I simply do not have the energy to care about keeping up with those norms.” And while I love that for her, it’s hard as hell to do if at the same time, we’re judging women for judging themselves for following said norms. And further criticizing them for not being grown up enough or confident enough to say “fuck it” and just do their own thing. I didn’t achieve that level of self-awareness until WELL INTO MY FORTIES. Girl, so confusing, for real. —AMG

SFB RECORD CLUB
What we’re listening to as we try to live our best lives.

Lesa’s Picks

Single: “Sabotage”—Beastie Boys

I recently finished watching season three of The Bear and in “Napkins”, the sixth episode—the standout of the entire season— this song is used to signify that Tina’s shitty luck is about to change. It effectively reinvigorated my love of the 1994 song, which I already adored, but it’s now imbued with new meaning. 

Album: Reject All American—Bikini Kill

From reading her memoir to interviewing her a few months ago about it, Kathleen Hanna has been in my head a lot lately. This is without a doubt my favorite album of BK’s because it has such a wide range. You get their usual angry fuck you patriarchy songs, as well as really pretty ones like “False Start”, which you would never have expected from them. I’m seeing them in September again and I cannot wait. 

Album: Slowdive—Slowdive

Still the greatest comeback album ever. I have it on CD so it’s played in the car A LOT and I never get tired of it. “Star Roving” remains a perfect song in every way and “No Longer Making Time” is one they used to play live (though I have zero memory of it which annoys me) and I’m not sure they will ever bring it back to their set which is devastating. Because it is an absolute masterpiece. 

AMG’s Picks

Albums: Gregg Araki Teen Apocalypse Trilogy Soundtracks

Criterion recently announced that this fall, it’s launching a box set of these 90s masterpieces, Totally F***ed Up, The Doom Generation, and Nowhere. I can’t state enough how influenced I was by not just the films themselves, but their respective soundtracks, which are not all available to stream, but fans have done the Lord’s work and made playlists on Spotify. Araki used music from seminal bands like Curve, Ministry, Ruby, Massive Attack, Slowdive, Pizzicotto Five, Unrest and so many more to serve the storytelling in the trilogy. I won’t even bother to try to explain the plots—just know that they don’t make movies, or soundtracks, like this any more. 

Single: “Coast” —Kim Deal

I will never not be interested in anything Kim Deal is involved in, and this weird little single is a good time. Produced by the late Steve Albini, “Coast,” Deal’s first solo release in 10 years, apparently takes some inspiration from a cover of Jimmy Buffet’s “Margaritaville,” which Deal heard at a friend’s wedding. The surfy guitars and marching band horns are impossible to dislike. The chorus gives me “Sunday Girl” by Blondie vibes. And it’s wistful and melancholy in the vein of Jonathan Richman’s “That Summer Feeling” — that song WRECKS me every time. Sorry to cram all those references in there, but that’s what I hear! Hoping this means we’re getting an LP from Deal sometime soon.

Single: “Life” —Jamie xx and Robyn

You will probably never catch me at a Boiler Room set or a rave at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, because I am usually in bed by 10 PM. (LH Note: SAME!) But I will stay out late, even on a school night, for Robyn, always, every time.  I saw her headline at Radio City Music Hall in 2011, and I don’t think I’ve seen a better show with a better crowd before or since—New Yorkers belting Robyn songs at the top of their lungs and dancing in the aisles! “Life” gives you a little bit of what that feels like. Play it loud.