As you can tell from the lack of posts for nearly all of June I've been busy. I don't even know with what, I just know work always leaves me too drained to do anything in the evenings and I've had other stuff keeping me occupied for the past few weekends, so the Makeup Museum fell by the wayside. Anyway, I can't promise that things will pick up around here, but I do know that I plan on getting the summer exhibition up next week, so there's that. Now who's ready to catch up on lots of beauty news and other cool stuff?
– Heathrow Airport compiled a chart of the most-purchased lipstick shades in 50 cities around the globe. Interestingly, the results are pretty varied.
– Here's a must-read article on Helena Rubinstein that explores whether her beauty business was empowering for women. I know the "makeup as empowerment" is a topic worth exploring and I really enjoyed this article. But I'm basically over the debate at this point, especially after seeing this #ThePowerOfMakeup campaign on Instagram. Why does makeup have to be empowering? Why can't we just enjoy wearing (or not wearing) makeup? Hmmph.
– Olivia at The Unknown Beauty Blog traces the history of the Westmore family, who were responsible for establishing the art of cinema makeup, while Gio at Beautiful with Brains lets us in on the beauty secrets of Marie Antoinette. Need more beauty history? Check out the latest installment of Jezebel's makeup by decade series, which covers the '40s.
– Speaking of beauty history, here's the parody you've been waiting for. Finally!
– Into the Gloss explores the relationships between several female artists and makeup. Spoiler alert: Georgia O'Keeffe would have none of it.
– I'm curious to know which would have a lower price tag for a day of beauty treatments, the new Chanel spa in Paris or this nail salon that offers a $25,000 manicure.
– Glamour tells us about more weird beauty jobs.
– Apparently the "belly button challenge" is the new thigh gap. *eyeroll*
– This vlogger offered an unusual way to keep track of what you did during the week.
– I liked this 25-second trippy film for Lipstick Queen's new Frog Prince lipstick.
– Ain't no party like a NARS launch party.
– The latest colorful hair trends: hair inspired by sand art and "merman" beard dyeing for the guys.
The random:
– Abbi Jacobson is keeping herself busy between Broad City seasons by illustrating two coloring books. If you need more Broad City-related goodness, check out this interview with Mike Perry, the artist behind the show's animated intro.
– We got a sneak peek of the cover of Carrie Brownstein's memoir (can't wait till it's out!)
– In '90s news and revivals, Crystal Pepsi may be returning (fingers crossed!) and the A.V. Club had a whole week's worth of essays devoted to 1995 pop culture. Meanwhile, a pop-up installation of the Seinfeld apartment opened, Clueless is becoming a musical, and photos from the new X-Files episodes are out. (I've been plowing my way through the original run via Netflix since I didn't watch it when it was on – gotta have my '90s fix!)
– In addition to X-Files, I've become addicted to American Pickers. Also, I checked out the first episode of Another Period and it was pretty enjoyable, especially due to a massively funny joke at Baltimore's expense.
– Mmm…I am intrigued by this pizzeria located in the ocean near Fiji. If I were a mermaid I could swim to it!
– Speaking of mermaids and Fiji, these these sculptures aren't the traditional "pretty" mermaids we know, focusing instead on the history of the Fiji mermaid (a.k.a. a monkey's head sewn to a fish's body that originated in the late 1800s).
– Cornell University has digitized issues of Harper's Bazaar from 1867-1900. So cool! (via Two Nerdy History Girls)
– New fashion exhibitions I want to see but won't be able to: "Shoes: Pleasure and Pain" at the V & A, "500 Years of Dress Historiography" at the Courtauld, and "New for Now: The Origin of Fashion Magazines" at the Rijksmuseum.
– Here's a reminder to please be more careful when visiting museums. And for the love of God, don't use drones to take pictures. (And I thought selfie sticks were bad.)
– I knew there was a reason why I follow over a thousand blogs.
Whew! That was a lot of links. If you've made it this far, how have you been?