I fell off the blogging wagon for a bit – not feeling great on account of this nagging injury that refuses to budge and subsequent weight gain from not being able to do any cardio. My mood has been…volatile, to say the least. Anyway, here are some links from the past couple of weeks.
- Consuming beverages that claim to have beauty benefits is nothing new, but this new line from Juice Generation takes it a step further by encouraging people to drink clay and/or charcoal. On a related note, apparently ingesting charcoal also has the ability to help people lose weight. Personally I find that claim to be highly suspicious.
– Speaking of not believing the hype, Jezebel brings to light that the expensive skincare you're buying is most likely nothing more than snake oil. It could explain why the vast majority of skincare products (except for prescription ones) don't seem to do anything for me.
– Fashionista provides a fun look back at the best guyliner moments in history.
– Scientists have discovered why women want to smell like dessert, something I touched on a while back, and among the many reasons they came up with what I surmised – it's comforting. I'm wondering if this is also related to the popularity of other dessert-themed beauty products.
– I'm always excited by new beauty lines so I'm intrigued by the arrival of European chain & Other Stories in the States, thanks to this rundown of what beauty products they have to offer.
– Not sure how I feel about MAC setting up stores meant for tweens and teens. On the one hand, it's nice for the young'uns to have a beauty space just for them, but at the same time I don't think they should be targeted as makeup consumers. They'll have their entire lives to be bombarded with beauty marketing, no need to start them purchasing makeup at such a young age. Plus MAC already makes a fortune; this sort of comes off as a callous grab for more profit. Then again, there's plenty of beauty stuff out there being peddled to this demographic so I don't know.
– From the longest hair to the smallest waist, Beautylish rounds up some of the world's record holders in beauty.
– Makeup Loves Me gives us a peek into the Hard Candy factory.
– I don't think the cost of Jessica Simpson's beauty routine is anyone's business but her own. I admit if I had that kind of cash I'd probably spend a similar amount (and don't pretend like you wouldn't, either!)
The random:
– If you still don't have any ideas for a Halloween costume, check out these '90s-themed ones here and here.
– Ooh, this color thesaurus would very much come in handy for someone as obsessed with color as I am.
– Greatly enjoying this funny new Tumblr.
– Feast your eyes on the latest Starbucks creation: the Chestnut Praline Latte. I had already known about it since Baltimore happened to be one of the test markets last year. I can confirm that it's tasty and I'm happy to see it go nationwide this year.
– Wired presents a great history of mermaids.
– Um. Stay classy, Baltimore. Seriously, WTF? On a more positive note, I was pleased to get confirmation from a linguist that Kathy Bates's character on American Horror Story: Freak Show does indeed have a Baltimore accent (albeit quite exaggerated and not 100% accurate), something that I had suspected but for which had no evidence.
– In other TV news, I loved this piece on why Broad City is so awesome.
– There's an exhibition on the legacy of Riot Grrrl at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco called Alien She (after the Bikini Kill song). I'm really pleased Riot Grrrl is continuing to get its due, but at the same time I'm beyond crushed that despite my academic work on the subject, which was among the first to recognize the importance of the movement, I have not once been approached to give any insight or guidance on these major projects (see here and here) save for a conference in London. I have much more to say but this blog isn't the appropriate space for it.
– Anyway, let's end on a good note (literally). I saved the biggest and best news for last! Back in September I mentioned that I ordered a very special Sleater-Kinney box set. Well, turns out it included quite the surprise: a song from their new album that will be released on January 20. Yes, MY FAVORITE BAND IS REUNITING!! Not only that, S-K (or as I like to call them, the holy trinity) is going on tour and after much frustration I got tickets to one of their DC shows in February. Anyway, here's the song that was released. I've only listened to it once – being the huge dork that I am, I started to cry every time I tried to play it. I just can't believe I'm hearing new music from them, something I never thought would be possible after they announced their "indefinite hiatus" back in 2006 (I cried then, too, for a solid hour upon hearing that news). And it's good, too! They sound like their usual awesome, imcomparable selves.
The video is a bit creepy but it was made by Miranda July, who is, incidentally, one of the artists whose work is featured in the Alien She exhibition. Anyway, I'm still reeling from the news and just so so so happy. 🙂
What's new with you?