So much to catch up…still feeling pretty bad but trying to post on occasion.
– There's been lots of beauty history floating around in the past few weeks. The Atlantic brings us a history of hair dye, while Into the Gloss provides a history of blush. There's also an account of a more contemporary product – Guerlain Meteorites. Beautylish covers the odd 1920s trend of knee rouge, and going further back in time, XO Vain discusses Victorian-era beauty practices. Finally, I stumbled across Medievalists.net while looking for more blogs to add to Feedly (as if the 1,167 I already follow aren't enough – I'm not exaggerating, that's the actual number) and found this post on makeup in the middle ages.
– Now this is a DIY that Makeup Museum staff can get behind. Then again, they'd probably try to eat my eyelashes. Behold, "mascara" made from Oreos.
– Remember that really cool video that showed 100 years of beauty trends in a hot minute? There's a new one out featuring 100 years of black hair history.
– This invention sounds like an even more nightmarish version of a magnifying mirror, which is certainly not kind to your reflection. Thank goodness it's still years away from actually being put into production. I'll take a skinny mirror any day of the week over that – I'd much rather have a mirror lie to me than point out every little thing that's wrong with my appearance.
– I sort of understood the MAC Marilyn Monroe collection, but I don't understand having Ms. Monroe serve as a brand ambassador. I would think a makeup company would choose someone who is, I don't know, actually alive. In more positive brand ambassador news, '60s model Twiggy was chosen to be the new face of L'Oreal.
– Meet the latest in skincare technology: the Oku smart tool (sort of like a FitBit for your face). I'll be curious to see reviews of this, as I'm obviously not shelling out $250 for it unless I know it's useful.
– As much as I love free stuff, I draw the line at dumpster diving for beauty products. Would you do this?
– Speaking of free stuff, if you're attractive enough there is actually such a thing as a free lunch. Um, what?
– Reviews for the week are for Davines.
The random:
– One of the things that's keeping me going right now is the new Sleater-Kinney album, which was available to stream in full at NPR 2 weeks ago and was officially released this past Tuesday. Of course, the album been getting rave reviews (more here and here, and this is my favorite piece). I've only listened to it a handful of times (their reunion is making me surprisingly emotional – I literally can't get through the album without bawling) but I can say that just when you thought S-K couldn't get any more fierce, BAM! No Cities to Love proves to be their most intense, ferocious album. I think All Hands on the Bad One is still my favorite record overall but obviously I'm loving their newest. Check out a video of some friends singing the title track, along with appearances on Letterman and Conan. Oh, and Entertainment Weekly talked to them about what they listened to growing up. I also adored Corin and Carrie's totally accurate and very succinct (only 30 seconds) explanation of Riot Grrrl. Guess I didn't need to write a 120-page thesis on it.
– In other excellent news, Broad City is back and has been receiving so much love. Some odes to Abbi and Ilana can be found here and here. Not only that, but it's already been renewed for a 3rd season, and there are even Broad City emojis on the way. And as if all the current awesomeness wasn't enough, this happened. As you can imagine, my head nearly exploded.
– The issue of forged art is at the forefront of the museum world right now, so it's appropriate that a museum in England played "spot the fake" with visitors, while FIT has an entire exhibition devoted to counterfeit couture.
– Other art stuff includes two reviews of the Alien She exhibition at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, a way to put your face (or your pet's) on a classic painting, and 10 weird museums around the world, a few of which I hadn't heard of. There's also a massive #conservationfail involving the gold funerary mask of poor King Tut. Honestly, they might as well have used duct tape. SMH.
– Things I cannot wait to eat include these 3 new flavors from Ben and Jerry. I'm especially curious to see how the Speculoos one compares to Trader Joe's cookie butter ice cream.
– In '90s nostalgia, here's a video highlighting the most memorable pop culture moments from 1998. How many do you remember?
Hope you've been having a good week.