I can't believe I went a month without doing a Curator's Corner. It may be related to the fact that it's the same amount of time I've gone without running. Unfortunately I'm injured again which is making me even more listless and unmotivated than usual, not to mention crankier. Anyway, here are some links (and a couple of rants – like I said, no running makes me incredibly grouchy.)
– Autumn at the Beheld writes a great piece on beauty and conspicuous/inconspicuous consumption – very timely considering the release of Christian Louboutin's $50 nail polish.
– Did you know July 29th was National Lipstick Day? Neither did I.
– Popular beauty subscription service Birchbox opened a brick-and-mortar store in NYC.
– If NARS had a men's line, this is what it would look like. Impressive, no? Equally impressive is this gorgeous wooden box for Shu Uemura. I think it's just a concept but I'd totally buy it if were for sale. And I love this diamond-shaped lip balm.
– We got our first glimpse of the MAC Simpsons collection, which was available exclusively for pre-sale at the San Diego Comic Con. Can't wait till it releases online on August 28th!
– Another exciting upcoming collection will be a second collaboration between Shu Uemura and Karl Lagerfeld…or rather, the designer's cat Choupette. From the pictures so far I do like that Choupette bears no resemblance to an evil Dora the Explorer, the mascot for last year's holiday collection.
– People I want to shut up: the marketing folks at Lululemon, for suggesting that their customers go without sunscreen; the author of this ridiculous article listing 10 beauty products that one is no longer allowed to wear after turning 30 (I will happily continue experimenting with hair chalk and rocking colored mascara, thank you very much); and this gem of a Men's Rights Activist (MRA) for his specious claim that men are somehow oppressed by women's use of makeup. Come to think of it, MRAs should ALWAYS keep quiet. Or, you know, not exist at all.
– Yes, this is a thing that actually exists in the world. So is this. Seriously?
– What's the latest in gadgets, you ask? Take a gander at the IlluMask, which is aptly described by Jezebel as "Hannibal Lecter meets a medieval Iron Maiden at a Daft Punk show." Yikes.
– Equally cringe-inducing is the Korean technique of using a flame (yes, actual fire) to curl your eyelashes. I always heat up the curler with a blowdryer for a few seconds, but I think this goes a little too far.
– Into the Gloss concludes an enlightening series on the history of soap. Other beauty history links include the rise of MAC, sunburn remedies from the Regency era, and a woman's "duty to stay beautiful" during WWII.
– Finally, I've been watching Strangers With Candy on Netflix (gotta get my '90s/early aughts fix) and was floored when out of nowhere Kevyn Aucoin appeared for a cameo as a funeral makeup artist! I was a little sad watching him…not only was the man incredibly talented, he seemed like a genuinely nice person. I had only read about him but when I actually heard him speak, it cemented my belief that he was a good guy – there was just this warmth and kindness about him. I wonder if he made it on there because I remember reading in his column for Allure that one of his favorite books was Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, the brother of Strangers With Candy creator/actress Amy Sedaris.
The random:
– In mermaid news, we finally got a release date for Nymph, which I've been waiting for since February when I first found out about it. There's also another dark mermaid movie in the works, but it needs your help funding. Definitely check out the sizzle reel and you can donate here. Oh, and I want to go to mermaid school!
– Things that made me mad in the past few weeks: an art forger as well as "Awkward Family Photos" each got their own exhibitions (uh, where's MY exhibition?); people paid over $55,000 via Kickstarter for some random dude to make potato salad (you know if I put the Makeup Museum on Kickstarter no one would give a dime, yet f*cking potato salad gets 55,000 bones); and after only 2 years of work, a museum devoted to Nikola Tesla got a cool $1 million. I've been at this for 6 years and no one's handing me that kind of cash, or any cash for that matter. So, yeah…beauty culture and history are at least as worthy, if not more so, than the other projects I've mentioned but no one else seems agree with me.
– I think that's it for my rants so now onto some good art news. There was an exhibition paying homage to the great Pee Wee Herman in Los Angeles, while a beautiful glowing jellyfish tank was installed in the wall of an abandoned building in Liverpool, England. I also enjoyed reading about these museum renovations in the U.S.
– George was my favorite Beatle so I felt really bad for laughing (hard, I might add) at this story.
– I went to the beach and had a grand time, even though I was only there for 2 days. This cartoon sums up my approach to sunbathing when I was a teenager vs. now.
– So who else watched Sharknado II? If you missed it you can still see it tonight at 9pm on SyFy…I think it's one of the greatest things I've ever seen.
What's new with you?