Kat Von D Lipstick is BaaaaackThis is an entirely obnoxious personality trait of mine, but man – being right feels good!
Several months ago, I speculated that Kat Von D lipsticks were getting an overhaul of some sort. After I published that post, I received some fairly validating interaction with the brand.
Spoilers: I was right.
January 2018 FavoritesUnsurprisingly, when I wrote the title of this post, I wrote 2017 instead of 2018. My January 2018 Favorites are short and sweet.
This post started with a question from a friend: If (prestige) palettes go on sale soon after they are released, are they worth the starting price?
Not shopping for certain things – say, palettes – enables you to save money (not looking/not tempted/not spending). It also, however, means you miss peculiarities in the market.
Several brands released palettes in the last handful of months only to have them rapidly marked down. Not marked down now that the holidays are behind us, though – before Christmas!
Personally, I see the issue being twofold:
I don’t presume to tell anyone how to spend their money, but if you watch the beauty market for even just a couple years you can identify this pattern.
I sat down to write about my 2017 Favorites and ended up laughing at myself. I went back and checked the previous year’s favorites to make sure I wasn’t inadvertently writing the same post and … wow, I definitely almost did! I still love and use everything from that list a year later. I even still use the now-discontinued Gimme Brow; I’m on my last tube, sadly. Maybe next year will feature a new brow product. Maybe I’m set in my ways.
Rather than repeating myself, check out what I had to say on these items last time:
Drunk Elephant C-Firma Day Serum, $80Buying an $80 consumable skincare item even at 20% off was a huge risk for me. I enjoy prestige makeup, but I was worried that I was:
Although I was obviously hoping I’d like it, I was shocked by how much good it has done for my skin. It is my single largest beauty expense, but I am gladly forking over the money twice a year.
Last time I released a Bi-Weekly WTF, I erred; I just kinda tossed it in the title without sharing my intention. A lot of what I end up writing about is spawned by a head-scratching moment of wondering, “Did they really?” Some really catches me off guard and deserves to be called out as its own WTF-inducing moment. Last time, it was asbestos in kiddy and tween cosmetics.
When some people want to turn their brain off, they veg out and watch reality TV. I, however, window shop products I’d never buy – for a laugh, for a post, for whatever. This led me to the subject of this Bi-Weekly WTF: the Zoe Ayla Fish Style Brush.
Yeah, you read that right. Fish style brush.
Because, you know, I’ve got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty but I need a fish-shaped foundation brush.
Zoe Ayla prices this brush at $25 but I saw it at TJ Maxx for $6. I checked out their set and found they also peddle unicorn-themed brushes. Let’s face it, though – the target demographic for these whimsical-and-not-very-functional brushes is not going to be in a position to spend $25 for a single brush!
Their page on the Fish Style Brush reads:
Since the sale I bought C Firma during, I allowed myself to spend a little more on beauty-related products during the holidays.
In addition to the MiroPure Straightening brush, I bought:
In all, I found myself yet again underwhelmed by the holiday offerings put out by most brands. It does look like Fenty Beauty rose to the occasion (still haven’t tried anything from Fenty, though), but everything else fell flat to me. Even Urban Decay who, in spite of my occasional criticism, I generally enjoy, swung and missed (me).
The only thing I found myself tempted by were the new Heavy Metal glitter liner shades – but given that I have few opportunities to even wear the one I own (Midnight Cowboy), I refrained from adding more to my collection. Glitter eyeliner, after all, is not appropriate for work.
Now for some general, “state of things,” updates on things I’ve talked about but not super-recently.