Makeup For... At Least a Year

Back in February I started working part-time with a magazine here in New York as their Beauty Awards assistant. We collected about 15 different samples per 25 beauty categories for our readers to test--everything ranging from dry shampoo, to lipstick, to sunblock. A month into the stint we started getting packages in, and within hours the office turned into a makeup junkie's Christmas.

The beauty of such a gig is that tons of free samples entered through our doors, many unsolicited. If my boss, the beauty director, isn't planning on using it for a story, into the closet it goes. A few weeks pass, the shelves fill up, and before you know it, I'm swinging a glossy white bag down 5th Avenue with a stash of serious swag.

The proof:

My favorite product so far? MAKEUP FOREVER's Aqua Rouge waterproof liquid lip color in No. 16. I've had a soft spot for the brand ever since Broadway makeup artist Angelina Avallone and I spent the day shopping together for TimeOut New York. She introduced me to the line which is a favorite of makeup artists and stage actors since the pigments are super saturated. That means their lipsticks, foundations, and blushes last forever and come in an immense array of colors. It's like working with gorgeous, blendable, shimmery paint. So naturally, I delved into the pile of take-home goods and went straight for the hot pink liquid lip color. Pre-Angelina, I never would have bothered swiping a hot pink-anything across my lips, swearing it wasn't my color. But our conversation changed my prejudice. Angelina, who has painted countless famous faces (at the time, she was working on the first production of The Addams Family), revealed that there's no such thing as an off-limits color. Confidence is all it takes. Maybe a bold peacock-green eye seems scary, but it can actually be perfectly flattering.

I've found texture and application are the most important factors for makeup. The Aqua Rouge went on like paint (and actually sort of felt like it), but with the addition of the provided gloss, turned into a bold pout that stayed put for hours and wore comfortably. The color is intense--and something I'm no longer too timid to pull off.

Dreams Van Noten

Have you ever come across a work of art that speaks to you so directly it's as though the artist stole a thought of yours? Or--if you were capable of welding steel--what's sitting in front of you would be exactly the thing you made?

I sustained the feeling reading all of Charles Simic's notebook The Monster Loves His Labyrinth, in snippets the first time I heard Nico's "These Days," and, most recently, viewing Dries Van Noten's Fall 2013 collection.

Last season, my love for his work was aspirational. His creations were articulations of dreams I had yet to have. Yes of course florals and plaid work together! Why not wear a kimono with a tea-length skirt? White sunglasses and mussed hair: I'm there.

This seasons I--by no means uninspired by the man's past work--found myself ingesting DVN's collection while wearing a coordinating outfit.

Slacks under cocktail dresses? I've been doing that all season! (I hate black tights, by the way.)

Tons of textured volume? I just so happen to have purchased a vintage Parisian brown lambswool skirt two weeks ago!

Baggy sweaters and long skirts? Pfff.

Drop-waists, head-to-toe prints, oxfords, and socks with sandals? So on it.

 

 

This collection, besides being one easy to mock, is interesting. It's fresh and cosmopolitan. I'm inspired to throw a pair of patterned pants beneath a 1940s black drop-waist dress I've had since Wilmington, when I purchased it on credit at a vintage store where I worked. Small tangent: You never know what you will discover while vintage shopping, and so often your explorations lead you to beautiful craftsmanship, these crepe silk creations, you never knew existed. What better way to clad oneself than in mystery and surprise. 

Model images courtesy of Elle.com

All collages the work of Francesca Soroka

 

Dior: Dali, Disney, or To Die For

Raf Simon's second ready-to-wear collection for Dior ran the gamut from the supremely elegant to the surreal. The high notes: his tuxedo dresses and coats, and the angular, voluminous ensembles in combinations like pink and white or black and red. The wobbly lows: a crochet dress that felt out of place, a few chiffon dresses that looked more Disney-does-Dali than traditional Dior, and an over sized grey pantsuit. It should be said all of the looks managed to showcase Simon's elegant, laser-cut-like tailoring, which, in the end, made the point that even his most underwhelming looks --those with touches of houndstooth or potholder textiles--are so expertly made, they fail to fail completely.

Images courtesy of Elle.com

All collages the work of Francesca Soroka