Black Magic Woman by Deborah Lippmann

This bottle, when you look at it, presents itself as your average glittery gray/black bottle of polish, BUT IT IS SO MUCH COOLER THAN THAT. This is the aptly named “Black Magic Woman” because trust me when I say that this is sorcery in a nail polish formula. It initially comes off as a dark gunmetal grey but then light hits it and let me tell you, it comes to LIFE. It shimmers with an opalescent beauty that shows off all the colors of the rainbow. It’s like a very low key holographic effect that doesn’t demand your attention, but

Cosmetic Ingredient: Avobenzone

We are smack dab in the middle of summer and the heat may or may not be frying your absolute brains out. What’s important to remember while the sun is shining it’s brightest is to apply your sunscreen! And one of the most popular active ingredients in sunscreen is avobenzone. Not to sound too scientific (I’m about to go geek-tastic on you), avobenzone is a synthetic dibenzoylmethane derivative. It can also be known as butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane or Parsol 1789. If you, like me, just had your head explode trying to read out those chemicals, let me simplify it. Avobenzone is

Mac Matte Lipstick in “Kinkster”

I grew up in the heart of the nineties grunge movement, so it only makes sense that from time to time, I’d want to relive that grungy look. I mean, C’MON, grungy is so easy. It literally asks you to bask in the ugly. You can walk out of your house with your acne scars on show and your hair unbrushed and you’ve perfected the look! With a little brown lipstick, you will look like you were pulled from the nineties! I decided to relive some of my more youthful days and purchased MAC’s Lipstick in “Kinkster”. It’s a matte

Cosmetic Ingredient – Cetyl Alcohol

Cetyl Alcohol is a bit misleading. You hear the term “alcohol” and have instant visions of stripped skin and hellacious dryness. No worries here though, cetyl alcohol is not in the same family as those alcohols. You see, those alcohols are related to ethanol. Cetyl alcohol is related to plant oils. Big difference, right? Therefore, products can be sold as “alcohol-free” while containing cetyl alcohol. Confused? Don’t be. Just know that having cetyl alcohol in your makeup and skincare is most likely fine. The thing is though is that cetyl alcohol does come from several different sources. It can be one