The Best Beauty Tenderonis From 2015

It's the end of the year. Let's review.




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10 Bad B*tch Beauty Products Under $10

I LOVE some cheap-ass-ness, but only if it's good cheap-ass-ness. No one is into a crappy beauty product, whether it costs two cents or two billion cents. Sorry for 2004.

With this in mind, I put together a list of some of my favorite stuff I haven't necessarily beaten you over the head with (AKA my Maybelline Brow Pencils in Blonde), and that all cost less than one thousand pennies.

1. L'Oreal Mega Moisture Nurturing Creme 

I did a post on L'Oreal Mega Moisture Nurturing Creme as one of my first acts of blogging a million years ago, and I'm still on its jock. Full disclosure -- the price of this (with a Sally's card) is $10.29, but C'MON.

It's basically ten bucks.

I have never used a more moisturizing conditioner than this mutha. And it smells like a damn fruit-bearing flower, in the best and most fragrant way. AND it makes your hair shimmer and shine like a brand new Crystal Pepsi. Refreshing.

2. ColourPop Lippie Stix

ColourPop Lippie Stix are one of those products that (along with 99% of other life things) I don't really understand. "Bichette," the red beauty reclined like a Degas lady in front, is one of my favorite lipsticks on this planet and it costs FIVE MF-ing DOLLARS. FIVE. How is this real? And, also, how long do house flies live? 

See, there are a lot of things I don't understand, but mostly how these lipsticks are $5. And how gravity works.

3. Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara

I used to be pretty snobby about mascara, especially when it came to Maybelline. I was like, "Great Lash? More like No Thanks Lash." (I'm really great at word play.) That was until I tried Maybelline Lash Sensational and fell the eff in love. 

I've gone through two tubes of this magical, inky goodness that somehow lengthens and really brings the volume heat, and loved every minute. I recently branched out and tried a new mascara, because that's kind of what I'm supposed to be doing here, and it's FINE, but I miss this stuff. A lot. I'm going back. That is all.

4. Ardell Demi Wispies Lashes

Don't judge the grossness of the lashes above. I've used them ten to twenty times and haven't thrown them out, because I'm a cheap-ass scrub.

These might just be my favorite lashes, and that you can get four friggin' sets for $9.99 from Ulta might be a large part of my infatuation with them. I also like that you don't have to treat them like a delicate princess of a flower -- you can do dumb shit like put mascara on over them -- unlike the expensive and ethically-shed mink bitches I also own. I just always seem to come back to these. They're easy, cheap, and don't have the constitution of a Victorian lady. And if these things go sideways (literally or figuratively) YOU CAN THROW THEM OUT.

5. L'Oreal Brow Stylist Plumper

I bought this L'Oreal Brow Stylist Plumper in Medium to Dark without even knowing what it was all about. I was really just curious about it, and also have a strong desire to hold all of the world's brow products in my wine-stained paws.

It apparently has tiny fibers in it to mimic brow hairs or some shit. I don't know what the hell is going on in that tube, but I'm into it. It's like a non-crunchy tinted brow gel that also makes your brows look a little thicker. Please reference above, where I don't understand how these things work.

6. Batiste Dry Shampoo

My scalp oil knows no limits. It could be an alternate energy source.

Having a dry shampoo on hand every-friggin-second is a necessity, and Batiste Dry Shampoo (in a million varieties) is the only one I really care to have. It doesn't smell horrible, actually works, and doesn't leave a crime scene of powder all over your hair and scalp. This is that shit. Get it.

7. Floss Gloss Polish

Floss Gloss Nail Lacquers are hands down (har har) my favorite nail polishes. The colors are dope and they don't have the bad shit in them. I've never met a FG polish that I wasn't completely obsessed with.

I'm going to be featuring one of their newer shades (it's in the pic above and I LOVE IT and I bet you can guess which one) in a video on my current favorite stuff, which will probably be filmed in 2056 because I'm reliable.

8. Palmer's Cocoa Butter

I recently told the tale of how I first fell in love with Palmer's Cocoa Butter almost twenty years ago. It's an ongoing and devoted saga, because it's still my ride-or-die choice when it comes to moisturizing.

And my newest cocoa-scented discovery is that Palmers with SPF is even better. It smells even more chocolate-y, while allowing my vampiric tendencies to flourish. I'm basically Count Chocula.

9. Not Your Mother's Dry Finish Texture Spray

Although this texture spray is not my FAVORITE favorite, that's reserved for Bumble and bumble Dryspun Finish, this is by far my favorite drugstore hair score. My friend Shauna (who has fantastic hair) told me I had to try this, and she was not lying. This stuff is good. Just don't get too loosey goosey with the spray job -- too much will give you cotton candy hair.

10. NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream is straight-up fantastic. "London," the homie up front, is my go-to for all of my nude lip needs. It's beige-y and not orange. The formula is matte without being drying and crinkly. It's everything I want in life.

I got a Facebook message from someone a couple months ago that was like, "HELP, I'M AT TARGET AND I NEED A GREAT CHEAP LIPSTICK ALSKDJFLKAJF." And I was all, "This shit right here."And that's how it always goes. I'll tell random shoppers, too. I'm annoying.

And there are all of my secret (and not so secret) cheap-ish favorites. I am spent, but my money ain't.

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Hello Darkness, My Old Friend: My Favorite Daaaark Makeup

Let me be clear (Obama voice) -- I like dark shit. On the inside, my darkness level hovers around Wednesday Adams and Lydia Deetz from Beetlejuice arena. I'm not on, like, a Richard Ramirez/John Wayne Gacy tip; clowns are horrifying (and so is serial murder, I guess), but I'm not a lollipops and sunshine-y person so much. As if you couldn't tell by my ability to rattle off serial killer names.

My love of darkness also extends to my beauty obsessions. Don't get me wrong, I love a bright lipstick and nail polish, but I'm just DRAWN TO ROLLING THE DEEEEEEP. (Side note: I miss you, Adele. Where's that new album, homie?)

This post is all about the darkest of the darkness, and here I am wearing brown eyeliner in this picture, like a bitch. But look at those lips -- it doesn't get much darker. Let's investigate.

Lips That Are Straight-Up DARKSIDED!

Dark lipstick makes you look like someone that's not to be effed with. If you want to look like you want to be effed with, you can skip ahead.

I have a couple of deep wine/berry/Pinot Noir/I'm running out of descriptives lipsticks that I like to mess with. For matte lips, I'm all about ColourPop Lippie Stix in Dalia, and for something a little more glossy, I'm into Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Shame. (I'm wearing them layered in the photo above.)

The thing I love the most about deep lipsticks like these are how universally badass they are, regardless of skin tone. They look vampirically cool on the fair-skinned, and look GORGEOUS on deeper skin tones.

Dark-n-Fringy Lashes For DAYS

I'm not sure that fringy is a word. If it's not, I want it to be.

You probably already know how much I love this shit. Maybelline Lash Sensational in Blackest Black (OF COURSE) is inky as hell, and brings out the deepest, darkest lashes. It's my favorite drugstore mascara, EVER.

It feels good to know I could totally be a graphic designer if I wanted to be. The raw talent is clearly there.

The Darker The Liner, The Darker The Heart

I'm not sure I could exist as a human-ish being without black eyeliner. It's the glue that holds my soul together. It's my Chicken Soup for the No Soul.

My black eyeliner requirements are: black as eff (OF COURSE) and stays on until I die a timely death. My current ride-or-dies are tarte Tarteist Clay Paint Liner and Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Ink Black. Urban Decay's 24/7 Pencil in Perversion is another solid, crazy-dark option. They are all v, v black and stay on as well as can realistically be expected in today's world.

My only complaint about all these mofos are they aren't waterproof on the inner eyelid waterline, which is straight bullshit. But, UD is giving the people (AKA me) what they want, because they're coming out with this pencil MADE SPECIFICALLY FOR WATERPROOF WATERLINE LINAGE for holiday. Finally. My life is really coming together.

Not-Quite-Black Shadows Are The New Black

There are plenty of great matte, black shadows on this crowded-ass planet. Open any decent eyeshadow palette, and you'll get slapped in the eyeballs with an acceptable one.

So instead of focusing on those, I'm sharing my favorite glittery and almost black shadows. Nars Eye Shadow in Night Porter is a green-black beauty. If a pine tree in a majestic forest mated with a velvety black cat, it would be weird as hell, and also this shadow. But shimmery and shit.

MAC Eye Shadow in Beauty Marked is a super-deep eggplant. I would rather eat a deep-fried eggplant parm sub, but this is lovely, too.

Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can't See (Because It's Dark. Get It?)

This isn't the first time I've spouted off my big mouth about my love for dark polish, so I won't stay on this too long and bore you more than my regular levels of boring you. I just came here to say that I have also added this RGB Nail Color in Oxblood to my list of bad bitches.

That concludes my primer on darkness. So, good day, et al.

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My New Favorites

Here's a little compilation of everything I'm into right now. It's all over the spectrum, so hang onto your bonnet, Laura Ingalls Wilder.

P.S. Do I use LIW references too much? If yes, please pen me a letter on the first page of your copy of Little House on the Prairie.

If no, watch this gif one billion times.




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Best (Color) Lip Products When Your Lips Are Just SO DRY

Dry lips are a real sack of a-holes. And because it's the height of wintery weather, it's pretty much all-parched-everything right now. But just because your lips are drier than a pair of sun dried tomatoes, that doesn't mean you just want to wear a boring-ass colorless lip chap around all the time. So, instead, I have rounded up my favorite moisturizing babies (with color!) to keep that yappity trap well-hydrated and poppin' at all times.

I really cannot get enough of this Sephora Kiss Kiss Gloss ($7, Sephora). I bought it on an impulse a little bit ago just to get me over that dreaded gotta-get-to-$50-for-free-shipping hump from Sephora, and I've been using it like it ain't no thang.

It's a sheer, bubble gummy pink with shimmer and has a glossy gel texture. It's thick, but not sticky and hydrates like a boss lady. Plus, the container is pretty huge for gloss standards. (It's half an ounce, whereas most glosses are around 0.1 oz.) What I'm saying is -- this is my shit.

Okay, so I guess this stick deal is considered a balm. I really should know these things.

I already told you how much I was vibing on the Dr. Rescue version of Maybelline's Baby Lips, which I am still into. But here's the thing -- you can only use the Dr. Rescue a few times a day because of the menthol in it. It will eff up your life if you overdo it. So I've started using the OG version (this one is in Pink Punch) to supplement my balm usage. It's still nice and creamy...

and provides a nice bit of color to your lips. It's just not mint-like. And I love mint-like.

Speaking of loving mint shit, the top reason that I love this Tarte Maracuja Divine Shine Lip Gloss is because it's minty and moisturizing. But, of course there's one small issue -- I picked a gloss that isn't in production anymore, because I'm a real asshole. But, you can still find it all over Amazon, so only send me one hate postcard. Or post-it. Your choice.

If you can live without the wintergreen times, the Tarte LipSurgence Lip Gloss is another good option. It's just vanilla-esque. So just slightly lesser for dry lip lives. We'll live.

Now go lube up those thirsty lips. Also, tell me if you've got a miracle moisturizing lip thing (with color). I can always have more things. Always more things.



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