Squid Chat: Beauty Products
Behind the diaphanous Glittersquid.com curtain, the six of us check in with each other most days on Slack. We’ve been doing this for about a year, often ending spirited cross-country conversations by pointing out to each other, “You know, if someone just copied and pasted this convo, it would make a really great post.”
Without fail, this sentiment has been coupled with a stunning lack of follow-through on any of our parts. Until now.
We do want to share the conversations that we think other people will enjoy, though. And we’d love it if you hopped on in the comments and told us what you think we’re getting right and what we’re straight-up misled about.
This first Squid Chat is about beauty products, mostly because Lissa has been trying to get us all on the snail mucus beauty bandwagon lately — a topic that we somehow completely avoid here. No worries, we’ll get to it.
Anyway, this is how the conversation got rolling:
It’s fall! Time to pull out those decorative gourds and change up the beauty regimen. What beauty products are you loving? Any new colors, new products? What’s pinging your radar?
I’ve been transitioning to a smokier eye for the winter, and it really works with my new bangs. So, there are two products I’ve been using almost every day. The first is Tarte’s Tartelette 2 in Bloom Clay eyeshadow palette. It’s not only beautiful and goes on marvelously, but it smells like my favorite chocolates as a kid. The neutrals come in matte and metallic, so there’s always a range. A little extra swipe of the darker stuff is great for evening. I recently switched from Urban Decay to this one, and I’m really happy. The clay is a bit smoother on the lid and has great staying power.
The second is Rimmel’s Eye Definer — just wait me out here, I know that sounds like not a real thing. It’s great for lower lid tightlining and smudging. I use sable or brown which gives the smoky look without going full Goth, and the smudge tip on the end really helps blend things in so it looks more natural. I love the look and swiping the smudge out toward the cat eye. Definitely a great look for fall!
For me, “favorite beauty product” is 99% of the time going to mean skin care lotions and potions but for once I have an actual makeup product I’m excited about. The only makeup I wear is a swipe of mascara, and maybe once in a while something on my lips but I’m really picky about mascara — like, I prefer to use trial sizes because the wands are smaller and I get less clumping. Recently I read a post about using a lash tonic as a base coat, and although I was skeptical of the product’s claims, it was cheap enough that I decided to give it a try. Holy cats: it really makes a difference.
Is it making my lashes grow thicker, as advertised? I seriously doubt it. But what it DOES do is make mascara go on more smoothly, with less clumping, and I swear my lashes look longer afterward — like maybe the tonic gives the mascara something to cling to and extends my lashes by a smidge? Enough that I can totally see the difference. I’m hooked. The stuff I tried is called DHC Eyelash Tonic.
I’m completely not a makeup person, but I’ve got some purple hair dye I really think I should use…
You definitely should.
Purple hair feels very fall-appropriate. I like to live vicariously through other people’s hair color journeys…
I’m a big fan of smokey violet anything — hair, nails. My job has a lot of rules about appearance but I feel like I can slide in under the wire with a muted blue or purple. This feeds my rebel soul.
Usually, as soon as September 1st hits, I switch from my favorite Essie Marshmallow nail polish to a dark, chocolate brown. This year I can’t get enough dark, moody teal. I’m liking Essie Go Overboard and I think I’m currently wearing OPI Amazon, Amazoff — which they describe as a deep jungle green, but I call teal. A greener teal, maybe. I like to have my toes painted. And if I don’t paint my nails I bite them. But, lately they’ve just been bitten. I am very into buying nail decals but I’m sometimes too lazy to actually put them on.
My Ipsy bag yesterday had a navy blue polish. I’m not really even a nail painter, but for some reason this seemed appealing.
Hey, did any of you guys get the Too Faced Lip Injection in your Ipsy bag this month? What exactly am I putting on my lips? Is it safe to drink coffee after I put this stuff on?
No, I didn’t. Is it a lip plumper?
I got that, too. I’m afraid of what it might do to me!
Yup, lip plumper. I just put some on. Def increases blood flow to the lips! Can’t confirm if they’re actually plumper but they’re…stinging. Which is…good? Hey! Fun fact:
“Lip plumpers use ingredients such as cinnamon, wintergreen, forms of capsacin, caffeine, ginger and menthol to irritate the skin. Used too often, they may cause lips to peel or even develop ulcers.”
I never wear lipstick because it’s basically just decorating my teeth. I tried lip plumper once, though, because I have no top lip. I just looked like I was in a fight afterward — a couple of people asked me if I was alright.
I have had reasonably fluffy lips most of my life, but I’ve recently noticed the top lip is shrinking in my old age.
I sincerely hope that’s not a thing that happens as you get older. Or my nose is just going to end up sitting on top of my teeth.
Yes. Part of the premise here is that you must have lips to plump them. The kindest thing a makeup sales lady ever told me was, “You have the perfect oxbow lips.” I believe this roughly translates to, “Sweet baby girl, you have no lips but how about you buy this nice $30 lipstick, anyway?”
I was a 90’s teen in New Jersey in the time of dark lip liner. Dark liner, lighter lipstick shade. I tried it once. Pretty sure I just looked like a deranged ghost hooker.
“The older you get, the less collagen you produce. And collagen, a protein that supports the body’s soft tissue, is what gives lips their pleasing plumpness, says D’Anne Kleinsmith, M.D., a dermatologist in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The sun’s ultraviolet rays can also cause collagen to break down and lips to thin. “One way to help preserve the fullness of your lips,” Kleinsmith says, “is to protect them from the sun by wearing a lipstick or lip balm with sunscreen.”
Well, at 49, I think the good ship Lip Balm has sailed. My best lip years are probably behind me. Best I can hope for is ghost hooker at this point…
And that’s how Jackie and Andrea found their Halloween costumes…
Here’s a list of the items we talked about:
- Argan Oil One n Only Perfect Intensity Royal Purple
- Tarte’s Tartelette 2 in Bloom Clay
- Rimmel’s Eye Definer
- DHC Eyelash Tonic
- Trust Fund Beauty Nail Polish, “Elegantly Wasted”
- Kenra Demi-Permanent Hair Color, “Icey Silver Violet”
- Essie Nail Color, “Marshmallow”
- Essie Nail Color, “Go Overboard”
- OPI Nail Polish, “Amazon, Amazoff”
- Too Faced Lip Injection
- Pixi Shea Butter Lip Balm
- McSweeney’s “It’s Decorative Gourd Season” Mug
Caveat: Glittersquid.com is a labor of love but some of these links lead to Amazon affiliate accounts. No corporate cash has crossed our palms during the creation of this post. If that changes, we’ll let you know.
