five things meme: beauty edition

Prompts within:
lipstick shades, lusimeles
nail polish shades, ladymercury_10
90s fashion inspos, portions_forfox

Vegas Volt is one of those holy grail MAC lipsticks, I think; it's one that I constantly saw name-dropped before I finally bought it. And tbh it lives up to the hype! It's really lovely, a perfect coral that isn't chalky or overly bright. Coral lipstick is my favorite in general because 1960s, and this is the prettiest one I've found. I have heard it's easily dupable, though I found none of the alternatives quiiite matched up. However, I am also super persnickety about these things, so.

The peeeerfect red. Whenever I need to Peggy Carter it out, I go right to Russian Red. It's a blue-toned red, which I feel like tends to be a little bit more universally flattering (orange-toned reds can be trickier), very rich and full on. It's super super matte though, which has it's pros and cons. The staying power is AMAZING (I have eaten huge meals in this lipstick and also puked (unrelated puking) without it budging at all) but it can be a little rough on the skin. It's never bothered me enough to cease using it, but I do treat myself to a lip scrub after wearing it.

Revlon lipsticks are generally pretty great when it comes to quality – well-pigmented, very creamy, and pretty cheap, plus they have a great range (including vintage shades from the 50s and 60s!) – so they're pretty much my favorite drugstore brand for lipstick. It's orange-red (or red-orange. blood orange?) but surprisingly wearable for it. I mean, it's still distinctly orangey but somehow v. flattering nevertheless and doesn't look over the top or anything, at least to me, a drag queen. I think if you want to give orange lips a shot without looking crazy or being super daring, it's a good one. It's v. Joan Holloway imo.

As a generally pale person, it's hard for me to wear nudes and neutrals without looking hella corpsey. But Kinda Sexy is perf! It's pretty 90s, a kind of pink-y brown-y shade. It's similar to the one that Kardashian-Jenner child with the lip injections is always instagramming. Kylie? I think her name is Kylie. Or is the other one Kylie? IDK. But this is a great neutral, v. flattering for us pale people.

I've noticed a lot of beauty bloggers don't dig Lime Crime for...reasons, or something, idk. I don't have much of their stuff but it's all decent, with nice cutesey packaging that is pretty fun. I went through a purple lipstick addiction phase and this one ended up being pretty much perfect for me. It's a little less magenta-y than it looks in the graphic – it's a pretty solid blue-toned purple, but very bright, kinda neon. I love it. I mean, for me, this is an everyday casual lipstick. Make of that what you will.

I did not mean to be a one-person MAC salesgirl in this post, honestly! I just buy a lot of MAC lip stuff because they fulfill the holy trinity of being pretty cheap, good quality, and having a solid shade range. Retro is a deep brown-red, also very 90s, that I personally wear as more of a stain (just patting on a light layer and really working it in) because when done so, it just looks like a very natural, your-lips-but-better shade on me. Shy Girl is perfect Lana Del Rey creamy nude. And the Rimmel Lip Lacquers are amaaaaazingggg (ugh I love Rimmel so much) but Big Bang is my personal fave – if you ever want glossy, bright red Marilyn lips, pls help yourself to it.

The graphic is not totally color-true to this polish, but y'all get the gist, I'm sure. It's a really pretty warm beige. It makes me feel like a mannikin when I wear it. And weirdly, despite being a pretty unexciting color, never do I get more compliments on my nails then when I wear this???

CORAL FOREVER. Essie is my favorite brand and tbh I bought this color pretty much for the name, but luckily it turned out to also be the prettiest. I just love corals of any kind.

I found myself super underwhelmed by the much-lauded OCC lip tars, but I really love this nail polish! The quality is gorgeous and the color is pretty much exactly wasabi green, it's super fun.

I actually hate the consistency and quality of Revlon polish, lol – that shit is runny as hell and chips and you need a million coats – BUT, that said, this just happens to be my favorite deep red shade, so I put up with all that nonsense.

I actually don't really care for OPI? I'm surprised I have two OPI shades on here tbh, because I don't own that many and I'm just not crazy about them. I just love gold nails so much (yo anybody has a rec for a better gold, hit me up!) so I had to include it. And even though they're not my personal preference, OPI is not bad; for example, I've owned this specific one for probably three or four years at this point and it hasn't crapped out on me or gotten gloopy or anything. Still perfectly usable.

LA LINDA. Her face is too amazing!!!! That shade of orangey red hair was ICONIC, you see it a lot in the 90s and it was all pretty much due to Linda. I don't know too much about her personal style, but she modeled for all the 90s brands I love the most, and also did I mention her face? Which is perfect?

Do you think I'm kidding? I AM NOT KIDDING. Early 90210 is a veritable feast of fashion both hideous and full circle trendy again, but Donna's my girl. Look at that American flag sweatshirt! Look at all the pink! Look at the awesome graphic dresses! I would wear any one of these looks and feel NO SHAME ABOUT IT, NONE.

As a brunette child, I had allegiance to Posh, as did many other similarly brunette children who were not athletically-inclined enough to go for Sporty. But as a redheaded adult, I have 100% shifted allegiance. Geri was clearly the most boss! She had strong feelings about vague pop culture feminism! She had gigantic hair! She wore all sorts of wear showgirl rompers masquerading as outfits, often patterned with national flags! And the outfit from the "Say You'll Be There" video is the crowning glory. Unfortunately the picture cuts it off, but those are LEATHER SHORTS and also she is wearing THIGH HIGH RED LEATHER BOOTS. What kind of incredible space age hooker realness!!!!

You are all probably beginning to figure out that my taste runs incredibly tacky. Therefore what would this list be without classic, original Versace? (PS in your heads I hope you are pronouncing that word one of two ways: Ver-sayce, a la Showgirls, or VERRSAACHAAYY, a la Donnatella.) I would kill a man to own original Versace. I once saw some of it at the Met and wanted to cry, it was so gorgeous. (Oh look it's Linda again!)

OBVIOUSLY. There are fashion icons, and there are Fashion Icons, and Fran Fine is my #1 bitch now and forever. As I'm sure everyone can tell by now, there are things that I like: lots of makeup, huge hair, tacky clothes, and loud colors. And we have Fran Fine to thank for all of that.

next post: fic prompts!