the color purple

Allow me to introduce you to the OFRA liquid lipstick in Queens. Such a beautiful winter shade.

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Slaying.

This formula could be a touch more opaque but I like it. Quite a few YouTube reviewers have been recommending these OFRA liquid lipsticks, which are available in dozens of colors. I need to use a lip pencil with darker liquid lipsticks to keep things neat, here MAC Currant lip pencil (which is so good), but this is a creamy consistency I like, similar to the NYX soft matte lip creams but with what seems to be better longevity (and unlike, say, the ColourPop liquid lipsticks, which, while good value, are a little too wet to compete with my favorite Stila and Kat Von D formulas).

I really like dark shades like this worn with an otherwise [nearly] bare face. Dark eyebrows a possibility, but keeping them untouched here makes the look even more severe, even bordering on extreme/editorial, in a way that I find appealing.

What do we think of this septum ring? This is fake, to experiment, and arguably to have both the nosering and the septum ring would be too much…but it is not feeling like too much to me. It is feeling like love. They seem to be trending at the moment but I have always liked them. That is, ever since I met Bollywood, a solid 13 years ago now.

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Jumping from deep blackberry to amethyst, these are the stunning Zoe Cope Megalos Geode earrings. Available in other stones/colors as well. Beautiful, contemporary design and not too heavy. The desire to showcase them inspired this fauxhawk-merged-with-french twist hair situation.

Ofra liquid lipstick in Queens

Zara parka, Zara herringbone scarf, Koh Gen Do Aqua FoundationTom Ford blush in Love Lust + MAC blush in Love Rush, Guerlain 4 Seasons Terracotta bronzer, Jose Maran Argan Enlightenment Illuminizer (amazing, straight metallic gold).

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bootie call

Ah, boot season.

j crew plaid flannel shirt theseventhsphinx

Spring is OK for boots but not sufficiently dry for the suede styles that are my clear favorites (if acquisition is any indicator). This, among so many other reasons, is why autumn reigns supreme. Another reason might be the predominance of plaid, for which I have always harbored a weakness. Perhaps it is my rural upbringing?

ugg ankle boots

In particular I am craving the extremes of thigh-high and ankle boots. Booties. Bootlets. Much browsing and buying and returning before I discovered these charmers from UGG (which lacks romance but there it is). These have a great cowboy silhouette in the toe, minimal yet sculptural detailing, a great pale wheat color, and the slightly tapered chunky heel that I am drawn to these days.

j crew plaid flannel shirt theseventhsphinx

Isn’t there something wonderfully pristine about a bare, unadorned throat? 

Ripple pearl drops from Pearlescence, Chanel Rouge Noir Illusion d’ombre smoked out with a sepia shade from the Viseart neutral matte palette, MAC Peaches blush (new, loving), MAC prolongwear brow set, Wet n’ Wild Megalast lipstick in Bare it All with Urban Decay 24/7 lip pencil in Naked, which is almost a perfect match, some other stuff you can’t really see…

In the hair I’ve been using the deep repair mask (as a leave-in treatment) and the styling cream (for definition) from the Carol’s Daughter Tiare line. Smells amazing and I like how soft yet defined my hair is. Doing pretty well with my resolution to wear it down more.

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On the nails: Zoya Taylor. Basically a realistic concealer shade for me thanks to a touch of peachy warmth. Really nice color, though the whole time I’ve worn it I’ve wanted to add gold glitter to liven it up. The formula I find OK but it cracks on me within 48 hours or so.

j crew plaid flannel shirt theseventhsphinx

J Crew flannel shirt, Obi-style leather belt (eBay), Express leggings, Breil Milano watch, Ugg boots, Rough & Tumble bag (more on this bag later, loving this).

I have a few of these obi belts and find them so versatile and sleek. Though I could also like this look without a belt at all, loose and casual, to me the belt is doing so much here to amp up the style factor. The power of a good belt.

Get thee a good belt.

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