beauty - The Seventh Sphinx

I never get tired of jeans and a t-shirt. High-waisted or low-rise, v-neck, scoop, or crew, it’s the quintessential casual combo.

The great thing about the unobtrusiveness of jeans and a t-shirt is the influence the other elements of the outfit suddenly gain. You can look slovenly or ultra-stylish; it’s all down to the accessories and peripherals. How could anyone who loves accessories pass up such a chance to let them shine? I dressed up the simple base with beige d’orsay pumps, pearls, and a belt. Belts can be so effective.

And a casual red lip like this is so great, so throwaway. Even better with sneakers and tousled hair. An ultra glam red lip is all well and good, but the unexpected, tossed-on red lip is this delightful surprise. Lisa Eldridge recently did a tutorial on this kind of casual glam lip (all red lips are a little bit glam, no?), which I recommend along with the rest of her channel.

Tom Ford Love Lust blush layered over Chanel cream blush in Affinité with the phenomenal Josie Maran Argan Enlightenment Illuminizer— a stunning, metallic gold cream highlighter—on the cheekbones. Geisha Ink Silk Mascara, which is excellent, a densely bristled wand makes it easy to coat lashes in one or two swipes (I take some of the product off on a tissue before applying to keep the lashes natural). This small Canadian brand does wonderful eye makeup, I would also recommend their liquid liner.

Don’t usually go for graphic tees but love this one.

Sole Society d’orsay pumps, Express high-waisted jeans, J Crew tee, Madewell leather belt, Pearl Paradise lavender metallic freshwater studs, Skagen watch, Michael Kors pavé open arrow ring, Ray-Ban aviators. On the lips: Tatcha Kyoto Red Silk lipstick and NYX lip pencil in Hot Red.

How great is this cocktail ring? Gold molded into coral with jade stones nestled in. Thrifted.

The Camellia Nourishing lip balm was the product that turned me on to Tatcha, a brand with skin-care at its core inspired by the simple, elegant beauty regimen of geisha. Hooked already, right? Founded by a Harvard Business School grad with extremely sensitive skin who couldn’t find anything in the market that suited her needs. The line is relatively small, mostly skincare with a few cosmetic offerings, and all of the products center around the key skin-friendly ingredients of rice bran, green tea, and red algae, ingredients featured in ancient beauty texts.

They initially caught my interest with an emollient lip balm that was, for no reason other than the beauty of it, topped with gold leaf, an elegant way of imparting gold shimmer to the balm.

Gold leaf? Yes, please.

I don’t even care about shimmer balms, typically, though when done right they can be subtle and nice, which this is. Doubtless there are other shimmery lip balms [as if I didn’t have enough lip balm] but I suspect this one would beat them on presentation. Heavy glass pot, GOLD LEAF.

If more brands were whacking gold leaf on top of their products I have a feeling I would be in real trouble.

Their packaging is beautiful, too, by the way. When you open the box there is a ribbon pull tab for a drawer in which the product is nestled with a detailed infoscrap rolled elegantly around (as opposed to folded into a small rectangle and relegated off to the bottom or side as in standard skincare procedure).

It’s the little things.

Beauty, no?

It’s so satisfying to acquire beautiful things. Especially when you (upon ordering) have hopes of their being beautiful which they meet or even exceed, as with this balm. I seem so often to be returning disappointing items that only seem beautiful from their promo shot angle/distance, and are, upon inspection, awful. By which I mean: unwearable, really genuinely bad. I am certain that I am not alone here.

I also picked up a few of Tatcha’s skincare items as well as the ridiculously beautiful (and seriously expensive) Kyoto Red Silk lipstick, which I’ll have to report back on. I’ve had them for about 3 weeks and I’m really, really liking the exfoliating powder.

Also liked this post on their blog about lessons learned from a geisha, including:

“Some of the most attractive, mesmerizing geisha I have known are the ones who were in their 70s and beyond, because they have honed the art of being an interesting person over all those decades. In the West, we are obsessed with youth and beauty, but these women have taught me that beauty is something to be gained over time, not something that is lost over time.”

So great to find new brands. Let me know any recommendations you might have!

Tag: beauty

the casual red lip

Gold leaf? Yes, please.