hello and welcome to vanity project!

A beauty newsletter for people with strong feelings about blush.

Hiya! Welcome to my Vanity Project (LOL). You might know me from STELLAR magazine, where I wrote about beauty a lot and co-hosted the mag’s beauty podcast, The Glow Up. You might also know me from real life, and if so, hi! 

I left magazine land late last year (I now do digital content for a tech company, if you’re wondering) and realised almost instantly that I still wanted an outlet for my thoughts on beauty, one of the few things bringing me joy in this Covid-riddled world. Truly, some of the only times I feel ‘normal’ these days is when I’m putting on a bit of foundation in the morning or applying colourful eyeliner before a Zoom call. That’s the feeling I’m trying to capture with this newsletter.  

But because I like to challenge myself for some reason, I’m starting it at the exact same time that I’ve mostly banned myself from buying beauty products. I know! How can I write about beauty without having all the new things? But hear me out. 

I accumulated a LOT of stuff during my three years working for a magazine. More than I could conceivably ever use, seeing as I have but one face. I donated bags of it. I gave yet more bags to family and friends. I have whole drawers full of replacements for replacements of products I’m nowhere close to finishing up. I’ve got a hamper of stuff – we call it the ‘box of shite’ – in the corner of the living room for visiting friends (ah, remember that) to rummage through. And it’s started to feel… icky. 

Just one of my Drawers of Doom.

Some of my favourite things to watch on YouTube are decluttering videos. I love seeing people prune and organise their beauty collections, hearing why they’re keeping certain products and tossing others. (I also get an ASMR-type feeling from the clicky sound of speeded-up organising. Please listen! You will understand.) After a while, though, I started noticing the sheer amount of barely-used products in these videos. Unopened products, even. Products that had been squealed about a couple of videos ago, but which were now “not really for me”. I heard beauty gurus saying that they’d “had something for a few years, so it’s probably time to bin it”. They didn’t mention if the product had started to turn, or smell funny, or grow mould. It was just ‘done’. 

I don’t blame these YouTubers or influencers one bit, TBH. The beauty industry has, much like fashion, become totally unsustainable over the last few years. Companies like Colourpop churn out new collections every week. Everyone has a brand, or a collab, or a brand AND a collab. You hear people talking about ‘release fatigue’ from the constant launches. At the same time, it’s hard to ignore the lure of the ‘new’. The best eyeshadow ever! The latest, greatest foundation! The most unusual shade! The most unique formula! Did you realise that you have a deep berry lipstick-shaped hole in your makeup bag? No? Well now you do, and boy do we know just how to fill it. 

This My Chemical Romance collab was the moment the industry finally jumped the shark for me, TBH. (Image: Instagram/@hipdot)

And that was me. Always something ‘missing’ that I had to have, always a new shade to covet, always another ‘holy grail’ cult favourite to cop. A while ago it dawned on me that I'd used some of these so-called must-haves only once or twice before I was on to the next thing. They're sitting there in a drawer gathering dust, and would be even if I was still wearing makeup full time.

So I want 2021 to be the year of getting to know the beauty bits I already have inside out. Using things up. Carefully considering what it is that I ‘need’, and what I just want cos I saw Violette or Katie Jane Hughes or whoever using it on Instagram. And this newsletter will reflect that, with honest opinions on things I use and love (or indeed, do not love). Believe me, I have enough stuff to talk about. If you find my recommendations useful when buying products for yourself, then great! If you just like reading about pretty things, that’s great too. 

I don’t think it’s going to be easy to resist the pull of new makeup. Just today, I had to remind myself that I don’t need anything from Samantha Ravndahl’s new line – I’ve already got the Charlotte Tilbury Flawless Filter and like it very much. I have many cream eyeshadows and glittery things to put on top of them. But this reminder only came after I had rushed to the site and scrolled through the products. I am weak. I know I will bend. But I will not break. (Unless Pat McGrath starts doing 75% off. Then all my best intentions go out the window.)

Look of the month

I have one selfie face and this is it. Get used to it.

This is what I would call my ‘standard glam’ look - it’s almost like a uniform I bring out when I want to look a little nicer than usual. Here I used the Uoma Beauty Say What?! Foundation mixed with a little of the aforementioned Flawless Filter, which gives me coverage and glow in equal measure. A wash of neutral shadow in the crease, a black cat-eye, and a hit of peachy blush (Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso) are the Kelly, Michelle, and LeToya to this Beyoncé of a red lip. 

My fave red ever is the Sephora Cream Lip Stain in Always Red, but my tube has gone old and crusty (ick) so the Fenty Beauty Stunna Lip Paint in Uncensored has stepped in. I love this colour but it’s a little more high-maintenance than the Sephora one - you would definitely have to watch yourself eating and drinking in this, as I find it transfers a little bit. 

Favourite of the month: Shiseido Synchro Skin Foundation

Two foundation mentions! It’s really working hard for me at the moment, considering I look as dull and grey as the weather outside. This was recently relaunched with a new bottle, but I hope to god the formula is the same because it is just beautiful. I’ve had it for a while now, and every time I put it on I am wowed by how healthy my skin looks. I think ‘coverage’ is subjective – my ‘full’ could be someone else’s ‘light’ – but to me, this is medium coverage with loads of glow and a skin-like finish that holds up throughout the day. It’s one of those easygoing bases that you can just slap on in the morning and trust to behave as you go about your business. Ideal!

Empties of the month: Skinceuticals Phloretin CF

Oh lads. This is so good and so expensive (€146. Yes, one hundred and forty-six euro). Skinceuticals make some of the best Vitamin C serums in the game - Phloretin CF is more for oily and combination skin, while CE Ferulic is for dry folks (they also have a new one designed for people who usually don’t get on with Vit C). I apply this in the morning first thing after cleansing, then let it sink in for five mins as I get dressed (I’ve heard this helps the active ingredients penetrate, but… look. I just do it, OK). It brightens and evens my skin tone, helps acne marks fade, and gives a little boost to my SPF thanks to all those antioxidants. I have another bottle, TG, but I think once that’s done I’ll have to find a more budget-friendly alternative :( This is where the end of the magazine freebies starts to hurt. But sir, the lifestyle I have grown accustomed to!

Thank you for reading the first ever issue (edition? Volume?) of Vanity Project! If you haven’t already subscribed, feel free to do so now. And tell a friend! Tell an enemy! Tell whoever you want, I don’t mind.