Archives for January 2012

Today I live in the burbs about 30 miles north of San Francisco, but back when I did live in the city, it was smack dab in the middle of the dot-com boom, and the place was hoppin’.

Rental rates were out of control! Dot-coms were shooting up everywhere you looked, and housing of any kind was hard to come by. I struggled to find a place to live and eventually ended up renting a room in a sketchy house out in SF’s Sunset District, living with a cavalcade of characters, like the DJ/herbal enthusiast (let’s just say she wasn’t growing rosemary, if you know what I mean), and the kleptomaniac.

Honestly, I have no idea what I was thinking when I signed that lease. It wasn’t one of my better life decisions, but the rent was cheap, and I was hell bent on moving out of my parents’ house.

Which brings me to the new NARS Valparaíso Pure Matte Lipstick for Spring 2012…

Behind the sketchy house was a massive raspberry bush that had completely overtaken the yard, and in the middle of it, the branches parted to form a tunnel.

I never explored the tunnel because I was convinced it was filled with rats, but I always wondered… Where did it lead? Probably just to the back fence, but naturally my overactive imagination entertained the prospect of an entrance to Narnia on the other end.

Regardless, there was definitely something magical about that bush because it produced berries all year round — rich raspberries, like $25 NARS Valparaíso.

For gals who feel that rich raspberry mattes belong in fall, you know François. He’s not afraid to break the rules. 🙂

[Continue reading…]

Excerpted from the diary of a NARS Mexican Rose Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil…

Dear Diary,

Didn’t do much yesterday other than radiate awesomeness.

Yeah, that’s right. I make it rain! And if that makes me sound conceited, so be it.

My pink-haired roommate (we totally match!) tells me all the time, “you’re basically the sh*t.” She clearly sees that I’m the chupacabra of perfect pink lips.

I think she might be my new BFF, which is funny… Girls usually get so jealous of my dense pink pigment, high shine and easy-to-apply pencil tip.

But it’s not my fault that I’m so awesome and unique. I can’t help that I start off all super shiny like a gloss or that I morph into a hot pink lip stain with a subtle sheen.

Contrary to popular belief, it’s so not easy being flawless, and when I finally make my debut beside the rest of the NARS spring 2012 collection on January 13, not only will I have to shoulder the burden of perfection, but popularity, too.

Oh, well… Both of them are crosses I’m willing to bear.

Anywho, the pink-haired girl and I hung out for 12 full hours yesterday. She slipped me on shortly after brunch. Then, I watched her write a bunch of cheesy @ss puns — “Mexican Rose blooms with intense pigment,” “This pink is the hot house flower of NARS spring 2012,” and “Send me a dozen Mexican Roses for Valentine’s Day” — while we shared six cups of tea, a Honeycrisp apple (wow, those are good!) and spent time harassing her rotund tabby cat.

Next thing I knew, night had fallen, and we were off to yoga class (I would’ve preferred a swanky museum opening or a garden party).

I gotta say, I was the hottest pink lip in the room — well, the only pink lip in the room, but details, shmetails.

At one point in the class, between awkward downward dogs, the pink-haired girl checked herself out in the mirror and mouthed, “Holy crap! Mexican Rose is still going strong!”

Back at the house, we watched an episode of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (is Brandi’s butt for real?!) and had a dinner of slightly burnt broccoli and pasta, with a few kisses from a dude who kindasorta looked like Detective Stabler for dessert.

Glossy!
[Continue reading…]