Alexis & Christina

K-beauty products always have some element of surprise 😂 This time, it’s a cute little phone stand that doubles as an eyeshadow palette by MYY and ordered off of @yesstyle and I’m not mad at it! The pigment load is soft and sheer, true to the nature of what you’d usually see in K-beauty makeup. What’s the most unique packaging design you’ve seen beauty queens? I’m so curious 👀

These three have been my absolute go-to’s lately! We’ve been traveling so much, and when I say I bring something on my travels, you know it’s serious 😂 These were the chosen ones. Quick breakdown: @katiejanehughes ‘s Soft Smudge Sticks are perfect for my beauty queens looking to get that K-beauty vibe with a soft blur. I’ve been using it on both my lips and cheeks to tie everything together! @lisaeldridgemakeup ‘s lip liners are up there with my Makeup For Ever faves, and that says something. So blendable and creamy, it just melts in. And @fwee_global ‘s 3D Glosses—Obsessed! You can play with the opacity in the same shade, so it’s super versatile. Such a fun one to have in the bag! What’s your current lip combo? 👀

Welcome to the behind-the-scenes of what happens after we film our beauty store adventures 😂 This time swiping some lippies @sephora . As you can probably imagine, I’m always heavily swatching which means I need to clean up afterward. I carry a little cleaning kit with me, but I also love testing out new cleansing balms—it’s the beauty evaluator life, always on the hunt for the next best thing! This time, I tried the @nudestix citrus cleansing balm - thanks to sales associate Dominic! - and was pleasantly surprised! It melted everything off very easily. And we’re talking lipsticks here—one of the hardest things to fully remove, especially without leaving stains. 💄 What’s your go-to cleansing balm?

NEW SERIES ALERT!🚨 Beauty queens, you’ve most likely heard me refer to my cosmetic chemist bestie before, and now I’m happy to say you finally get to meet him, Julio Pina aka @mr.pineapple718 ! We’ve known each other since 2018 now and have pretty parallel experience in the beauty industry, both having started almost two decades years ago - Julio in cosmetic chemistry and me in beauty product development. We met at a cosmetic contract manufacturer, where I was consulting on beauty product development and Julio a cosmetic chemist. We were initially wary of each other, like many cosmetic chemists are with PD people in the industry, but we quickly became besties after realizing we were both on the same team and wavelength about all things beauty and instantly clicked 🙌😂 We want to talk about so much more together, especially now that Julio is able to, but wanted to start first with how we met and the differences between our roles. So what other questions do you have beauty queens?

POSTED A YEAR AGO and had to repost because @lorealparis True Match Foundation’s is still the only drugstore foundation with the use of green pigment in its formulation. This green pigment acts as a powerful color tone enhancer, especially for folks with more olive complexions who often struggle with foundations appearing way too yellow. The green pigment neutralizes any excess warmth, ensuring a more accurate and natural shade match. Additionally, the inclusion of blue tones in some of their other shades addresses redness, making it a versatile solution for various undertones and shades. The customization and precision offered by this approach cater to a wide range of skin tones, promoting inclusivitv and accuracv in foundation matching. It’s pretty exciting to see the industry address these issues at the mass market level. I am curious to see what’s next for shade inclusivity!

SO shocked seeing @MaxFactor makeup in store @BootsUK. I had no idea they were even still around, and Max Factor - the person and the brand - truly laid the groundwork for the industry as we know it. Seeing it in store reminded me of some quick history, it was one of the first makeup lines to bring beauty to the everyday person, all the way back in 1909—so wild! It’s amazing to reflect back on beauty history and think about how influential it was back in the day. Seeing the brand still around today was such a surprise and a reminder of how far beauty has come. Nothing really jumped out at me this time to evaluate, but I definitely respect that it was one of the brands that paved the way for so many others!

We’ve been DYING to try @madebymitchell , and have some boxes at home we haven’t had a chance to deep dive into yet! Which is why Christina and I audibly gasped when we spotted this Made by Mitchell endcap at Boots while in London! I’ve been trying to evaluate Made by Mitchell for months, and my order kept getting cancelled! It feels right that the first time I’m trying Made by Mitchell is INSIDE @bootsuk ! I’m dying to dive into it and test everything out even more once we get home. Just from the display, the colors and layout are stunning—such a vibrant, playful vibe. Clearly from my first impressions, I’m impressed! Can’t wait to deep dive into Made by Mitchell even more! ✨ Congratulations Made by Mitchell, y’all should be so proud of what you’ve accomplished so far ❤️

SO MANY of our UK beauty queens wanted us to go to @bootsuk, so here we are!🇬🇧 😎 and though I’d been here ages ago, it was fun to re-visit! The store gave me that classic department store vibe—back when department stores were in their prime. Everything was so organized and clean, and honestly, I loved the gondola layouts here way more than what we usually see in beauty stores. It felt so open, spacious, and really shoppable! They had a great selection covering almost everything in beauty, with just your indie brands missing. Thanks to our beauty queens who recognized us and gave us a quick 101 too! Loved rediscovering boots with Christina ❤️ where do you want to see us go next beauty queens?

FROM THE ARCHIVES It was such an amazing experience to try @makeupforever’s new products during our trip to Paris in May 2024. 😍 I couldn’t post this until the launch, and just found it, and it was my first time trying the Makeup For Ever Artist To Go shadows with their head of education. These shadows were incredibly creamy with rich payoff, especially the deep shades. As someone who’s developed products, I know how tough it is to nail those pigments, but they absolutely did. We had the lovely Marie, the head of the Makeup For Ever Academy, walk us through the ingredients and even demo the shadows on a model. Stay tuned for my first impressions of their new lipsticks too…👀 Have you checked these out yet? I’ve actually been using them quite often recently. What did you think?

White foundation, like @hauslabs’ shade 000 is a versatile tool for adjusting your foundation or concealer shades as seasons change. It allows you to customize your complexion products to match your skin’s evolving tone, making it a must-have for those who want a consistent shade match year-round. As the seasons change, so does our shades, making it hard sometimes because we obviously don’t want to buy a million different complexion products to match every little change our skin goes through. That’s where shades like this are highly valuable. Makeup artists would definitely find something like this especially useful as it maximizes the ability to manipulate foundation shades. However, for my melanated queens, it’s essential to be aware that the darker your base-the more pronounced the lightening or “white cast” effect will be so that’s something to keep in mind. Have you used this striking shade before, beauty queens?

We wanted to come on here to let you all know that we’re taking a little mental health break today. If social media has been a lot - I recharge meditating, taking baths, going to my favorite coffee shops, and watching cat content (although Christina makes fun of me all the time about the cat content because our feed is personally flooded in it 😂). It’s so important to pause, recharge, and give ourselves space when we need it. We’ll be back tomorrow but until then, remind yourself it’s okay to take a mental rest. Keep a little optimism in your heart beauty queens. We wanted to share some important resources for anyone who may need it ❤️ National Suicide Crisis Hotline: Call or Text 988 and text PRIDE for LGBTQ+ services Crisis Text Line: text “HOME” to 741-741 Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860 LGBT National Hotline: 888- 843-4564 Blackline (for queer BIPOC community): 1-800-604-5841 DeQH Helpline (for queer South Asians): 908-367-3374 TrevorLifeline: call 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 678-678

I WAS SO UPSET WHEN I LOST THIS FRAGRANCE! I remember smelling this in London airport over the summer and getting her when I got back to NYC. Talk about love at first sniff 😅—I genuinely haven’t loved a fragrance this much in over a decade. And y’all know I smell a lot of fragrances, so that really says something. @amouageofficial Guidance 46 is so perfect, it’s honestly hard for me to put into words—I’m not even kidding! All I can really say is that it makes me feel so confident, powerful, and sexy when I wear her. No matter what I’m wearing, it makes me feel dressed up, which is not an easy feat. The price point is high, but trust me, you’re paying for incredible quality here. I did purchase her already once and I would GLADLY do so again. Thank you Amouage for replacing her. I’m so thrilled to have her back, and this bottle is definitely not traveling with me again 😂 I’m willing to part ways with her for a bit so she stays safe and sound on my vanity 🙌