Truly. Assuming your home is in the first world, which, if you’re spending your free time cruising internet beauty blogs, I think I can safely assume you’re not in extremis, you already have the greatest beauty product ever right there at home: water. Most folks don’t drink nearly enough water. Coloradans probably skew the average with our ever present sport bottles, but even then we’re probably not consuming as much as we should. I may just be speaking for myself. I’ll be honest. In the past, not drinking water was a deliberate time management strategy for me. When I went... Read More

This Saturday a peaceful rally of topless women and bare chested male supporters will gather on Pearl street for a demonstration. But is it legal for a woman to go topless in  Boulder? Yeah, it’s totally legal. Boulder city law does prevent nudity. So you must keep your “downtown” areas to yourself. Anyone over the age of 10 must adhere to this regulation. You cannot intentionally reveal your genitals in public. However, the torso is legal to show–female or male. This weekend, a group will gather on Pearl Street in recognition of the law. There will be topless women and... Read More

No, this isn’t a tutorial on how to use last night’s campfire ashes to create a smoky eye, although, that is a kind of genius idea. Instead we have a list of practical ways to be less of a greasy B.O. ball when you’re without running water in the middle of nowhere. 1) Sunscreen I mean, are you really surprised? Sunscreen is my number one, all the time, yes-every-single-day, beauty item. This doesn’t change when you’re out roughing it. In fact, it becomes even more paramount. You know what a hot mess looks like? Red, peeling skin in a distinctly sunglasses outline.... Read More

I may or may not be quite bitter about the spat of snow we had lately. Snow. In the words of Cher Horowitz, it’s “a full on Monet.” Sure, from far away it’s beautiful, but up close and personal it’s a big ole mess. I’m not a fan of winter in general. Sure there are lots of “activities” and “fun” and “major heart warming holidays,” but I’d much rather read a book on a porch with a comfortably warm breeze idly ruffling by. In that scenario I imagine the wind flirting with the effortless waves of gorgeous hair I have flowing... Read More

Ole’ blue eyes knew a lot about a lot — Do it your way? Absolutely. Wake up in a city that never sleeps? Sure. Strangers in the night? Ehhh… I guess… But I should’ve known he wouldn’t be the best authority on night and day moisturizer. I mean, he “had you under” his skin. That can’t be good for the pores. So, I stand corrected. While a separate day and night cream may be a ploy by the cosmetic industry to rake in bigger bucks, it is a ploy of which we should take advantage. What I’ve learned is your face’s skin needs utilitarian... Read More

Admittedly, this post is a little dim the lights, don a beret, and go all out Sharpie with your lower lid liner, but sometimes when it rains all day every day fora week straight you tend toward a little drama. My perception of beauty has always been tied to weight. It’s not like I had a specific experience that made me think ohhh, skinny is pretty, not skinny is not… I just knew. It was as innate as green meaning go. Sure, somebody must’ve decided it at some point, but I never gave it much thought. I just absorbed it as an aspect of society. It pains me to look back at photos... Read More

Recently a friend asked me my feelings on charcoal. That’s easy. Charcoal’s smell triggers cravings for hot dogs and watermelon and therefore is a lovely, lovely tease. Apparently she meant charcoal as a beauty product. I balked. Rubbing your body in charcoal? That seems as good an idea as bathing in mud. Which… while messy… and counterintuitive… happens to be a major luxury at spas worldwide. Interesting. Maybe gasoline fights really are next.  Ooh… except somehow that movie (Zoolander) came out in 2001… HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE. I feel old. Serendipitously, charcoal touts anti-aging... Read More

Brook was born in Burlington, Vermont, and has been in Boulder for 18 years. Loves the weather and riding his bike. Outdoors and Wilderness comes to mind when he thinks about the life of a resident in Boulder. His future plan is to become fluent in Portuguese, and travel abroad with many safe trips. Keeping Boulder weird is a reason to stay in Boulder for Brook. He feels he adds to the culture and loves it. Summertime is Brook’s favorite season in Boulder, Summertime is freedom. And it’s HOT! Thanks Brook!  Read More

A religious survey conducted in any major city around the US will generally reflect the religious inclination of the state in which they are located. But what about a notable lack of religious affiliation amongst residents? Today we will skim the surface of Boulder’s relationship to religion, and how the prevalence of nature might be an alternative to religious fulfillment. According to a gallup-poll released in 2013, Boulder was just shy of the least religious city/metropolitan area in the US. It was bested only by Burlington-South Burlington, VT. Both cities had 17% of their populations... Read More

It’s Memorial Day Weekend! A sentinel marker of summer’s imminence! Cookouts, picnics, and the opening of pools everywhere! Buuuuuuut… the weather still sucks. If your outdoor fun and frivolity has been side lined due to Colorado’s insistent impersonation of the Pacific northwest, here are five ways to bring on the patriotism and brighten up the party, even if it is indoors. 1) Add a patriotic hair accessory. 2) Consider an Amer-I-Can DIY manicure. 3) Swap out the brown and black mascara for a patriotic navy blue (like this, this, or this)(is it weird that I think this... Read More

When I was a barista in Brooklyn, I remember a customer asking for the café’s unwanted coffee grounds for his home composting. We had tons of it—leftover from the espresso grinder and from making drip coffee—filling up our trashcans so we were happy to pass some on to him. Recycling coffee grounds into your compost or fertilizer is a fantastic way to cut down on coffee waste. It’s also a great way to add valuable nutrients to your garden, since coffee is full of nitrogen and antioxidants. Another fun use for coffee, which I also learned while working at that shop in Brooklyn, is for skincare.... Read More

So… two things blew my mind this week and simultaneously confirmed that I live in a delicate balance of stupor and caffeination. Number one, this: UHM, WHAT!? THAT’S JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE. He posted this in January. The baby was born April 9th! HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS? I once considered taking a job in Bozeman, Montana and WHAT IF I WAS HIS BABY’S PEDIATRICIAN!?!? Yes, of course this is relevant. Clearly there’s more beauty in the world now that a member of *NSYNC has procreated. The second mind blowing factoid is this, which also surfaced back in January, but I just found out... Read More

Alright, friends. The time has come. You can release the horses you’ve been holding, salvage teeth enamel from the bits you’ve been chomping, and abandon your seat’s edge to use the whole of it to sit, because yes. The makeup glasses were delivered. For those of you who were spared the suffocation that comes with seven days of bated breath, I’ll recap. Last week I discussed my very limited vision and how it hinders eye makeup application. If I want to eyeline or mass-scare (the act of applying mascara)(or I suppose scaring the masses) I have to have my contacts in. Without... Read More

I’ve been a four eyes since the 2nd grade. Evidently binge reading plus optically challenged genetics equals functional blindness. It’s a formula that holds true to this day. My first pair of glasses had comically large pink plastic frames, because why wouldn’t they. It was like I was trying to earn another merit badge in dorkdom. High waters? Check. Preference for books over human interaction? Check. Thick corrective lenses that if swiped off my face rendered me helpless? Aww yeah. Because of this, I only wear makeup and glasses simultaneously if I’ve already done my makeup... Read More

You may think you already know the answer to this. Bigger is always better, and all that. It’s practically the American way. But I needed to find out for myself… Is Dior’s Diorshow Blackout Mascara really worth $27.50? Oomph and drama. Those sound desirable when it comes to equipping my eyeball fibers to bat and flutter. Is it great mascara? Yes. It separates, has a great color pay-off, did not clump until it was well past dried out, and made me feel like a cross between Betty Boop and a Manga character. Is it worth $27.50? In my world, that’s a lot of money. That’s... Read More

In case you haven’t been inside a commercial retailer in the last 5 weeks, next week will bring February 14th: Valentine’s Day. I’m not going to get into the singles/couples/heteronormative mess of it all. I’ll just say I’m looking forward to celebrating love. I like sending little Valentine’s Day packages to my niece and nephew in an effort to impress upon them that their marital status is not the only love in their life that matters. Especially since they’re both under the age of 12, so they’d better not even HAVE a marital status. So, chances... Read More

Does anyone remember Butterfinger BB’s? They were endorsed by Bart Simpson in the ‘90s and they were delicious. They were bite sized Butterfinger mustket-esque looking balls. Mmmm… Butterfinger balls. Clearly, I have etched them on my brain so they were the first thing I thought of when I started to hear about this “BB” business, immediately followed by “You’ll shoot your eye out.” Have you heard about BB Creams? I feel like they came up out of nowhere and all of a sudden every major line of cosmetics has their own version to tout. Upon further investigation, they did come out of... Read More

Stereotypes are basically a societal manifestation of the transitive property: People who read a lot are smart. People who read a lot need glasses. Smart people need glasses. Therein lies the nexus of this post: Boulder residents live in the Boulder Bubble. The Boulder Bubble is insulated from the rest of the world. Boulder residents are insulated from the rest of the world. With this knowledge it has to be said… we are the ideal target for subscription boxes. Have you heard of them? They’re popping up a-plenty in basically every genre of commerce: pets, candy, menses, and, you guessed... Read More

Kevyn Aucoin had every reason to fail. Or to not even fail. “Fail” implies he had opportunities for success that eluded him; he didn’t. He was a feminine, gangly, boy who lived in the homophobic South with his Catholic adoptive family. Despite this, he became a self taught master who achieved an unprecedented celebrity in his forty years of life across the worlds of beauty, entertainment, and fashion. His storied resume is nothing short of amazing. I had cursory knowledge of his achievements following the publication of his 1999 book, Making Faces. My mom had a copy of the book and I remember... Read More

I’m not ashamed to admit that as a grown woman A Christmas Carol still scares the bejesus out of me. (Yes, even the Muppet version.)(And in some ways, especially the Muppet version. Here I am thinking Kermie and Gonzo and the gang are going to be upbeat and darling, but NO. Their mirth is corrupted by ghosts upon ghosts that turn my favorite childhood gang into arbiters of holiday haunting. Not cool.) When I was younger the fear mostly came from the idea that I’d wake up one Christmas Eve to find powder white ghosts flailing chains at my face and I’d be forced to time travel away... Read More