March Memo: Marvel, Makeup & Melancholy
If you are following the political developments in Estonia, you might already suspect that I’m currently not in the best of moods. And you’d be right. I’m anxious and distracted and uninspired – not only because of the politics (there are other things that are not going 100% as I would like, both globally and personally), but mostly. It is difficult to be enthusiastic about blogging and Instagramming in this situation, as you can probably tell. Then again, I also don’t want to disappear for weeks and I WILL get my blogging mojo back, far right be damned. I am going to Estonia in the coming week to shoot some style content for you. Until then, here are my March snippets.
Paco Rabanne. The fashion weeks have come and gone and I have a new favourite brand. Paco Rabanne has in fact been on my radar for a couple of season already, but the most recent collection is their best yet. I love the 20s and art deco references, as they aren’t too literal. I even love what they’ve done with the iconic chainmail, which isn’t necessarily a huge personal favourite of mine. Look at this dress and tell me it doesn’t have my name written all over it? This is elegance updated for the Gucci era.
Glossier Play. Glossier has launched a (younger) sister brand that targets the other side of the millennial psyche. If Glossier was all about that natural look – good skin and maybe a touch of blush or a bit of a stain on the lips -, Glossier Play goes heavy on glitter, glow and graphic eyeliner. In a word, it’s very EXTRA. There are a couple of things I’d be interested in trying, even if I’m not really the target customer. What I really want to get my hands on, though, is the new Glossier Milky Oil. I love their Milky Jelly Cleanser and I believe this micellar water-oil combo could be a nice thing to have for heavy eye/lip days.
Sali Hughes & bargains. Sali has written a new edition of her legendary beauty bargains article, this time in two instalments. The first one is already online, the other should follow next weekend. Sali is the beauty guru I’ve followed the longest, from well before the Instagram era. Beauty is individual, but her advice is sound and I have no doubts about her integrity. If you are interested in affordable makeup and skincare, I highly recommend checking this out.
Caroline Hirons & retinol. It has been a good weekend for beauty junkies, as Missis Hirons has uploaded the first video in her retinol products series. You will appreciate the ambition of her undertaking once you watch the video. This specific video is about gentle, ‘beginner’s’ retinols: if you are looking for one, this is a must-see.
Marvel re-watch. As you may know, Avengers: Endgame comes out on 26 April (you can watch the dramatic final trailer here). To prepare, I am going to watch every single Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. I have of course seen them already*, but I truly believe I’m going to enjoy Endgame more if all the characters and storylines are all fresh in my mind. I am going by the internal logic of MCU rather than the order of releases. So I watched Captain America yesterday and am going to watch Iron Man 1 in five minutes. Captain Marvel should in fact be between these two, but I saw it last week.
Reading slump. My mood has affected my reading, meaning I’m hardly doing any, which is very unusual for me. It would not be a problem per se, but I miss reading and the comfort it can bring. I think this is not the time to attempt the ambitious stuff that I have on my immediate reading list and either do some rereading or proceed with some of the 2018 SFF releases that are still on my to-read list. I’m thinking John Scalzi space oparea or Martha Wells’s Murderbot might fit the bill.
How are you doing? Any recommendations for me to overcome my life-slump?
*With two exceptions: the latest Spiderman, as I have a bit of a problem with Spiderman, and Captain America: Civil War, as I did not want to see my favourite people quarrel.
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I sorry to read you are in the slumps Annikky. Work, country and personal worries all in one is a lot to cope with. Corny as it sounds, but this too will pass. Really. And blessing your countings as a good friend would say.
For boosting stress hormones I am all for pleasant and easy things and lots of sleep (I know not your strong point, but maybe give it a try?). I am not sure if you watch Netflix, if you do, we enjoyed After Life quite a bit, a good laugh and a sweet redemption, maybe a bit too sweet, but sweet nevertheless. And a great dog. Easy reading may be Stacey Halls the Familiars, I’m in chapter one, so far so good. Wishing you lots of plucky resolve!
It will, of course! And I know I’m fortunate – it’s not so much that I’m worried for myself personally (I’m not even living in Estonia at the moment), but my soul is hurting. I have in fact been a bit better with sleeping recently – I seem to be needing it more, too, as I’m emotionally exhausted. Thank you so much for stopping by and for the recommendations as well!
Sweden didn’t have a government for months, and the bad feelings after failed negotiations still remain. And there was a mad budget that got pushed through and no one knows the legal status of it all. At some point we all just got on with living. Analysis-fatigue is real. Think of happy things; Erin Morgenstern’s new book os coming soon. Daffodils in bloom is around the corner.
I will wallow in my unhappiness for a couple of days and then resurface. I think. And yes, an analytical mind isn’t always an advantage – it just doesn’t shut off. Thanks for stopping by. Daffodils indeed!
Ykkina, thanks for sharing this, all. I send you my best wishes and, again, thanks for keeping us updated. Very interesting things! I like Salli. Hirons is too much… enthusiasm?
I read your perfume posts. You are a mine!
Hah, I guess Caroline is rather… intense. I enjoy her personality, though, and she is both knowledgeable and has integrity. But there are enough gurus for all tastes, no need to like the exact same things.
First of all, I am sorry to hear about your recent mood, dear Annikky. I do one thing about my melancholia: embrace it. I don’t try to mask it. I wear mauve blush and lipstick and I listen to sad songs. Another alternative is thinking about small things that distract me from the bigger picture. For example, waiting in the mail for my recent Cult Beauty order that includes Kjaer Weis, Rituel de Fille and some products from their new aesthetically pleasing sex toy section. And this song that is part of my walking playlist now: Music Gets You Girls by Michelle Guervich. Another thing that I always look forward to are your posts. Your blog is my favorite by far and you inspire me in so many ways. I have discovered so many things because of you, now it’s time for me to discover more: starting with Marvel and queer themed sci fi literature. Much love and wishes for happier times. Is it dahlia season yet?
Thank you for your lovely, lovely comment. I agree with you completely when it comes to embracing the sadness – sometimes we need to be sad and it’s OK. And if it gets too tough to move from one day to the next, small things do help. I am feeling more upbeat by now, but the situation is still shit, so I think it’s entirely justified to feel somewhat gloomy.
Let me know how you get on with Marvel and SF – they are not to everyone’s taste, but have brought me much joy through the years.
Sorry to hear this. All are newspapers are filled to the brim with Dutch news which with elections and terrorist attacks is more varied than usual. So I’m sorry to have missed what is happening in your country. All I have been able to find about Estonia is that you have had elections. Did things go wrong?
Anyway, I hope you will feel better again in due course. Hugs!
We had elections and the results themselves were not (hugely) problematic. What was unexpected – at least to me – was that EKRE, the far right party was invited to the coalition talks. So there is a very real chance we’ll have people in the government who admire Orban and Trump and… worse. I don’t want to go into too much detail here, but it’s extremely dispiriting.
Ykkinna, like Austenfan I was left thinking about what was happening in your country. Just a week or two ago I read in The Economist an article comparing Estonia and Moldova and I remember thinking happily that your country was doing very well (wealth, less corruption, etc). I re-read the article yesterday and found that there is an anti-inmigrant, Eurosceptic populist party making noise… I wish you are feeling better.
We are overall doing very, very well. But as in many places, the sucess has been uneven and this has caused resentment, with similar patterns we see everywhere in the Western world. So indeed, as a result, that same party you mention will now most likely be in the government. It is sad for many reasons, not least because today 70 years ago, more than 20 000 Estonians were deported to Siberia by a regime that didn’t like people who were different.
Hi there- as an expat Brit watching the current omnishambles that is Brexit, I feel your pain with regard to Home country politics. Globally, it’s a worrying time.
However, on a lighter note, a personal thank you for the retinol post and pointing me in the direction of Caroline Hirons. I am anxiously awaiting part 2 of her series and have ordered one of her starter recommendations as I’m a retinol newbie- I have to concede that my middle-aged skin needs something extra now….
Love Sali Hughes too and take her budget recommendations very seriously.
Love your blog too- found it quite by accident but am a regular now – you combine my twin loves of books and style. Plus I need to get a grip on my skincare regime….
Take care x
Dear Mil, thank you so much for stopping by and sorry for the late reply – I’ve been travelling and still distracted by the political situation, too. I have been feeling awful about the entire Brexit situation for two years now (I work for the European Commission…), so I can only imagine how bad it must be for Brits themselves.
I am so glad you have found something to enjoy here and truly appreciate that you let me know. I assume you have seen the next Hirons video already:)?
I’m half way through it – I keep being distracted by work!
I’m currently watching Brexit through my fingers like a horror film. I can appreciate how sad and anxious you must be feeling about the rise of the far right in Estonia too.
On the retinol front, I’ve got myself some training wheels- Pixi Glow & Pixi Retinol tonics to start me off. Once I’ve finished this new Hiron’s video, I can graduate onto something stronger.
Keep writing & I’ll keep checking in x