on rotation for february '23

applying, reading, seeing, buying, thinking, etc.

I’m a woman of many facets, and I’ve really only ever exposed two of those to the public sphere: my face and body. No one really knows me outside of that—which is fine because I’m pretty shy and thrive on being able to remain ambiguous—but I also get tired of feeling the need to be so linear. It causes this ‘thing’ where anytime I share anything out of my usual subject matter, as mundane as it might be, I get people asking ‘what’s going on with you’ or ‘who even are you.’ I’ve always had a lot to say, probably too much, and I do a lot that I just never talk about. So, on rotation is a once-monthly namesake entry that’ll pop up on here somewhere toward the end of each month, where I just talk about things. Something more than photos of my face and body. Fun, light, surface-level anything. I think it’s fun to discuss what I’m applying, reading, seeing, buying, thinking, etc.—the things that are actually on rotation for me each month.

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applying
Okay, I’ll say it…I’m not a Glossier girl. I want to be, but my skin says no 99% of the time. However, when it comes to their Stretch Concealer, my skin has never been more agreeable. I remember purchasing this when it first launched years ago, and—I know I say ‘I’m accosted,’ a lot, but I really mean it this time—I was accosted by how terrible it was. It was like applying flesh colored lip balm around my eyes and face, and it migrated everywhere throughout the day. It made my mascara transfer. It was a mess. I tried it in various life settings: beach, shoots, window shopping, nights out. I received the same melty-result each time, unsubscribing from it until this year.

After cycling through close to a dozen concealers in the span of 8-weeks (I was trying quite a few for work), I wasn’t totally loving anything and was looking textured, tired, and dry. I asked Twitter what concealers they swore by, and got a few replies from people saying the Glossier concealer was their holy grail, withstanding workouts and other sweaty or stressful situations. I was intrigued, because that was not at all what I experienced in using it prior. I figured maybe they’d tweaked the formula. I popped into the Melrose store that same day and picked up two pots—the undertones aren’t great, and I have to mix to find something somewhat close to my usual shade. But…wow. I feel like I won’t use anything else in my day-to-day. It looks totally invisible in the sense that I can’t even begin to see the texture of the product on my skin, and it’s a solid medium coverage. It lasts all day—the other night I popped my tires and got stranded in Malibu until 4am, I had this concealer on my face for close to 24-hours that day and it very nearly looked the exact same as when I first applied it. I’m not sure if the formula or my skin type has changed, but I don’t know how I’ve done my makeup without Stretch Concealer for this long. Tip: it looks and lasts best when you apply just enough and use your fingers, just take the tiniest bit and ‘stretch’ it where you need it.

reading
Last month, my singular resolution for the year was to read more. I have always loved reading and writing, but life seriously got in the way and I was just not doing either anymore. For my birthday, my mother gifted me 6-books I’d been wanting, one of which I’ve discussed on here, Beauty Sick by Renee Engeln. I’m about halfway through, and I absolutely love it. I don’t want to get too lengthy with my thoughts here until I finish it, but it’s lead to a lot of realizations for me, and has been a cathartic read. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the way the beauty landscape can damage us, and what we can do to remedy that.

seeing
Okay, this is very much a ‘want’ to see, but I am dying to see Jessica Chastain in A Doll’s House on Broadway. I absolutely love acting and actors, I seriously could listen to them talking about the in’s and out’s of their craft and why they do it for hours. She’s one of my favorites. She is so poetic and dynamic with her performances. And I feel like it’s so rare to get the chance to see one of your favorites performing right in front of you like that. Are any of you seeing this, or have you seen it? I want all of your thoughts, if so. I’m trying to get back up to New York this spring to make it happen.

I’ve also been trying to watch the movies Joan Didion wrote, or were based on her writings. Last month I saw The Panic in Needle Park, I highly recommend watching it if you can. It was released in 1971, filmed in New York. The director was a former fashion photographer, and you can just tell by the way it’s shot and framed. Lots of close shots on eyelashes, lips, hands, hair. It’s a sad movie but really beautifully filmed. It’s a love story about two people held together by drug addiction, and is told from the viewpoint of the female lead. I have Play It as It Lays on my watchlist too, and I’m starting the book this week!

buying
This month I bought entirely too many books, I think around 6-7? Sometimes I read a book in a day, so I feel that justifies it, haha! One of my favorite bookstores is Skylight Books in my old neighborhood, Los Feliz. Tons of options, and they host a lot of events each month and offer a ton of cool programs, both of which are great for meeting new friends who are also book-obsessed. I’m just about finished with My Body by Emily Ratajkowski—I absolutely love it. I’ll share my thoughts on here when I finally get through it!

thinking
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about saying ‘yes.’ This past year was my year of saying no, which I’ll elaborate on at some point, and it was a very slow year in terms of both work and play. I’d worked a bit too much the year prior and was super burnt out, but had saved up a lot of money working as much as I did, so I figured I’d take one year of my life a little slower while I had the chance. This year, a resolution of mine is to simply say yes to more things…I am a firm ‘no-er’ toward anything that is uncomfortable for me, and I want to change that. I feel like it’s really hard to grow, learn, and evolve if we don’t do a few things that challenge us or make us uncomfortable. Those situations, to me, are where we experience the most growth—when failure is a solid, glaring option on the table. I want to fear failure less, and seek growth more, and I think the only way to do that will be to pop ‘yes’ back into my world more frequently.

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That wraps up this month’s on rotation. Feel free to discuss with me and others what you’ve been watching, buying, thinking etc. for the month of February in the comments below.