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. 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.
applying
This month I became a lip stain addict. The more often I wear makeup, the more I get annoyed with the idea of a lip. It takes way too fucking long to do, and then when I want to touch up at some point in the day or evening, I have to whip out three or four different products and finagle everything to look just so. So, lip stains it is, for now. I like lip stains best when they’re used as lip liners, because that’s my usual daily lip makeup situation. A lip liner and a balm, both inevitably fading within an hour or two—especially with a gloss on top.
My favorite stains for this are the Sacheu Beauty Peel Off Lip Liner Tattoo and R.E.M. Beauty Practically Perfect Lip Stain Marker. The latter of which is lightyears easier to apply than the former. The Sacheu lip liner tattoo is comprised of a really long wand with a doe foot applicator on the end, which is…an experience…to apply as a lip liner. I recommend applying it around the lip line in as consistent a line as you can, using a wet q-tip to peel it off after 10-minutes, then applying it all over the lips and over the area you just lined, peeling that off after just 5-minutes. It lends the best effect. The lighter two shades only last about 2hr on me if I’m eating/drinking, but the darkest shade (‘Muah-ve’) lasts the longest, and is hard to fade away with cleanser at the end of the day. In contrast, the R.E.M. lip stain marker is super quick and easy to use. Just drag it along your lip line, pat or smear with a finger to blend, and you’re done. Make sure you store it upside down or you’ll think it’s dried out after one use. ‘Booked n Busy’ is my favorite shade, and it lasts about 6-8hr for me through meals, drinks, and kissing.
seeing
This month I sat and listened and watched as Lee Unkrich, the Academy Award winning director of Coco, among other Pixar films, introduced a screening of The Shining here in Los Angeles. I’m not someone who loses my shit for this movie, I know there are legions of people who do (it felt like a good 15% of their global population was packed into this screening). I do really like it and have seen it several times, but I wasn’t so spellbound by it that I went looking for it’s fun facts or behind the scenes footage or anything like that. But Lee did, for literal decades, I think he said he spent over 30-years of his life researching and digging up information on this one movie. It was one of the most interesting discussions I’ve been privy to…probably ever. I learned so much about The Shining that I feel like I was made into a super fan whether I wanted to be or not. Did you know they had an entire hospital scene that they cut from the movie, where they told Wendy she had imagined or dreamt everything, and that everything was fine? And that Jack Nicholson has supposedly not done any interviews about his role as Jack Torrance since the release of the film? He flat out refuses to talk about it and refused to give Lee any blurbs. What a little enigma he is.
buying
I love secondhand and vintage designer fashion. Those are actually the only designer fashion situations I like. I don’t think I’ve ever gone into a boutique and picked up something from a current season before. I just feel like, especially in recent years with social media really taking off, designer fashion pieces trend so in our faces, and then disappear so quickly, that they’re risky for someone without consistent disposable income to be investing in. ‘Risky’ solely in the sense that you might end up stuck with something that was so trendy it’s lost any sense of timelessness—which is something I always try to keep in mind when splurging on designer. Timelessness is what helps a piece hold it’s value, which is important if you ever want or need to unload bits of your collection. I also feel that vintage and secondhand are more sustainable, and I try to be more sustainable with fashion pieces whenever I can afford to be. Anyway, I bought some secondhand Prada heels from byrenn that had never been worn until me. They’re square-toed slingback heels with little Prada logos on the toes, and thin but wide square heels that look almost invisible from the side. Chic!
thinking
Lately I’ve been thinking about how on pause I’ve felt, and in a way I can’t quite place and thus can’t figure out how to fully escape from. How important human connection is, and how the stress of the pandemic really made that so murky for me (and everyone else) as I entered my 30’s. I moved to Los Angeles mid-2017, and by the end of 2019 felt the (fully warranted) panicked need to start sequestering. I feel like I’ve been stunted somehow, it’s been so hard for me to get back to who I was before the all-encompassing stress of worrying about if my own shitty health was gonna make it easier for that illness to wipe me out in it’s strongest wave(s). I too often worried about dying. And worried often if my friends or family were going to suffer and be sick, or struggle financially and lose a lot of what they loved or worked for. I feel like I just cannot get back to where and who I was, because I feel stuck in this state of ‘we just moved here,’ but somehow am very aware of the fact that we’ve been here for six years. I have no idea where the time has gone, and it makes me feel panic sometimes—that’s the root of my feeling placed on pause. I’m stuck clawing up toward a play button I can’t quite reach. It’s an encompassing frustration of something totally out of my control that’s come in and blown up small corners of my life without my consent, and has potentially permanently altered who I am, forever. The reluctance to accept this changed ‘me’ and rolling with her, and adjusting and finding a new way to go forward without the ‘what the fuck’ and ‘what if.’ It plagues me in a different way, clouding my mind quite often with worry. Do any of you also feel this same way?
Okay, that’s all I have on rotation for March. Feel free to sound off your thoughts on sustainability in fashion…should I write about that? Let me know. I feel like it would be interesting to discuss at length. Also would love to know if you also like The Shining, or what movies you fawn over in general. We all have one! And of course, I demand to know what your thoughts are on the sudden surge of lip stains and why no one can seem to find a way to make them easier to apply. Talk soon.
I would absolutely love for you to talk about sustainability in fashion and consumption in general. Now that I’ve been on my own sustainability journey (ugh that word) I can’t help but notice everywhere the constant pushing of products. And to what end? Lovely post as always, Mariah.