Mid-Week Musings

My end-of-April picks for new makeup, good reads, bootcut jeans and sandals

Clockwise, from left: Paige bootcut jeans, The Dictionary of Lost Words, Merit lip oil in sheer pink and Flòwze sandals.

What I’m curious about right now:

• All-Purpose Makeup Is Everywhere. Do 5-in-1 Products Really Work?
  The Wall Street Journal recently reported on multipurpose beauty products that claimed from three to as many as eight uses. Macrene Actives High Performance Tinted Moisturizer promises five—moisturizer, anti-aging treatment, mineral sunscreen and highlighter. Can it really do all that? For the $175 price for 1 ounce, it better be something special.

What I’m reading right now:

• The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
  The story of the making of the Oxford English Dictionary takes on the questions of whether words mean different things to men and women.

• Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
  When a psychiatrist goes to therapy.

What’s on my Libby list right now:

• When the Going Was Good by Graydon Carter
  The great Graydon Carter of Spy and Vanity Fair fame takes readers on a journey through the heyday of magazines.

• Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams

  A memoir by a former Facebook executive exposes the ugly side of one of the world’s most powerful companies.

What’s in my cart right now:

Clothes and Sandals

• Paige High-Rise Laurel Canyon Bootcut Jean

  The style is back—the silhouette hugs the waistline while fitting looser through the thigh. The flare should start just above the knee and taper out gently.

• Flòwze Flò sandals

  A less clunky version of Tevas. Of course, they’re Italian—and good-looking enough to take you from the beach to city streets.

Beauty

• Merit Shade Slick Gelee Ultra Sheer Tinted Lip Oil

  A lift for the lips—and a face-brightener.

• Essie Good as New Nail Protector
  This pale pink formula improves the look of my nails. I wear it instead of polish.

• Naked and Thriving Illuminate Face Serum

  An alternative to retinol with ingredients like hyaluronic and ferulic acid that you can apply day and night.

Substacks I’m loving right now:

• The Allison Bornstein Newsletter. She’s a stylist to the stars, but her monthly column advises that you don’t always need new clothes, just new ideas.

• Back Row. A former writer for New York Magazine’s The Cut, Amy Odell goes behind the scenes of the fashion world to write for readers, not advertisers.