Wear, Watch, Want #46: The Geometric Beastly Stain Edition
Wear: & Other Stories Geometric Hoop Earrings
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Having a brick and mortar & Other Stories within walking distance of my house has been both a blessing and a curse. That store is so well suited to my taste I can barely stand it, and before, when it was just me ogling their online selection, it was much easier to only spend imaginary funds. Now I see something online and I can leash up Hero and be looking at it in person after a short (seriously, like 7 minutes) walk.
Anyway, these geometric hoop earrings were something that I spotted and scooped up on a quick & Other Stories jaunt, and they've become a part of my regular rotation. They weigh virtually nothing, and they add a little interest beyond basic hoops. They're also the most low-maintenance earrings you could ever want for - you just thread them through and you're done. And they stay put! They come in a larger size, and I'm considering getting those too so I can wear the larger ones plus the smaller as a set (my ears are double pierced, and the same earrings in two sizes is a great way to get my business).
Watch: Beauty and the Beast
I saw the live action version of Beauty and the Beast this week and guys, I thought it was just excellent. I have plans to see it again (maybe twice more, actually), that's how much I loved it. To be fair, I am a Beauty and the Beast superfan. Also, I avoided every single teaser before the movie came out, so I went in with no prior knowledge or expectations. I mean, I had a metric shit ton of prior knowledge. I could recite the entire animated movie for you at a moment's notice. I could sing every song, including the ones from the Broadway musical. But I hadn't seen a single trailer - by design. I'm also not a person who thinks that a movie coming out when I'm 30 will "ruin my childhood" because it's a live action version of a movie that I became obsessed with when I was four. When Beauty and the Beast was re-released in IMAX theaters in 2002 I saw it at at the Pacific Science Center and it was just as magical as seeing it in the theater in 1991 - but this time it was HUGE (and had an added musical number). Seeing this version in 2017 had that same magic feeling - but this time it was LIVE. Parts of the story were expanded, so there were new elements I hadn't yet committed to memory. Lines of a few songs were changed! I kept searching for the oh-so-offensive "gay scene" I had read so many headlines about (still not sure where it was. Either there were 20 "gay" moments or there were none. It's 2017. Everything's gay.) And the costumes! I tried in vain to find a photo to capture how great the costumes were. WHY, DISNEY?! It's tough to argue that the show-stopping number in 2017's Beauty and the Beast isn't "Gaston," but one of the reasons I can't wait to see the film again is to watch "Belle," a number so jam packed with references to the original film that you want to watch it in slow motion. But also: Every single villager's costume is A+ excellent.
This is all to say, I went into the theater super excited and ready be enchanted (pun intended, obvs) and I totally was. I have now allowed myself to read reviews of the film (and I watched the trailer for the first time - to put it in this post!) and I think the only difference between those who have reviewed it positively and those who said, "Meh" is their attitude going in. Part of the reason why I didn't jump at the chance to see every teaser and trailer for Beauty and the Beast was because I was so excited, and I wanted to carry that excitement with me into the theater, where I could experience every moment of the film for the first time, right then. I came in expecting magic and I was rewarded. Sure, the CGI Beast was inconsistent, and Emma Watson's singing lacked confidence (reviewers claiming she lacks talent will only add to this, I'm sure, so screw those guys), but those issues only come up for me after racking my brain and digging past all that I loved about Beauty and the Beast. And I can't wait to see this tale as old as time again (and again).
Want: Sephora Cream Lip Stains in 40 Colors
I was at Sephora recently restocking my Josie Maran Argan Oil and I noticed a display for Sephora's Cream Lip Stains. I wrote a review of this miraculous lip product back in July of 2014, and back in those dark ages there were I think eight shades of this lip stain, and only about three or four of them were halfway decent. I myself own two of them, and that's after buying three or four and coming to terms with some harsh truths. Hey, I'm the kind of girl that when she finds something that works, she buys it in ten colors (see this Gap tee shirt). It sucks when most of the colors are just crap. When I saw the huge endcap advertising FORTY shades of Cream Lip Stain, I literally stopped dead in my tracks. This was a mistake, as I was being pursued by an overzealous sales associate, but I darted around a face mask display and peeped all the lip stain shades from a safe hiding place. Before, there was the one red, the one pink, the one nude. Now? Now in this display there was a ROW of reds. A ROW of pinks. I couldn't even process it. I didn't have the capacity to even swatch (plus, remember, I was being preyed on). I'm going to have to go back and do some major reconnaissance. This is a game life changer.
