Remember Makeup 411?

Have you ever paused a movie mid-dramatic moment because HOLY HELL, you MUST know what that lipstick is? I've done it more times than I can count, and until recently, there was a website I could visit that might tell me exactly what the makeup artist used: Makeup411.com. These days, it redirects you to the website for Makeup Magazine, but there was a time when it posted official product breakdowns and expert advice. I know I'm not the only one who misses it.

Well, with the wonderful Internet Wayback Machine, you can still access most of the site's content! (You can also access plenty of other websites and see the stupid shit you wrote when you were 13 years old, but based on personal experience, I can't recommend putting on that digital hair-shirt.) Just type in the URL and hit enter.

Here's a screenshot of the website as I remember it: there'd be a large photo of a featured breakdown, a list of the most recent breakdowns, and some easy-to-navigate tabs at the top. Unfortunately, a lot of the links on main page are broken in the Wayback Machine, but you can still get around with some creative clicking. If clicking on the actor's name under "Latest Breakdowns" nets you a broken link, for instance, you can usually get around it by clicking the makeup artist's name. That's how I got to this breakdown for Beyonce:

I TOTALLY USED TO OWN LYCHEE LUXE! I was a freshman in college and still used Aveeno lotion as a facial moisturizer, then wondered why my skin stayed so dry and unhappy, BUT STILL! I remember owning that gloss.

Interestingly, the links for the older version of the site are almost all active and easy to reach. I don't remember the site looking like this--I was introduced to it circa 2010--but holy shit, did seeing that early 2000s design take me back:

A layout made from pictures that were probably sliced in Dream Weaver, the default fonts, the hit counter...my God, the memories. Now I'm thinking back to the time before search engines. How did we find what we wanted back then?!

Actually, I've changed my mind: this takes me back. Man oh man, I remember when every girl in my high school went for this look! You plucked your eyebrows as thin as you could handle, you wore so much liner and mascara that your eyes looked slightly crusty, and you keep the rest of your face pale as could be with a super matte face powder and some borderline white lipgloss. You all know I love clean, dewy skin, thick brows, and a bold lip these days, and I think it's because I tried this out when I was younger and never wanted to admit that it looked horrific on me.

Speaking of the older website: these advice sections were stellar, and I'm sad that I missed them in their heyday. A list of drugstore alternatives for pricey products? If that wasn't prophetic for YouTube dupe videos! I don't know how accurate it is--I remember the NARS Sheer Lipsticks and the CoverGirl Lip Slicks, and they looked very different to me--but if a makeup artist said they could use those products interchangeably for the same effect, I'm not going to argue too much.

You can still find some beauty breakdowns and plenty of makeup artist tips by using Google, I know, but it's just not the same. I really miss having a full list of products straight from a makeup artist and readily accessible on one site, and I miss reading about the ten extra skincare steps completed to prep an actor's skin. Maybe we'll find another site that can fill the gap. Until then, here's one of my all-time favorite breakdowns, which had a product list so long, I had to cut and paste together two screenshots...

...in MS Paint. You know, like you did during those Y2K years.

Beauty Sightings: The Devil Wears Prada

The Devil Wears Prada is probably best known for the fabulous outfits ("Are those the Chanel boots?") and Meryl Streep's epic bitch face. And that bitch face is, indeed, epic and worthy of praise:

But that's not all this movie has! Since most of the film takes place at the offices of a (fake) major fashion magazine, "Runway" (clearly styled after Vogue), there's tons of great beauty products to be seen. Most of these products appear in the opening montage, but there are a few scattered throughout the rest of the movie

This fabulous beauty drawer gets pulled out at the start! We can clearly see a ton of NARS products, including lipsticks and powders. The tubes with the small "knob" on the end are most likely Dior Lip Addict products, and the double-ended lipglosses at the bottom appear to be from Tarte. Benefit's Dandelion blush and a Dior palette can be seen towards the back. (EDIT: The perfume on the desk is by Prada--thanks, Sassa!)

The infamous Shu Uemura lash curler! Model Gisele Bundchen makes a cameo appearance as a Runway employee, and she actually mentions the lash curler in-film:

Oscar Blandi haircare, Miss Dior Cherie perfume, and some Dior skincare.

No idea what these two lipsticks are, but they are gorgeous! (ETA: This is apparently a Shu Uemura lipstick. Thanks, Allena!)

The film tries to show that our heroine, Andy, is down-to-earth and "not in to beauty" by contrasting the above two lipstick images to her grabbing a tube of Chapstick. But we can definitely see a vanity mirror and a few products on a tray in front of it. Unfortunately, it's too blurry and far away for us to figure out the individual items on the tray.

Andy hands her friends some free swag from the magazine, including Aquolina Pink Sugar perfume...

...some Clinique products, and Mason Pearson hair brushes.

Sephora makes a cameo appearance!

This scene looks like a little blooper. Initially, Andy is holding a Kevyn Aucoin mascara: thin red tube, gold band around the mouth. But in the close-up, she's holding a wand with a thicker silver lid. I wonder what they switched to? (EDIT: Jennifer is pretty sure this is the Diorshow mascara. Thanks, Jennifer!)

And that's it for The Devil Wears Prada! Let me know if you recognize any of the products.

In other news, I'll be away for the next few weeks--I'll see you in January!

Beauty Sightings: RuPaul's Drag Race, season 6

Season 6 is probably one of my all-time favorite seasons. Even though some of challenges were beyond insipid, and the editing shade was at an all-time high, I really loved some of the queens they brought on. Obviously, my favorite was winner Bianca Del Rio...AND I GOT TO SEE HER LIVE. (Still not over it.)

Click on a picture to expand it and get a better view. As always, if you recognize a product, leave me a comment so I can update the post!

There are a ton of images in this post, so I put all but the first picture under a break. Be sure to expand this post! I actually ran out of room for brand labels, which is why I decided to just remove most of them for this Beauty Sightings post.

ColorEvolution was the sponsor this season. Here are the brand-spanking new kits each queen was provided.

Beauty Sightings: Marco Marco Spring/Summer 2014 Collection

A fashion show probably seems like a strange place to go for beauty sightings, as the models' makeup is often very homogenous and there isn't a whole lot of behind-the-scenes footage. But the Marco Marco Spring/Summer 2014 collection gave us a rare treat: a runway dominated by drag queens and transgender models, all of whom appear to have done their own makeup, if this behind-the-scenes treat is to be believed. And with a wide variety of drag queens comes a wide variety of beauty product sightings!

I see some Ru Glue (ie, an Elmer's glue stick, used to flatten brow hairs) and some Tresemee hair spray. Anybody recognize the palette?

Liquid liner; the shot moves too quickly for me to see, but it looks like it COULD be MAC Boot Black.

That looks like a bottle of Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua in that kit! Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. (I'd say it's Estee Lauder Invisible Fluid, but the cap shown here looks black, not blue. Y/N?)

The NARS Loves Los Angeles palette from 2013. I think this belongs to Willam, but that could just be the editing playing tricks on me.

I do believe that's an NYC liquid eyeliner! Hilariously, I notice that most drag queens seem to use cheaper drugstore liquid liners (Almay, NYC, NYX, MAC, etc). It's probably not cost-effective to buy the super-expensive options, considering how much black liquid liner the average drag queen uses.

I'm 99% sure that this is L'oreal True Match powder based on the lid of the compact and its overall design, but wow, what a yellow-looking shade!

A gratuitous porn shot featuring some MUFE and Smith's Rosebud Salve.

Speaking of beauty, can we all take a moment to appreciate the one and only Mathu Andersen? I dream of having him do my makeup some day. He is pure perfection.

GLORIOUS.

Now for a side note: I'll be away for my sister's destination wedding for a while, plus I'll be entertaining my boyfriend for most of May. With that in mind, BOGL will be on a hiatus for the rest of May. Posts will resume in June.

See in you summer!

Makeup Bag Test + DTMtBD Beauty Sightings

I reorganize my makeup bag every couple of months, and I always like to test out the makeup and see what kind of looks I can make. To be honest, I rarely come up with anything new or exciting; I stick with my "clean face bright lips" wheelhouse and hope it always works.

You may notice two new-ish products here: Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm Stain in Unapologetic and Josie Maran Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelee in Pink Escape. I'm iffy on the Revlon matte balm--it's nice, but it doesn't last as long as the regular balm stains--but the Josie Maran gelee is beyond beautiful. I've used it many times on myself and I've tested it on my mother. Always looks natural, perfect, and slightly glowy.

This test led me to make two choices: I'm switching out MAC Fling for a darker brow pencil, ie MAC Lingering, because Fling is a bit too blonde; the Revlon lippy is beautiful (and almost a dupe for MAC Impassioned lipstick), but not all that versatile, so I'll be swapping it out for a lipstick that's easier to sheer out or layer on.

But yeah, if you want a nice satin lip pencil at an affordable price, I'd still recommend the Revlon ones. I got mine for $4 (on sale + a coupon), and it was totally worth it.

As a side note, I wanted to add some more beauty sightings! We're heading back to Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead...don't judge me, I love this movie. We're looking at a 1991 flick, so if you're an 80s or 90s aficionado, help me out!

Inside Rose's desk. Wow, that looks like Evian water...but I think it says "moisturizer" under there. Hun. Also, the white tube with the blue cap appears to say "Lash," so it must be some type of mascara. The blue bottle in the back is eye makeup remover.

Rose takes out here tray o' stuff. Obviously we can see a lipstick there, but I also spot a tube of foundation on the left side.

Mascara. Thoughts on what kind?

That's definitely part of a Revlon label on the left. Anybody recognize that blue container--looks like it might be powder?

Shots of Sue Ellen's vanity.

Beauty Sightings: RuPaul's Drag Race, Season 3

I kind of fell off the bandwagon with these Beauty Sightings, yeah? I have absolutely no idea why I've done seasons 2 and 4 of this show and not 3. Forgive me and let's move on to the beauty sightings--I could really use some brand help on this one!

But not for the drinks, which are hilariously covered up with post-it notes. Anybody else ever notice that? Coke, why don't you want a Drag Race endorsement?!

Venus D-Lite darkens her brows even when she's not in drag.

Shangela pressing on cream foundation. I've heard tell she uses Graftobian HD, but don't quote me!

There's a MAC lipstick here, but I can't see the mascara behind it super-well. There's a blush palette here, but it looks like a bunch of depots, yeah?

Loose powder. Is this Ben Nye? Kryolan? Dermablend? They're all popular drag brands.

I've been trying so hard to figure out what this palette is! Google Fu is failing me. :( Kryolan was the sponsor for this season, so my assumption is that it's one of their products.

Delta's makeup spread.

Kryolan makeup remover and a blush palette. There's also some press-on nails and false lashes.

Alexis Mateo appears to have a MAC blush palette. Also, I will forever love this season for including the definitions of busted...

...and garage doors. Flawless.

Sprays behind Manila. The gold bottle is the much-loved L'oreal Elnett spray, excellent for holding wig hairs in place.

Another shot of those blushes, plus some Ru Glue and what appears to be a MAC cream blush.

A vanity shot and Shangela holding a MAC shadow.

Another shot of that f'ing palette! They're featuring it way too much for it to NOT be Kryolan...is it maybe a version of the 18 Color Variety Palette that I haven't seen?

Manila and Stacey painting their nails with a Wet n' Wild polish.

There's a NYX jumbo pencil in the mirror, and I think the powders are a mixture of MAC and theater brands.

Ben Nye powder on the table, most likely Translucent or Neutral Set.

A shot inside some kits and bags. There's a NYX compact in the train case and a Joe Blasco product on the vanity.

I can't tell if this is setting spray or hair spray.

Gratuitous shot of Yara putting on her makeup, just because she always manages to look beautiful when she does it while the rest of us look like a bunch of morons.