One of my favorite truths to tell during the icebreaker game Two Truths and a Lie is that I’m legally blind in my right eye. Really, both of them have such bad astigmatism to the point that, no, I do not qualify for corrective laser surgery, and without my glasses or contact lenses, I could barely make it down the block without wandering into a stop sign.
And while that’s fine and all—we all have our burdens to bear—what’s been especially challenging is my dry eyes. I don’t put in my lenses until the last possible moment before leaving my apartment, I keep a bottle of eye drops in my bag at all times, and if my lenses aren’t out by dusk, I start doing this thing where I blink very slowly, like a sloth (probably), to maximize the amount of time my eyes are closed. It’s awkward to whip out eye drops over drinks with people for work, or at karaoke, or during a date. Someone’s talking about how their grandma just died and I have to be like, “Hold on one sec, I need my artificial tears.”
Makeup only complicates matters, since I’m constantly fussing with my eyes. Powdery shadows are persona non grata, as are heavily pigmented, super-thickening mascaras. Whatever I wear needs to hold up to the eye drops, too, and the oil on my fingertips (I don’t rub my eyes, but ease the discomfort by gently pressing my index and middle fingers into either corner). So I’m strategic: I go for longwear formulas and only apply makeup to my upper lashline and eyelids. Here’s what I’ve found, through much trial and error, to be the best makeup for dry eyes.
Immediately after I left the screening of Mindy Kaling‘s upcoming film, Late Night, at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, I texted a friend a glowing, all-caps review: “I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE IT AGAIN.”
For one, it’s an incredibly enjoyable film to watch, the kind of story you want to lose yourself in after a bad day. Kaling wrote (and produced) the film for Emma Thompson, who plays a witty, glamorous, sometimes terrifying talk show host. Kaling’s character joins her writing staff as a diversity hire, but what follows is a refreshing—and, yes, hilarious—movie about mentorship, equality in the workplace, and the value of hard work.
“It’s really easy to slip into a place when you start out in your career where you’re like, I’m just trying to get my foot in the door and I only want to help myself. I’m scared to help anybody else,” Kaling explained at a Sundance Film Festival panel hosted by Stella Artois and Deadline. “And then, as you become more successful, you realize it behoves you to [help others]. The movie is so much about women helping other women, about mentorship and learning how to become a mentor.”
Phillip Faraone
Behind the camera, Kaling and her fellow producers put that into real action by hiring a female director, Nisha Ganatra, and creating a gender-balanced set. The film has even earned the ReFrame Stamp, a mark of distinction formed by Women in Film and the Sundance Institute for projects that have female-identifying people in four out of eight key areas of production.
That’s not the only impressive stat about Late Night, either. Following its Sundance premiere, the movie was purchased by Amazon for a whopping $13 million—a record for the festival at the time, and proof that there is money to be made for female-led productions. So, I sat down with Ganatra after the panel to learn more.
Late Night was purchased by Amazon in a record-breaking deal. What does that mean for you—and for female directors? It’s major.
Nisha Ganatra: I think this movie setting a record at Sundance is so important because the leads are a woman over the age of 50 and a woman of color. That, sadly, is radical alone, but there was so much talk of, “Oh my God, will this make money? Is this marketable? Who will go see this?” The fact that this movie broke the record at Sundance is so significant and so exciting and so amazing because it validates that you can tell your story. You can tell the story that people don’t think is worth telling, and it will find its audience and people will reward you for it.
You were pregnant while you filmed this movie, and during the Stella Artois & Deadline Sundance Series Late Night panel you joked that you wore big sweaters so nobody would worry. I was struck by that—Mindy Kaling has a young child, and this movie has the ReFrame Stamp for gender parity. It’s obviously a female-friendly workplace, so I’m curious why you felt that way?
NG: Well, our culture still treats pregnant women like they are fragile things, and that is not true or fair at all. For me, it was more…as a director, I’m very nurturing and I feel very protective of the cast. I didn’t want them to look at me and think, oh have a seat! Have some water! I wanted them to feel like they could go head-to-head with me and not have to worry about my fragile state of pregnancy.
It seems like every time you open Instagram, a beauty brand is launching a new palette, lipstick, or contour kit. While it certainly keeps getting ready fun, the sheer volume of products dropping on the regular makes it impossible to try everything—or even know where to start. That’s where our beauty team comes in. Luckily for you (and us), it’s our job to sort through the piles (and piles) of makeup that cross our desks each month to narrow down the best new makeup launches that are worth adding to your collection. Check in all month as we add our favorites from January to the list.
We don’t have to tell you that award shows are fancy affairs. As one of Hollywood’s greatest traditions, it’s the one time of the year you can expect celebrities to really do it big. After all, we’re talking about black-tie parties that give away vouchers for $1,900 vampire breast lifts and luxury TP in their gift bags. So it’d be unsurprising if the beauty products too were accessible to only the 1 percent, right?
While that might the case for “penis facials,” many of the hair, makeup, and skin care products glam squads use during the awards circuit are refreshingly affordable. Brands often broker deals with makeup artists and hairstylists to use their newest launches for red carpet looks. And why not? As the “who are you wearing” question proves, celebrities on the red carpet are essentially walking billboards. Plus, this is also good news for the rest of us. We might not be able to drop thousands on a designer gown, but $10 on a foundation Gina Rodriguez looked incredible in all night? You bet we want—and can have—that.
Ahead, keep tabs as we track all the best drugstore beauty finds from awards season. Something tells us you’re going to want to make a pit stop on the way home from work tomorrow.
Oh, red carpet glamour, we’ve missed you! After the annual lull that is the holidays, awards season finally arrived tonight to bring some glitz and great hair inspiration back to our feeds. We’re talking, of course, about the 2019 Golden Globes, which as the first major event of the awards circuit, always sets the tone for the upcoming hair and makeup looks we’ll be seeing between now and the Oscars. (You know your newfound obsession with hair bows? You can thank last year’s Golden Globes for reinvigorating their return.) If we’re being honest, in many ways, the Globes are our favorite red carpet of the year because they’re less uptight and formal. (Yup, it’s the show where everyone is allowed to drink.) What this usually means is that hair and makeup pros are more likely to push the envelope with the looks they create.
This year, we’re happy to report we had a few full-fledged yasss moments: Sandra Oh’s old-Hollywood curls, Chrissy Metz’s red lipstick, and Camila Belle’s lime green eyeshadow. Scroll on for all our favorite looks from the night. We’ll be adding to the list as more stars arrive.
The reasons to love drugstore makeup are endless. First, there’s the obvious: the price. There’s nothing better than being able to try—and fall in love with—something new without worrying that you’ll never be able to afford it again. Second, unlike having to trek to a specialty shop or wait for free shipping, you can always count on a CVS, Target, or Walmart to be nearby. But most of all, drugstore makeup has really gotten good over the past few years.
Of course, the one downside of drugstore makeup is that—more often than not—it’s tough to test in-store, so it can be hard to tell what you’re going home with. Luckily, we rounded up the best of the best, so you don’t have to take the gamble. Of the hundreds of products our editors tried this year, these were the drugstore makeup buys that found a permanent home in our makeup bags.
