This time around, my best reads in February are nearly all about beauty. They’re also more of the, ahem, nerdy variety. So if you’re a beauty geek, this one is for you. Or if you want to know about the latest MAC release, how beauty ruins traveling, THE best-selling beauty product on Amazon, and how makeup can affect anxiety – go on reading!

Beauty

Make-up artist James Kaliardos has just partnered with MAC for the limited edition Make-up Art. Of course, magazine editors asked him about the latest trends in Makeup. Turned out he’s a bit confused at the recent makeup trends, which makes him very endearing to me (although I didn’t get anything from his collection because it’s a bit too basic for me?! Sorry, James.)

So there’s been studies saying that doing your makeup can help with depression and anxiety. I find that very true. Painting my nails is very meditative for me, and doing my makeup in the morning has been really helping me to get up and going during some times in my life.

This one is interesting. Have you been scrolling through your Instagram and wondered about all those shots of perfectly made-up and styled girls looking like models at fabulous destinations? Have you also wondered why you never look like this when you’re traveling? This travel blogger wonders how that effects us.

Photoshop and special lighting. Sure. All the makeup and skincare and treatments you can buy, sure. Procedures, personal trainers, yeah, whatever. But did you know that there’s something like CGI just for beauty that stars demand to have when they appear on screen? Basically in post-production a digital artist changes every frame a star appears in. Mind? Blown.

The bestselling beauty product on Amazon is this so-called Aztec Clay mask. Racked took an in-depth look at the company, its product and the online fans. (Personally, I get incredibly wary when a company apparently hasn’t either an address nor a spokesperson.) Have you tried this?

You know, for all of lusting after the drugstore products (and awesome drugstores) in the US, UK or, say, South Korea, this is a nice read of a Glamour editor stranded in Berlin and discovering the joys of Rossmann and dm.

L’Oreal and Estée Lauder are two of the biggest beauty companies in the world. They’re also buying indie companies like there’s no tomorrow lately. Why? And especially, why does Estée Lauder buys Too Faced or Becca? Why does L’Oreal buys It cosmetics then, and what does Sephora has to do with that? The inner workings of the big beauty players are endlessly fascinating to me, because in the end, they determine what you’ll buy.

 

Non-Beauty

The story of a female pilot from Trinidad who know works in Qatar. Endearing, inspiring and empowering.

If you ever wanted to know how it is to work from home, this is it.