I Come Across the Desert

I may live beauty, I may write beauty, but I went to Tunisia with a single lipstick stuck in the pocket of my jeans. That lipgloss was Nars Sandpiper, and when it ran out halfway through my visit I kissed the boys bare-lipped.

So, yes, I travel light. And you thought I was high-maintenance.

Even though I carry a purse large enough to house a flock of geese, I don't carry makeup. I'd take along a copy of War and Peace before I'd bother rifling through whatever is permitted to be carried on board an airliner these days.

Back home in California, I scooped up the Nars Artist Palette from Sephora. Even though I already have most of these products individually (and sometimes in duplicate), I vowed to find some room in my bag for this limited edition volume.

Included in the slim black book are Style Snatcher beauty imperatives Ondine (eyeshadow: gentle foggy lilac), two Multiples in Copacabana and Malibu (opal; pinkish brown), and Trans-Siberian Express lipstick, a carmine red worthy of Tolstoy's Natasha.

The palette contains ten products in total, making it simple to create both day- and nighttime looks without ruffling the TSA's delicate feathers. Pair India Song and Night Star eyeshadows with Honolulu Honey lipstick; for le nightclubbing, well, pearlized gold/black Night Clubbing creates the ultimate in a sooty, urban eye. Gipsy and the wildly popular Dolce Vita lipsticks round out the kit. Style Snatcher particularly likes Dolce Vita paired with Night Clubbing; the combination is a ferocious mix of Mrs. Robinson and Lolita.

Talk about creative non-fiction.

Available at Sephora

Image: Merello, Figura con mano naranja