What The Fug Girls Buy With Their American $
The OG Blogger Edit
I’ve been reading The Fug Girls,
, pretty much as long as I’ve had INTERNET. For almost a decade, their celebrity fashion/pop culture blog, Go Fug Yourself, was the first thing I’d check when I got to the office early, keeping the browser tiny and in the lower left corner so as not to disrupt my daily performance of “busy theater.” I’d like to thank the academy. They’re both hilarious, phenomenal writers. The site is still one of my must-reads of the week, so many years later.I was initiated into the cult of Heather and Jessica via the old TV recap site, Television without Pity (think Vulture, pre-Vulture). Now, I read their new Substack, Drinks with Broads for all of my And Just Like That gossip/commiseration needs (and yet, I still watch it on Thursday mornings before even having my coffee). Heather and Jessica are also best-selling authors of "The Heir Affair," "The Royal We," "Spoiled," and "Messy." Their beauty recs, while rare, are always top-notch when they share via Instagram Stories. So I was thrilled when they agreed to share their five things they’re buying with their American dollars—and even provided five items each. Bonus!
Here they are, in Heather’s and Jessica’s words, respectively.
RELATED: Read Jena Kingsley’s, Jim O’Connell’s and Julia Coney’s picks.
Heather’s Picks
My skin care regimen is pretty basic and I keep my budget tight, so when I feel the need to change things up, I've gotten disciplined about trying only ONE new thing at a time and forcing myself to stick with it for a month. That's not rocket science, obviously, but I'm impatient and it's easy to get seduced into thinking you will wake up with a whole new face one day, so I've really had to coax myself into not making snap judgments with my serums. All of which is to say: While the feel of Deliverance is lovely and silky, I have a vivid memory of touching my face a couple weeks into using it and being like, "Oh! Oh." It's had a wonderful effect on my skin texture -- it's very soft and smooth — and I'm very happy with the overall look and clarity, as well. Honorable mention for their reusable eye masks and the Instant Angel moisturizer, which I'm currently using under Vaseline at night, but it's Deliverance that arrives at my house every three months via subscription—which, by the way, is always a little bit early, in a good way. I use it once a day, every day, and I'm conservative with it; my new one has been here for two weeks and I haven't had to crack it yet. So there's quite a bit of value in each bottle, which the instructions will also tell you how to dismantle and recycle.
Kiehl's Super Multi-Corrective Cream
I just always come back to Kiehl's for moisture, because it's really easy to get without shipping, you can make it last a long time, and it just WORKS. For eons, I was a devotee of the basic Ultra Facial Cream, and in truth I do still think it's the best product they have—I hoard the tiny free samples and have one in all my purses and in my car. But I'm older now and wanting some extra anti-wrinkle properties, so I switched to the purple jar. (It's always just The Purple Jar to me.) And it's another one you can REALLY make last; I'm still on the small pot that I bought as a trial about 6 months ago.
I sweat hard when I work out, and my curls aren't the kind that keep their shape if you sleep on them, or touch them, or breathe on them wrong, so I've always just washed my hair every day. Forever. There are people no doubt gasping in horror when they hear that, and they're right: In the last two years, it's gone dry as a bone on me, and that's my fault for not caring for it properly. Not washing leaves me feeling too itchy, though, so this co-wash has done wonders. I cycle it in when there's a day I don't want to do a full shampoo but I do need something more than just hot water, and it's the perfect happy medium. I will say that it's a tad runny and ergo a little does not go a super long way, or at least I haven't figured that out yet, so I'm that I'll keep buying this and playing with how to make it last until I find one that can compete.
Love Ur Curls All-In-One Styler
I've recently also invested in their shampoo, as another low-impact formula I can rotate into my regimen, but it's the styling cream that does the best with my hair. I use the wavy formula for my fine, thin hair—just a small pump, which I emulsify by running my other hand under water and then rubbing them together before distributing. I use it just about every day, in conjunction with a pump of John Freida's anti-frizz. On the days when I give my hair a break from it, I do notice, and miss it.
Fenty Eaze Drop Blurring Skin Tint
Full disclosure: I don't use much makeup, and that includes foundation, mostly because I work from home and no one ever sees me, so who even cares what my face is doing? But lately, I have wanted the option for some color-correction when we actually leave the house, without putting on a full face of foundation, and this is the perfect compromise: It goes on smoothly, feels light as air, and does exactly what it says on the bottle. I only have to use a few drops at a time, too. Apparently the theme of my recommendations is Stuff I Hope Will Last Forever Between Purchases.
Jessica’s Picks
Okay, listen, I know everyone has this on their lists and the reason for this is that it's A VERY GOOD PRODUCT. I don't really use it as a lip mask as much as I just use it as a lip balm/lip gloss situation. It is obviously nice and pleasantly moisturizing, and it also has enough shine to feel like it's adding something to my look, but it's not like.... makeup makeup. The bonus good news is that the small pot lasts forever. (I do have to acknowledge that I know a lot of people hate sticking their finger into a pot of balm and I get that; this DOES come with a little teeny spatula but, in full disclosure, I always lose it and then I'm annoyed when I'm at the bottom of the pot and it's tough to get all the product out.)
Living Proof Full Thickening Cream
I am obsessed with my hair and it's unfortunate that, no matter what I do, it still only ever looks vaguely okay. My god-given hair is super fine and prone to falling out, thanks to a melange of autoimmune issues. Covid? Lost hair. Wisdom teeth out? Lost hair. Stress? Lost hair. And so forth. I've spent the last twenty years trying all kinds of things to make it look thicker, with varying results. (Hair extensions worked great visually, but cost me a fortune and I got sick of spending a whole day at the hairdresser every three months. I already have to go to my colorist once a month because I'm so grey! I'm terribly vain but also horribly lazy, it's a bad combination.) The thing that finally really turned my hair thickness around was having had an ovarian cyst removed a couple of years ago—I am no scientist but I suspect there was some weird hormone thing happening? Who knows? I'm just pleased it looks better!—but I'm still chasing the dragon of having glossy, bouncy Kate Middleton-y hair, which will never happen for me short of making a deal with the devil. All that aside, this styling product is one of the VERY few that I've repurchased. It gives me a LOT of oomph but it never makes your hair feel tacky or sticky or weird or overly dry or whatever. (The other thing that has revolutionized my hair situation is the Dyson Air Wrap, which I LOVE, but I cannot recommend that unless this newsletter is only going out to recent lottery winners or whatever. They are pricey!)
I try not to use too much dry shampoo, because I think they're bad for my scalp, but sometimes you just need one! The whole Oribe Gold Lust line is, I think, very good and it doesn't leave any visible white cast on my dark hair. Dry shampoo never makes my hair look actually, like, CLEAN, but this does a great job of making it look not dirty and gives it some good volume when I am between washes. I will note that this has a distinct perfume-y odor, which I don't mind, but I know some people are sensitive to that, so be aware!
Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter
Like Heather, I don't wear a ton of makeup on a daily basis anymore. I don't leave the house very often and I also live somewhere where it feels normal to go out barefaced. I also am 48 years old and kinda have reached a place of being like... this is simply my face, this is what it looks like, enjoy or don't. (I say this with the massive caveat that the other thing I spend my own money on that I find to be highly effective is Botox. So it is simply my face, plus some extra botulinum toxin.) BUT sometimes I like to look a little snazzier and I love this product for that purpose. I usually use it as a highlighter but sometimes I mix it with my foundation. It just makes me look.... glowier and basically overall better. In general, I really like Charlotte Tilbury makeup for the purposes of making me look slightly more enhanced and maybe like I've just been on vacation.
As of my writing, apparently Glossier is about to launch a new size and new shades of Boy Brow, so I can't speak to those. I was, however, horrified to pop over to their website and see that I can't buy it at all now, because I am a devotee of the classic Boy Brow, and I am currently out of it. (At least I can get it at Sephora still!) I luckily never plucked my brows too much during the 90s, and I was blessed with plenty of them, so I don't need a product to fill them in too much. But I DO need a product to tame them, and this does the trick, without getting crunchy the way other brow gels do.
Thanks, Heather and Jessica! Stay tuned for more installments of the OG Blogger Edit.
I’m 46 and I also can’t deal with foundation! I think it can make you look old if not carefully applied.