047. New In, Revenge Is Best Served Blonde
Sharing what’s new to my skincare collection and a list of the best femme revenge films.
Hi! I’m Maggie, and welcome to Tender Forms Off-Camera: a weekly newsletter about slow beauty and slow living. Links in this newsletter may include affiliate links or discount referrals. If you enjoy and would like to support this newsletter, click the button below or shop through my links! No pressure but thank you if you do.
I’ve been testing some exciting things lately, and I couldn’t wait to share about them. The following are a mix of early first impressions and a few months in thoughts.
Monastery Sage Cleansing Oil ($48, 2.03oz | 60ml)
You know I love Monastery’s Rose Cleansing Oil. When I heard the brand launched a Sage oil cleanser, my ears immediately perked. Athena, the founder and creator behind Monastery, has such a way of extracting luxury and otherworldly scents from only a few ingredients. I’ve written about Rose several times (most recently here). I even included a bottle in my most recent Thank You Giveaway on Instagram.
I was on the fence about purchasing it, only because the brand doesn’t recommend it for very sensitive skin. “Sensitive” is a sliding scale, and in the end, the scent profile and my love for Rose pushed me over the edge. Luckily, it was the right decision.
Once again, I am blown away by Monastery’s cleansers. Both oil cleansers don’t rinse clean on their own. I tend to prefer those that do, but there’s nothing quite as luscious as an oil cleanser that doesn’t. Luscious luxury is a perfect alliteration to describe these cleansers. A rich, substantial yet bouncy oil, the cleanser feels like you’re at a spa indulging in a facial. I use three pumps and find that to be plenty. There aren’t any directions as to how many you should use. But considering this is a more active cleanser, I went with less is more.
The first thing that hits you is the scent. It climbs incredibly fast into your olfactory sensors and immediately releases all tension and stress—a spiritual palate cleanser. The physical sensation is also quite unique. Though a heavier oil, it has a slight cooling sensation on the skin. It feels very purifying and works in the same way. Any oil cleanser is excellent for a deep cleanse, but Sage does that while awakening the skin. I love how it feels.
However, as suspected, thus far, I can’t use it daily. This is very much a treatment cleanser for me. It does wonders with acne, instantly taming inflammation and relaxes the skin and soul. My skin hasn’t fully acclimated to it yet, so I’ve only been using it once a week. I’ve tried twice a week, but my skin doesn’t feel like it needs it that often. This brings me to my next point of joy, the PAO symbol. Sage has a 24-month PAO! Yes, that’s correct. You can use this dreamy potion for two years! The elongated timeframe definitely calms my nerves when I think of how long it would take to go through a bottle, only using it once or twice a week.
I imagine once my skin is more accustomed to the formula, I can start bumping it up to more regular use. That’s what happened in my experience with Rose too. And honestly, I’m very much looking forward to the day where I can use this as my one cleanser. I just want to surround myself with this scent forever: Greek sage and Japanese hinoki cypress goodness.
pAra botanica Winter Lip Nourishment Duo (gwp, $36, limited edition)
I got this duo as a free gift with purchase during Christy’s (founder and creator) annual giving promotion around the holidays. I am so excited to talk about this, so let’s jump in.
Lip Polisher (7ml)
If you’re a youtube subscriber, you might remember Deva Polisher in my pAra brand review. When I saw that there was a lip polisher in the duo, I was immediately giddy. The Deva Polisher is perhaps the only physical polisher I’m willing to use on the face, and the formula is incredible. Knowing how Christy approaches polishers, I knew the Lip version would be every bit as spectacular. And it is.
This is, by far, the finest lip scrub I’ve ever come across. The fair trade sugar suspends in a delightful mix of rich organic shea nut butter and oils. The scent blew me away. I think I remember gasping aloud to myself upon first application. Again, I have to use the word delightful because it’s the perfect descriptor of the fennel, wild orange, and cedarwood atlas. It brings me back to the edge of an early childhood memory though the details escape me.
The fine polisher does its job of removing dead skin and rough areas with ease. It makes the experience pleasurable as opposed to scrubs where the sugar is so large everything just ends up hurting.
Lip Balm (7ml)
And because Christy thinks of everything, of course, there’s an accompanying lip balm. Which shall herein now be known as one of the best lip balms there is. Period.
This balm works some kind of magic that my brain can’t comprehend. As seen in the photo, it’s a harder balm which wasn’t what I was expecting but that I love. I either use a clean spatula or the back of my nail to take a bit, and I’m talking small lentil-size at max because this balm packs a punch. Upon application, it melts immediately into its beautiful blend of organic butters and oils. I’m guessing the inclusion of beeswax allows it to cool as a harder balm. Turns out I prefer this because then it’s not melting all over the place as with other softer lip balms.
The aforementioned small amount I use is enough to lock in all the polisher’s work and oils. But on its own, it somehow rehydrates my lips so intensely that rough patches smooth out within a few minutes and my lips are plump and feel so nourished. It’s spectacular.
The only thing I have to dock a point on is the power of its scent. The scent is as gorgeous and unique as the rest of the line, but it is potent. The first few times I used this, it was so prevalent that it made me slightly queasy even though I loved the scent. (Granted, I tend to have a sensitive nose.) I suppose it’s also because it’s for the lips and sits directly under my nose. The scent tends to stay a while too. However, having opened and closed the jar many times after, the smell has diffused slightly, and perhaps now I’m more used to it. It smells of the crisp forest, which you know I love. It’s just a particularly strong scent.
I hope Christy brings this back this year or considers putting it in the permanent collection. It’s an extraordinary duo.
Skinesiology Shine Deep Cleansing Mask* (gifted, $34, 3.38oz | 100ml)
Now this one I’ve been using for a while. Founded by Dorita and Banie, the brand helms from South Africa, and they kindly sent me their Shine mask to try. Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting much only because there are many deep cleansing masks out there. A quick look through the ingredients also confirmed that it didn’t differ too much from the others. It uses two types of certified organic Kaolin clay (Cape white and Kalahari Red), pineapple and papaya extracts and lactic acid. The differentiating factor is that the brand focuses on vibrational skincare.
However, upon use, and use, and use again, I realized that I really enjoy this mask! The number one reason is its ease of use. This is the mask I reach for when I don’t have the time or don’t want a long mask session. In many ways, this reminds me of conventional masks. Though made from essential oils, the scent feels akin to conventional skincare, as does the way it functions.
The texture straight out of the tube is a loose creamy texture. It’s very runny, so you can accidentally squeeze out too much. I tend to use a generous quarter size. All you have to do is spread it across the face, and once it begins to dry, rinse it off. This is an incredibly fast mask. Because it includes clay, I immediately rinse it off once I feel my skin tightening and the mask drying. The second best part is that it rinses clean on its own, making removal a breeze. Everything about this mask is a breeze, and that’s why I reach for it so often. No fuss, easy cleanup, and it leaves my skin smooth and brightened.
One thing to note is that I assume I’m using far less than what they intend. The directions say to gently massage over face and neck and leave on for 10–15 minutes. I find the mask dries within only a few minutes, and with the results, I don’t feel I need a thicker layer. I also suspect if I used more, it would be too intense for my easily dehydrated skin. There’s no tingling sensation, but my skin feels tight afterward (which I remedy with the rest of my skincare).
But overall, $34 for 100ml and getting good results for 3–5 minutes of your day? That’s pretty great.
Continuing on the train of new things, I recently watched the new Netflix film, ‘I Care A Lot.’ Rosamund Pike plays a femme con artist who, as a court-appointed legal guardian, seizes all assets of the elderly and pawns it off to pay for her and her partner’s lavish lifestyle. Pike’s physical demeanor is a lot like her character in ‘Gone Girl.’ She appears poised and polished, clad in a figure-hugging uncomfortable-to-wear-looking high-end wardrobe only to reveal herself as a psychotic shark.
This was a devilishly fun movie. Quick edits, fast-entertaining twists, and features a killer wardrobe. Make no mistake, Pike is cast in a similar role because she wears it so well. Her wardrobe is the ultimate “cool girl,” ranging from form-hugging to relaxed, slightly oversized colorful pantsuits paired with sneakers. Not to mention her ability to make a drenched sweatsuit somehow look trendy.
Even with the obvious twists, getting there was an enjoyable ride. And the cast! You can see how much the actors enjoyed their roles. The best guest appearance award goes to Chris Messina. I wish he had more screen time! I stayed up till midnight (which is late for me nowadays) watching this by myself and had so much fun. Which led me to think about other female revenge films I’d enjoyed.
Surprisingly, there was an overwhelming amount where the lead or supporting character was blonde or started off blonde. And so, I’ve decided that in Hollywood, revenge is best served blonde. If you’re looking for a femme (new and old sense) revenge film, try these (listed in chronological order):
‘Carrie’ (1976) What made me fear both blonde women and proms.
‘Legally Blonde’ (2001) Had to.
‘Kill Bill: Vol. 1’ (2003) The best blonde revenge film in my book.
‘Kill Bill: Vol. 2’ (2004) The second best.
‘John Tucker Must Die’ (2006) Had to again.
‘Inglorious Basterds’ (2009) More red lipstick and red dresses; this time on Mélanie Laurent.
‘Salt’ (2010) Bad wigs but good action.
‘Gone Girl’ (2014) Rosamund Pike’s original psychotic rich blonde role.
‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ (2015) All hail Furiosa.
‘The Shallows’ (2016) Revenge on a literal shark.
‘The Beguiled’ (2017) The ultimate pack of blondes.
‘Atomic Blonde’ (2017) Charlize Theron plays the female John Wick.
‘Red Sparrow’ (2018) *Depicts all worst things imaginable for a female. Tread carefully.
‘Assassination Nation’ (2018) Ridiculous fun.
‘The Rhythm Section’ (2020) In no way good but adds to the list.
Calling it: ‘No Time To Die’ (2021) This hasn’t been released yet, nor have I watched it, but including this for the sheer fact that Léa Seydoux is a Bond girl who hasn’t died. And she’s returning in a Bond film. That’s revenge in itself, no?
This is the last new-to-me thing, I promise. I love Spotify, mainly for its incredibly apt algorithm. I depend solely on it to suggest new music to me. The other day, I was on a song radio and was suggested Aurora’s ‘Exist For Love.’ I didn’t know the song, nor did I know this Aurora artist.
The moment it hit the chorus, I stopped everything I was doing. Then I listened to it again. And again. Then I searched for the music video and watched that twice. The song’s since been added to many of my playlists and playing on repeat.
Here’s just the song if you’d rather not watch a music video:
And the music video if you’re a music video person (it’s very fitting, and speaking of blondes!):
Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed today’s amalgamation of all things new-to-me. Have you tried any new skincare you’ve been loving? What about new movies or songs? You can always leave a comment or reply directly to this email to chat.
As always, I hope you have a great start to your week. See you next Sunday!