nothing compares 2 hue.

once upon a time i had the world's most perfect nude lipstick - L'Oreal Taupestone*.

about two years ago, i started noticing that it was harder to find - where it had once been on the shelves of every drugstore, i could only find it in a select few. then a few months later it was even more scarce. after scouring every drugstore i could, i found 2 left in an eckerd in a distant part of my neighborhood and snatched them both up. after that - nothing. i even tried looking for it in other cities, but to no avail. i have about 1/3 of a tube left, and today only wear it for special occasions - i think the last time i wore it was in december, although i look at the tube longingly whenever i'm rummaging around in my makeup bag. i'm honestly not a huge makeup whore -- this is clearly an extremely major loss for me.

in the meantime, i've been on a hunt for a suitable replacement. last night, after keeping missy hostage in a dept. store for almost an hour as i was led around to just about every counter by the rather-tolerable-for-someone-working-for-commission makeup counter girl, testing out all the nude shades and finally purchasing one (one that i can claim is the most expensive lipstick i ever have - and ever will - own), i stood this lipstick next to all the other ones i've purchased in this chase and realized that i have spent about $75 trying to replace a $6 tube of mass market brand makeup. considering my next resort is sending the remainder of my beloved lipstick away to this company that will specially recreate it for me, i only imagine that total will double at some point.

sigh.



*product name is listed here in the vain hopes that a L'Oreal color specialist will find it, take pity on me, and send me a case. or at the very least, the formula. i was ok in chemistry and would build a lab in my bathroom simply to recreate this thing.