THE COLLECTIVE DIARY

A few weeks before I started seventh grade (after many months of begging), my mom took me to my local mall’s MAC counter to get my very first makeup products. After 45 minutes of getting shade matched, I left the store with a bottle of MAC Face & Body, a concealer, and a blush in the shade Melba in tow. I put the coral-peach on my cheeks every day for years after that. (I vividly remember digging my blush brush into the corners of the near-empty pan to make sure I used every

At this point, it feels like a new beauty product goes viral every other week. The cycle is predictable: Influencers start raving about a new launch, causing it to sell out almost immediately, and only after months of waiting (and finally snagging a restock) do we find out whether the rave reviews were legit or just another successful marketing campaign. Many of our favorite beauty products do pass this test—the Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush, Phlur Vanilla Skin, and Pat