Click here to view the embedded video.

Thanks to the wonders of the blogosphere, you don’t even have to purchase a five dollar, three pound glossy mag to get such a beauty industry fix anymore. Here, I’m chronicling three of my favorite online beauty inspirations. Starting with the awe-inspiring Jane Feltes (featured in the video above).

1. Jane is a regular contributor to The Hairpin, where she gives makeup tutorials, answers readers’ beauty questions and occasionally gets personal. She’s a producer for This American Life, her hair, face and nails are flaw-less, and her beauty advice is a satisfying mix of sage meets sass. And that’s not all folks: amazingly, her total lack of pretension makes it rather impossible to hate her for any of the aforementioned things!

2. Now let’s move on to total pretension, which is (let’s be real here) one of the sparkling pillars of effective beauty writing. And for this, I always to turn the often-lauded makeup blog Into the Gloss. The clutter-free, editorial layout of this blog is just is as beautiful as the stoic models and “beauty insiders” featured within. Take, for example, this post about the lovely Lauren Santo Domingo (pictured above) and her beauty routine, in which she admits that she can’t even remember the last time she washed her own hair! Le sigh.

3. Lastly, I love to hit up the beauty section of Refinery 29, which is a treasure trove of all things beauty related, to the point where, at times, it can get a bit overwhelming. It is all here. Everything you wanted to know about nails, makeup and hair trends. (Apparently those long pointy nails are just so very right now!) Understandably, this blog can be a danger zone for your wallet. But tread lightly, and you’ll be fine.

Happy grooming, ladies. I’ll be back to my more cynical, bra-burning-self soon. I promise.

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I HAVE BECOME so enamored lately of the blog Cat Party. Blogger Chelsea Fairless’s depiction and exploration of femininity is just the most satisfying mix of camp and rock and eternal glam. I swoon. Here is a taste–a recent post, which embodies everything I love about being a girl:

At some point during my epically angsty adolescence I gave my Baby-Sitters Club “Mary Anne” doll a Kathleen Hanna-inspired makeover. Isn’t it hilarious? I have no recollection of doing it so I was surprised when I stumbled across her at my parents’ house over the holidays. Tragically Stacey and Claudia were nowhere to be found! Those dolls were creepy because the girls in the Baby-Sitters Club were supposed to be 12 and 13 but the dolls were really mature looking, a bit sexy even. That paired with the Catholic schoolgirl outfit that Mary Anne was wearing probably prompted me to reclaim her as a riot grrrl. I love the little safety pins on her skirt!

Hell yes. Read all the juicy archives here.

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HAIR. OH, HAIR. MAYBE IT was the Steel Magnolias post I did a few weeks ago that brought this age-old sisterhood subject back to mind. I have, after all, talked hair here several times before, (mostly pertaining to my envy for the all-wholesome and timeless beauty of braids). But now thanks to my friend (and, ahem, hair stylist) Cara, I’ve been seeing hair in a whole new light. She’s recently started blogging about the design, science and social relevance of hair. Her posts are smart, stylish, and full of photos (see those ladies above at the Bronner Brothers hair show?) that blow my mind. Move over, Braid Wednesday, your edgy big sister is in town.

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BIG SISTER, DIRT-MONGER, WILD CAT-TAMER, plant-lover, bigtime blogger, partner in insanity (um, trust me I know about this one), pioneeress, surrogate mother, and now tack another roaring head above the proverbial mantel: memoirist! Margaret has written a memoir about leaving her wild corporate job for peace in the, well, wild. I read it on my vacation to Tokyo last month and let me tell you, among the flashing lights, towering buildings, and throngs of people, the book transported me to Margaret’s little farmhouse where the only sound I could hear were the bullfrogs croaking.

Her journey, as chronicled in this book truly inspires me to find my own way back to the land. Charming, indeed. Congratulations, Margaret!

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I‘M DIGGING this photo post about girlfriends over at the blog size too small. It’s so sweet! This holiday season, I’m on the road, traveling in Japan with my boyfriend. We’re having a fantastic time, full of sticky rice balls and silly awkward bowing exchanges with strangers, but today, I’m feeling especially pangy for the Christmas-y comfort of my hometown girlfriends. Le sigh.

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Hello 25! (Photo by Shaina Machlus)

ONE OF THE REASONS why I’m always geeking out over the blogosphere is because there is such amazing potential for community within it—it’s like a great big amorphous blob of sisterhood just waiting to be claimed and shaped. And in large part, that’s why we started The Sister Project as a blog network. What better way to explore sisterhood than through a medium that inherently fosters community? Lately, I’ve been most excited about an internet project started by 22-year-old blogger Cassie Boorn in which she asks older female bloggers what they would say to their younger, 20-something-year-old selves. Here’s the scoop:

In an interview with NPR’s Cassie says “she decided to do this post because as a blogger she has traveled to a lot of conferences and met ‘a lot of really great women.’” She decided to pick these women’s brains for the kind of honest, useful (and retrospective) advice that a 22-year-old single mom like herself could use. And lots of fantastic female bloggers responded. They wrote their advice in the form of letters to their younger selves.

One of my favorite bits of advice / comfort is from Sarah Brown of the blog Que Sera Sera. She writes:

“First of all, let’s get this out of the way: no, you are not crazy. Yes, you should probably talk to someone. There’s no shame in that. You should also go outside more.”

You can read all the letters on Cassie’s blog. And even contribute your own. I feel like all this is especially pertinent to me right now as I’ve just skidded past my 25th birthday (eeps!). And I feel a bit like I’m at a pit stop between 20 and 30, trying to peer at every horizon. I keep asking myself, What have you learned in the past five years? (hopefully something) and What will you learn in the next five? (again, hopefully something).

So here goes: what would you write to your 20-something self?

Links:

Cassie Boorn’s blog

NPR interview with Cassie Boorn

Sarah Brown’s letter

Sarah Brown’s blog

Shaina Machlus’s blog

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"Rather than come to blows with his sister over the missing Lego tree, he sat beneath his prayer flags and let the feelings wash over him." (Photo: Dave Lauridsen; Dwell)

THE HILARIOUS PHOTO BLOG Unhappy Hipsters posts photos from trendy design magazines along with little satirical captions. I always find the captions about kids especially entertaining (like these little dudes and this gal). But I laughed out loud when I saw this new post about a brother brooding over his sister and her inability to share Legos. Love it!

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WHILE MY TSP PARTNERS in crime, Marion and Paige, are busy getting healthy this week–what with tackling BMI myths and detoxing out the wazoo–I am slouching in front of a computer for hours on end, eating copious amounts of Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch, and staying up so late that my eyes may permanently cross. When they suggested I write a corresponding post about my health this week, I thought about it. Then I saw these photos of Natasha Lyonne by Richard Kern for Vice Magazine, and I knew I couldn’t lie. Readers: I have not done anything healthy for days. There, I said it.

P.S. Vice is calling this photo series “Acting Out at Home.” Awesome.

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PSST–REMEMBER THE This is Home Project, where people fill in the blank “Home is ______.” and submit it here? Well, in the past month the project has started accepting visual submissions (like the one above, a favorite of mine). The submission period recently closed, and now I’m awaiting the finalist announcements with bated breath! What are your favorite images? And how would you fill in that tricky blank (if you haven’t already shared)?

P.S. What would you think about doing a similar project with TSP’s own fill-in-the-blank, “You know you’re a sister when ______.”?

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This post is part of TSP’s network-wide “Sisters I’ve Met Along the Way” celebration, marking 9 months of blogging together, and toasting the women (and men) we’ve met.

WHETHER YOU LIKE IT or not, summer is closing up shop and making room for fall to move in. And despite the fact that I’ve been in school for three weeks, I’m still in denial about the changing seasons. The exciting bit, however, is that our baby, The Sister Project, is forever growing (in age and size). We started with a tiny group–just Marion, Margaret, Paige and me–but in the past nine months our family has blown up faster than the octomom’s. So, many thanks to the following (new) friends, who have opened their arms to us during the first months of our life:

• To all my favorite imaginary siblings, from Chester to Capucine to this British couple (oh, and remember Louis tektonique?)

• To the ladies of Dear Thyroid (especially Katie Schwartz) who have unconditionally loved my butterfly gland–through good times and bad.

• To the many visual artists (like Katie Squier, Lilly McElroy and Diana Goldstein among others) for making this blog look amazing, while inciting some very interesting conversations.

• To the fantastic people who went through their hard drives and photo albums to find wacky family photos like these and this or what about all of these in our Flickr group?!

• To all my dear readers who have left comments: you’re the glue that binds The Sister Project. (And for some of my favorite comments ever on this blog, check out this post.)

• To the blogs that inspire me every day–Feministing, A Cup of Jo, I Made You a Beard, Booooooom!, The Belly Project, and Pacing the Panic Room (and I could wax on about so many more!).

Photo from Picassoswoman (via The Sister Project Flickr pool)–isn’t it the perfect picture of end-of-summer sisterhood?

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