Introduction

Who are you, and why should I care?

My name is Lorraine and I'm a jack-of-all trades contractor for non-profit organizations and the government. Basically, I spend all day on the computer. Yet, when my work is done, I can't tear myself away from it.

I'm 24. I have a Bachelor's Degree in International Affairs, with a concentration in Middle Eastern Studies. I've been married for about a year now and can kvetch about men leaving toilet seats up and leaving their slippery basketball shorts on the floor with the best of them. My husband and I will be converting to the Eastern Orthodox Church and I can't stop talking about it.

If you happen to believe in horoscopes -- which I don't -- I still happen to fit my Gemini classification quite perfectly. I rant about the bourgeoisie and consumerism, yet I visibly twitch whenever I enter a Sephora because my inner shopaholic just wants to buy everything.

I'm an aspiring minimalist who purges items and then goes shopping.

I aim to resolve these issues, preferably in a public manner.

That's all you need to know for the moment. I'll divulge more information as time goes on.

Why should I care, again?

I get it -- everyone has a blog of their own. Every female with a camera, a credit card, and an Ulta Rewards  or Sephora Beauty Insider card takes pictures of their purchases (see: hauls) for public consumption.

I know I'm not unique in this regard. But give me time.

I've thought about writing a beauty blog for a while now. I used to publish a political blog, back when the phenomenon was fairly new, just getting to the mainstream.

My approach to beauty blogging is a little different. If you catch me using the words "lusting," "I die," or "lemming," feel free to mercilessly taunt me in the comments. For those of you who use similar beauty industry talk in your blog, don't worry too much. I probably read your blog on a daily basis and I probably enjoy it.

Exhibit A

But I don't write that way, nor do I speak that way. I don't intend to.

Anyway, this has been brewing for a while. I have a ton of ideas. I'm leaving Post-It notes all over my beauty products, probably confusing visitors and habibi.* ---->

I've got a definite point of view. I read magazines and write little notes about advertisements and stories. I have opinions on packaging and marketing tactics. Besides swatching eyeshadow palettes to my heart's content, I want to dig a little further. Why are we buying this mascara? Because we like the quality or because the company was savvy enough to send free samples to all the major bloggers? Obviously, the quality is probably good. But how did we hear about the quality? A major PR campaign? Allure Magazine?

You lost me.

I tend to digress. Forgive me.

I want to have a conversation about the beauty industry. And I want you to join me.

I want to hear from you! Feedback and great discussion will inform the topics I choose to write about later on. I know things will be going slowly in the beginning -- probably quite a few "0 comments" entries before I hit my stride -- but I will always check and respond.

Thanks for visiting. Please e-mail me at beautyandtheindustry -- @ -- gmail.com (remove the dashes and spaces if you are not a bot, please) with anything -- questions, information, comments. Critique my eye makeup and recommend a foundation.

Go for it. I'll wait here.


*"My darling" in Arabic.