Here's Some Makeup I Threw On for Brunch in Self-Isolation

Inspired by our 24-Hour Product Diaries, Jezebel brings you Dirtbag Product Diaries, a video series showcasing the beauty routines keeping us afloat during isolation.

Since the start of the pandemic—a time that feels like it may as well be 20 years ago—I’ve been shacking up at my boyfriend’s place in the Bronx. Early on, we developed the habit of fixing Sunday brunch together: putting on our “good” clothes, cooking an indulgent (and definitely unhealthy) meal, and feeling just a little bit like life as we’d known it hadn’t been thrown completely by the wayside. It was a respite.

This video was recorded before the massive, nationwide protests that have upended our country in all the ways it needed to be upended, and there’s still so much more to go. Our Sunday brunches have been paused for the last couple weeks, and it feels a bit disorienting to look at myself earnestly talking about eyeshadow—like seeing photos of yourself at a high school dance. I know that beauty, care, and rest are not antithetical to doing hard, necessary work; they can, with great intention, be a small way of healing. A little ground to play.

It’s with that in mind that I offer up this little beauty ritual. I may not return to it today or this weekend, but it feels a little nice to know it is still available to me, when the time feels right.