Inside: a round-up of the legendary party girl's most genuinely helpful beauty tips over the years.
Sitting down to re-read Cat Marnell’s notorious memoir, How to Murder Your Life, feels particularly apt after we just had Brat Girl Summer dominate the collective consciousness. Marnell was truly the first IDGAF Brat Girl. In her poignant memoir, Marnell details her battle with addiction, her rise (and fall) in the beauty editorial sphere, and, too, passes along some juicy beauty tips.
Based in New York City, Marnell’s bylines are as extensive as they are impressive. From working at Condé Nast to being a beauty editor at both Lucky and XoJane, writing a column for Vice, and being published in Self, Nylon, and Glamour, she’s the beauty guru many millennials and even in-the-know Gen Z continually look to for honest, unfiltered advice.
She gives you advice like a messy best friend who’s been through it all would. And boy, has she been through it all. Her teenage discovery of Adderall would send her into a downward spiral of addiction that would eventually spill into cocaine, heroin, and the occasional use of other substances. Her addiction would be in a tailspin throughout much of her career and severely impact it. Yet, throughout her journey with addiction and her eventual sobriety, her love of beauty never faded. In her memoir, beauty tips are bequeathed throughout like gifts of gold from a benevolent leader. Below, we’ve selected the best It girl-approved beauty tricks out there, used by Marnell herself.
The Best Eyeliner for an It Girl
If you’re hunting for the best eyeliner to give that smudgy "I’ve been out all night feel," try out this charcoal one from Smashbox. Marnell swears it's the easiest one to mess up and still look put together.
The Concealer for Hard Workers (or Party Girls)
This is one of Marnell’s “Take the beauty tip, but don’t do as I did” moments in the book. If you have some MASSIVE dark circles under your eyes, the only concealer Marnell swears will hide them is Givenchy’s Mister Light. Trust it — she used this to hide the dark circles after a four-day cocaine binge.
Try a Hint of Cigarette Eau Florale
As we learn more about her formative years, we also get this nugget of information — the only perfumes that can hide the scent of cigarette smoke are these two: Elizabeth Arden Sunflowers and Versace Blue Jeans.
Get a Healthy Glow… Even When You’re Not
Want to have your legs glow all night? Try Marnell’s multi-step process for getting the perfect fake tan. Start with a base of Kiehl’s Sun-Free Self Tanning Formula, add on a little of Lancôme’s Flash Bronzer, and then apply both The Body Shop’s Coconut Body Butter and Banana Boat’s Tanning Oil. With that amount of lotion and bronzer, you’ll be sure to glow like you just returned from Ibiza.
How to Get a Lip Stain for $3 (WARNING: Theatre Kids Might Get PTSD Flashbacks)
Lip stains are going viral online now, but Marnell has been doing them for years. How? The costume make-up company Ben Nye and their fake blood! "If it’s a pretty, natural stain you're after, there's nothing better than a little stage blood dabbed just so on the lips," Marnell writes.
It’s Time to Leave Your Party-Girl Hair Era
Run to Amazon, because Marnell just told us how to fix damaged hair. Whether it’s bleached, highlighted, or permed, washing your hair with Nounou’s shampoo and conditioner will recover your hair to silky perfection. 🌀
Sydney Yeager is a fashion writer and content creator who explores luxury fashion and trends with the gaze of how it can be accessible to the everyday consumer. As much as she adores avant-garde fashion, elegant and feminine looks will always have her heart — this is seen in both her writing and on her Instagram, @sydselegantfinds.