Alice and Dorothy: Makeup Releases

Okay, I admit it. I don't consider Alice in Wonderland or Wizard of Oz to be fairy tales, just popular classic novels that are suffused with fantasy and some fairy tale tropes. I equate them more to Lord of the Rings and Narnia than Charles Perrault or the Brothers Grimm. I'm not saying this to open debate. Just to state my own leanings.

However, popular culture--and a good many of you--disagree with me. And I admit I am drawn to the imagery as well as surveying both stories' influence on pop culture, thanks perhaps more to both stories repeated interpretation in film, too. (Once again, influence does not a fairy tale make. Star Trek and Star Wars have managed similar influences, too, IMHO.) I doubt Oz would be so popular today without Judy Garland's full color adventure on film. Experience backs me up on this. I have only met a handful of people in my lifetime who have ever read Baum's Oz series or even The Wizard of Oz alone, but rarely have I met someone who hasn't seen the film repeatedly.

That said, I will cover Alice in Wonderland and Wizard of Oz here when something catches my fancy. And here's some fun stuff recently released--all makeup themed today--in honor of releases of new films (Tim Burton's upcoming Alice especially), anniversaries of old films (70th of Oz film), etc.

First the nail polishes:


This was a rerelease of a very popular collection released several years ago by China Glaze. Fun names include Ruby Pumps (red), Dorothy Who? (blue), Good Witch? (pink), Ten Man (silver), Cowardly Lyn (gold), and C-C-Courage (purple). This is available in stores currently or online such as at Transdesign (not a SurLaLune affiliate).


This is a Spring 2010 release by OPI. Off with Her Red! and Thanks So Muchness! are the reds. Absolutely Alice is the blue. Mad as a Hatter is a glitter with a rainbow of colors despite its appearance in images.

And finally, this one was shared by Natalya. Her email is what convinced me to go ahead and post about the polishes, too, something I had been debating for a while.


This is clever. Very clever. Released this Friday by Urban Decay. I'm a sucker for pop-up books and this is tempting although I can't wear eye shadow due to several allergies, especially to nickel. But the box is so pretty...too bad there isn't chocolate inside instead!

And speaking of pop-ups, Robert Sabuda has OF COURSE interpreted both of these stories into pop-up books. See The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: A Commemorative Pop-up and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: A Pop-up Adaptation. I really wish he would do some fairy tales....