Venus, the planet of love, goes retrograde this summer for the first time since early 2022, and your love life may be going through a dramatic transformation over the next month. Venus is unlike Mercury in that it only goes retrograde every 18 months, whereas Mercury is retrograde a few times a year. The last time Venus was in retrograde motion was December 19, 2021, until January 29, 2022, when it was retrograde in Capricorn.
This year, Venus will go retrograde from July 22, 2023, until September 3, 2023, in the sign of Leo. Venus retrograde in Leo will enhance a clash of egos and higher expectations and will also be setting the stage for relationships to grow stronger, happiness to be fulfilled, and love to dance.
What Does Venus Represent and Venus Retrograde in Leo Mean?
Before understanding what Venus in retrograde entails, it’s best to identify what Venus herself represents. Venus is the planet of love, but she also signifies money, pleasure, sex, relationships, values, and art. With Venus in retrograde, these are the areas of life that will be the most affected. Venus, currently in Leo, will especially be bringing the dramatics over the next month or so.
Venus in Leo is a fun, playful, and passionate lover, and in retrograde motion, it can feel like love is going at a slower pace than wanted or that self-love is difficult to make sense of.
This Venus retrograde is asking you, how willing are you to grow in love, and what does that mean for the relationship you have with yourself? Venus in Leo isn’t concerned with the past, or what happened then, Venus in Leo asks us to be brave now, to show up for love today, and to be generous with how we show our love. Not only to others but to ourselves as well.
Over the next month, you will be redefining where your passions are, where love grows for you, what relationships fulfill you in life, and how to tap into more of your inner happiness.
Leo, Taurus, Aquarius, Scorpio, and Libra will feel this Venus retrograde more than most.
Venus Retrograde in Leo Horoscopes for Every Zodiac Sign
Keep reading in the slideshow down below to see how this Venus retrograde will be for you. View for your sun sign and/or Venus sign.
CAPRICORN
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During the Los Angeles tour stop, which spanned three dates on May 21, May 23, with the finale on May 24, xoNecole had the opportunity to test out the glosses included in this soft launch, as SZA revealed in a statement that "this is just the start of other lip products, including plans to launch stains, liners, and creams all inspired by SZA's “infamous layered lip combinations.”
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So, what is included in the first Not Beauty launch?
The current Not Beauty products available are lip glosses that come in three shades: In the Flesh, Strawberry Jelly, and Quartz.
During my visit to the first LA Not Beauty pop-up activation, I not only had the chance to purchase all three glosses but also took a peek inside the blow-up log tent. Inside, fans got to experience SZA’s love for nature and her fascination with bugs, which are prominently featured in her performances for this tour. At one point, she even had human preying mantis prancing across the stage y'all.
There were blow-up photos of the beauty that is SZA for fans (myself included) to take photos, but in wooden-like tree trunks were a deeper dive into some of the ingredients featured in her products and their benefits.
For example, the glosses feature Hi-Shine Lip Jelly and Shea Butter as key ingredients and some of the listed benefits included are:
- Shea Butter - “A powerhouse ingredient, offering both functional and nourishing benefits.”
- Hi-Shine Lip Jelly (featured in the In the Flesh shade) - “Formula glides on with perfect adhesion to the lips without stickiness).
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What are in the products?
Featured in an orange package, with images of a bug and flower on the side, the back of the box reads: “It’s NOT BEAUTY, it just works. Developed by Solána “SZA” Rowe.
As someone who never leaves home without a good lip gloss, I loved how compact the wood panel packaging is. Perfect to slip into my purse, or in the case of the show at SoFi Stadium, into my pocket when I’m not carrying a bag.
Because I’m a sucker for a good black and brown lip liner and clear gloss combo, I decided to wear the Quartz flavor on night one of the Grand National Tour LA stop, and it did not disappoint. I’ll admit, it’s light weight feel made me nervous because it felt like there was nothing on my lips. However, when I checked my lips in my compact mirror several times throughout the night, I was shocked to find that my gloss was still intact. I only reapplied once out of the habit of looking cute and applying my gloss, but not necessity.
Here are some of the ingredients featured, but not limited to, in the Quartz flavor.
- Polyisoubutene
- Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea)Butter
- Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil
- Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil
- Tocopherol
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Lip prep
I’m a simple girl who loves to stay true to her roots. So ahead of the show, I stopped by a local Inglewood Beauty Supply store and grabbed a Black and Brown shade lip pencil for just under $2 a piece.
Shading the outline of my lips with the black pencil first, I used the brown to lightly fill the inside of my lips before applying my Quartz Not Beauty shade gloss.
How to apply
There’s truly no right or wrong way to apply lip gloss (in my opinion), with this being a brush applicator sort of product, I simply untwisted the top and swiped the gloss around my top and bottom lip generously.
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Results
Again, my Not Beauty Quartz product stayed on my lips from the start of the show, which began with a fire DJ set from LA’s very own, Mustard, to the conclusion when Kendrick and SZA reunited on stage to send us home to their duet, “luther,” featured on the rapper's GNX album.
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