Lipstick Lover

Those of you that know me, know how much I love lipstick! A seasoned lipstick lover since the day my Mum first said I could wear makeup, I can even apply the brightest of reds mirrorless.... what a talent!!

For last nights Hoxton antics I decided to glam it up with a slick of Mac's Russian Red on my lips. Partly because I was in a hurry, running late as per usual and needed to get glam quick.

My favourite red lipsticks are:

• Mac, Russian Red- it's a real, true almost primary colour red, with a matte texture. The best thing about Mac reds is they almost last all day, they hardly budge, even after eating! The only downside of this strong pigment is that it does have the tendency to dry your lips out and is quite difficult to remove. I wouldn't advise you to put gloss or lip balm on top as it can make the colour run.
• Mac, Ruby Woo - slightly more neon red, it's the red that Gwen Stefani usually wears, also matte. I'm wearing it in my profile picture too in fact! The great thing about both these reds is, as they are blue based (cool) they make your teeth look whiter!! Looks amazing for shoots with a coat of Mac clear Lipglass (as you can see on the gorgeous Charlie Belle) but it's highly unpractical for real life use! Beware it drips!! So unless you want to spend the night checking in the mirror every five minutes, don't bother. It is such an amazing colour that it's a statement on it's own without the need for gloss.
• Chanel Rouge Coco, Vendome- I call this my 'daytime red' as it's great when I'm in the red mood but don't want to look too extremely RED, very nice all day texture too- doesn't dry your lips out. I'm currently onto my 3rd one, that's how much I love it! I actually went to the launch of this lipstick at Selfridges last year
• Lipstick Queen,  Rust sinner- this is great versatile darker red which I wear day and night. It has a matte texture and opaque pigment but is not as drying as the Mac shades. I have had at least 3 colour clients ask for their hair to be this same colour in the past few weeks!

The beautiful Charlie Belle
Showing off her lips with Mac Russian Red & clear Lip Glass
Make up- Me
Hair- Floss
Colour- David

Lipstick as opposed to gloss has been on trend the last few seasons and I've noticed people are starting to get braver with their colour choices.

If I'm having an ugly day, there's nothing quite like lipstick to make me feel more alive and literally brighten up my look.  I have this theory that if I'm looking tired, the bright red lips will detract from this as people are drawn to the red and not my tired looking eyes! 

Red lips are great to make a statement but keep skin and eyes simple otherwise you could end up looking  rather clown-like. I would never wear read lips with colour on the eyes- stick to neutral tones. Red looks fab with smoky eyes and liquid liner such as Bobbi Brown

• Be sure to try the colour on your lips before you buy it! It's impossible to know how it's actually going to look on you just by looking at the colour in the pot or on your wrist. Lip colour can appear different on different people, it depends on what colour your lips are to begin with!
• When I'm shopping for a product, I try it on and go do something else, see how it wears and then if I'm satisfied, I buy it.  Otherwise you end up with another product to gather dust in your makeup collection! 
• I also find lip colours can look great for the first 10 minutes and then an undertone can come out. When I was looking for the perfect day red, the shop girls kept suggesting these so called 'blue based' reds that seemed to turn bright pink as they were wearing off. 
• Steer clear of strong lip colour if you have thin lips as it will just emphasise this, gloss is a better option in this case

My next lipstick mission is to find a dark, browny red, matte colour. I'm thinking 90's style, Nirvana era. Will let you know how it goes!

MX