Friday, September 2, 2011

Better Off Red

better off red

Hello friends! I have so many pictures (and even swatches!) waiting to be published, I need to stop being such a bum! But I wanted to throw up a post with some of my fave red lip products, in response to this post on Jezebel. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's a lovely lipstick, BUT I cannot wear Revlon lip products. I was reminded of this the hard way a few months ago when I wore Colorburst Lipstick in Candy Pink and Colorburst Lipgloss in Strawberry together for a few days. I got THE WORST case of blisterlips, aka had an allergic reaction. Not pleasant.

SO. The reds in my collection. For skin tone notes: I am ~NC20ish, fair f2 in smashbox high definition foundation, and I use Urban Decay's Halo tinted moisturizer. I would say I am pasty with beige/golden undertones, and while I have fairly pigmented lips, all the products swatched show up at least a little bit. Note the second: I left out anything I own that was LE and no longer available. In the title picture there's a MUFE gloss in red that doesn't appear to be available anymore, unless the Moulin Rouge Glossy Full Couleur is the same. Now, onto the makeup!

better off red
So this is (top to bottom) MAC Brave Red lipstick, Cover Girl Outlast Lipstain in 440, and Nars Shanghai Express. SE was my first RED lipstick but I actually never wear it because it's too dark, muddy and kind of chalky. The Outlast lipstain is hit or miss for me, but Brave Red is my go-to NUMBAH ONE red lipstick. It's cremesheen, so it's smooth, applies nice and opaque (but not heavy) and has a lovely sheen.

better off red
T-B: Cover Girl Natureluxe Gloss Balm in Anemone, Tarte Natural Lip Stain Pencil in Lust and Lipfusion gloss in Sexy. I bought the CG balm because I needed an spf lip product (it's only 15 but better than nothing) that wouldn't wash me out. It is a nice, light texture but I'm mostly indifferent to it. Now the Tart and the Lipfusion? LOVE. Tarte really gives your lips a shiny gloss and a "just ate a popsicle tint" and Lipfusion WORKS and is very shiny and the red shimmer makes your lips look cushy and so fine.

better off red
Top to bottom: Lipfusion again, Urban Decay 5150 lipstick and Lip Junkie in Red Light.
I wanted the 5150 to rep some red shimmer, it's a pinkish corally red with tons of white/pink microshimmer and is also fairly sheer. It's very pretty, and nice if you want something not so intense. But if intense is your game, you need some Red Light in your life friends. It is a crazy deep pink-toned red (but not too pink, it's supah red!) and oh so shiny and minty. I just love it, and it gets beaucoup compliments.

So my top recs:
Lipfusion gloss in Sexy
Tarte lip stain pencil in Lust
Urban Decay Lip Junkie in Red Light
MAC Brave Red Lipstick

What reds do you love? Do let me know in the comments!

love and cupcakes,
Ms Meghan

4 comments:

thecavewoman said...

Great article! I've been looking for a go-to lip colour-stuff (I usually use covergirl lipstain, pinky-red) and I'm liking some of your choices. Might go with the Red Light... although I do like stains, less chance of smudges.

Ms Meghan said...

Thanks pinkfizzy! A good creamy red lipstick can make a great lightweight stain. When I wiped off the swatches I had stain marks on my arm from the 2 lipsticks and the lipstain. :)

TheCheckoutGirl said...

Followed you here from Jez.com. I am a big believer in Sephora's Rouge Cream lipsticks and The Red 04 is heaven sent. It's reallyreally red and fairly matte, but I'm nearly 40 and glosses just look weird on me. I need classic, dude. Anyway, love this.

Ms Meghan said...

Checkoutgirl, I keep wanting to try sephora because of the crazy variety they have but a few years back I had a bad reaction (just like with Revlon) to some of their lip gloss. I keep meaning to get a take-home sample, but the instore testers for lip products really freak me out.