Try Before You Buy
Who
has bought a lipstick and come home to find it’s the wrong shade and doesn’t
suit?
When
buying a lipstick from a department store, I would recommend asking the beauty consultant
to professionally apply it on you. Then
you take a walk in natural daylight – don’t forget a mirror - and see if you
like the shade and texture before you buy.
If
you’re buying from a cosmetic stand in your local pharmacy and can’t try
directly on your lips, the best place to test the shade is on your fingertips. This skin is the nearest to the texture and
colour of your lips, apparently (the back
of your hands will be a totally different colour than your lips and face so).
My MACS
The Right Shade for You
When
picking a shade, a simple way of determining this is, are you attracted to pinks or oranges (basically cool or warm tones)? Personally I don’t like either but pinks tend
to be blue-toned so these tend to suit me better.
My
skin tone is beige and sallow and I am drawn to nude lipsticks but sometimes I
get the colour wrong. When I was with
Shiseido, I bought one of their nudes but it completely matched my skin tone and
it looked like I was sans lipstick (not a good look on a cosmetic counter) and
quite frankly, as someone commented, I looked dead (I didn’t take it
personally). Therefore, a lipstick
similar to your natural colour may have an insipid effect and so it’s best to
contrast it. Beige is a warm colour and
pink is a cool colour so I am better opting for a pink nude rather than a beige
one (I don’t want to look dead again).
Another
way of finding out what suits is to see whether or not your lippie is giving
you whiter teeth or not. Everyone wants
white teeth.
My Rimmels
Smooth Operator
Always
make sure your lips are smooth and soft before lipstick else you’ll be left
with coloured flakes peeling off. If you
need to exfoliate then there are lip-scrubs on the market but the cheapest
method is buffing with a soft toothbrush followed by your favourite lip-balm. Pop some lip balm on before you start your
makeover and by the end of it, you’ll have lovely soft lips for your lipstick
and it will stay on longer.
24/7
When
I worked on the counters, the question I got asked the most was, how can I get
my lipstick to stay on longer? Matte
ones work a treat as do lip stains. When
I apply foundation, I sometimes apply it very thinly on my lips which gives a
good base to the lipstick and gives it longevity. You can also use a lightweight concealer. This method is also good if you want your lip
colour to be as close as to what it is in the bullet.
You
can also use a lip liner, in the same shade as your lipstick to make your
lipstick last longer. Fill in your lips
with liner, press your lips together so you get a good stain and then apply lipstick. Blot with a tissue and reapply the lipstick. Then you can blot and apply as many times as
you like until you think that your lippie will last the night.
Talking
of lip liners, horror of horrors but I adored the Pamela Anderson look back in
the 1990’s and used to buy a fab L’Oréal nude lipstick and wear it with a
darker liner.
Finally,
finish with translucent powder. When I
was at college (20 years ago), we were taught to blot the final application of
lipstick with tissue and then powder on
top of the tissue.
Catrice, Maybelline, Chanel
Little Mistakes
If
you do make a boob when using an intense pigmented lipstick, dunk a cotton bud
into make-up remover and eliminate the smudge back into the lips. Once corrected, line again and sharpen up the
pout with some concealer on a very small brush around the lip line.
Kiko and Makeup Revolution
Lip Brushes
Instead
of using a lip-liner, you can still get a great, sharp line with a brush and
concealer. Brush on the lipstick and at
the end, use a concealer and apply around the lip line. Brushes are great at
creating that stain as well, working the brush down into lips to make your lipstick
last longer.
Finish
with translucent powder.
The Age Factor
I’ve
noticed now that I’m getting on a bit, my dark lipsticks are bleeding. To prevent this, I have been buying clear lip
liners; you apply to the lip line before you pop on your chosen lip liner and
lipstick. I really liked the E.L.F. one
and I felt it did its job but it was a twist-up and my twist-up pencils tend to
snap, which it did. Rimmel also do one
(again a twist-up - grrrr - but its not snapped, yet). Alternatively, you can lightly dust your lip
line with translucent powder to create a barrier or use concealer.
Rimmel Clear Liner
The Illusionist
It
seems everyone wants fuller lips but if you don’t want to go down the cosmetic
surgery route like Kylie Jenner then there are easier, less painful and cheaper
ways of doing this. Highlighting the cupid’s bow is an oldie but a goodie at
creating a fuller lip, reflecting light to that area, as is a dab of lip gloss
in the centre of the lips. You can
always line the outside of your lip line.
Going
back to concealer on the lips, by creating this nude, blank canvas, you are
also forming a bigger base for your lipstick so this is a good trick if your
lips are on the thin side or you want to wear a darker lip. This can also be done by using a nude lip
liner and fill in the pout.
Although, regarding the extreme, I can't get my head around any woman wanting to look like a blow-up doll.
My Lip Pencils (MAC and Rimmel)
Lazy Cow
It’s
very easy to keep reapplying lipstick throughout the day but come night time,
your lips will be as dry (and crusty) as a bone. To be honest, I don’t want my lipstick to
last ALL day as it starts to feel and look unpleasant, especially after
food. Best to remove with some wipes and
start again.
My favourites…
§ Rimmel
Kate Moss Collection: I find these great semi-matte shades, long-lasting and
not drying at all. From top to bottom:
Brown #48, Pink Nude #45, Red #01, Beige Nude #03. Lip liners: Red Diva, Tiramisu
§ MAC:
The most long-lasting matte lipsticks ever but I do like a touch-up in the
middle of the day so they look a bit fresher.
From top to bottom: Retro, Viva Glam 1, Myth, Diva. Lip liners: Spice, Brick
§ Dr
Hauschka #3
Second bests go to:-
§ From
top to bottom: Catrice Wood Rose Propose, Maybelline Coffee Craze, Catrice
Better than Nude, Chanel Rouge Coco Shine #89, Dr Hauschka #03
§ From
top to bottom: Makeup Revolution Vamp, KIKO #509
As you can see from my photos, I have a
lot of nudes and reds. No pinks. I don’t like.
I
love a nude lip and I tend to wear with a dark smoky eye of an evening. Its fine if I’m eating and/or drinking as it
doesn’t matter if it starts to disappear as all emphasis is on the eyes so you
still look made up. Plus you can reapply
even without a mirror.
For
stress-free occasions, when I don’t want to have to reapply too often then I
will opt for my MAC. Even though they
are long-lasting, I can get a bit panicky at lunchtimes, with the knowledge
that they might come off a little bit and I’m left with a line. Plus I always feel the need to wipe my mouth
after I’ve eaten so I like to leave these lipsticks for day time shopping (I’d
normally have my shades on anyway) with a slick of liner on the eyes, for example.
I
love my Dr Hauschka too as it goes great with greens and blues plus it stays on
as well and funnily enough, it is the only lipstick in my collection that I
like the smell of – it smells of a good Spa;
botanical and expensive.
Have a good week!
