Let's flashback to two years ago: our heroine (that's me) gets invited to a 1960's-themed party and needs an outfit. In the spirit of historical accuracy, said-heroine goes to the drugstore and buys her very first tube of lipstick. Her life is forever changed.
Flash forward to present day and first-person usage, I am now obsessed with lipstick and own million bajillion different ones. False, I actually own 22 lipsticks (not including balms and glosses), and I know that's not that much, but it's not bad for only 2 years of accumulation.
Here's my collection:
left to right: e.l.f. luscious liquid lipstick in Cherry Tart, Bobbi Brown Scarlet 48, Revlon Just Bitten Kissable in Adore, Revlon Just Bitten in Gothic, Sephora Ultra Vinyl Lip Pencil in Fancy Red*, Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede in Couture, Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Certainly Red, MAC Matte in Russian Red, Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Candy Apple, L'Oreal Infallible in Beyonce Red*
Best of the Reds:
As you can tell, for drugstore lipsticks, I'm a huge fan of Revlon. All drug store makeup companies have their niche, and lipstick is Revlon's. For daytime lipstick, nothing beats their Just Bitten Kissable and Lip Butter lines. I have a couple of colors in both lines, and I need more. These lines add color but not too much and most importantly, keep your lips soft.
For nighttime/intense red lipstick, my favorites are Revlon's ColorStay Ultimate Suede in Couture layered over Just Bitten in Gothic or MAC's Russian Red, all by itself. The Just Bitten line is a fantastic long-lasting stain, but it's really drying and sometimes I have trouble with the felt tip (we have a love-hate thing). So I layer on the ColorStay for a hint of shine, balm, and even color. Here's the duo in action - it's a softer, almost pinkish red. I'm also wearing it here. My other favorite is MAC's Russian Red. It is sooooo good! It lasts forever (even with eating!), has a great true red color, and the matte lip is very retro chic.
As you can tell, for drugstore lipsticks, I'm a huge fan of Revlon. All drug store makeup companies have their niche, and lipstick is Revlon's. For daytime lipstick, nothing beats their Just Bitten Kissable and Lip Butter lines. I have a couple of colors in both lines, and I need more. These lines add color but not too much and most importantly, keep your lips soft.
For nighttime/intense red lipstick, my favorites are Revlon's ColorStay Ultimate Suede in Couture layered over Just Bitten in Gothic or MAC's Russian Red, all by itself. The Just Bitten line is a fantastic long-lasting stain, but it's really drying and sometimes I have trouble with the felt tip (we have a love-hate thing). So I layer on the ColorStay for a hint of shine, balm, and even color. Here's the duo in action - it's a softer, almost pinkish red. I'm also wearing it here. My other favorite is MAC's Russian Red. It is sooooo good! It lasts forever (even with eating!), has a great true red color, and the matte lip is very retro chic.
left to right: Revlon Just Bitten in Passion, Dior Addict in Flash 886, Physician's Formula pH Matchmaker in Light Pink, Sephora Ultra Vinyl Lip Pencil in Strawberry Delish, NYC Blossom 316, Maybelline Fifth Avenue Fuchsia, Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Sweet Tart
Best of the Pinks:
Obviously, I love reds a bit more than pinks, but they still have an important part of my lipstick collection. My favorite day one would again be the Revlon Lip Butter in Sweet Tart. For me, day lipsticks not only aren't too strong on the color but also have to quick and easy to apply. Quick and Easy is this lip butter's middle name.
My favorite nighttime/intense pink is Maybelline's 5th Avenue Fuchsia. I'm wearing it in this picture, and I love the punchy color. I've heard NARS Carthage is good, but for now, I'm happy with my Maybelline.
Quick tip: if you are unsure of a color, like I was with bright pink, try it out via super cheap lipstick like that NYC one. Sure, it lasts all of one second, but that one second (and $1 it costs) were all I needed to make sure I could commit to the color.
Obviously, I love reds a bit more than pinks, but they still have an important part of my lipstick collection. My favorite day one would again be the Revlon Lip Butter in Sweet Tart. For me, day lipsticks not only aren't too strong on the color but also have to quick and easy to apply. Quick and Easy is this lip butter's middle name.
My favorite nighttime/intense pink is Maybelline's 5th Avenue Fuchsia. I'm wearing it in this picture, and I love the punchy color. I've heard NARS Carthage is good, but for now, I'm happy with my Maybelline.
Quick tip: if you are unsure of a color, like I was with bright pink, try it out via super cheap lipstick like that NYC one. Sure, it lasts all of one second, but that one second (and $1 it costs) were all I needed to make sure I could commit to the color.
left to right: Revlon Just Bitten Kissable in Rendezvous, Clinique Tender Heart, Mary Kay liquid lip color in Raspberry Ice, e.l.f. in Natural Nymph, MAC Matte in Diva
Best of the Others:
I'm not big on brown/orange/purple lipsticks. I have that neutral, and honestly, I've never worn it before. I do enjoy the coral color of Just Bitten Kissable in Rendezvous for the summer (obviously, I only pull that color off with a tan, however slight it may be), and I LOVE MAC's Diva, a dark, deep burgundy color. I got this color on a whim after reading this post about dark lipstick. I wear it alone or with the L'Oreal Infallible stain on top, as seen here.
I'm not big on brown/orange/purple lipsticks. I have that neutral, and honestly, I've never worn it before. I do enjoy the coral color of Just Bitten Kissable in Rendezvous for the summer (obviously, I only pull that color off with a tan, however slight it may be), and I LOVE MAC's Diva, a dark, deep burgundy color. I got this color on a whim after reading this post about dark lipstick. I wear it alone or with the L'Oreal Infallible stain on top, as seen here.
left to right, top to bottom: Sugar by Fresh, Sugar in Rose, Burt's Bees with Honey, Burt's Bees with Pomegranate, MAC Lip Conditioner in Soothing Beige, Smith's Minted Rose, Cherry Carmex*
Best of the Lip balms:
Hands down, no question about it, Sugar by Fresh is the best lip balm. One application lasts for hours! (You hate reapplying chapstick every 30 minutes? Yeah, me too.) I also love wearing it on top of lipstick if I want a hint of shine. And the line of stains are fabulous. But, it's also by far the most expensive. I only have it because it was given to me. The next best is Smith's Minted Rose, which also last forever, has a faint pink tint, and costs around 6 or 7 dollars. The best drugstore lip balm is the EOS line, which isn't pictured here because I just used mine up. It's no Sugar, but it's pretty fantastic and is only $3. So.
Hands down, no question about it, Sugar by Fresh is the best lip balm. One application lasts for hours! (You hate reapplying chapstick every 30 minutes? Yeah, me too.) I also love wearing it on top of lipstick if I want a hint of shine. And the line of stains are fabulous. But, it's also by far the most expensive. I only have it because it was given to me. The next best is Smith's Minted Rose, which also last forever, has a faint pink tint, and costs around 6 or 7 dollars. The best drugstore lip balm is the EOS line, which isn't pictured here because I just used mine up. It's no Sugar, but it's pretty fantastic and is only $3. So.
left to right: Clinique Long Last Glosswear in Air Kiss, Covergirl Wetslicks in Berry Splash, Covergirl Wetslicks in Guava Splash, Own plump hydration lip therapy in True Mint, Clinique Superbalm in Raspberry Tint
Best of the Glosses:
I'm not a lip gloss fan - I don't like the waxy/sticky feel of my lips and I hate how my hair sticks to them when I wear gloss. In fact, 4 out of those 5 glosses were given to me, and the only one I like is the only one I purchased, the far left one. Clinique's Long Last Glosswear is glossy but not TOO glossy, and it just perfect on top of a lipstick or alone for a pink tint.
I'm not a lip gloss fan - I don't like the waxy/sticky feel of my lips and I hate how my hair sticks to them when I wear gloss. In fact, 4 out of those 5 glosses were given to me, and the only one I like is the only one I purchased, the far left one. Clinique's Long Last Glosswear is glossy but not TOO glossy, and it just perfect on top of a lipstick or alone for a pink tint.
And then of course, you have your accessories:
Lush Sweet Lips lip scrub: you absolutely need a lip scrub if you wear lipstick OR you can just brush your lips when you brush your teeth. After reading this post advising just that, I don't use that scrub anymore and brush my lips daily.
MAC Redd lip pencil and NYC lipliner pencil in Naughty Nude: I'm not a big lip liner person, hence the reason I only have two. The red for red lipstick, and the nude for everything else. I get away with that by only using it to outline my lips BEFORE I put on lipstick. Wouldn't work so well if I put it on top.
Whew! Did you make it this far? If you did, let me know what lipstick you recommend I'm always looking to add to my collection. :)
*these exact colors aren't available online
I am baffled. And impressed. Very impressed. See, I don't wear lipstick. Ever. Not even on special occasions, not when I got married (either time), never. I bought a case of 12 tubes of Natural Ice last winter and have gone through almost half of them. I have one tube of Burt's Bees with Pomegranate that I wear on "fancy" occasions...other than that? No lipstick. No gloss. Nothing.
ReplyDeleteThis whole post seems so deliciously girly and adult somehow. Like when I used to try putting on my Mom's blue eyeliner and shimmery beige eyeshadow. So very adult. But your makeups are CLASSY!
xox
Now you have to take a picture wearing each and every one of them.
ReplyDeleteI'll get to instagramming that ASAP.
DeleteWould it creep you out to know that I bookmarked this as an icon on my phone to reference for the next time I go to the store without the kids -- which is looking like it might be March ..... but I'll be studying until then.
ReplyDeleteLOVE makeup recommendations! Gonna totally have to bookmark this!
ReplyDeleteOoh, here's another one to add to the list: SoftLips Chapstick in the shimmer shade (you can buy the 2 pack which comes with Vanilla when you check out at Target). I used it when I was in labor last Monday and it lasted through the whole thing. I didn't even touch it up afterwards and everyone thought that I had put on fresh lipstick before the pictures (http://the-jordan-journal.blogspot.com/2013/01/welcome-to-world.html) True staying power, lol :o)
You've got quite the collection! I'm a bit of lip product junkie myself. The Sugar balms are awesome, amazing stuff. Love 'em! My favorite lipstick is a classic red from Mac. I forgot what it's called, but it glides on so smooth and even. I don't wear it often, but it's my favorite lipstick.
ReplyDelete