Hey, guys!
I was going to write a blog post about the crème de la crème of fall lipsticks today, but I remembered someone telling me today, "You look like a vampire today. It's kind of hot," and someone else saying, "You look paler than usual," and BAM. Vampy lips! Pale skin! Beauty bloggin' swag 2k12 y'all.
The one of the best parts of fall is being able to pull of crazy dramatic lips like this and not look insane. Now is the time to experiment with dark shades. A vampy lip, when done right, can look more autumnal than a purple and bronze smokey eye.
Bold lips look more intense on pale skin tones. You have to be careful to choose shades that really work for your complexion. It's so, so, so easy to go overboard and look washed out and dead if you don't balance your makeup or choose the right color. For reference: If they went lower than NC15, I would be about NC10 on the MAC scale, so my skin tone, like my personality, is pretty colorless. I'm a solid match for NARS Siberia.
Left to right: Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in "Crush," MAC lipstick in "Media," NARS lipstick in "Scarlet Empress," NYX Round Lipstick in "Snow White." Taken in direct sunlight.
NYX Round Lipstick in "Snow White."
Snow White is a quintessential darkened red. While it can be worn on its own (which is my preference), you can play up the bright red tones or darken it further with an appropriately colored lipliner, making it more versatile. The lipstick itself is the creamiest I own and applies beautifully. Once put on, it stains your lips and lasts for two-four hours. Reapplications are necessary, but they're not something you have to pay attention to. It's not drying. The finish is everything I wish MAC Cremesheen lipsticks were. Not satin, not too shiny, just... creamy. That being said, this lipstick is prone to transferring and smudging. There's no noticeable shimmer. This is probably my favorite of the bunch. The formula and shade of Snow White is FLAWLESS, and it retails at $4. FOUR DOLLARS Y'ALL.
NARS Lipstick in "Scarlet Empress."
Okay, first and foremost, at $25, this product is puke-inducingly expensive. It took months of lusting, reading reviews, swatching, and obsessing for me to pull the trigger. It's described on the NARS website as a "jewel-toned blue-red," which is an oversimplification, but it works. In the swatch above, I put on one layer. At first, it's a workable daytime color for normal people. However, it builds up beautifully and can be made into a gorgeous dark fuchsia-plum-red-heaven sort of deal. It brings out my green eyes and pale skin unlike anything else I own, and the shade itself can't be found anywhere else. The uniqueness of this shade makes it worth the ridiculous pricetag. This what I wore today that provoked the vampire comment. I didn't apply lip balm at all today, just reapplied this, and my lips are in surprisingly good condition. It stains your lips, leaving a nice berry color as it wears off. Scarlet Empress doesn't do that annoying thing when it wears from the inside and leaves a lipliner-lookin' thing. It's one of NARS' semi-matte finish lipsticks, which is basically what would happen if a Satin lipstick was creamier. This lipstick is creamy as NARS lipsticks famously are, but it's not so emollient that it goes everywhere.
MAC lipstick in "Media."
This lipstick is not for the faint of heart. Media is a deep plum with a tiny bit of red running through it. This is a HIGHLY pigmented lipstick, but you can do a lot with it. Layer one is shown above, and it's obviously very dark. Pile on another layer or two, and you've got a legitimately blackened plum. This can be made too dark even for my skewed taste, which is saying something. For the daytime, I will usually apply one to two layers, blot it down, and blend the color with a finger to create a plummy, lastly less intense lip stain. You can build it up, blot it down, pair it will various lipliners, add gloss, and mix it with other shades to create a TON of looks. Out of all the lipsticks I own, this is by far the most multipurpose. The one complaint I have it that Satin finishes are drying as hell, and it's so bad that even with lip balm, I sometimes can't get through the day because of how cracked my lips will look. Dark lip colors enhance that stuff man. Super lame.
Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in "Crush."
Revlon needs to realize that lip products are not Panic! At the Disco song titles and shorten these names up a tad. JFC, who is going to recommend a "kissen butthole bitten stainable just balm" to a friend? Ain't nobody got time for that, Revlon. The packing would lead to to believe that this is a dark color in the league of Media, but no no no. This stuff is pretty sheer. You have to pile it on to get a true dark lip. That's nice for people who want a vampy plum but don't want to go all out, but for me, it's the color is not that practical. That being said, the longevity of this is pretty gr8. I pile it on, blot, then pile some more on and it'll last me for a solid five hours or more color-wise. I only reapply for moisture purposes. It's not drying by any means, but it's certainly not a balm like it claims.
I tried ok goodnight I tired
I hope u enjoyed my novella
I'm probably going t have to do a how to: bold lip post now
sigh so much work
how much fluff can I put here
meow
I <3 Siren
Peyton
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