Red-y for the holidays?

Red, red, red.

Lots of things scare the crap out of me, like curling wands without clamps, crying babies and flying over the Pacific Ocean on my own. Red lipstick was once on the 'scary list' and occasionally lumped in the 'too hard basket'. Red lipstick is tricky, but when it's executed beautifully all bets are off.

It's December, so let's throw caution to the wind just this once. Dust off that tube of red lipstick and scrub those lips smooth for your best pout yet.

Without further ado, here are a few of my favourite red lipsticks working from wicked cheap to super luxe.

Rimmel's Kiss of Life ($12.95 AUS / $4.97 USD) - a rich, matte formula that'll last 'til the end of time.

MAC's Ruby Woo ($16.00 USD / $36.00 USD) - the lip pencil version of this classic red is my personal fave. Be sure to pick up the Keepsake Red Lip Bag before it sells out!

Illamasqua's Maneater ($25.00 AUS / $24.00 USD) - A red you have to work hard for, but it's totally worth it.

Burberry's Fuschia Pink ($30.00 USD / $50.00 AUS) - the motley crew of reds. Pink sentimentality with a cherry red twist.

Which shade of red lipstick do you like to reach for?

Sunday Inspiration: Charlotte Tilbury and Liberty Ross

My new, virtual BFF - Charlotte Tilbury

This video was recently featured on Charlotte Tilbury's Youtube channel and ultimately served as my source of inspiration. To uncomplicate matters, I chose a few items from my own stash and performed a dry run yesterday and I'm actually quite pleased with the execution. 

My take

Typically I shy away from using such dark colours on my eyes in fear of looking like a raccoon or a panda bear; the real-estate is minimal, but I soldiered on to see if I could make this work. To temper the intensity of the eyes, I kept things fairly neutral -- clean, sun kissed skin and full soft pink lips, all of which had to be framed with bold brows. 

A handful of the items used: NARS Callisto, Burberry's Trench, Chanel's Mirifique, Armanis' Rouge Ecstasy in Daybreak and Waterproof Smooth Silk Eye Pencil in Black

The eyes

I took a bit of a backwards approach and started with the eyes first as I knew there would be loads of fallout. The juxtaposition of the completed eye look and my ruddy, red skin was a bit shocking, albeit temporary. Do me a favour and don't let the strong eyes deter you, I almost threw in the towel due to fear and uncertainty.

Eye Breakdown

1. Apply an eye primer and allow it to set;
2. Curl your lashes;
3. Tight line the upper lash line with black eyeliner;
4. Grab a neutral beige eyeshadow, preferably without shimmer and blend it from the upper lash line to your brow bone;
5. Next, reach for a sparkly black eyeshadow. If you don't own one, simply layer a wicked shimmery shadow over something similar to MAC's Carbon. Keep the darkness limited to the eyelid only; should you accidentally go past the imaginary line blend it out as if your life depended on it;
6. Line the lower lash line with the same black eyeliner you used a few moments before and smudge it with the excess black eyeshadow applied in the previous step to make the lashes appear thicker;
7. Highlight the inner corners of your eyes with a silvery pink eyeshadow to make your eyes pop;
8. Apply lots and lots of mascara. We're talking truckloads;
9. Fill in those brows and be sure to go a tad darker than usual;
10. Finally, grab a cotton bud or Q-tip soaked in eye makeup remover and clean up any fallout.

Skin, lips and cheeks

Underpin your everyday makeup with a primer and medium coverage foundation; I used a pearl sized amount of Laura Mercier's Silk Cream Foundation to cancel out the redness in my cheeks, nose and forehead.

Skin Breakdown

1. Apply primer, making sure to focus on any oily areas;
2. If you have any blemishes or dark undereye circles, use concealer to erase these bad boys;
3. Reach for that medium coverage foundation and blend all over, making sure to avoid messing up those beautiful peepers;
4. Set the foundation with finishing powder or powder foundation;
5. Contour the hollows of the cheeks, along the sides of the nose and the top of your forehead right near the hairline;
6. Highlight the bridge of your nose, the cheekbones, the brow bone, the centre of your forehead and the cupids bow;
7. Smile and apply a small amount of blush and blend upward towards the temples;
8. Finish with lipstick.

A word of caution, I did experience fallout from my water eyes. Be sure to tote around a cotton bud or two.

Full list of items used:

• Laura Mercier's Foundation Primer
• Laura Mercier's Silk Creme Foundation in Cream Ivory
• Chanel's Vitalumière Loose Powder Foundation in shade 30 
• Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Medium/Deep Matte Bronzer
• Hourglass' Ambient Lighting Powder in Luminous Light
• Illamasqua's Blush in Naked Rose
• NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base
• NARS Dual Intensity Eyeshadow in Callisto
• Chanel's Illusion d'Ombre in Mirifique
• Burberry's eyeshadow in Trench
• Armani's Waterproof Smooth Silk Eyeliner in Black
• Chanel's Inimitable Waterproof Mascara in Noir
• Armani's Rouge Ecstasy in Daybreak  

//Video Source

Lipstick for daytime

We've all been here before, standing in front of the closet full of clothes pondering what to wear. Then we sigh, grow frustrated and throw our hands up in the air.

Girl's got nothing to wear.

So, we scrape something together, then realise that we wore said dress last Wednesday and then notice a splotch of something (not quite sure what it is), but crap, it's too late to change. Gotta hustle out the door after mustering enough energy to style our hair and paint our faces.

Let's hit pause for a moment, rewind and try not to struggle with making at least one decision.

Can we discuss lipstick for daytime? I owe this topic of conversation to Rachael.

Hi Rachael!

*waves*

Giorgio Armani's Sheer Brown 202

Armani's Flash Lacquer in Pink 524

Armani's Rouge Ecstasy in Daybreak

Burberry's Lip Mist in Pink Heather

NARS Lipstick in Cruising

There's a bit of a theme with respect to the colour selection, but I swear it only has to do with the fact Armani does neutral colours really well. Girl Scout's Honour!

While it might be a struggle to get ourselves sorted in the morning, at least we know we'll have a pretty lipstick waiting to paint our pout.

And Rachael, Fridays should be reserved as a bright lippie day.

Just saying.