I started my (mostly matte red) lipstick addiction about a year ago, but somehow it feels like I have known my red lippies since... forever?
Oh crumbs, I must confess that I simply cannot live without them. The right red gives a woman her edge, transforming her completely, empowering her... Girl-next-door to femme fatale, all it takes is a simple swipe of red. Think of Dita Von Teese and her immaculate crimson pout (she must be beaming in approval now).
Oh girls, stop shying away from your reds. Nonsense, sweetheart! There is nothing called too bold a colour! Every woman, regardless of skin tone, has a red that suits her perfectly to the ground.
Enough of the introductory formalities, I know what you are here for. Swatches!
Over the past 13 months or so I have been procuring rouge, rouge and more rouge, so much so that people always ask to see what reds I have. That got me thinking, why not swatch them for starters? That, plus the fact that I have always found online lipstick swatches useful (95% of my lipstick purchases have been induced by swatches found online), translated into me trying in earnest to find all my lost and wandering lipsticks and dip my toes in swatching waters.
For your information, I am a MAC NC 35, so most of the time I tend to go after warmer toned reds. I also have a thing for mattes and darker lipstick, hence if you are a pink/nude or gloss lover, I apologize for not being able to have something for you. If you are a fellow crimson addict like I am, then just keep reading ;P
The photos below are grouped into 3 different sets for your viewing pleasure:
Set 1: Some of my MAC lipsticks (Sorry for the wobbliness pictured in this set. A friend of mine who is new to doing lipsticks swatched it on my arm, hence the funny outcome)
Set 2: Red lipsticks from other brands
Set 3: (Mostly matte) liquid lipsticks (sorry, no gloss)!!!!
Set 1
With Flash
Set 1
Indoor White Lighting
Set 1
Indoor Yellowish Lighting
Set 2
Indoor White Lighting
Set 2
Indoor Yellowish Lighting
Set 2
Lipstick Packaging
Colours from left to right:
1) YBF Beauty Royalty Collectable Pewter Lipstick in Royalty Red,
2) Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet #38 La Fascinante,
2) Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet #38 La Fascinante,
3) NARS Pure Matte Lipstick in Vesuvio,
4) NARS Pure Matte Lipstick in Mascate,
5) ARTDECO Dita Von Teese Golden Vintage Lipstick #36 Valentina,
6) ARTDECO Dita Von Teese Art Couture Lipstick Velvet #656 Black Dahlia,
7) Kose Lipstick K05,
8) Snowmechi Lipstick 07,
9) Luoys Lipstick 906
10) Impulse Co. Matte Lipstick in Medusa,
11) Impulse Co. Matte Lipstick in Hardball,
12) Illamasqua Lipstick in Growl
4) NARS Pure Matte Lipstick in Mascate,
5) ARTDECO Dita Von Teese Golden Vintage Lipstick #36 Valentina,
6) ARTDECO Dita Von Teese Art Couture Lipstick Velvet #656 Black Dahlia,
7) Kose Lipstick K05,
8) Snowmechi Lipstick 07,
9) Luoys Lipstick 906
10) Impulse Co. Matte Lipstick in Medusa,
11) Impulse Co. Matte Lipstick in Hardball,
12) Illamasqua Lipstick in Growl
Set 3
Indoor White Lighting
Set 3
Indoor Yellowish Lighting
Set 3
Lipstick Packaging
Colours from left to right:
Top Row
1) Fyrinnae Lip Lustre in Type A,
2) Kat Von D everlasting Love Liquid Lipstick in Outlaw,
3) Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick #01 Fiery,
4) NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream #C10 Monte Carlo,
5) Giorgio Armani Lip Maestro #201
1) Fyrinnae Lip Lustre in Type A,
2) Kat Von D everlasting Love Liquid Lipstick in Outlaw,
3) Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick #01 Fiery,
4) NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream #C10 Monte Carlo,
5) Giorgio Armani Lip Maestro #201
Second Row
6) Guerlain Rouge G L'Extrait #M69 Orgueil
Third Row
7) MAC Pro Longwear Lustre Lipcolour #A38 Alta Moda/Hip Love
(Hip Love
is a gloss and therefore not swatched),
8) Make Up For Ever Aqua Rouge #11
8) Make Up For Ever Aqua Rouge #11
Bottom Row
9) Lip Ink in Earth Red,
10) Lip Ink in Cherry,
11) Lime Crime in Serpentina
9) Lip Ink in Earth Red,
10) Lip Ink in Cherry,
11) Lime Crime in Serpentina
Notes for Set 3:
Sorry for placing Sepentina here, I know it looks a little out of place! Oh, and it is a dark metallic green which did not show too well in the first photo. Thank goodness it turned out okay in the Indoor Yellowish Lighting shot!
As for Fyrinnae, it is a coppery shade, very very metallic. Couldnt photograph the damn thing well! A bit glossy, but like any color in this set (apart from Serpentina), it can be blotted out by kissing on some tissue paper.
Kat Von D's Everlasting Love Liquid Lipstick and Stila 's Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick are the most pigmented matte lip products I have so far. I swear they are beyond gorgeous!!!!
As for Lip Ink, it is personally recommended by Dita Von Teese when I asked her about kissproof lipsticks through her twitter. She responded, " Lip Ink goes beyond kiss-proof. It's sex-proof." If you're wondering about the validity of her claim, I can now personally endorse that too! Apart from Lip Ink, MAC's Pro Longwear Lustre Lipcolour (also swatched in this set) is also as smoochproof. The difference? While they are both kissproof, they are definitely two very different products. MAC's texture is much heavier and creamier compared to Lip Ink's watery inkish one. Heavier and creamier or lighter and runnier, it depends on your preference really. Both are great. Apparent downsides? Hmmm... MAC's dried out my lips pretty badly (LipInk did too, to a lesser degree), but this happens to me with any extreme longwear lip product I have tried, so go through the whole balm routine 30 minutes prior to lessen the damage. As for Lip Ink, similar to any lipstick sealers on the market, it has that pungent smell initially and if you are new to this, it will sting a bit due to its alchohol content. Don't worry, subsequent applications will not tingle so much. WARNING: make sure you do NOT put it on cracked lips or the wounds will sting/burn like crazy!
Why go through so much agony because of a lip product? Because Lip Ink has the widest color range of semi-permanent lip products, and hell yes, as Dita said, all sexproof.
XOXO
Monica
P.S. And here's me being completely random and pulling funny faces ;P
