PURSUIT OF THE PERFECT PINK LIPSTICK… AGAIN

You might remember my previous posts about my pursuit of the perfect pink lipstick. Well, we’ve got another contender:

L’Oreal’s Exclusive Nudes Collection in Doutzen’s nude. Apparently, this is another damned limited edition (which is infuriating– “The perfect shade for every skintone… But only for five minutes!”), but the colour is so pretty I just couldn’t resist. I’m actually not sure if it’s an LE or not, because some sites are calling it Limited and others are calling it Exclusive, so whether this is going to disappear soon or not is open to debate. According to Vogue, though, they’ve been available since September last year, and that doesn’t sound very limited to me.

Either way, the colour is a soft, gentle pink in a really lovely formulation, this has good coverage without looking too thick or cakey. As this is from L’Oreal’s Brand Ambassador range and it suits me just perfect, I wanted to take a look at images of the ambassador and see if her skin tone/colouring matched my own. Word of advice– be very careful what you Google when it involves the word “nude” and the name of a model.

Obviously, I don’t look like this (I wish did, but no). However, are similarities– grey-toned eyes, dark blonde hair, pale-but-yellow toned skin. So it makes sense that this particular pink would work for me. If you have similar colouring and you’ve been looking for a new pink, you might want to give this one a try… But if you’re looking to pick it up, you might want to hurry, as this might not be sticking around for too long.

Do you know for sure if this is limited or not? Have you tried this range? What’s your perfect nude lipstick? Drop me a line and let me know!

-A-

THE PERFECT BROWN LIPSTICK

Trying to decide on the perfect brown lipstick is surprisingly far harder than the perfect red or pink shade. Unlike those bolder colours, where I’m lucky if I can find one that suits me, with browns I can wear just about anything in that colour family without looking like I’m recovering from a bad bout of flu. (Or, in the case of one spectacularly terrible pink, recovering from death itself. And not recovering very well, at that.) Consequently, I’m going to cheat and toss up two colours for this, because really: there are so many browns that you should be allowed at least two, right?

Oddly enough, they’re both Clinique offerings: Blushing Nude and Sassy Spice.

Blushing nude is the kind of lipstick you can throw on daily without over-thinking things, and I have been wearing it for years. Long before the Naked palettes were a twinkle in a marketing man’s eye, back in the days when I thought I was the bee’s knees with my lashings of green eyeshadow, there was this, and still it endures today. A soft sort of taupey colour, it’s dark enough to be obvious that it is a lipstick, but gentle enough that it’s not a statement colour. I love this, and I wear it a lot of the time.

My other favourite brown goes in the complete direction. Although I’ve also been wearing this since the dawn of time and it also falls into the brown category, that’s where the similarities stop. I love this one just as much, although I wear it less: Sassy Spice is a much darker brown, pearlescent rather than matte, with hints of burgandy, and it’s definitely a statement colour. Although harder to wear, a little bit of pencil stops it from bleeding away, and I love the look I get with it– with really nude eye makeup, it’s monotone while still being wow.

Blushing Nude on the top and Sassy Spice underneath– alas: the photos make the Nude a lot darker and browner than it appears in real life.

I keep trying to buy other brown lipsticks, but given that these two do everything I need, I can’t really find an excuse for it!

Have you used either of these products? Do you cling to tried and tested reliables? Do you constantly search out new and better products? Drop me a line and let me know!
-A-

THE PERFECT RED LIPSTICK

Having finally tracked down what I believe to be the perfect pink lipstick, I think it’s probably high time I talked about my perfect red lipstick. I’m a big fan of a bold red lip: when properly applied and combined with the right makeup look, I think it can make a bold style statement that’s dramatic without being too overpowering.

Finding the perfect red shade for you is always going to be a challenge, and I personally struggle with that whole warm-vs-cool colour notion. What the hell is a warm colour, anyway? Which shades of colours are cool? I can never work it out. (Similarly, I have no idea whether my colouring is warm or cool, either.) In any case, what I have discovered is that certainly some shades of red are more flattering on me than others. Bright, tomato reds do little for me in the way of clothing, and when it comes to lipstick: forget it. I’m also incredibly conscious of colours that make my teeth look anything less than whiter-than-white, so pinky reds aren’t always the easiest to pull off.

My previous go-to red lipstick (Clinique’s Vintage Red) has sadly been discontinued, I’ve discovered. In light of that extraordinarily depressing reality, I’ve come up with this replacement: Rimmel Moisture Renew in Diva Red.

At only €8, it’s a real steal, and it definitely does the business. It has the same kind of old-school, vintage flair as the Clinique version at a fraction of the price, and even more importantly, you can still purchase the damn thing. (The discontinuation of my preferred products is a long thorn in my side. Clinique, much as I love them, seem to be particularly terrible for it.)

Hopefully, Rimmel will keep this shade around for a long time! I love it.

Do you have a favourite red? Did you love Vintage Red and are you still sad about its discontinuation? Do you have a replacement product you’d like to mention? Drop me a line and let me know!
-A-

PRODUCT EXPERIENCE: CLARINS JOLI ROUGE LIPSTICK

In my never-ending quest for the perfect pink lipstick, I have tried a great many things, but it seems as if my search might, at last, be at an end. Could it be possible? Let’s find out.

During my recent splurge in Dundrum, I was wandering the aisles of Boots, waiting for my mother to get back from the car, and found myself standing at an abandoned Clarins counter. I’ve never used any Clarins products before, and had mentally relegated the brand as the preserve of classy-but-elderly ladies (it’s one of the Queen’s favourites, I believe). However, a post I read from Betsy Powell about beautiful brows mentioned not one but two Clarins products, so I thought perhaps I should reconsider. My thoughts on brow pencils went right out the window when I spotted their incredible selection of pink lipsticks, though. Almost their entire counter was dotted with pretty little pink spots!

Well, with nobody hovering at my elbow trying to make me either Buy Something Or Get Lost (there’s nothing I hate more than being harassed when trying to sample products and make a purchasing decision; if you won’t leave me alone, my ass will walk out the door and take my cash with it), I was actually able to take my time and swatch several colours to see if the right one for me was in the mix.

And it was. Not just one, but two –read that: two— gorgeous baby pinks that promised to give me the colour I was looking for. I had to make a call between Pink Sugar and Baby Pink, and in the end went for the latter. They’re really very similar, although the Pink Sugar is in a slightly lighter formulation (Joli Rouge Brilliant Shine, I think). They’re both great pinks, though, if you’re looking for something light and gentle. A warning: the colour is somewhat scary in the actual tube itself:

but once you get past that, what you get for your trouble is a pretty, soft, shimmery pink colour without a hint of frost. Don’t believe me? Check this out:

On the right, one layer of colour. On the left, four or five layers. It’s really buildable, but the one-pass version is exactly the colour I wanted– and only using a little bit of it means it will last for longer, too.

I am absolutely delighted with this purchase. It feels good on, it looks perfect, and I don’t think it’s going to dry out my lips too badly. It’s probably not the most long-lasting lipstick I’ve ever tried, but nothing as moisturising as this is ever going to be long-wearing, so I think I can live pretty happily with it.

In the €22 price bracket, this isn’t cheap, and I’m not going to pretend it is. However, given that it’s just about exactly what I wanted in terms of both colour and feel, I would absolutely recommend this product to everyone. After this, I’ll be looking to Clarins for other purchases in the future– and I’ll try to not to be so silly as to hold misinformed preconceptions about other brands, too.

Have you found your perfect pink lipstick yet? Are you still on the hunt? Are you a Clarins fan? Have you ever been converted to using a brand you thought wasn’t for you? Drop me a line and let me know!
-A-

IN PURSUIT: THE PERFECT PINK LIPSTICK

When it comes to lip colour, having found Right Red and the Best Brown for me (both of which will be covered in a future post), I covet the Perfect Pink lipstick, but so far it has proved elusive. I mentioned in a previous post how I am forever in pursuit of the perfect blusher— my quest for the perfect pink lipstick is likewise ongoing.  I may, however, have reached a temporary solution in the combination of two different pinks overlaid which kind of give the effect I’m after…