Red Lipstick; not just for harlots anymore!

Have you been drinking red Kool-aid?

Hey Cherry pie,

I hope everyone is having a great start to their weekend. I'm in a reflective mode, and I'm happy to be in the house surrounded by my family, and my dog Tommy. I have a review for you Betty's about dun, dun, dun....…RED LIPSTICK. It has become this thing that left with the 80's and made a brief comeback in the 90's as a matte favorite on Rachel from the TV Friends, which I hate btw. Now red is making a comeback, but for some reason women tend to think you either have to have a special occasion or be Halle Berry in order to wear it; well I hope my review convinces you otherwise.... Now before I begin let me just say I loathe orange based red on myself, so all the colors in my  review will consist of BLUE BASED REDS. Don't let the flash of the camera fool you there's nothing orange about them in person; so on with the show....

 After searching around for a couple of months and convincing myself that Illamasqua was the only company that made a red that was good enough I was tempted to just settle for this and deal with stained Illamasqua teeth; I discovered a few things.
1. It shouldn't take anyone more than two weeks to find a good red lipstick.
2. I clearly didn't know what I was talking about in regards to Illamasqua; surely they're not the only make-up company that makes a good red. Yay no more stained teeth!

I've narrowed the search down to the three reds that work best for me so far. I'm in no way demanding that you purchase these or saying that they'll work for you. However, I hope you'll give them a try and give me some feed back.

Chanel Rouge Allure Laque in Dragon, Nars in Red Lizard, and MAC in Ruby Woo

In the picture above I have them lined up in the order of my preference; I've also included the items you'll need to create the perfect red lip. Prep + Prime for the lip by MAC and lip liner by MAC in the color Cherry.

Chanel Rouge Allure Laque in Dragon.
Talk about sexy, sexy Suzy! This isn't really a lipstick its listed as a lipgloss by Chanel but it's actually a combo of a lipstick and a gloss. Cleaver little beavers! It's of course blue based, and goes on the lips really smooth. I realized early on that no liner is needed and it's so thick that it stays put with or without the primer. This is one of those colors that actually transcends skin complexion and is great for woman of all shades. I would do a slight blot before heading out the door because you just might find this baby mysteriously on your teeth as you smile at Mr. Wonderful but it doesn't seep onto your tongue like Illamasqua. Also, It can be worn for the day or night as shown below.

Off to work with vibrant lips courtesy of Chanel

As you can see from the above look, I paired the color with a very soft eye and allowed my lips to be the focus. My lips lasted right through my first cup of coffee. The color remained bright but it did lose its initial shine. A trick that I do to keep my red lips shiny without wasting product is using my all about lips shine by Clinique instead of reapplying the Laque.

Off to play with my Chanel night look and of Course it just wouldn't be right if I weren't wearing my Chanel shades!

Now if I'm gonna give you the good I have to give you the bad right? The color does stain but it's not a matte so it wont dry out your lips. To remove it you might want to use something like take the day off for lips and eyes by Clinique. However, if you don't have that normal make up removing face wash will fade it out a little bit and by morning it'll be completely gone. Unfortunately you will have to go to bed looking like you had a little kool-aid. Now for the VERY bad this is gonna cost you $32, it's a good investment if you plan to wear red lips in an everyday situation; however, the choice is yours.

Next up we have Red Dragon by Nars. Now I love Francois, but I was a little skeptical about purchasing a red from Nars; mostly because, and I love Nars with all my heart, but a lot of his lipsticks just don't give the color payoff that one would think for the price. I quickly put my fears aside and purchased it without trying it on. As soon as I got up for work in the morning I applied it, okay I brushed my teeth first, you know what I mean don't get fresh! First I noticed two things. It goes on remarkably smooth and it's a matte with a sheen, not a shine if I'm making any since here.  You will need to make sure that your lips are exfoliated and moisturized, if you don't you'll surely be sorry. It doesn't sink into lip creases but the color wont pick up on lips that aren't primed. You don't need the MAC primer per se but you may want to take a little sugar and warm water and rub them across your lips and apply some old fashioned vaseline. Do this while you're applying your foundation and by the time you get to your lips the vaseline would have set in. This color is good for medium to dark skin women so please don't stray away from it just because you aren't fair skin.

Fifties look

I was inspired to do a fifties matte look with the heavy eyebrows with shimmery yet muted lids. My mother was watching I love Lucy and she made a reference to our hair color being similar, so I pulled out my paint pots, book of Shadows II and got to work creating heavy eyebrows, without looking uber ridiculous for work, and used red dragon for a matte lip. Now back to the review...

Okay so the color held up against the elements and the funk of the subway. Although I used a lip liner, MAC in Cherry, as well as a primer I noticed a little bleeding at the top of my lips once I got to work. This is to be expected as I can be a little oily around my upper lip; gross I know. The color came off and lost its luster as soon as I began eating my lunch, now the horrid part was not only did the color come off it bled down on my chin! How it got there I don't know but there it was. When the color faded off after eating it also dried into my lip creases I applied a bit of my all about lips to add some shine and reapplied, and kept it moving. I forgot to bring the lip liner with me so I was only able to put it in the inner portions of my bottom lip. What I love about this color is, if your lips are primed and prepped properly (try saying that three times fast)! The color pay off is amazing and you can have so much fun with it. What I hate is that it bleeds like crazy and dries out during lip wear. Would I Recommend this for everyday use? Yes, because I often wear it to work, just be prepared to monitor it from time to time and no it doesn't give you that mysterious teeth stain. $24.50 At Nars counters and Sephora stores.

Nars at night, I actually didn't go out in it but hey...

Last but not least we got the Infamous Ruby Woo by MAC bringing up the rear. Oh me, oh my what can I say about this color? It's a true matte and it goes on dry, dry, dry. You  MUST do some lip prepping and although you might not find yourself reapplying; you might wanna keep some clear gloss handy just to keep your lips from feeling like sand paper throughout the day.

The color payoff is amazing if you can get past the how cardboard dry it is. Which is why it's my last choice; the color does bleed a little but it doesn't fade; There is no shine, nor sheen so don't look for one. The color is not muted so it always looks vibrant so it really doesn't matter that it's not a sheen anyway.

Say hello to RUBY WOO!

This color is great on a first date, normally one wouldn't slather their lips with a red lipstick on first date but this color is so matte that it's not offensive at all, I applied three coats before I took the above shot and it still looks completely matte. Now don't let the photo fool you; it's not a light color at all, it just doesn't pick up well for the camera's on darker skin, which is another reason why it comes in third for me. You would need to put a base on under the color in order to neutralize the natural pigment in your skin, may I suggest soft ochre, yea it's a paint pot I know but it does the trick. Now I'm not one to be going all out and doing things of that nature; I can get a little lazy. But if YOU'RE willing to take it there, this color will pick up lovely on camera using that technique. Here is the proper way to apply this lip color as explained to me by one of the associates at MAC, save for the exfoliation part that's just my two cents:

1. Exfoliate lips (please don't apply this or any other matte color on dry cracked lips, handle your business)

2. Use a primer to keep it from bleeding, she sold me the prep + prime. After applying the prep + prime allow it to set for 3-5 minutes apply your foundation or something.

If you're a woman of color and you want the best color pay off this next step is for you; if not skip step three.

3. Apply a small about of base to neutralize your lip color, only if you want the true color to show.

4. Use a liner and make sure to blend it halfway into your lip.

5. Apply Ruby Woo blot a tad, turn around look at yourself in the mirror and say: "Awww suki, suki now!"(okay she didn't say to say that but I think you should).

A lot of make up guru's suggest Ruby Woo for darker skin and Russian Red for fairer skin. I suggest you take yourself down to the nearest MAC and try it out for yourself. This is another color good for night or day and it didn't get on my teeth not one time, but it did make them look brighter as all reds do, $14.50 MAC Cosmetics.

Colors swatches on my hand so you can see them side by side.

L to R: Chanel (the clear winner), MAC Ruby Woo (a matte with no shine) and Nars Red Dragon, (a matte with a subtle sheen). The line across the top is MAC lip liner in Cherry.

One last look before you go...

I hope you found this review useful, and it allows you to venture out into the realm of red lips for everyday Wear. If you do just promise me this one thing; you'll Never, EVER to wear red lipstick with black liner. Remember Red lips aren't just for harlots anymore. Now go on scat I got things to do..... Until next time Cherry pie!