In a world were we are told to buy,buy, buy – it’s often hard to find beauty advice that supports keeping things simple. I used to be someone who’d cram about twenty tubes of lip gloss into a small, but heavy purse. I’d rarely have room left for anything else, let alone have the ability to find the things I needed. One day I decided to change my hoarding ways, at first it wasn’t easy, but I want to share how I managed to reduce my over-blown makeup collection down to three versatile lip colours.
The specific colours I’m about to showcase are mostly matched to my olive complexion, but those with warm skin tones in general can also take note. If you get only one thing from my advice, let it be that by committing to three flexible lip looks – Classic – Natural – Party – you’ll lose a whole lot of baggage and save yourself some money.
Between the following images my makeup has been left the same, only my lip colour has changed. You will see from my examples how a simple switch in lipstick can change impact of your overall look, and how easy it is to move from one occasion to another with very little fuss.
Classic – Red Lip
The above look is achieved with one of my favourite reds, it’s called ‘Red Velvet’ and is part of Lime Crime’s ‘Velvetine’ range. This colour is often sold out, but check on eBay or do a Google search and you will be able to track it down easily enough. The Velvetines are so popular because they have INCREDIBLE staying power and lovely vibrant colours. All the Velvetines come in a lipgloss tube with applicator. The colour goes on wet, but dries to a matte finish that does not budge (except if you’re eating super oily food).
*In my profile photo I have on a gorgeous colour by MAC, but I’ll reveal that one in a future post specifically on how to wear reds. I recommend you follow me to find out.
One tip I will give though…
If you’re like me and your bottom lip is significantly thicker than your top lip, try drawing your lip liner slightly outside the edge of your top lip (as shown in the picture above). Follow through by applying the rest of your colour. For some reason whenever I wear strong reds the colour makes my bottom lip look huge in comparison, this trick evens out the ratios and gives the top lip added pout.
Natural – Nude Pink
I was directed to the above lip colour by a makeup artist about a year ago and have never looked back. This beautiful nude shade is ‘Runway Pink’, by ELF – a company dedicated to natural cosmetics. Runway Pink is gentle in colour and feels silky on the skin, it gives a natural but sexy appearance to lips. Pair this with a gentle shimmer powder over the upper cheek and brow bones to add a little extra glamour to your look (think J.Lo).
Just take note, if you happen to get a bit of a sun tan, you may find light colours such as this become too light. To combat this issue I dab a small amount of golden brown eye shadow over the top to add warmth to the cool pink tones.
Party – Bright Pink
This last look comes care of a strong hot pink, called ‘Shocking Pink’ by Rimmel London. If you can’t find it at a local department store, again try sites such as eBay and you should be able to get yourself a tube. Shocking Pink is a really fun colour, it’s bright and happy, with slight blue undertones. If you have a warm complexion you can also try other daring colours such as grape purple.
Hope you enjoyed today’s post. I love reading and responding to everyone’s comments, so feel free to leave a comment of your own.
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