I have never really worn lipstick. In my mind, it just hasn’t suited me – I have a very thin top lip and and a very fat bottom lip and overall my mouth is very lop-sided. I could happily go on being self-critical, but I won’t! I also think part of the problem is I was trying the wrong colours – brown was very much the fashion in the ’90s when I was playing around with make-up, and although I never really thought lipstick fashions were a thing, I have noticed that brown lipsticks are back….
I have also got completely the wrong skin-tone for brown. My sister collaborates with a lady who does colour analysis , which has got everyone in the family thinking about colours that suit them. I definitely have a cool skin-tone, (varying between summer and winter in my opinion) and therefore thought I should try pinks and reds that have a cool-look to them. Now before watching You Tube videos, I had no idea that what seem like quite bright pink lipsticks, actually look very subtle when worn. I never would have picked up a pink lipstick (to be fair I would never have picked up any
I don’t want to draw attention to my mouth (for reasons stated above) (and I have honestly only just realised how contradictory that must sound when I have three stainless steel rings through half of it), but lipstick really does finish off a look and make it more professional and polished, so when I do go for a full face of make-up, I don’t really want to leave it out. However I’m still struggling to get used to it.
I do like a dark red. I like the dramatic, sometimes gothic feel of it. If I’m doing an Oshun photoshoot and only need to pout, I think I can get away with it. It’s if I ever need to smile, things go rather strange!
I actually only own four lipsticks and they’re all by Victoria Jackson. I was talked into buying a make-up bundle from a stall in a service station of all places! This was about five years ago by the way. As I never wore lipstick, I was actually going to give the lipstick set away, but recently I opened them up myself to give them a go. I have owned a few other lipsticks in the past, but I couldn’t find them when it came to taking photos for this blog post. That’s not quite true – I did find a dark red – but I have a feeling it was possibly my Mum’s or even my Nan’s. I also found a pale brown one that had sort-of shrivelled up from the outside in. I thought neither were particularly healthy so left them alone. (I’ve got a make-up declutter video planned, so once that’s filmed, they will go in the bin, don’t worry!) Anyway, these Victoria Jackson lipsticks seem fine, but as
I haven’t been living completely in a beauty excluded cave – I am well aware of these (relatively) new matte lip glosses (a contradiction in terms if you ask me and took me a while to work out what they actually were!), whenever I’ve swatched a tester on the back of my hand, the consistency and texture has left me not wanting to put it on my mouth.
AND THEN whilst browsing Boots at Christmas, I found the No7 matte lip crayon. This is like a revelation to me! I absolutely love it – it applies so smoothly and has a lovely matte finish. Back in the olden days I used to have to matte down lipstick with powder. Sadly there are only four shades and Raspberry Wine was the only one I liked the look of. However, at least I know to look out for other brand lip crayons in the future. It has the advantage of not needing a separate lip liner, so I can try and even out my wonky mouth a little. It’s also easier to slip it under and behind my lip-rings so I’m very pleased I made this discovery!
To be honest, I’m still not convinced I look good with lip colour, but I haven’t given up on it yet!
So anyway, I really do recommend trying lip crayons if you haven’t already, and particularly if you have lip piercings to negotiate! This is the one I’m wearing in this picture:
And the one I think I’ll try next:
You may also like to read my post called, Is It Time To Start Making An Effort?