red lip wardrobe

I frequently use the 'but I'm a beauty blogger, so it's research' excuse when confronted with questions about my growing cosmetic collection. Here I whip it out again, to make up for the fact that the above is but a selection from my red lip wardrobe.

When I look for a red lip, I don't stick to one formula or texture. I have glosses, sheer reds, coral-toned reds, brick reds and those in the spectrum between. I do find that I need to warm up the rest of my complexion when I wear some of these shades, and I generally use a bronzer like Nars Laguna to do so.

The truer reds in my collection would be 'Screen Siren' from Vani-T and Revlon's lip butter in 'Candy Apple'. I tend to base looks around them when I wear them, as they are quite strong on their own. The Serge Louis Alvarez '#27' is a blood red gloss with lots of intense shimmer, it really is a beauty and one I'm so glad to have in my collection. Nars 'Amsterdam' is the newest addition to the red lip family, it is deep and vampy and the formula is divine.

I was a bad blogger and totally neglected my mini Nars glosses when taking these shots. The shades Babe and Misbehave are stunning, and I can apply them without a mirror but am also able to build them right up on the lip as well. I adore the Nars gloss formula (regular line, not keen on the Larger than Life range though the colours look good)

My favourite product from my red lip wardrobe is definitely MAC's Viva Glam Cyndi lipstick (now sadly discontinued) which is a Lustre finish and is coral-toned, which makes it so easy for me to wear day in and day out. I will be heart broken when Cyndi leaves my life, but for now I am enjoying her but alternating with other red shades like MAC's Hot Tahiti. That, my dear blog readers, is the beauty of having a red lip wardrobe!



dolling up a little one

My beautiful niece turned 7 over the weekend, and celebrated with a glamour party with all of her friends. My sister set up a (fake) tattoo parlour, hair curling, coloured hair spray, a nail salon and a makeup spot for the kids to explore, with someone manning each section. Can you guess which I was in charge of?

I gave the kidlets choice when adding some sparkle to their party looks (and don't worry, everything was sanitized and no sticky fingers smooshed my makeup-phew!) They liked having the power to decide what they could wear, and I think overall it went well.

Biggest hit was definitely the BYS Diamond Shadow palette in Miami Beats*, which is chock-full of glitterific pastel shades (the kids went nuts for the pink, lo and behold) The essence Swirlpool blush also went down well, the sheen this gives is a sight to see, one of the prettiest blushes I own for sure. No love for MAC's Full Of Joy blush, the kids aren't fond of lavender it turns out. You learn something new every day!

The only ones who went for the Clinique Strawberry Fudge palette were my older niece and her friend, who weren't excited by the glitter and wanted to wear ladylike shades. The Gold Rush shade in the bottom left hand corner is such a stunner, FYI.

I gave all of the kids the choice of two Vera Wang perfumes (Princess and Glam Princess) and four lipglosses (which I applied onto the back of my hand and then onto their lips with a sanitised brush) The only one that wasn't chosen was the Mirenesse shade, they all wanted brighter pink shades so this fell by the wayside. Hello Kitty's Baby Lip looked great on, and as always my love for the essence stay with me glosses knows no bounds.

What would a 7 year old makeover be without a ton of shimmer? The new L'Occitane Pivoine Delicate Shimmering Powder* comes out with the nicest little 'puff' and the kids thought it was awesome (I think it is awesome as well!) The Vani-T Diamond Dust in Moon & Stars* is something I use on my cheekbones, and when I was finished with them the kids were all glowing like little rays of golden sunshine!

What would you do if asked to make over 30 children?

How often do you shimmer up your makeup routine?

*Marked products were provided, but used in this makeover because they are lovely and suited to occasion perfectly. Honesty, always.