Sunkist makeup

Lips
Continuing with the discussion on orange, let's look at makeup. We've seen the bright red and bright orange lipstick from J Crew.

Perfect shirt in linen in modern red
3" chino short in modern red

Even though strong lips have been all the rage because of Mad Men, I didn't go wholeheartedly toward it right away. I wore MAC's Russian red for awhile in the 90s, complete w/false eyelashes and a cigarette holder (*lol*) and didn't feel the need to revisit the look. I liked the idea of a pale orange, though, and totally fell in love with Party Animal by Kat Von D. Only available at Sephora. It's sheer, but is still clearly orange color. I like glosses because I don't feel the need for lip liner with it. The drawback to a gloss is that it may not be strong enough to override your natural lip color if it has a lot of pigment.

Kat Von D Lightning Sheer Lip Gloss

This year I got hot-to-trot to find a strong red lipstick. I definitely wanted a lipstick and not a gloss. I didn't even think to go back to MAC's Russian Red. You know how you want to find something new. I went to Sephora since there are a number of makeup lines to try and found this beautiful red by Nars:

Nars Jungle Red

Then I remembered my collection of MAC lipsticks, so I decided to look there before buying the Nars. I've been wearing MAC for a long time & am very familiar with how the different formulas wear. I ended up with a color called Scarlet (not-pictured). It's a matte color and I think matte or semi-matte is generally best for brights. You don't want to be shiny and clown bright. MAC's Cremestick liner in Red Enriched (not pictured) is the color that paired perfectly with Scarlet. I've only worn the look a couple of times. I know how to layer well, but the lips are trickier if you drink water during the day and so-on. You have to stay on top of it with subsequent applications. In either case, bright lips or cheeks are fun year round.

Blush
Bright cheeks + pale lips have been shown in J Crew's catalogs and I like that look, too. I didn't think bright cheekies would be for me, but one day I went on a hunt for a hot color. The first one I found is Exhibit A by Nars at Sephora. I really loved this color.

Nars Exhibit A

However, I have the pro palette blush x6, so I decided to check MAC for a similar color since I had one slot left. The makeup artist selected a color for me and it was exactly what I was looking for. They really have a knack for doing that. Plus, a few of them are vaguely familiar with me even though I don't come in often. It's nice to go where there's familiarity.

Frankly Scarlet

It's very easy to do bright cheeks because you apply a light sweeping with the color and it stays. When searching for a bright, don't be afraid of how the color looks in the container. Go for the color you think will look best and then try it very lightly. You can always add on. The makeup artists at Sephora are pretty helpful, but I end up at MAC for some things, esp if I think I need help w/application. They always seem to nail it for me. And no, I don't to bright cheeks & lips at the same time. With bright cheeks cheeks I prefer pale/nude shadow, slightly lighter than my eyelid color, black liner and pale lips. Remember to have those eyebrows waxed or threaded. Then filled in with color if you're sparse like me. Eyebrows really frame the face and set up your makeup look. Speaking of...remember Anastasia, eyebrow guru to the stars? On one of my recent Sephora trips I tried the perfect brow pencil. It would take a lot to get me to buy a $22 pencil, but this one would be worth it. It really was perfect. In the meantime, I'll keep working w/my MAC #223 brush and powder. FYI, the #208 is worth it for the inner corners.


Do you wear bright cheek or lip colors? Any colors, tips you'd like to share...?

ETA
community recommendations:

* Bobbi Brown Rich Lip Color - Old Hollywood, Guava

* Jane Iredale Puregloss - Apricot Fizz

* Laura Mercier stickgloss - Poppy

* Nars lipstick - Fire Down Below

* Revlon - Orange Flip

* Stila One Step - for face

♥
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