Tis the season for...red lips: part 2

The first part of the 'tis the season for...red lips'-edition already looked into the symbolism of the red lip, and I showed you some high end lipsticks that I really enjoy every now and then.

The second part will look at the midend and cheaper options I have.

The Clinique ones I have are quite glossy, which I love for a more toned down look. The first one I will be showing is the Clinique Colour Surge Butter shine lipstick in Cranberry Cream. I consider Clinique to be more of a midend brand on a price-scale from cheap to expensive.

Clinique Colour Surge Butter shine lipstick in Cranberry Cream- I love the bamboo form of the lipstick

Clinique Moisture Sheer lipstick in 05 Ruby Kiss- (yes, it is a tester I got in a swap extra)

I swatched the two cliniques and I compared them. First I want to discuss the similarities. As you can see, both are of a glossy texture and the colours look similar.

1. Butter shine Cranberry cream 2. Moisture Sheer in 05 Ruby Kiss

1. Butter shine Cranberry cream 2. Moisture Sheer in 05 Ruby Kiss

The difference is more subtle: I think the Moisture sheer lipstick has more sheerness and more of a glossy texture. The Cranberry Cream is indeed more of a red cranberry while the Ruby Kiss is a tad more berry-ish.

I love both colour as they are flattering for a neutral-leaning-to-cool toned NW 25 skintone. They are a good introduction to the red lip, because you can control the intensity of the colour. The slightly blue tones in the lipstick is a optic whitener for teeth: in other words, teeth look more white when wearing a lipstick with blue undertones, so that is a perk as well.

The next round of lipsticks I will show are the so-called cheapies. If you read a lot of beauty blogs, you probably have seen your share of NYX lipsticks. The round lipsticks from NYX are really cheap with prices from $1 to $2 online (available at Cherryculture.com and nonpareilboutique.com. Both stores have 20% discount codes right now: Cherryculture over here and Nonpareil here)

The NYX-es, or the Cheapies, are quite pigmented. They are excellent value for both the red lipstick-shy as the aficionado, as you can adjust the level of pigment on the way you apply it.

For a stain: press your finger on the lipstick and blot the pigment into your lips...tap tap tap...and there is a bit of a stain. You can always add a bit of clear lipgloss over it for a even sheerer and glossier mouth, or dab some lipbalm over it.

For a true red mouth: prep your lips by removing the flakies (lipscrub or wet washcloth), blot some eyecream onto your lips, apply a thin layer of concealer of a bit of foundation, line your lips with lipliner and colour your whole mouth with the same colour, apply lipstick with a lippencil, blot with a tissue, keep the tissue on your mouth and dot some powder over the tissue onto your lips, reapply your lipstick with the brush, blot again with a tissue, additionally...add some gloss in a clear or tinted colour.

Okay, lets show some action...the swatches:

1 Electra 2. Eros 3. Snowwhite

1 Electra 2. Eros 3. Snowwhite

Electra is a colour that I would call a true red or a red that caters for warm and cool skintones. Eros has looks more like a pinky orange. Snowwhite is a deeper red with more of a cranberry stain.

The last two pictures will show all of the lipsticks from the previous post and this post. It will give a good overview and shows which lipsticks are pigmented, the sheer ones and the glossy ones from each other. I combined the lipstick from part 1 and part 2:

1. Julie Hewett (JH) Gem Noir 2. JH Coco Noir 3. JH Film Noir 4. Lipstickqueen Saint Red 5. Lancome PS Kiss 6. Clinique butter shine Cranberry cream 7. Clinique Moisture sheer Ruby Kiss 8. NYX Electra 9. NYX Eros 10. NYX Snowwhite


1. Julie Hewett (JH) Gem Noir 2. JH Coco Noir 3. JH Film Noir 4. Lipstickqueen Saint Red 5. Lancome PS Kiss 6. Clinique butter shine Cranberry cream 7. Clinique Moisture sheer Ruby Kiss 8. NYX Electra 9. NYX Eros 10. NYX Snowwhite

So, I hope I could show you that red is not simply red...there is a great range of reds and there is probably a suitable red for everyone.

As you have seen, I have a great range of reds. Does this collection keep me satisfied? Yes and no...

Yes, I love my collection and they suit my skintone well...and No, because colours keep me fascinated. For example, Lunasol launched a new line of reds this autumn, called Lunasol Full Glamour Lips S and they look simply gorgeous. I have already been lusting over the 03 Fresh Red, which I saw on Haruhhi's blog over here and Kathy's blog has some swatches as well over here...they look really lushious, but they will be high end for sure (think $36-ish).