The beauty of beguiling lips...
and smooth pouts that make everyone around you smile because you just cannot stop smiling. Just the action of wearing makeup creates this aura, a strange lovely vision no less than blessed by the gods and goddesses of good cosmetics. I have always been a beauty product nut and that love affair began back, well at the beginning...
Remembering lips of days past...
I guess like many young girls, I was a mall rat. That annoying girl with a ton of bags weighing her down. Happy, but never haughty. I so wanted to be a pretty popular one.As a Pre-internet and "totally radical" "80s on 8 " child, spending mega cash inside the shopping mall felt like heaven. I guess the pearly gates would have been equivalent to a cash register and a pair of Guess Jeans when I started using cosmetics during the early 90s. There was a wide eyed innocence and appreciation for the fine art of makeup application. It seemed as though my best swipes left me a victim of drugstore mass- market bad-lighting luck. Perhaps my mom felt very sorry for my brightest fuschia lips and decided that I truly needed an intervention.
I was gingerly taken to a very different spot in my favorite department store by my loving mother. Somehow she knew that this day I discovered my new sanctuary and playground for my emerging woman. I started out as the chosen guinea pig of the beauty adviser for Fashion Fair Cosmetics. I, being a young lady of color had my challenges in shade selection: I had this weird cafe au lait complexion that seemed to radiate a glowy yellowy tone. But just for kicks, I could turn beige without warning. Like I somehow was a radioactive matter.
Honestly, I hoped that this beautiful brown goddess with the perfect liner could make me into something better than I was, maybe a Hollywood starlet? There could be no lack of tricks of this trade with the brushes and blushers, liquid and creme compacts. How does someone keep it all straight? Plus how do I get my best look when we all are so different as the femme fatales of the world? At this point, this counter had all of my youthful naive concepts of makeup in its hands.
I needed answers. The makeup spoke to me and I loved the language.
I was given some incredible skin care products and tips for how to keep my skin healthy and just fab. Plus, I carried home foundation in some Amber color, shadow, a bullet lipstick, and a blush. My mother didn't allow me to put all this stuff on in reckless abandon. First, a slow intro with the lipstick, and the other gear was for "special occasions". But eventually, there would be photos to take. If I couldn't at least pluck my crazily thick brows that Dad gifted me, could I wear some makeup please? My application was at least as good as paint with numbers, I'm sure. Neutral eyes, so I don't think I had any truly crazy photos. Mom should be so proud of me!
I cheated on labels...
Wow. I discovered this really cool thing called a GWP, or Gift With Purchase. And maybe Estee Lauder had one. Then Clinique had it, too. "How can they give these away and still make money"?, I wondered. So, my trusted glam hands changed up too. I had a glorious green compact with a powder foundation now. So who needs the peach one? Call it confusion or a momentary lapse of judgement, but I needed that little brown bottle with the gold cap for what at age 17? But I collected them. And the pretty pouches. Had to have the silver bullet lipstick. And who didn't have a pot of Black Honey Different Lip Gloss? The yellow moisturizer was mine, too. "Dramatic difference" from the old me? I thought it yes. If you give me a red lipstick, I was equally as gorgeous as Halle Berry (and even slightly delusional.)...
I found my guilty pleasure. Tried many. Loved them all. Left some in the dust. Threw a few out with the trash. Kept some faves. Discovered the store with the black and white stripes... (oh you naughty stripes, how you tempted me)
I am loyal to none, fall in love with all...
Beautiful shades. In my world of freelance beauty writer, I observe cosmetics with a keen laser eye. I take a breath, find the latest shades and dive into the trends to find the proper fit. Some things are timeless, like red lipstick in your shade. Some are just fun time go-to's. My new shade of choice is just like that crazy good wearable anytime anywhere pair of shoes (with that heel that starts making a clacking sound because the tap came off). This one will be used to the very last trace in the tube and quickly reordered.I met a "Temptation."...Gel Lip Colour-Laura Mercier
Just look at this deep purple shade in the tube. Looks scary. But the sheerness of this berry shade is delightful as it is moisturizing. It may be glossy, but doesn't disappear for hours. Plus, the summer ready limited edition color is edible. Hello! A sweet vanilla flavor makes this lipstick extra gratifying. Temptation was the right name for the New Attitude Summer 2014 lip shade. Its sister shade is Heartbreaker, a bubble gum pink. Try out Temptation and find a comfortable everyday shade that fits a neutral to a bright palette.
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