In the middle of last June, on a day when the weather was just about a complete 180 from the wintry world we find ourselves in nearly seven months later, the wonderful Sanne from Sanne's Blog left a comment on one of my outfit posts, in which she said the following, "Even your lipstick is perfect. And speaking of lipstick - how about writing a post about your lipsticks?".
You bet, dear Sanne. It took a little while to come into being, but today I'm delighted to bring you just such a post.
As I've touched on before (such as in this post about 1950s eye make-up), generally speaking, I tend to use a fairly close-knit group of cosmetics. In other words, much as I adore make-up (and goodness, do I adore it!), I don't have mountains of mascaras, piles of powder jars, or scores of shadows filling up my make-up box and bathroom.
In part because of my super sensitive skin, in part because of the fact that I need to ensure all make-up that goes near or on my mouth is gluten-free (because I have celiac disease, a point that I chatted about in this post about Red Apple Lipsticks products), and in part because I tend to stick with what I love, my make-up collection is on the smaller side and typically includes a selection of items I've been using routinely for years.
Due to the fact that anything used near/on my mouth absolutely must be gluten-free (this is a non-negotiable point for me, as I get extremely ill from even super small trace amounts of gluten), and not all lipsticks (and liners, glosses, balms, stains, etc) are gluten-free, I don't presently have a very large lipstick collection, but I'm certainly game to talk about those that I do use these days.
There are four main lipsticks that I turn to, all of which have appeared here in outfit posts over the past couple of years. They are...
MAC Russian Red: Like many gals (vintage and otherwise) out there, it took me a long time to find my perfect shade of red. I'm fair skinned and look better in blue-reds, but my skin also has pink undertones, and it's easy for almost any lipstick to unintentionally bring out that pinkness in an unflattering way. About five years ago, I started using Russian Red after reading some really glowing reviews online about it, and have been hooked ever since. It is, bar none, my all-time favourite red lipstick.
The texture is thick, but not to the point of being stiff or hard to apply. The colour is a lush, vintage appropriate, deeply pigmented blue-red that goes on true to colour (at least I find that it does on me), and a single tube seems to last for a very long time even when applied almost every day (four to six or more months, I've found).
Here's an example of me wearing MAC Russian Red.
MAC Diva: A dark, seemingly vamp merlot wine hued lipstick might seem a bit out of place on a gal like myself who favours 1940s and 50s fashions, and while, admittedly, this colour wasn't the most common of shades during the era, it's one that I've found works surprisingly well with a number of vintage looks.
Much like Russian Red, this is a high quality lipstick with a lot of staying power, pigmentation, and punch. It is, however, lighter once on than it appears in the tube. Instead of looking goth, it's elegant, eye-catching and very sophisticated, yet sweetly fun at the same time. After Russian Red, this is the lip colour that gets the second most amount of play in my lip wear arsenal these days.
Here's an example of me wearing MAC Diva.
Clinique Raspberry Glace: Pink lipsticks are a tricky camp for me. I love them dearly (ditto for corals, which are almost impossible for me to wear), but often times they don't work well with my colouring. Over the years, I've had the best luck with those that veered towards the dusty rose and ever-so-subtly mauve infused side of the spectrum, and somewhere in between is where you'll find Raspberry Glace.
A gentle, very natural hit of pink with subtle shimmery undertones, this is a fairly lightweight lipstick that glides on like a dream, has quite decent staying power, partners well with vintage outfits, and is a perfect year-round pink in my books.
Here's an example of me wearing Clinique Raspberry Glace.
Red Apple Lipstick (in) Red: Much as I love, and very frequently wear, Russian Red, sometimes I want a slightly lighter red, one that's pigmented, but not quite as matte and dense, and on those days, Red Apple Lipstick's classic Red is often my shade of choice.
Far from being matte, this lipstick has an appealing shine and element of shimmer to it, but stops short of looking like a gloss. It's a timeless true red (that goes on like a dream) and one that I think would work wonderfully on a wide range of skin colours.
Here's an example of me wearing Red Apple Lipstick (in) Red (layered under Red Apple's Firestorm Lip Gloss).
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These are not the only lipsticks I own or wear, but they are the ones that see the most action by a long shot at the moment (and in the case of the first three lippies, for at least the past four years - Red Apple's offering is a fairly new edition that joined my make-up bag last year). Occasionally, if I'm after a shade that falls somewhere in between red, burgundy or pink, I'll combine two of these lipsticks, such as I did in this post from the summer of 2012.
Typically I use a lip liner in a similar shade to my lipstick first (to give my lippie extra staying power and help ward off that dreaded bare patch look that can happen to lipstick as it wears off throughout the day), with my two favourite brands presently being Annabelle and Red Apple Lipstick.
Sometimes, instead of a liner - or instead of lipstick (and liner) all together - I'll also reach for a lip stain, in which case I really love Covergirl Outlast Lipstain in 440 (Wild Berry Wink). It's a sweet dark pinkish-red that delivers a terrific I-just-ate-three-pink-popsicles kind of flush of colour to one's lips and which stays on for hours and hours (here's a series of outfit snaps in which I'm wearing Wild Berry Wink lip stain).
I don't tend to wear a lot of gloss nowadays (I did in my teens and early 20s, but lip gloss was a product that I kept getting glutened from in the early days of life with celiac disease, so I really scaled down on the amount I use, even though I'm happy to say that I have since found a few brands that are guaranteed to be gluten-free). When I do reach for glosses, I usually like either clear (it goes with everything, you've got to love that!) or a true red that can be worn alone or layered over one of the lippies discussed here. In either case, Red Apple Lipstick and Annabelle are my two brands of choice.
My lips (like my skin) in general tends to be pretty dry (especially during the fall and winter), so a good balm or chap stick is a must all-year round for me. To be honest, I've not yet found a gluten-free one that I'd give an A+ to in terms of effectiveness, but two that I've had decent results with so far have been Badger Balm and EOS (of which I've found their Strawberry Sorbet balm to be most effective).
I'm sure that as time goes on, I'll try other lipsticks, some of which will miss the mark by a long shot, others that will become instant favourites, and some that will land squarely in the middle. This is the nature of not just lipsticks, but almost all cosmetic products.
It's important for me that my lipsticks have a timeless feel to them and are on par with shades that existed during the mid-twentieth century. Ideally I like them to come in at under $25 a piece (I don't buy a lot of department store cosmetics at all for the sake of my budget and also because I'm quite happy with a number of drugstore products, but I make a notable exception to statement for lipsticks), have staying power when I kiss my husband (which I do a lot!), and last through many, many applications (so as to get a fair amount of bang for my make-up buck).
All four of the lipsticks discussed here today do just that, which is precisely why they're my go-to shades day in and day out all year long.
Thank you very much to Sanne for her great question - I always welcome queries from my wonderful readers, be they related to my make-up, wardrobe, or anything else pertaining to the vintage lifestyle, and hoped you enjoyed learning a more about my current favourite quartet of lipsticks.
