The Search for the Perfect Lipstick.

I now wonder (with the entering of my twenties, which I am clearly overdwelling on and obsessed with), at what age lipstick becomes preferable to lipgloss. Also I wish it were appropriate to dress up every day, and paint a face full of glorious MAC whenever I feel like it.

But seriously. I don't know what to do about lipstick. Part of me feels like its the ideal quick fix, part of me feels like my mother. Part of me feels like a vamp. I associate lipstick with stage makeup and dance shows. Maybe I'll ease into it with time.. .

Additionally, a friend of mine ROCKED black lipstick the other day. Well, the other night. It was unbelievable. She looked so cool, and not goth at all. Waaaayyy too scary for me though.

Anyhow, I digress. Last year, I drafted a post on the search for the Perfect Lipstick. You know, the one you can wear to dinner or out with friends, or even around the house, or to a wedding, and it's really 'you'. And friends ask you where you got it, and you can tell them, because you know it's never going to look as good on them as it does on you.

Inspired by my friend Ashleigh, who was rocking red lipstick when we were out for dinner, I decided to go on a hunt for the perfect red lipstick. Being a dancer, I am painfully used to slathering on a deep red for a week straight in November, for the annual crazy known as 'the dance concert.' But being under stage lights and in costume and with a barrier of a few metres between you and the audience, its very different to carrying on a conversation with someone in broad daylight, and I knew stage lipstick wasn't going to do.

I duly went to MAC (as you do) with a voucher, and informed the lovely sales girl that I would like to buy a lipstick. A red lipstick. And given that I had already inspected the dizzying lineup of red options, I would definitely be requiring her help.

Long story short, the two MAC favorites, Russian Red and Ruby Woo, both look awful on me. I look like a drag queen, they clash with my skin and are so thick I feel like I'm going to snap the tube trying to put it on.

But Ladybug, a much more reserved (and lighter, more translucentish) red was perfect. I even did the responsible thing of going home and thinking about it for 24 hours, before running back the next day to purchase. And I got the last one in the shop. It was fate!

Morals of the story: There is probably a red lipstick out there that makes you feel like a rockstar. Shop around (I had a MAC voucher, hence the trip to Smith & Caughey's), and ask the salesgirls to help. It's their job, and they know their stuff. Then purchase it, put it on, and walk down the street feeling a million dollars. Just check your teeth first.

Amy

xx