Black Girl Issues: Lipstick

Anyone who knows me personally or even knows my twitter name (@redlipstickchic), is sure of one fact, that I'm a lipstick whore. If there is a day where I'm not seen without lipstick its probably because I'm either depressed or woke up having an ugly day and thought that there was no way it could get any better.

But since on most days I view myself as an average looking girl, most days you'll see me in a variety of shades and brands. However, what kind of upsets me (a bit extreme I know) is that I don't really see many black girls wearing lipstick. I don't really know the particular reasons for this. Is it because we feel most shades won't suit us? Or just because we prefer to focus on other facial areas, like eyes? I've noticed a HUGE rise in the use of fake eyelashes in the past couple of years, including myself.

And while I love great eye makeup, what I really think has the ability of shifting an outfit from standard to 'a look', what really makes your face 'pop' is a good shade of lipstick. So I'm just going to talk you guys through a couple of looks and you can decide if any of them will work for you. :)

First up is THE RED LIPSTICK...it can really fit into any look you're going for:

The 'classic, I just adoreeeee Audrey Hepburn' girl.

The 'edgy, vintage denim hotpants, I'm so American in my Lakers jersey' girl

The 'I just want people to look at my face' look.

So here I'm wearing Collection 2000: Colour Extreme. The shade is 'Firecracker'. What I love about this lipstick is that its not too bright, and not too shimmery. Please, please, please stay away from lipsticks with 'shimmer' and 'crystals' and all that other tacky shit. Its moisturising and even stays on after I've pigged out Starbucks...which is an expensive and unhealthy habit of its own. I just think it brightens up my face and love that it contrasts with the green of my dress. The dress is quite matronly (no cleavage on show), so it definitely needed something to take it to the next level.

I would say that the lighter the skin tone the more extreme you can go with your shade of red. A shade like this>>>>>>>

Collection 2000: Lasting Colour Lipstick in 'Cherry Bomb'

 If you have a darker skintone then wear reds with darker undertones, something veering towards brick-red, something like this>>>>>>>

This is Collection 2000: Lasting Colour Lipstick in 'Queen of Hearts'

Next up is my next favourite shade to wear: pink! I'm not really a HUGE girly girl, but pink is just as attention grabbing as red except that its younger, and flirty. It kind of shows more risk taking if your shade is bright and bold.

Here I'm wearing MAC in 'Girl About Town' but my other favourite is Revlon's Moisture Rich Lipstick in Fuchsia  The trick for black girls and pink lipstick is to stay away from pastels, on most shades it just doesn't work. And yes I've found out the hard way. Stay with mid to hot pinks and you'll be just fine. Once again try and get a lipstick which is either matte or moisture rich. NO GLOSS AND NO SHIMMER. You want to look edgy rather than barbie gone wrong.

Last but not least is purple. Its not a very popular shade and it can take a lot of experimentation to get it right. One day I decided I was going to buy this shade...

And its pretty safe to say I have never left the house with it on. If you're braver than me you can give it a go but I pretty much advise against it. Instead, its better to go for deep purples like this:

When I first put it on, it was way too dark, I almost looked like an extra from a vampire film. So I mixed it with vaseline in order to make it sheer; more like a lipgloss than a lipstick. It made it easier to wear and I felt more 'dark and edgy' than 'blood sucker'. The greatest thing about wearing dark shades of purple is that it matches nearly every black skin tone. Just wear with a thin line of black liquid eyeliner, and around 3 layers of  mascara.

*Two tips you need to remember or else:

• Never wear bright lipsticks with over the top eyeshadow, neither with blusher. Eyeliner on the eyes and bronzer on the cheeks. 
• Make sure you invest in a lipbrush when applying your lipstick. Nothing worse than badly applied red lipstick. (Again, trust me I've learnt the hard way). It also allows to to really define your cupids bow; the middle of the top of your lips, (the pointy bits lol) 

Hope this helps even a little bit!

Feel free to comment with any questions etc

Jadeybaby xXx