December 8, 2010

As if I needed an occasion to profess my love for red lips! But I love this time of the year coz I actually get to wear reds to the office too! Red is by far my favourite colour for lipstick. My mom was a big red lipstick wearer when I was growing up and I probably inherited that from her. Nothing like the simple elegance of scarlet lips!

So I counted and I have *gasps* 20 red lipsticks! It was hard for me to pick my absolute top 5 but I managed to do so. Hopefully you guys enjoy this other holiday special post. I have tried to pick one of each category of red (retro red, neutral red, starter red, orange red and vampy red):

1. Nars Dragon Girl velvet matte lip pencil ($24) - this is my absolute go-to red lip product. I'm a huge fan of Nars matte lip pencil formula. It's matte without drying my lips and the application is super easy. Dragon Girl is a blue toned red and to me the perfect retro red! MAC Ruby Woo is a dupe for this (I own both), but I prefer the Nars as it's less drying.

2. Makeup Forever Rouge Intense Artist #43 ($20) - I love this lipstick coz it's creamy and long lasting. There's no shimmer or sparkle, just creamy goodness! This is the Moulin Rouge shade launched with MUFE's new Rouge Intense Artist line and it's the closest to neutral red I have. It's probably still more blue than orange toned. Love love love this!

3. Chanel Rouge Coco in Cambon #31 ($37) - I have raved and raved about this lipstick in the past so I won't be repeating myself. But Cambon is a young girl's kinda red, a good start-up red. It's not as dramatic as some of my other red loves as it leans very pink. Rouge Coco's wear very comfortable on the lips and are by far my fave lipstick formula. Cambon is also a great daytime red.

4. Nars Heat Wave ($24) - This is my latest and one of the most precious lipstick additions. I never thought I'd love an orange toned red lipstick this much. Nars Heat Wave has a matte formula but I don't find it drying at all. The orange undertones really brighten up my paler winter complexion. Cannot get enough of this shade. MAC Lady Danger is very similar to this.

5. MAC Rougette Mattene ($16) - alas this gorgeous shade was LE from 2007. Rougette is my pic for the ideal "vamp" red. It's a deeper, more burgundy based red and I adore the Mattene formula. It feels like satin finish on lips but looks matte. My other dupe for this is MAC So Scarlet (they look identical on my lips) which was also sadly LE.

Some pics and swatches for you:


left to right: Chanel Cambon, Nars Dragon Girl, MAC Rougette, Nars Heat Wave, MUFE #43


Left to right: Nars Dragon Girl, MUFE #43, Chanel Cambon, Nars Heat Wave and MAC Rougette

what is/are your top red lipstick(s)?