Red Lips, Nude Face

This is a recipe for the easiest evening glam.

I have been on the hunt, like every dutiful girl on the Lower East Side, for matte red lipstick.

OK, full disclosure, I haven’t actually “hunted” as much as swooned every time I saw a girl with the perfect shade and subsequently dreamt that one day my perfect shade would find me. My idealism was severely questioned when my bestie came in from LA this weekend. She’s always armed with the best options as far as red lipstick goes and I threw up my hands and brought her with me to Sephora today to help me find my match.

As referenced in Dawn’s post, relying on the salesgirls at beauty counters or the ones that float through Sephora aisles is about as risky as closing your eyes and waiting to see what your finger stops at. Not to mention how much I loathe having someone that I don’t know stare and critique the condition of my skin and as result prescribes me an entire regimen of products that I MUST purchase. Especially directly following a long night of vices (it is the weekend after all).

I have, unfortunately, discovered that red lipsticks don’t come in “one shade flatters all.” Although my friend rocks her red shades with a certain gusto that initially turned me onto the trend, our conflicting complexions sometimes leave much to be desired of the shade when I give it a go.

And so we hit the brightly lit Sephora on Broadway near Prince. It was decided in advance, since this store is a hugely tempting playground that offers the best impulse buys at every corner, we would stick to the goal- lipstick. And for that we would stick with the pros of matte lipstick, NARS.

Lucky for me, at this particular outpost of Sephora, there was a section of matte reds specifically separated from the plethora of other colors being offered. I started with “Jungle Red”- the stick appealing to my inner party girl. It’s a vibrant shade, with hints of fuchsia and va va voom apple candy red- totally fun, mischievous and sexy. It wanted for something on me however. A bit too pink, a bit too much “fake mouth color.” On my friend it was amazing (always a bummer when you find yourself admiring something deeply on someone else and knowing it just won’t work for you).

Next up was “Red Lizard.” A slight step down on the pink and a bit truer red. I felt like a classic film noir star- really everything I hope to evoke when wearing a red lip. The shade was the perfect balance of mystery and in-your-face allure. A top contender (which was only reaffirmed when a girl stopped me in the aisle to ask what I was wearing).

To protect myself from complete judgment impairment (this happens when you test way too many products) I gave myself one other chance. “Trans Siberian” felt like a logical progression- much more brown than the others. It was a sophisticated color on; a bit sultry like the color that you imagine a woman kissing an envelope shut would leave behind. More classic than it’s tester predecessors, it was an interesting transformation on me. It picked up more pink from my mouth than I would have expected from seeing it off.

Decent, but didn’t have the element of fun that I was looking for.

So I left with Red Lizard in hand. Victorious.

(And yes there was one impulse purchase- a NARS eyeshadow duo of yellow and auburn. I tend to be partial to statement makeup in the evenings. As you may notice, the theme was fun, and I am planning on having plenty of it with my new cosmetics.)

~ Olivia Villanti