The Starting Off Project – Lips | The Beauty Spot

I am pretty late to the party on this one, but as soon as I found out about it I thought it was such a great idea! So I’m putting my two pennies worth in for a whole two weeks! I may catch up on the other subjects in the near future if you would like to see me do it.

So this week is lips! When I think about makeup I’m all about the eyes, so lips generally becomes an afterthought when I’ve decided what look I’ll do on my eyes. However I always seem to have an obscene amount of lip products (I once counted 11 different things!!) rattling around in my handbag, go figure!

For many many years I only ever wore lipgloss, and my favourites were the Chanel Scintillantes. I’m a sucker for some sparkle, and they definitely deliver! However as I’ve got a little older my tastes have changed and I’ve been wearing lipsticks more regularly. I recently did a review of my Mac lipsticks all of which I’m very happy with.

If I was to recommend lip products that every girl needs it would be these:
the perfect lip balm an absolute must if you’re a lipstick wearer IMO. I don’t have an absolute favourite, but I did find that Vaseline made my lips more needy for moisture and eventually they became worse than when I started using it. It’s very much a personal choice with finding the texture that you like, Carmex is a popular one, my brother even used the non scented one! It’s great to use a lip balm overnight if you would be wearing colour during the day, you’ll be treating your lips for a good 8-9hrs and they’ll be ready to go for morning!
the perfect nude this could be hard one to get right, but a perfect nude should be ‘your lips but better’. Nudes are usually classed as a pinky or yellowy tone, like foundations. If you wonder if you will suit a nude lipstick (of any tone), when you have finished applying your foundation and there’s a little (I mean LITTLE) bit left on your brush, slightly sweep this over your lips. If you’ve done it right, you should have a very subtle look and you won’t look ill! If you don’t look ill then you should be good to go with a nude style lip. I tend to suit a slightly more pink toned nude such as Sleek Make Up in Liquer, it’s a lovely texture, works great under lipgloss and is so affordable!
the perfect red this is slightly daring if you are new to lipsticks, but you can’t get more classic than a Marilyn-style red lip! I’ve had creamy pillar box reds before but I always ended up matte-ing them down because they moved around and didn’t last very long. Which is why I would highly recommend Mac Retro Matte in Ruby Woo. My review of this has been linked above and you can see the true shade on a lip in that post. This seems to be a really generic red that suits everyone, but similar to the ‘nudes’ you may find that you need to experiment with the type of red (blue or orange toned) that will suit you. If you see colours side by side, by swatching, it’s much easier to see the difference in tone and see what might be best for you. Alternatively, book a makeover and ask the artist to help you decide – that’s what they’re there for! One other thing for a red lip is that a lip liner is an absolute must, it will give you lots more staying power and a crisp line to follow when applying your lipstick. I’d also recommend using a lip brush for any intense coloured lips. I love Illamasqua lip liner in Feisty.
your ‘go to’ gloss this should be the thing you feel most comfortable in. A slick of this at any time of the day to freshen up your look and make you feel good. I most often reach for something like Chanel Levres Scintillantes in 104 Astral. A super girly sparkly pink that’s as beautiful alone as it is on top of a lipstick. This is quite an expensive choice, I know!, so if you’re looking for a more affordable choice, I’d look at Boujois or Loreal. Both of these have high end sister brands (Chanel/Lancôme respectively) so you might be able to find some great dupes!
one little extra? a lip liner to match your lips. I was given this tip by Mom and it makes total sense! If your lips do need a little line to finish your look, or of you have lipsticks that tend to bleed out of the lip line, then go for a shade that matches your lips and not your lipstick (unless it’s red!). That way it will give you the staying power and lined effect while not affecting the colour of your lippie! Plus it will match any of your other colours!

I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it! Please comment and like to let me know what you think and if you’d like me to do a full #theSOproject series.

Lots of love
TBS. xx

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