what to pair with your bright lipstick

this is what i slapped on my face for a friend's wedding today. it was really dreary outside, and i wanted to counteract that with bright lips. plus, i secretly (oops, not anymore!) want to someday be known as the crazy old lady in the garish lipstick. i'm well on my way, you know.... i already have the lipstick and i'm half-way crazy. now i'm just waiting to get old.... which is happening a lot quicker these days! .....eep.

maybelline moisture extreme lipstick in "wine and roses"

umm, it looked brighter in real life. but keep in mind, this is after i ate 2 chicken salad croissants, some pineapple, and drank nasty wedding punch! this lipstick does not claim to be long-lasting, only moisturizing. but trust me, it's both! it feels like no other lipstick i've ever tried. suuuper smooth. this is *probably* my favorite lipstick, as far as formula goes. the only problem is that they sort of have wonky shades. oh well. if i ever happen to find my perfect shade and my perfect formula in one little lipstick, i'll die a happy woman (in garish lipstick).

so anyways, it's hard to know what to do with your statement lips. if you eat too many chicken salad croissants, your lipstick will wear off, and you'll be left with a boring and lackluster face. if you go too crazy with your other makeup, though, you end up looking too theatrical. this is my solution. 

pair bright lipstick with:

1. nude, shimmery shadow- just enough to make your eyes sparkle (today it was gold)

2. a subtle amount of brown eyeliner- not black! unless you're doing a black liquid cat eye with your bold lipstick, in which case i say you're awesome!

3. black mascara- waterproof, if you're going to a wedding! i swear i cry every time....

4. defined eyebrows- it kind of balances your lips. otherwise it's like hellooooo lips.

5. blush just on the apples of your cheeks- just a little bit to complement your lipstick. and you can always blend some of your lipstick into your cheeks. then you always know the colors will go together.

6. nooo face powder! unless you have extremely oily skin. i think this is a relatively new makeup trend. magazines always say it looks "fresher" to pair bold lips with "dewy" skin, whatever those words mean. does anyone else get sick of reading the same descriptive words in magazines these days??

120 days of shadow: Day 11

Total bum day today. Have a buttload of studying to do for the next ummm.... rest of my life. No, not really, because I'm (hopefully!) graduating from college in May. Then maybe I'll get a respite from all this mind-numbing studying.

ANYWAY, what I was getting at was that I didn't feel like doing anything schnazzy today. Just neutral gray-taupe that I used to wear on an almost-daily basis. I was so lazy today that I even wore my beat-up Batman shirt. And I don't even like Batman.





I swiped just a smidge of pale pink lipstick on my lips. It's Maybelline's Moisture Extreme (fave!) in True Pink. Done. Now back to studying.

120 days of shadow: Day 10

I had an awesome hippie shirt on today in earthy colors, so I picked eyeshadow to match. I have olive green on my lids, and earthy brown in my crease. And Rimmel Exaggerate eyeliner in Pine (dark green) lining my eyes.

Lips: Maybelline's Moisture Extreme in Nude Blush. I also wore it on Day 2. LOVE this stuff. It's my favorite cream lipstick. It feels just like applying chapstick. At first I hated the slight smell of cucumber, but now I don't mind it so much. Especially since the formula and the colors are amazing.

120 days of shadow: Day 2

I'm not so sure about this one. My husband liked it, so I guess it wasn't awful. I chose an indigo-ish blue. I'm always wary of this shade, because it sort of makes me look like I got punched in the eye. This time I tried to make it better by lining my eyes with navy liner. A little less bruise-y, maybe?



Now let's talk about what shades of lipstick go with this eye look. Personally, I don't like anything even remotely colored on my lips when I'm wearing blue on my eyes. I feel like a sad remnant of the 80s. So today I chose the only nude lipstick I own (I know, I know.... I'm really more of a colored lipstick kind of girl, so this eyeshadow challenge is hard for me!). I just bought it last week, and it's Maybelline Moisture Extreme Lipstick in Nude Blush, which I love. I also love the fact that I got this lipstick at Dollar Tree for..... you guessed it! A dollar! More about Dollar Tree finds tomorrow.....

I'm wearing Nude Blush in the picture above, and this is what the tube looks like here: