![]() |
do ya think i'm sexy? |
this is such a finicky thing to pull off, because, done properly, it looks very sexy and pairs incredibly well with a smoky eye [which i love] and seems to enhance the skin. done improperly, it makes it look like you pinned pieces of undercooked chicken schnitzel on your face. and what's truly scary is that the difference between schnitzel and sensual is much finer than it should be.

for today's demonstration, i picked mac's "creme d'nude", which i like because it's a cooler shade, so it harmonises better with my skin, but which also gives me problems, since it's not opaque and allows bits of my natural colour to seep through, which always ruins this sort of look for me. in order to help me overcome that, i filled in my lips with a pencil liner beforehand, which means that the colour of my lips is muted to begin with.

my fear, especially now that my hair is quite light, is always that making my lips neutral will turn my face into a blob of beige silly putty. my hair is light, my eyes are light... there's really not a lot to make a statement if everything is kept pretty neutral.
but i do think that this works as well as a neutral lip can on me. i'm not crazy about the formula of mac's cremesheen lipsticks- i found it difficult to get the colour to apply evenly- but i do like the shade, enough to make up for its flaws.

the base ::
marcelle beauty balm spf 20 "light/ medium"
urban decay naked skin foundation "2.0" [as i lose my tan, this is starting to become a little dark on me]
lush colour supplement "jackie oates"
mac paint pot "painterly"
urban decay e/s "naked" [to fill in brows- i always forget to mention what shades i use for this; also, i forget about my brows at least half the time i put on makeup anyway...]

marcelle e/s "champagne bubble" [light neutral ivory]
rouge bunny rouge e/s "angelic cockatiels" [shimmery honey-amber]
chanel e/s "complice" [frosty light peach]
rouge bunny rouge e/s "periwinkle cardinal" [silvery cool sage green]
mac pigment "partylicious" [bright turquoise with gold shimmer]*
gosh liquid liner "brown" [ebony wood matte brown]
mac eye kohl "fascinating" [white]
benefit bad gal mascara
cheeks ::

lips ::
mac lip pencil "in synch" [light yellow pink]
mac l/s "creme d'nude" [pink-tinged beige]
*suggested alternates :: partylicious = tarina tarantino "ozma" [quite muted in comparison]; pink power = guerlain terracotta bronzer 01 + nars deep throat + mac soft & gentle mineralize skinfinish; i had heard that "in synch" was limited, but it still seems to be available [and not marked as limited] on the mac web site; if you can't find it, in synch = mac prolongwear lip pencil "in anticipation" [brighter]
so... love 'em or leave 'em when it comes to nude lips? i have to say that i'm still way more comfortable with my typical bold lip shade [really, that's the look that i go back to day after day, even for office wear], but i don't hate this. it's definitely something i could see trying out from time to time, especially if i found a really perfect shade to work with that wasn't as tricky to apply. feel free to share your thoughts!
Comments