Lipstick, I Love You Once More

Hello lovelies!

Can you believe we've never talked about lipstick before?
I've found one that feels just like silk....So stay tuned!!!!

Update: Here it is! If you want to go straight to the lipstick, scroll down some. (I may be asking for hate mail of the not-the-right-venue-for-this variety, but...)

WARNING: The following paragraphs are not about beauty. Please feel free to skip them, as they are dark, and that’s not usually what we’re about here. But I feel compelled to write them, so if you choose to skip this part, just pick up where you see the words “So now back to our regular programming.”

To all of Real Girl Beauty’s London readers, or to all who know people in London, as I do, I very much wish that all your loved ones are unharmed. I’m entirely relieved that my two dear, wonderful friends in London are okay, albeit stunned. Much like the rest of their city. My empathy, sympathy, and gut-wrenching thoughts of “Oh God, not again” are all with you.

It’s impossible while watching the chaos in London now on CNN not to remember—and I don’t just mean mentally. I’m feeling it again in my stomach—what New York was like in the days after September 11. I lived downtown, east of the World Trade Center, and I can almost smell the smoke again. You had to keep your windows closed for days afterwards because it was so pungent. I remember right after the attack trying frantically to call my best friend on her cell phone. My best friend who worked across the street from the Twin Towers. Phone service was overloaded, and so I wouldn’t be able to contact her for hours. I remember crying with relief when I found out she wasn’t harmed. She had been looking up at the towers when the second plane hit, and I will always be in awe of the fact that she knew the exact right thing to do—to run, out of the city, across the Brooklyn Bridge, dragging a woman with her who had been literally too shocked to move. But that’s her story, not mine. I can only say for sure that I remember how it felt to be in the midst of a tragedy. The only thing I wanted was to see on TV was something else. Anything but the images of fire and grief every time I looked online or at the television or at a newspaper. It got so bad, I finally rented the silliest, most inane movie I could find at Blockbuster. That’s right--September 11th made me waste four bucks on Josie and the Pussycats. Damn terrorists.

Point being: it feels frivolous when the news is plastered with more terrorist attacks to talk about lipstick. To talk about it the way I like to—which is, with fun involved. But then I remember how I felt four years ago—how all I wanted was something to take my mind off what was happening. So let’s not stop our fun. Our lips need prettifying. And if I can help just one suffering person avoid the horrors of Josie and the Pussycats, well, then I’ve done my job.

SO NOW BACK TO OUR REGULAR PROGRAMMING.

Yay! I’ve found a lovely winner from my stash of Sephora loot that has actually changed the way I think about lipstick forever. From the age of 17 to 24, the only make up I had to have was my lipstick. Literally, I was never without it. My favorites were Lancome and Chanel, dark creamy mattes in rich brick shades to complement my (then—before the beauties of highlights) almost black hair. However, for the past few years, I’ve been a gloss and tinted balm girl. Lipstick just left my lips so dry and unsexy feeling. When I’ve worn lipstick lately, it’s been of the almost-a-gloss variety, or has been worn under gloss, or over balm, etc. etc. But now, to lipsticks everywhere, Real Girl apologizes. I didn’t realize you could feel so damn good.

My free tube of Pout Lipstick has shocked and amazed me. It feels like a balm, and yet it provides the long-lasting, color-rich appearance of a lipstick. No joke, I want to wear it just around the house because my lips feel so poutily moisturized when it’s on. I haven’t tried more than one color, so I don’t know if Pout’s entire line manages to remain long-lasting and yet still moisturizing (the gold standard of all lipsticks), but my color, “Head Rush,” is definitely a textural winner.

Let’s talk about this color for a minute. Because it’s one I would have never chosen for myself in a million years. It’s pink. With metallic sparkle. Metallic sparkle pink? Who am I, Jessica Simpson? You've got to be kidding me. And yet somehow, it looks great. The pink is an inoffensive blush, and the sparkle just serves to add sexiness, the way a gloss does. I never thought I’d wear pink lipstick in public, but Pout, you’ve convinced me it can look hot as hell. I want to try “Bare All,” which looks closer to my usual shade, but now I’m also feeling emboldened to experiment with new colors. For the first time, I feel like I’ve found a lipstick I can wear without balm underneath. God, with my lip venom on top, it just might be too hot to handle.

So now you know my new favorite lipstick. Please tell me yours! Please let me know what other lipsticks are out there that can change my life for the better! Anything you want to chat about at all…you know where to comment, babes.

And I remain your,
Real Girl
xxx