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08 July, 2015

The hunt for the perfect brown-red lipstick (shopping my stash)

Here's a fun post for Hump Day!

So, I alluded to my change of hair colour in my last post and how it's influenced my taste in other things - namely makeup! It's amazing (pretty logical really) how a new hair colour can get you out of a makeup rut.  Taking advantage of that brief window before the red tint fades from my lightened hair - as it inevitably does and is already - I'm suddenly all about wearing complimentary warmer shades of lipstick and that had me zeroing in on brown-red.

My knee-jerk reaction was to go out and buy a new tube of lippy (Great excuse right?) but I've done the sensible thing first - this time - and gone on a treasure hunt in my lipstick collection to see what I have in brown-red.  Brown-red...is that Pantone's Marsala?? Hmmm...  Before I let myself muse any more on that point, here are the three lipsticks I came up with...
  
L - R: 
MAC - Dubonnet, Natio - Flame, Revlon - Wine With Everything

  • MAC Dubonnet was the first lipstick I specifically dove into my collection for, as this Amplified formula lipstick is almost the colour of dried blood.  It definitely leans more to red but has the hint of brown to give it the warmth I'm looking for. This lipstick is by far the deepest shade in this trio and with its rich pigment and slight sheen it makes for a strong statement lip.  My only issue with this lipstick is because it's so dramatic and not a matte it requires more care to ensure it doesn't end up everywhere but on my lips when drinking and eating!
  • Natio Flame is a shade lighter and brighter than Dubonnet and sits more in the middle of red and brown so is the true brown-red.  This shade looks like terracotta on my lips and has more of a low maintenance semi-matte finish.  This is the newest of the three lipsticks, which I bought on an unsuspecting whim a few months ago and is my favourite of the bunch because it is exactly what I was looking for in terms of colour and finish for a daytime lipstick. Success!
  • Revlon Wine With Everything is an old tube (as you can see by the outdated packaging above) but this colour is a Revlon classic and still available in their core range of Super Lustrous lipsticks. This leans more towards the cooler end of the red spectrum as a plummier red, so kind of misses the brown-red mark although it still flatters strawberry-blonde hair, and is an appropriately classic rediscovery for a winter lip.

The swatches (top to bottom in the same order as above):

Besides having obvious fun playing in my own little makeup pit, the end result of this exercise were the realisations that:

I actually do have the perfect brown-red lipstick in my collection;
I don't need to go lipstick shopping after all;
I've embraced Pantone's colour of the year....maybe???
My own stash is the first place to shop!


When did you last shop your own makeup collection?


17 comments:

  1. Well done shopping your own stash. My first instinct would have been to go shopping too, it's so easy to forget/overlook what we already have.

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    1. Thanks Anissa! I'm going to make a conscious effort to do this from now on because I'm forever coming up with new colour obsessions. It's another fun way of appreciating what I have!

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  2. Good for you! I've been shopping my stash too as I declutter and it's amazing the stuff you find hey? I've gotten rid of a lot of things, but I'm seriously thinking of pairing it down even more. I miss the days when all of my makeup fit in one drawer haha!

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    1. Oh my goodness! Those were the days! I remember being a poor student with my small collection of drugstore makeup that fit easily into a drawer and I loved it all

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  3. Wine With Everything was what I wore before I fell into the '90s brown trend for a long long time!

    I do think MAC Diva is a lot more brown than these three. Unfortunately I got rid of it specifically because of the brown tone!

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    1. Erm, just realized that I kept referencing Diva when I've been meaning MAC Viva Glam I.

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    2. I got rid of mine too for the very same reason! I barely ever wore it anyway - man, now THAT is going back!!!

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  4. I love these shades! I do like you, before shopping I check my stash, and I find things I had forgotten about! I have a shade like this but a bit redder it is called "Dare you!" and it is one of my favourites :)

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    1. I must make the guilty confession that I usually rely on memory when I'm out shopping and then I end up with a whole heap of similar coloured products in my collection. I'm pleased with my restraint on this occasion though so I will continue shopping my stash first!

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  5. No buy July is forcing me to shop my own stash!! Love each lippie you picked out!! I love Brick-o-la by MAC, it has a lil more brown in it than these guys but super pretty still! :-)

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    1. No Buy July! It must be one of the hardest times of the year to be restrained because that's the time of year when a quick pick me up is so tempting! I hope it's going well for you!

      Out of curiosity (only) I might go and check out that MAC shade if it's part of their core line :)

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  6. Ohh I'm loving these shades, you've done well hehe! I have started to shop my stash recently as I realise I have that many products that I don't use.. it's ridiculous! You've inspired me to shop more hehe

    Sweetaholic Beauty

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    1. Good for you Jasmine!

      It's one of the reasons I like to participate in some Instagram hashtag activities too because they force me to dive in, shop my stash and use products I might have otherwise forgotten about!

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  7. Oh, and they are all just different enough that you could definitely have fun with the brown-red trend in multiple ways! How fun!

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    1. My thoughts exactly! No dupes in this trio!

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  8. These are all so unique but perfectly fit the red brown vibe you were hunting! Wine with Everything is tempting me big time, my friend. Might have to pick that up! Though it's always good to shop the stash first, I can safely say I have nothing remotely close to any of these on-hand, so a small nip into the drugstore is required. ;)

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    1. I was wearing Wine With Everything today as a matter of fact! I can't believe how I buried this lipstick for so long but it's now a perfect shade for the winter cold snap we're enjoying around here - happy shopping!

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