BiL MAKEUP 101 | LIPSTICKS

Hey Everyone,

So I have been thinking of starting a short series of posts targeted at a 'makeup beginner'. Just giving my tips and advice on makeup products and tools to get you started, calling it Makeup 101.

This series was inspired by my sister who’s just getting into makeup. She’s watching Youtube Tutorials, reading beauty blogs, following makeup gurus on social media etc. When you really start understanding the world of makeup, it can get quite overwhelming. When you discover that to create the perfect eye look you’ll need 6-8 different brushes, or to copy a look off youtube you’ll need different tools that need to work together to get that perfect finish etc. So with this short series I’ll be letting you in on the necessities, sort of like the products you need to have first, then you can start building on them as you go along.

To kick it off, I’ll be starting with Liptsticks. Lip products are a must have for every woman. For me, it completes the look, be it Lipsticks, Lip stains, Lip Pencils, Lip Liner, etc.

Just altering the colour of your lipstick can take you from occasion to another, for example from day to night. For me when it comes to lipstick I categorise them into 3 broad groups: Reds, Nudes & Darks. I say ‘broad’ groups because there is still even more variety within these shades, as you will find out as we go along.

The Reds

L-R: MAC 'Ruby Woo', 'Russian Red', 'So Chaud'. TOPSHOP 'Mischief'. HOUSE OF TARA 'Tiye'

Red is what I’d like to refer to as the quintessential lip shade, the ‘rouge’ ladies in the old days referred to. They are perfect for night and day and there’s a shade to suit every skin tone. The popular MAC 'Ruby Woo' lipstick has been famed the ‘must-have’ red shade, because it compliments nearly every single skin tone. There is so much variety in the Red, there’s the ‘hollywood’ dark red, the blood-red, orange-red, bright-red, A lovely bright red is 'Russian Red' by MAC.

The Nudes

L-R: MAC 'Pure Zen', 'Sandy Frost'. RIMMEL Kate '03'. TOPSHOP 'Nevada', 'Secret Admirer'

Most people, especially Nigerian women, tend to shy away from nudes. But I believe it’s because they do not see there is a wide variety of nude lipstick shades. The popularly touted Nude shades are usually cool-toned light cream, which is not at all flaterring on warmer skintones. But like I said, this is what people believe to be the staple nude and they are very wrong because there are nudes right across the scale from cool-tones all the way through to warm-tones.  With pinks, beige and brown shades of nudes. My selection of nudes above is what suits my skintone, if someone darker were to share their nudes it will be completely different.

The Darks

L-R: MAC 'Media' 'Hang-Up'. NARS 'Mascate'. HOUSE OF TARA 'Aswaani', 'Tejuosho', 'Funke'

The ‘Vamp’ look! This shade varies from very dark to a mid-tone shade. This is one hue that most women shy away from as it can be a little intimidating. I am not a huge fan of dark lipstick, but I have a couple in my stash because you never know when you’ll be inspired to rock a dark lip. The trick with this is to keep your base flawless and neutral, because you are already making a statement with the lips.

So if you’re looking to delve into the world of lip products, I’d suggest you start off with these three, and then add to your collection as you go along. You will also find that most lip shades typically revolve around these three, so once you’ve got a couple lipsticks in these three shades, you are already on the right track.

I'll probably have a couple more BiL Makeup 101 posts to go before this series is done, hope you liked this one.

Laters,

Ez xxX