BEAUTY || An Orange Lip?

If you'd have told me a year ago that I would be sitting here, in the Summer of 2015, wearing an orangey-red lipstick, I would have laughed in your face. You see, when I started this blog back in June 2014, there were some beauty products I would never dare trying to pull off. Foundation was top of the list with a bold lip following closely behind. I love how within one year of blogging, my so-called 'rules' have been turned on their head. After all, I'm now a NARS All Day Weightless Luminous Foundation convert and there's nothing I love more than a bold lip. 

But orange? I'd never given it that much thought. I'm a lover of all things pink at heart - as if you couldn't tell from my blog design!

Last week I went to a Stila make-up evening with my Mum - cause she's the best, obvs. I went in with the intention of buying their must-have primer but then got completely distracted by the make-up artist's orange lipstick. As you do. I ended up purchasing the liquid lipstick in 'Tesoro' and been trialling it ever since. It's fair to say that I've already put this stuff to the test, wearing it during an 8 hour shift in 23 degree heat which is pretty much sweltering for London!

So what do I make of this product's 6 hour promise? Well... the saying goes that if it's too good to be true then it probably is. Unfortunately that rings true in this instance. The colour really is fantastic, it's not like anything I've ever owned and is so eye-catching. While I used to be scared of wearing big, bold colours on my lips, I actually found that this was an effective confidence booster - this may sound stupid but I found myself walking round the store feeling pretty damn trendy as a result of my lip colour. Paired with dewey skin and lashings of mascara, this look is a Summertime winner.

The only picture I could take where my hay-fever ridden eyes don't match the red of my lipstick..!

But what did irritate me about this product is that I had to keep checking it in the mirror to make sure it hadn't bled down my face or smudged on my teeth. To most, this is the norm when it comes to donning a bold lip but when you're busy and working in retail and trying not to spend too long gazing at yourself in the mirror (!) then it can get tedious. The idea with this product is that it's a liquid colour that dries matte on the lips. For the first three/four hours, all was well and the colour had stayed in place nicely. But after lunch, it was all a downward spiral. The colour had faded after my cup of coffee which is largely forgivable - but it was really difficult to reapply the product evenly because the mattifying formula had totally dried out my lips. I was left with a chapped pout, which from a distance still looked fine, but up close had smudged round the edges and was looking a bit flakey. By the time I got home, I was far too ready to take my face off and not worry about my lipstick was doing. 

So it didn't stand the test of the full day of work or quite live up to the six hour promise - I can't lie, I still love this product. It's a little more high maintenance than I was hoping but hey, it's orange lipstick! For days like today, when I basking in the sunshine and half-watching Wimbledon on the TV while trying to get ahead of blog posts before my working week (no wonder it's taking me so long ha - come on Nadal!) - this liquid lipstick is just perfect. And anything that inspires me to wear orange is something worth keeping around. Who would have thought?