Six Shades of Lipstick

I’m not going to lie, I own far far too many lipsticks - so much so that I have a special lip product draw and in this lip product draw I have special sections for each group of colours; reds, nudes and pinks (then balms, gloss and crayons…) In Autumn I tend to veer away from pinks and embrace darker and duskier nudes and reds with the odd berry thrown in for good measure. These beauties are my favourites…

(Clockwise from top right)

Chanel Rouge Allure Lipstick in 108 Determinee, £26

M.A.C Lipstick in Capricious, £15

Lipstick Queen Velvet Rope lipstick in Entourage, £35

Bobbi Brown Limited Edition Scotch On The Rocks Lipstick in Bordeaux, £22

Flori Roberts Lipstick in 12609, £11.95

Burberry Lipstick in Bright Plum no.15,  £23

Picking a favourite from these beauties is like picking a favourite child.

Love Keeks xo

The Beauty Trend - Wine-Stained Lips

I love a bold lip. Day to day, I live for a nude pout, but a bold lip adds something special. Red oozes elegance; a sexy Hollywood vixen look. And pink, well pink is my weapon. I told my editor that wearing a bold pink lip brightens the face when you’re feeling a bit dull/ill/rough from the night before – I think it distracts from the eyes.

Berry lips are probably my favourite, though. M.A.C’s Deep Attraction (discontinued. Sob), and Rebel (I think the deep colour works well with darker skintones). A smooth, moisturised finish makes lips look fuller and more pristine, which is why I am not a fan of the whole wine-stained lips trend. Rather than pulling a look together, it dishevels it somewhat. 

M.A.C lip liner in Currant + Lipstick Queen Velvet Rope lipstick in Entourage

However, last week, on a whim, I picked up M.A.C’s Currant lip liner (I know it’s “summer” but with this crazy weather I’m looking ahead to autumn). It was too insatiably dark and gothic not to and I thought it would be lovely to pop on and blend with a gloss for a light flush of colour. So I thought since I have the perfect coloured liner and my gorgeous Lipstick Queen velvet rope lipstick in entourage, I thought I would give it a whirl. I moisturised my lips, put the lip liner all over my lips, blended and then dabbed on the lipstick.

I’m still not a fan of this trend. I think it’s pretty risky especially for A/W when lips can be at their most chapped. I’ll be leaving this one to the models.

Love Keeks xo

black|Up - Matte Lipstick Review.

black|Up Matte Lipsticks - £16 each Available from debenhams.com

I'm not going to lie, before I started work at the magazines, there were many hair and makeup brands I hadn't really heard of - and black|Up was one of my new discoveries. The range is aimed at woman of colour, to offer us makeup colours and formulas that suit our skin tones, that of which we might not be able to find so readily on the high street.

While I'm not overly keen on the brand name, I am in love with the makeup, and these lipsticks are swoon-worthy (I just made that a word). I gave the second lipstick from the right a test-drive on Mother's Day when we took my mumma out to Jamie's Italian for lunch. I had the burger (it was all kinds of epic) and my lipstick was still in tact after. That is true staying power right there.

Whatever your skin tone if you're looking for a quality, bold, matte lipstick I would highly recommend black|Up. It's the real deal.