Cool Purple.. Before + After!

I recently picked up a couple of palettes at Winners.. one is Kat Von D's Innerstellar palette, and Make Up Forever's Artist Palette Vol. 4. They both are cool matte palettes, with a focus on taupes, purples, and steel blues. I'm a big fan of the recent warm palette trend, with sunset and fire focused colour palettes, so these colours are really not a part my typical look. I'm told purples look good with green eyes and I tend to agree, but I still insist on orange and gold!

I also decided to take a "before," no makeup photo to bring up alongside my finished look.. I have decent skin, I love skincare as much as I love makeup! But I'm not so blessed in the eyebrow department, so it's interesting to see the transformation.

Eyeshadow palettes used are the two I mentioned, with The Ordinary's Cover foundation in 1.0N and MAC Creme Cup cremesheen lipstick.

Trend: Favourite Brown Lipsticks RIGHT NOW!

One thing that I always have a lot of in my collection is lipstick. I love different finishes and colours and formulas and brands, and there always has to be "the one" for each occasion. I've been trying to make sure all colours get equal love and use, so I thought I'd pick a colour or shade range as a theme for a few posts.

Here are 6 of my favourite brown lipsticks right now.

Left to right: Urban Decay VICE "1993: (cream), Urban Decay VICE Vintage "Roach'" (cream), MAC Styled In Sepia (matte, LE but something like Stone is comparable), NYX Matte Lipstick "Butter," Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick "Sanctuary," Colourpop Ultra Satin "Tansy."

Nude or brown lipsticks can sometimes be a challenge if you are fair, because the contrast of features and shades and pigmentation of your lips can definitely change how the lipstick looks. Some of these might be nudes or mauves on someone else, but for me they are distinctly brown.

UD Roach is described as a cream finish, but I think it is comparable to their other VICE lipsticks with a "metallized" finish. I love the newer VICE lipsticks and highly recommend checking them out, there is a ludicrous number of shades (in the 100s if I recall correctly) and there is certainly something for everyone.

I love MAC matte lipsticks, 98% of my MAC lipsticks I own are actually in this formula. I find it very comfortable and long lasting. This exact shade was in a limited edition collection, but Stone is a similar shade.

NYX Butter is a lighter, daily wear brown that can look a bit like a "greige." It isn't as long lasting as some other lipsticks I own, but it's a safer way to wear a brown to work.

Sanctuary is gorgeous and leans a bit cool, I think KVD actually describes it as a cool toned sepia which is a bit strange. It is quite dark on my colouring so I save it for evenings but it's a nice formula and colour.

Colourpop Tansy is the closest to a true "brown" that I have and I love it. Honourable mention goes to its sister brown. the Ultra Matte shade called Limbo. They are similar save for the formula, and I just prefer the Ultra Satin at this point in the game. I own a lot of their matte liquid lipsticks and they're not as consistently good as the Satins.

The 2 Urban Decay lipsticks are definitely my favourite of them all, it's nice to have so many options and I'm coming back around to love bullet lipsticks over the liquid trend that's been reigning for the last couple years.

Do you like brown lipstick and what's your favourite one?

Something is obvious..

I'm addicted to "dusty pinks!" I kept looking at the same 7 colours in my collection today and wondered to myself, "are any of these dupes of another? Would it benefit someone to see these beside each other?" I took a photo to find the answer to these questions and more. Yes, this is a science blog.

Alright, so what do we have here?

From left to right:
BITE Rhubarb (Bite Remix)
BITE Sable (Bite Remix)
KVD Studded Kiss Lovecraft
Maybelline Matte Touch of Spice
MAC Mystical (LE)
NYX Tea Rose
NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream Stockholm

It's clear from the swatches that Lovecraft doesn't have a dupe in the bunch. It's the most unique colour, a true "dusty" pink. The others lean too orange or too red. I'm certain there's a NARS Audacious lipstick dupe for KVD's Lovecraft (perhaps Anita or Barbara?), but I don't own any to truly make a comparison. Touch of Spice is nearly identical in finish, wear, and pigmentation, but the colours aren't the same. I love both formulas, though.

Rhubarb and Mystical are similar, which is nice since the MAC colour was limited edition. Even the satin finish is recreated.

Stockholm photographs looking more like a nude than a pink, but I don't feel like it looks that way on my lips. Antwerp or Istanbul might be more comparable, though I think they're a bit cooler and a bit more pink.

As far as formula and colours go, even though they are not entirely comparable as "dupes," I want to give you my order from favourite to least favourite. This is taking in consideration wear time and everything else you typically look for in a lipstick.

1. KVD Lovecraft
2. Maybelline Touch of Spice
3. MAC Mystical
4. NYX Stockholm
5. BITE Rhubarb
6. BITE Sable
7. NYX Tea Rose

I love the colour of Tea Rose, but it wears off too quickly for me. I still use it plenty!

Does anyone else have a certain range of colours that they tend to purchase reflexively? A particular shade that peers up at them from their vanities like the start of a small army?