Urban Decay Gash

,I've still been hunting for a good dark red lipstick. I've always liked Urban Decay and hopped by their counter to try some on. I used to have the Gash lipgunk but it made me look like a tranny - just not a good look for me - so I tried the Gash lipstick and lipliner, which look kind of different.



Gash looks like a true red rather than the deep blood red I wanted, and the 24/7 lip pencil looks purple. I'm glad I didn't get them both off the internet. I could use the lipliner with the old UD pleather pencils in Rubber and Perversion but it's too cool toned to give that blood red look I want.

I am back!

I disappeared!

I've been doing my dissertation etc. etc. and now I'm finally done with university and graduating on the 30th with an MSc in Pharmacognosy. Yes I chose a relatively specific and obscure course ("Sounds like alchemy," someone said to me) but I have an undergrad degree in biology and my dissertation project was on natural antimicrobials, so I hope I have a good chance of getting a job. So far I've applied to a microbiologist job and a job testing pee for drugs, I have a somewhat good feeling about the pee job. I feel that testing pee for drugs is within the range of my skillz.

Anyway. I did watch the final episode of True Blood but because of all the above dissertation etc. I haven't made any screencaps yet. The ending felt a bit anticlimactic, I'm not all thrilled and eagerly anticipating the next season like I did with Supernatural and Bones (Supernatural and Bones!) but it was alright. I did try to do a lipstick look like in the True Blood poster though, but failed desperately.


I have huge fucking teeth yall.

I used a Jordana lipliner in Silver Lilac but everything still bled desperately, I think I really do need a decent quality red lip liner. Like I'll pick up a Barry M one or something.

Looking at that picture, there's obviously a darker liner around the mouth. I tried to do that with an Urban Decay pleather pencil in Rubber, and put gloss over the top. I recommend a squeezy gloss or to put it on your fingers first. That red rubs off on the applicator. You can also see the pink 'the inside of my lips' bit on my bottom lip - I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem. It's just a different type of cell or something I'm not quite sure, but it's wet and lipstick doesn't stick to it. And it's on the inside but it shows when you talk or open your mouth.

I used Urban Decay Pleather Pencil in Rubber as a base and as a kind of liner. This is old school stuff. You can probably find it on Ebay still or discount cosmetics outlets but I wouldn't bother. The main draw is that it's like a huge pencil and theoretically you could line your lips with it and colour them in, but it's slippery - I'd say more slippery than MAC Frost formula lipsticks so it slides everywhere. I used to be into gothness and, by association, pleather and Urban Decay (though they seem to have a way more cheerful and girly image now), so I still keep them around.

MAC Red lipstick over that. This is a new acquisition. I love this lipstick. It's less orange than Barry M Fire Engine Red but applies more of a true red on me than the other red lipsticks I have. It's also the first Satin formula lipstick I have, I've only tried Frost and Amplified finishes, and this feels 'wetter' than both of them.



I've compared it to the Prestige Velvet lipstick because I seem to have lost my So Scarlet lipstick. The last time I used it was when I went to a concert. I know I brought it back so it must be somewhere in the room, maybe under the bed or in a bag or something.

The gloss I used is something I bought when I went to Tokyo for my honeymoon. It's called 'Curvy Lip Silicone' and is made by Sony CP. I thought Sony made TVs and shit, but it seems in Japan they make makeup as well. There are a few colours available but I chose the clear one as the most versatile. It goes on shiny but feels really really sticky, stickier than Juicy Tubes.

This is one of my most treasured makeuppy things, because it is from Japan and applies with a LITTLE SPATULA! I'm a sucker for gimmicks.




I still have a few ideas about that True Blood red vampire poster opening sequence lipstick though. I possibly need a more burgundy/blood red colour, which I don't possess. Everything I have seems to be much darker or much pinker. I'll give it a go again.

Red lipstick day one: Revlon Sinnamon lipstick

Red lipstick day one: I used Revlon's Crushed Velvet Lip Creme in Sinnamon. In summary: it's a red lipstick, except the outside's covered in silver glitter that are essentially irrelevant to the actual lipstick. This looks like a light pink on the Revlon website but they lie. It's a dark brownish red. Hell it's that colour in the tube. Seriously, the person who decided to put up a light pink swatch on that website must've been trippin.





And I don't think it's still on sale either. You can just get to the Revlon page surreptitiously, from google.

Other things I'm using: Victoria's Secret Mosaic blush in Godess, MAC studiofinish concealer in NW35, Rimmel eyeliner. The nail polish is NYC long-wearing nail enamel in Skin Tight Denim Creme.

Barry M Pillar Box Red

I said yesterday that I thought I should get a true red lipstick and, well, I work fast. I got Barry M's Pillar Box Red lip paint as recommended by Glamour and Look.

Barry M products don't actually have names on the label, this is #121.



The name is accurate, it's actually pillar-box, Royal Mail red.








The good news is it isn't shiny. I don't like shiny bright red lips, I think it makes me look like I've eaten something in sticky red sauce, like BBQ ribs or something. It also controllable and doesn't go on like a bright wild red immediately, I've got like about three coats on in the picture so it looks like an actual bright red.

I'm still not that fond of the texture of Barry M lip paints. This lipstick doesn't seem to dry out my lips, but I don't know. Possibly I'm just used to lipglosses and sheer, moisturising lipsticks so the lip paints feel drier and more powdery. It just goes on less smoothly than my other lipsticks, it's a personal thing.

It might be a smidge too orange on me too. I'll have to do up a whole face with the new lipstick to see how it goes, or if I'll have to mix it with a darker red before I can go out. It's an affordable price though which is good if you're just trying out a colour or it's a colour you won't use often. I sometimes wish that lipsticks came in tiny tiny tubes, especially in colours like fuchsia and red and things so you could buy the amount you'd reasonably need.

Bright red is a difficult colour. I have fairly full pouty lips ('like a little heart', said my husband), and fear walking around with the wrong red lipstick on and looking like a horrible racist 1920s caricature. Kind of like this:



Yeah that's right. I said it. I'm not sure if other people feel this way but don't say it, or I'm just fucked in the head. It's partly why I find dark red lipstick and sheer red stains more comfortable to wear. I especially have this problem with glossy red lips. To be fair, it might just be because bright red is just so, well, bright. It's kind of an out-there colour. If I were a white girl I'd probably be just as terrified of looking like a clown.



Red lipstick does bleed if you aren't careful.

But don't be insecure. I see girls of all types and colours wearing bold red lipstick and looking great. I definitely do need to sit down and create a whole retro look (foundation, etc.) to be able to wear that lipstick and be comfortable with it. It's just a thing that I need to wrap my mind around.

True Blood inspired makeup

Short post before I go out. I know I said I'd use the MAC Prom palette today but I felt a bit sexy and decided to do Sophie-Ann inspired makeup. I used these on my eyes: black Rimmel eyeliner, MAC Boot Black liquid eyeliner, Benefit Moon Beam for highlighting, Urban Decay Strip (this works for me but I don't know if it'll work if you're fairer, I've watched the episode again and her eyeshadow might possibly be a light, faintly green or blue shade, so Aquavert might work well though it's too white on me), and Benefit Bad Gal Lash. I used the Dr Pepper lipbalm and MAC So Scarlet lipstick on my lips. I don't have a matching lipliner to use with red lipstick though I should so I just put it on very carefully. I also used my Boots Natural Collection tinted moisturiser today, MAC concealer in NW35, and MeMeMe Pussycat Lip & Cheek Tint.

I decided I need a true red lipstick though. It achieves looks no other shade of red can. Possibly I'd just not got the right shade of retro red before.

True Blood Makeup: eps 9-11, and red lipstick.

Yeah I do owe you all some True Blood screencaps. The True Blood makeup has just been so boring until the latest episode.



I swear that girl gets more and more like Dita Von Teese every time I see her.

It looks like she's got some blue-ish silvery eyeshadow on (Urban Decay Strip is very good) but I might just be making that shit up, and this fancy powder compact. I don't have a nice powder compact like that and have no clue what it is. YSL? It's a little gold box.



Nah I don't think it's that, but, y'know, it's pretty fancy all the same. Now I have perspective enough to know I don't need it since I'm not really into the whole powder thing and I've already got a powder, but, y'know. If I were the Queen of Louisiana I'd buy that shit. It's got a heart in it! Aww.

Now the obvious: retro-red lips. Yeah there'll be a MAC lipstick you can wear that'll look like that, MAC Red, Ruby Woo, or something, but red is a pretty common colour and I'm sure you'll be able to find an equivalent shade fairly easily. I've used one from Revlon to good effect, it just made me look like a transvestite hooker. This shade of red just ain't for me. Everyone's got a shade of red they think they look the hottest in, but if you're looking for a red like Sophie-Ann's don't get So Scarlet.

Of course I had to put on a red lipstick after the episode and I put on some So Scarlet - it's the red I've committed myself to and it's a kickin' red, but it's nothing like that. It's nothing like Hadley's red lipstick neither (see below). It's way pinker and more cool-toned. It's LE as well, but if you want it you shouldn't be like trawling the internet looking for it. I swatched my red lipsticks and found that my cheap li'l Prestige lipstick is extremely similar to So Scarlet. Prestige lipsticks are alright as well. I find the MAC creamier but So Scarlet is the Amplified formula. I'd say Prestige is just a bit drier than that, and I much prefer the Prestige lipstick over Barry M, which I find a bit powdery. I know Barry M is pretty popular but they don't have a great range of lipstick colours, and no lipstick should feel kind of dry and powdery. The Prestige lipstick colour is a bit sheerer and a tiny bit pinkier than So Scarlet, but when you layer it on your lips they look extremely similar. Hell, they look extremely similar in the tube.







That being said I still have both. I use the MAC for specialer events, like going somewhere kind of posh or a birthday. I guess I'm just attracted to the same colours, over and over again.



Hadley has a warmer brickier shade of red on. It reminds me of an old lipstick I had. It was Nars Spanish Red and was a wonderful self-treat that was way beyond my student budget, until it melted in my drawer into a pool of expensive wax and carmine. Alas. That lipstick was the bomb, I'll get it again when I'm making a good taxable salary. Employ me! Yes.

Nobody else had very noteworthy makeup, except Hoyt's Mama:



she's matched her lips to her earrings to her clothes,



and has gone and glued scary dead spiders on her eyes,

and the Fangtasia White Trash Daytime Guard lady,



who I swear to God is using MAC's Bare Truth lipglass,

but I'll run through their faces anyway from episodes 9 and 10 in a brief montage. They're pretty much all wearing what they've all been wearing most of the season.



Apparently there are only one or two more episodes until the end of the season? Bizarre happenings have occurred in Bon Temps that weren't in the books. Alan Ball has taken the characters and now they inhabit a strange, sexual, Spanish-Moss-draped world with liberal definitions of maenads.