Red Alert - I Have a Problem~

Hello my lovelies!

Sorry it's been a while since my last post - results came out last week (I got into my top choice uni! Yay!) and I've been doing a lot of admin stuff for that. I have however made another Letters to Me video which you can check out here. It will be a little while before the next one as I go on holiday on Friday for a fortnight, but I promise they'll all be done before I go off to uni at the very end of September! Right, now that catch-up is dealt with, on to all things beauty. Specifically lipstick.

If you speak to any of my friends you'll know that I'm an absolute lipstick addict. I rarely leave the house without lipstick, and most of my lipstick is BRIGHT. Particularly bright red. Most of my clothes are black/white/grey, so I find bright red lipstick injects a bit of boldness and colour into my look. As such, I seem to own rather a lot of red lipsticks (probably not a lot compared to fancy beauty gurus, but still a fair few). Thus, I thought I'd review each one of them for you so that any newbies to the red lipstick scene can see a choice, and any experienced veterans can nod in agreement sagely (or shake your head in utterly disgust, we'll see).

These are ranked from least favourite to favourite

Rimmel Kate Moss Lasting Finish - 01

This was the first red lipstick I actually spent money on myself (most of my lipsticks are ones I've stolen from my mum because I ignore the fact that makeup can expire) and I really like the colour. It's a lovely deep red colour that's bright without being clown-esque. But although the colour is one of my favourites, I'm not enamoured with the formulation. It applies really smoothly which is a good start, however I find that this is the smudgiest of all my red lipsticks. The number of times I've worn this on a night out and had to have friends wipe smeared lipstick off my face. It tends to come off from the middle first, so if I'm not careful I end up looking like I've just put bright red lip-liner on - not a good look. It's also the only red lipstick of mine that has a habit or winding up on my teeth. Unimpressed.

Rating: 2/5

Christian Dior - Indian Red

At a glance, this is quite a 'clowny' colour, and I definitely have to be wary wearing this one. If I'm not careful it can make skin look sickly, and I've definitely made the mistake of wearing this with a moderately trampy outfit and ending up looking like a dodgy prostitute by the end of the night, which is something I try to steer clear of. Some days however, I apply this lipstick and it adds just the right pop of colour. This is more of an orange-toned red than a blue-toned red which is why it doesn't always work for me. The application and lasting power of this lipstick is excellent, as you would expect from a Dior product, so no complaints in that department. A good lipstick, the colour just doesn't always work for me personally.

Rating: 3/5

Kryolan - 080 (I think)

I can't actually find exactly what colour I have, I think it's number 80 in their classic range but I'm not entirely sure.  Kryolan are a makeup company that supplies film, theatre, and TV, and as such they have some truly spectacular lipstick (and eye) colours. I bought this when I was dancing competitively, and as any festival dancer knows bright red lipstick is a staple. I rediscovered this a few months ago in my draw and decided to start wearing it. As it's designed as stage makeup, it's a very bright colour, but it's a blue-toned colour so it's more consistently wearable for me than the Dior. Again, no complaints in the application department, and as you'd expect for stage/film/TV makeup the lasting power is one of the best. When I want to go truly bright, this is the lipstick I turn to.

Rating: 4/5

Rimmel Moisture Renew - Diva Red

This is pretty much the same colour as the Kate Moss one (also by Rimmel) and this is my go-to red lipstick for during the day. It's a darker red than the Kryolan so it's more of a sultry colour. The staying power on this lipstick isn't the best, but it doesn't smudge all over the place so I can cope with reapplying this throughout the day. Definitely one of the more wearable bright red lipsticks out there.

Rating: 4/10

and last, and my favourite bright red lipstick...

Rimmel Apocalips - Big Bang

If you're a lip product fan and you haven't heard of Rimmel's Apocalips collection then I'm not quite sure where you've been over the last few months! There is definitely a reason this is one of the most raved about lip products in the beauty-sphere at the moment. Probably best defined as a liquid lipstick, this product is PHENOMENAL. A little bit definitely goes a long way as it is extremely thick and extremely pigmented, and it's super shiny so there's definitely no need for a lipgloss over the top. The colour is probably midway between the Kryolan and the Moisture Renew on the brightness scale, and I find it's the perfect colour for a night out. The staying power is exceptional, last time I wore this I didn't have to reapply it once (although I did smudge it a bit but that's because I'd been eating dorritos and I wiped crumbs off my face forgetting I was wearing lipstick...). 100% my favourite lip product at the moment (I have two other colours in the range).

Rating: 5/5

So there you have it, my selection of bright red lipsticks. No doubt I will continue adding to the red collection, but for now I think this will probably suffice.

Thanks for reading, let me know in the comments what your favourite red lipsticks are!