Getting several colors from one shade of lipstick

True confession time: I’m very vain, and I love
makeup. I’ve been known to have ten
different lipsticks and lip glosses in my cosmetics rotation, but now that I’m
(ack!) in my thirties and a mother and have less time to spend on my vanity,
I’ve discovered that I really only need two or three lipsticks that look great.

Sound like crazy talk? Let me explain.

The reason you only
need a couple of tried and true lipstick colors is because you can make the
same color look totally different on you by using different lip liners, and maybe a dab of gloss for evening. 

• If you’re a makeup minimalist, get one neutral lipstick (Mary Kay’s Mocha Freeze is my go-to neutral) and two different liners.
• If you like to have more looks to choose from, pick out two other lip colors in addition to your neutral: either a warm and a cool or a lighter day shade and darker evening shade.

Due to my aforementioned affinity for makeup, I have three
lipstick colors I use a lot for everyday wear – a neutral, a warm, and a
cool. I use different liners and glosses
to make them look different depending on what I’m wearing or what I’m going.
Check out these photos of the same lipstick shade (Mary Kay’s Mocha Freeze      ) with two different liner colors.

In the first picture, I'm wearing a red-brown liner and in the second a more neutral beige-pink.  The different liners give the same lipstick shade a very different look, so I choose which liner I am going to use based on what I'm wearing or where I'm going.  For instance, I wore the look in the second picture with a red bridesmaid's dress a couple of months ago. Although I like this lipstick with red-brown liner, it would just have been too much red with a red dress as well. (But that's another article!)

Here are the steps to achieve different looks with one lipstick shade:

1) Line
your lips with your chosen lip liner

2) Fill
your lips in completely with lip liner

3) Apply
lipstick

4) To
add more depth and drama, apply lip gloss in the center if bottom and top lip
and rub lips together

The moral of the
story: you don’t need a drawer full of lipsticks that you feel “iffy” about! Go get yourself a couple of shades that you
know look great, and grab a couple of different liners to change your look up a
bit. This will greatly cut down not only
on your cosmetics budget, but also on lipstick color faux pas! Takings
risks with your makeup is really overrated, but wearing something you know
looks good never goes out of style!

Photos: Jenny Rapson

 Jenny is a SAHM of two who blogs about her adventures in
motherhood with her cousin Emily at Mommin' It
Up!

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