Lovely Life List: Lip service

This week I've spent a little bit of time working on a small corner of my Life List: finding a great lipstick shade.

I have a drawer full of lipsticks that are all fine, but I have yet to find that one great shade that goes with everything and makes me feel perfectly polished. Seems like a good thing to have in one's makeup bag, right?

There are a few criteria that I identified to help me narrow down my search:

- I want something in the pink family; plum colors are too dramatic for my coloring for every day and reds are too high-maintenance
- I want something creamy or matte. No glitter, no shimmer.
- I'd prefer a drugstore brand. If I find something I love I'll probably want to have an extra tube or two around, and spending $75 at Sephora on three tubes of lipstick does not excite me; it would also be handy to be able to replace a tube easily when I run out or if I'm traveling.



I ended up with 3 finalists:

Fairytale, CoverGirl -- this was a suggestion by a commenter on a fun makeup post over at Making it Lovely. It is a lot brighter than I am used to (and quite a bit brighter than this photo indicates), but I thought it wouldn't hurt to try something different. Probably a little too bold for me during the day, but I think this will be great with a black dress at night.

Darling, CoverGirl -- I spotted this one while I was looking for Fairytale and was immediately drawn to it -- much more my speed. I LOVED the color in the tube, but I didn't love it as much on my lips. Funny how that happens...but hooray for reasonable return policies!

Classy, e.l.f. -- I grabbed this one on a whim. I could barely make out the color in the packaging, but when I saw the price ($1), I threw it in the cart. Guess what -- this is my favorite! It looks natural but pretty, feels nice and creamy, and has decent staying power. And I can pay for it with the change on the bottom of my purse.

So, I have one-third of one more item crossed off my list. A baby step of progress, but I'll take it!

And while we're on the subject of makeup, two videos to share. First, one of my favorite YouTube makeup gurus, the adorable Michelle Phan. Do you watch her videos? She's super talented and getting to be super famous. She started doing tutorials on YouTube and now she's everywhere: she's in Vogue, she's working with Lancome...but she's still sharing her tutorials with us for free! I have learned SO much, and I feel empowered to try new things. Here is her video for the fancy eyes I wore last New Year's Eve:

Of course, success breeds copycats...but this one is pretty adorable. 5 year old Madison is a modern girly-girl in the digital world, and she knows what she's talking about. And she gives my favorite makeup advice ever: "It's OK if you mess up!"

Also, I have that Pink Please lipstick -- she has good taste!

If you have a favorite lip product, let me know! I I love taking a peek in other people's makeup bags.