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No matter how large your makeup collection gets, you should always have your go to shades. Those colors that you know are going to work with your look whether casual or dressed up. It may be a series eyeshadows, a blush or a lipstick, but you feel confident when you put them on. I have three staples that I just love that help me to achieve a very pulled together makeup look.
My first go to is a lipstick that was chosen for me by one of the wonderful beauty advisors at Sephora when I was choosing my wedding day makeup. I knew that I wanted to go with a graphite smokey eye, but I had no clue what lipstick I wanted to pair with it. I thought that a bright color lip might be too much with a smouldering eye, but how wrong I was. I was matched up with a Lancôme Rouge in Love lipstick in 381B Violette Coquette - deep violet. This color is absolutely beautiful and just brightens up my face. It is rich and vibrant and has great staying power as it is formulated to give you up to six hours of wear. I have always struggled when choosing brighter lipstick colors because I have felt that they were not targeted to those of us that are more pigmented in color. This lipstick totally kills my original thoughts as it is a shade that is great for everyone including us women of color! I wear this lipstick all of the time to work or when I am heading out on the weekend, it just works!!
If you have been reading my blog, you know that I have an obsession with eyeshadows! They are just so much fun to play with and I am continuously learning new application methods. Brown Down by MAC is a brown that is matte and highly pigmented, so you can use this shadow to create a lot of great looks. I tend to wear this shadow as my crease color and it a great for a daytime smokey eye or if you want to go for a more modest look. Part of me is quite sad as I have been told by one of the MAC counters that this color is on the discontinued list while others have disputed this notion. I have yet to get this confirmed so, if you are out doing makeup shopping and could use a great brown eyeshadow, pick this one up as it may not be available in the near future. If this color is no longer carried by MAC, you can go with their color Handwritten that is another great brown shade which I wrote about in my post My New Neutrals.
My last love is another lipstick that I hesitated to try for the longest time. I have been on an eternal
search for a red lipstick that I feel goes well with my skin tone. I always feel like red lipsticks make me look like a clown and would draw stares for all of the wrong reasons. I have read tons of blogs and watched several vlogs on YouTube that are always raving about the MAC lipstick Ruby Woo. It has been written up about in Vogue, Essence, InStyle and several other publications as a top ten red shade and that it is one that works for everyone. I was an unbeliever and refused to believe that the idea of a universal red lipstick even existed. Let me be the one to tell you that "It does exist!". This lipstick is almost life changing. There is something about the color red making you feel vampy and sexy and this Ruby Woo has allowed me to enter into the club of red lips! I am always thinking about different eye looks that I can put together to wear with this lip color. If you are a skeptic like I was, give it a try, I think that you will love it!
If you do not have a list of go to shades from your makeup collection, I hope that I have inspired you to do so. This is great to have when you are pressed for time or stumped with what look to go with and your staples will pull everything together for you. If you decide to try any of the makeup that I have written about, do let me know what your experiences have been, I love hearing your feedback!
XO
Andréa
