Is narcissism fab? Pt.2

I'm sorry, but I'm giving myself another shout out. It's been a rough, rough few weeks. And, frankly I deserve it!
I'm generally pretty self deprecating by nature, which is why I try to act like I'm far more into myself than I really am (like I said before). It's like my way of making myself feel better about who I am. Looks, personality, life choices, etc. Always try to find the positives.

Anyway, this shout out is going out to my lips. I've been told many times here in Georgia that I look "mixed," aka a mixture of black and white. Which I'm not. I'm full blooded Italian. (So, I suppose I can see where they get that idea.) Fitting the stereotype, I have some full lips. Not crazy full, but definitely not in need of lip plumpers; and I'm totally proud of this. I feel like I pull off lip colors really well and can get away with just some lipstick and mascara and call it a day. (Thank you, thank you. No applause, please.)

My go to lip brand is *drum roll please* RIMMEL. Again. They're lipsticks don't leave your lips feeling dry after a few hours and totally keep the color looking fresh for at least half the day. It's a great product. I tend to get my coral and pink shades from them; while my more "outrageous" shades come from Wet n' Wild (guess the name alone screams "outrageous"). They have my current favorite shade in stock right now; I like to call it "Nicki Minaj Pink," based on the shade Nicki always seems to wear. I think it's beyond fabulous and really makes a statement. Especially on a nice pair of lips like mine.

Thank you for putting up with my me, myself, and I attitude.
Feel free to spew some stuff back at me, so I have to listen to you talk about yourself (seriously, sometimes I think I should have become a shrink).

Much love.

(Duck face? PSH PLEASE)

Starbucks. FAB.

Well, I'm a Starbucks junkie. The first step is admitting you have a problem right?
Living at Starbucks has given me the opportunity to further enhance my people watching skills. Call me a creep if you want, but the checkers tutor wearing the bath robe is quite hard to look away from.
He doesn't wear makeup though, so no need to give you the secrets behind his beauty regiments.
The woman sitting next to bath-robe-man though, happened to have the coolest color lipstick on!
It wasn't red, it wasn't coral, it wasn't pink. Honestly, I don't know what color it was, but it was fabulous. I stared at her lips for a while trying to use my art school knowledge to decipher the color. But as I got lost in trying to choose between magenta and plum, I noticed she was staring right at me. It wasn't a look of disgust or confusion though. Just an intent moment of eye locking. It was the weirdest moment of my life between another female and myself. Anyway, I tried to pretend I wasn't the creepiest person ever and just asked her what brand her lipstick was, and she told me the coolest thing!
She made it herself!
She took old lipsticks, melted them, put the melted contents in a form and then let it harden. I was shocked, and SO intrigued. There was nothing else behind the process though. Just as simple and knowing what colors to mix and making sure you had a mold that would give it some shape.
Cool right?
I tried it myself, and have not quite mastered it yet (I'm not one to get things right the first time).
So I encourage you all to try it yourselves. Take the ends of some old lipsticks and go to town.
One day you may have some creep in Starbucks staring at your lips too.

Get a little cray cray; it's fun. 

A Tale of DRAB Lipstick.

It was a typical, slow day at work, when all of a sudden woman walked through the door. A pale woman wearing BLACK lipstick. I literally thought Elvira had come to steal my soul. Luckily, this woman was not actually coming to reap souls. She turned out to be one of the most perky people I've ever met. (You know, one of those people you want to slap for being so nice?) It's funny how the scariest people always turn out to be the nicest.

Although I was beyond glad to interact with a decent human being; I could not stop staring at those deathly black lips. I couldn't even be sassy and tell the woman that she looked like the Grimm Reaper; I mean, how do you tell the nicest person ever that they look like a terrifying mess?
I just couldn't do it. So, I let her walk out of the store to face the rest of the world like that.
I won't let you guys down though!

Choosing the proper lip shade for yourself is incredibly important. One shade off, and you could look like a hot mess; or my new Elvira friend (I don't really know which is worse).
Here's an easy guide to keep in mind when you're standing amongst 100's of shades of lipstick.
(Of course there are always exceptions. But, sometimes it's good to play it safe.)

1) Pale Skin = Pale Shades
- Dark shades will make you look more pale. You are lucky though, not many people can pull off a pale shade without looking they have chalk on their lips.

2) Medium Skin = Bright Colors or Dark Shades
- You are pretty lucky, you can pull of a variety of different shades. Test em' out.

3) Dark Skin = Dark Shades or Quirky Colors
- You could probably pull off that black lipstick with the right wardrobe. And you're super lucky because those crazy bright purple shades that you see will look totally fab and make your lips pop!

Keep this in mind, play it safe, and you'll have a fabulous winning shade each time.
Bye bye Elvira. Hello Elle Macpherson!