The setup: you have approximately twenty four hours before Christmas, and your perfect red lipstick is a) missing in action, b) not so perfect, or c) totally nonexistant. So, clearly, you need something you can pick up at the drugstore on your way to the annual family get-together.
The solution: Annabelle‘s Rouge Velours Crème in 210 Adrenaline, mentioned earlier here.
The smell: There might be sugarplums on the dining room table and gingerbread cookies in the living room, but there’s no strong scent here! Yes, it smells a bit like lipstick as you put it on, but let’s be honest — I can’t be the only one who secretly loves that smell! It would annoy me (and make me nauseous) if it hung around, but it doesn’t.
The colour and texture: It’s creamy, but not as creamy as a Revlon Super Lustrous. This means that it’ll be a bit less moisturising, but also that it’s easier to layer, it’ll wear a little longer, and it’ll be easier to put on without colouring outside of the lines. And on the topic of colour… holy man! I was expecting it to be stunning, and it is just that — stunning! I have six spots for lipstick in my everyday stash, and this one’s totally bumping out MAC Dubonnet for the “red lipstick slot”. It’s everything that I hoped the MAC would be!
The only person you know it was NOT is me, because I already have one. But man, if I didn’t…
The ingredients: (that’s right… it’s paraben-free!!)
Aloe barbadensis leaf extract, Ascorbyl palmitate, Butyl stearate, Candelilla cera/euphorbia cerifera (candelilla) wax/cire de candelilla, Cera alba/beeswax/cire d’abeille, Cera carnauba/copernicia cerifera (carnauba) wax/cire de carnauba, Diisostearyl dimer dilinoleate, Isodecyl neopentanoate, Lanolin, Methyl glucose sesquistearate, Oleyl alcohol, Oleyl oleate, Ozokerite, Persea gratissima (avocado) oil, Ricinus communis (castor) seed oil, Silica, Simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil, Tocopherol. May contain: Blue 1 lake, Carmine, Iron oxides, Mica, Orange 5, Red 27 lake, Red 6 lake, Red 7 lake, Titanium dioxide, Yellow 5 lake, Yellow 6 lake.
Tip: us timid gals can wear our holiday reds all year ’round by using them as stains!
The verdict? It’s a Christmas miracle! Well, okayyy, not quite. I just really wanted to use that line. However, this is a gorgeous red, and it’s so stunningly blue-based that it almost makes me want to cry. At under $8 a pop (though they’re usually on sale for about $5) this is a total steal!
