Guest Post - Love Your Lips

I love Oh Panda!  She's a mine of information, and a source of inspiration, and she's a total sweetheart to boot.  Here she is to talk to us today about how to look after your lips ...

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It’s all well and good buying a new lipstick, falling in love with it and never wanting to take it off but it is important to look after your lips to ensure that you’re getting the most from your lipstick and your lips are looking their best.  After all, lips are skin too, just very, very thin (around 4 to 5 layers, compared to the 16 layers on your face!)

Here are a few tips on keeping your lips looking and feeling fabulous.

Exfoliate
 
The most well known technique is the dry toothbrush scrub, lightly sloughing away dead skin with a medium/soft toothbrush.  This works fine and is a cheap and effective method.  I prefer to use a sugar scrub though (cos they taste nice.)  I currently use Lush’s bubblegum scrub.  It is ridiculously yum and sloughs dead skin away perfectly, leaving my lips ultra soft.  You can also make your own lip scrub quite simply, have a little Google for some recipes, they are dead simple to make and in most cases the ingredients will already be in your cupboard (and it’s fun to get a little creative!)

Moisturise

Do not get confused between products that moisturise your lips and those that create a barrier.  Petroleum jelly (Vaseline) will create a barrier and can be used to keep moisture in, however, it will not moisturise them.  Therefore go for something super moisturising once you have exfoliated your lips, something with vitamin E in is always good.

Protect

As mentioned above, petroleum jelly is awesome as a barrier for your lips so once moisturised you can add some Vaseline on, particularly if you suffer with chapped lips.  I would also recommend products with SPF in.  I have burnt my lips once.  It hurt beyond belief.  Most lip products contain an SPF nowadays or at least offer an SPF version in their range – I cannot stress how important SPF on your lips is,just Google “Sunburnt Lips” *pukes*

Tips for Colour

•    Use a neutral lip liner to outline and fill your lips.  This will help the lipstick stay in place for longer and also prevent feathering. Do not use a lip liner if you are using a stain to colour your lips!
•    If you have time, apply your lippie with a brush.  It gets into those creases better.  I also like applying it with a clean finger, again it ensures the colour gets in all the nooks, though there is no definitive right or wrong way about the method of application, try a few ways and see what works best for you…
•    Don’t overdo the gloss, not if you want some kissy kisses anyway.
•    Once you’re done, pop your finger in your mouth and pull it out.  This will stop you getting lippie on your teeth (not a good look…) It’ll now be on your finger instead, go wash your hands!

(some images of my favourite lip care products!)

I hope you found some of these tips useful.  Lip care is so important, particularly if you spend a lot of time outdoors, wearing colour on your lips or kissing… and I am sure you fit in to one of those categories…
 
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Get Lippie Says: Can't agree more about the tip about vaseline, barrier creams high in mineral oil only seal in the moisture that's already present on your lips, and don't add any of their own.  For preference, I use plant-based balms, which add moisture, and, crucially, taste nice ... 

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Chanel Coco Rouge Swatches

I make no apologies whatsoever for featuring Chanel's latest lipstick offerings once again. Beyond gorgeous formulations, pigmented, light and beautifully moisturising, they're everything YSL Rouge Voluptes should be, but aren't (I'll give you my thoughts on those another time).

Since I unexpectedly picked up Cambon way back in January, I've since been out and bought two more, Mademoiselle, and Rouge Orage.  Cambon is a bright - BRIGHT! - hot pink, which leans towards orange, Mademoiselle is a lovely nude rose, and Rouge Orage is a soft blood-red.  I find the colours last three to four hours before they need a touch up.  There is a hint of the classic Chanel lipstick scent (which I happen to adore, but I know some people have a problem with scents), and they cover the lips perfectly in one swipe.

On the lips, Cambon:

Last time I swatched this, the pictures made it look rather too scarlet.  This is a much better representation of the colour, a hot, hot pink, with no real blue undertones.  A happy-making colour.

Mademoiselle:

This is the signature shade of the range, and possibly rightfully so.  I've seen a lot of swatches of this recently, and I think it's a very nice neutral, goes-with-anything colour and it seems to suit most people, though I've noticed it can look a fair bit redder on people with a lot of pink in their skin.  My hands are pinker than my face, and I've noticed the hand swatch is redder than the lip swatch as a result.  On my lips, however, it's a wonderful nude-shade.

I love this colour!  Haven't seem this one getting too much attention lately, but when I went on a mad swatching-frenzy in my local Debenhams recently (seriously, I got through a box of kleenex and half a bottle of their makeup remover, they hate me in there), this shade just called out to me.  It's a warm, but not too orange red, that's quite suitable for daytime wear.  It doesn't, in all honesty, look like anything out of the ordinary in the tube, dare I say it even looks a bit dull? But put this on skin, and it's beautiful.  It might just be my new favourite red, as it very wearable, and not too garish. Not as scary as it might look in the tube, well, I think so anyway.

Will you be trying any of the Rouge Cocos?  What's your favourite shade? Rouge Cocos are widely available now, and cost £21.

Lip of the Day - Chanel Rouge Coco "Cambon"

This is a sneak preview of one of the lipsticks Chanel is premiering in March, from their "Rouge Coco" range, the shade I have is "Cambon":

Chanel are introducing this range of lipsticks - all named after Coco Chanel's favourite things, this one is named after the Cambon Handbag, hence the picture at the top there - for the spring/summer season.  Highly moisturising, and very pigmented, they're a delight to wear, and there will be 30 shades in the full range.

This is a HOT pink, indeed an almost fuschia shade, but with a hint of orange rather than blue.  I love it.  My All Time Favourite Lipstick of All Time is a Chanel pink (India, long since discontinued, but I never pass a Chanel counter without having a quick look for it, just in case, I miss it so!) so when this baby popped into my grubby little paw on Saturday , I was very happy indeed!  The pictures are making it look very scarlet, which is a shame, as this is very definitely a pink.

They wear well, fade evenly (no ring of doom here!) and last pretty much six or seven hours before you need to reapply - at least, if you don't eat, they do.

This is one of those bright, sunshine-y shades that instantly makes you happier when you wear it, and it's bringing a little cheer to my dingy corner of winter at the moment!

Many, many thanks to British Beauty Blogger for the surprise present, I love it!

Pastels, schmastels, my spring is all about the BRIGHT, how about you?

Here is the nude ...

One thing I don't actually find as universally appealing as we're told is the "nude lip" look that's so popular these days.  I've noticed in my trawls around a lot of magazines, books and blogs that a lot of women appear to be scared of colour on their lips, and I'm wondering why that is?  Get your lip colour right, I always think and you don't actually need other makeup!

Don't get me wrong, when the concealer-lip look is done well, as above, I think it's superbly flattering, but get the colour slightly wrong and you can look like a zombie.  Or worse:

It's one of those looks that I, personally, think is easier to get wrong than it is to get right.  What do you think?