HELLO PEOPLE/Drugstore Lip Stuff/Gel Strips

I trust y'all had a decent holiday...  Mine was alright.  I tell you what, though, the transition from the laying-on-the-couch-style holiday break and the my-kid-has-no-school-and-is-bored-in-my-face-while-I-am-trying-to-secretly-make-her-dreams-come-true-style is a bit much.  That shit is over the top.

The elephant in the room is obviously the month long hiatus on this blog...  I was set to post in mid-December, but then there was that shooting and it seemed gauche/callous/yucky to post that day about vain stuff, then the holidays popped up with the combo of extreme busy-ness and no school/childcare, and now here we are!  I'm back on the regular weekly/sometimes more often than weekly schedule now, though.  I got some posts planned and some videos, and I am going to have a contest but I need to think more about how I am going to run it, since there aren't any cosmetic company people telling me what to do and how to run it and what the prize is gonna be.  Actually, I already know what the prize is gonna be, cause I already bought it, but I need to plan the contest itself.  If anyone has any great ideas, feel free to share them, otherwise I am just going to pull something out of my ass.

SO!  I'm just gonna do a quick-n-dirty post about STUFF!!

Q:  I need help finding the right lipstick for me.

I'm black (a perfect match for Soft Honey #455--I promise it's not spam! just a reference point) and I have pretty versatile skin.  BUT, and it's a big one, most black makeup "gurus" on youtube or whatever wear really light, bubblegum pink colors. No shade, it's just not my way...

I hate it.  I really don't like how most lip colors look or wear on me. So I wear a lot of chapstick and dark glosses (think deep mauve, dark berries) because of this.

It might help to mention that I'm working with a college grad budget, so not much is poppin off over here; definitely no ballin, at least.

So my ultimate question is this: do you wear, or at least have you seen any boss, darker lipstick colors on your journey?

A:  What is with those super light lipstick colors?!?  Actually, I know what the deal is... Everybody is trying to be Nicki Minaj.  Now, I am not gonna play like I haven't been listening to Nicki Minaj 24/7 since I was buying mixtapes off her on Myspace years and years ago, but let's be real about how there is some questionable aesthetic shit going on there now.  She basically was the hottest person in the universe, and now she is just too too much.  

(left) hell fucking yes.  (right) hmmm maybe not.

Anyway, what I am getting at is that I totally fucking hate that bubblegum pink lipstick, I think it is really gross looking.  It makes it look like you were pigging out on Necco wafers all day and it made your mouth all chalky.  NOBODY looks good in it. :( :( :(

Lipstick is pretty easy to get at the drugstore!  I have a lot of drugstore lipsticks that I really super love!  

My favorite regular-lipstick at the drugstore is probably Revlon Super Lustrous...  It's not real heavy and gross-feeling, it has a nice feel to it.  I would say it is pretty comfy.  I use it like regular lipstick, or I tap it on really lightly and then put gloss over it and it has a stainy/sheer gloss kind of look going on.  This stuff is pretty solid regular lipstick.  My favorite color is Wild Orchid, which might look pretty sweet on you, but if you don't go for something bright like that, I understand.  I've also had luck with Wine With Everything.  If you generally are feeling mauve/berry shades, they have a ton of those, too.  Berry Haute and Berry Rich both look pretty...  The nice thing is that this kind of lipstick has been around forever, so it is probably not going to be discontinued like a lot of colors that are new lipshit technology or whatever.  Also, they have about 19 billion colors.

Honestly, I wear a lot of dark glosses, too.  If it's working for you, then by all means wear it.  Glosses are just nice for daily wear, because they look more casual, and they don't look grody when they wear off.  Also, they are easier to reapply.  I like the Infallible 8 Hour lipgloss pretty well.  I like how it seems to set up a little bit when you put it on, so it's not super slimy.  Also, I get more lipstick complements when I wear it than other lip things I wear.  I use the Dazzle Me (which seems to be discontinued) and the Barely Nude ones, but the Raisin and Glistening Berry look like good colors, too.  I also like the Colour Riche Le Gloss.  The Plum Rush one is awesome...  It looks super dark in the tube, but it has a mega-sheer gel type of thing happening, and the color is more like a berry shade when you put it on.

If you were in the mood to splurge, though, I would recommend the Clinique Black Honey.  It's not super duper expensive, and it's really flattering on most people.  If you poke around online, there are pics of all kinds of ladies looking good in it-- pasty ones like me, asian ladies, light-complected black  ladies, dark-complected black ladies, olive-complected ladies.  That shit is versatile.  I keep a tube in my purse because it's easy as hell and always looks decent.  I even rebuy it, which is a pretty good indicator of a good cosmetic since there is only a small handful of things I rebuy.  I usually try stuff, then try something different.  Anyway, that is usually like $14 or $15.  Not cheap but not hella-expensive if you want a treat.  I've been wearing a lot of stuff like this or tinted chapstick type stuff lately because I got pink glasses, and I haven't figured out how to do lipstick with pink glasses and not look like a momo yet, but I digress.

This definitely isn't an exhaustive list of good drugstore lipsticks.  It is pretty easy to find cheap and decent stuff.  Also, a lot of drugstores will let you return cosmetics.  I experiment more with colors when I buy drugstore stuff, instead of plunking down for some fancy stuff that might look like ass.  The only drugstore stuff I don't fuck with is the Milani or Wet n Wild.  I don't know, it just makes me feel like I'm 11 or something.  I'm sure it's fine, though.

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QUICK REVIEW:  SALLY HANSEN GEL STRIPS

I was sooooo excited when I heard they were making these.  I love strips and I love gel.  I was all about it.

I got a package and tried them out.  They were easy to put on, the gel topcoat was pretty easy to deal with.  They sucked a donkey's asshole, though.  They came off my nails faster than regular nail strips would.  I also had to buff my nails beforehand (they told me to in the instructions) and that shit always fucks my nails up and makes them split way more often and I have to grow the buffed part out.  My nails are just too thin, and I don't have nail to spare for buffing.

It seems like people in general seem to dislike them, too, seeing as there ain't that many stars on any of those Amazon listings. 

I am pretty good at doing my nails.  It's basically my thing.  I've been doing regular salon-style gel manicures on myself for probably 2 years or something.  The regular gel manicures I do last forever, so I don't think it failed because I didn't know what I was doing.  Thumbs down, Sally Hansen Gel Strips.  Just get the regular, not-gel ones.  Those still rule.

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If y'all are keeping tabs on my new nail polish biz, you might be interested to know I have a small handful of Lakes + Fields and a smaller handful of Jimmy left, and they are on clearance for $5.  I am tweaking things and making some changes and want to get the last of my existing stock out of the way so when I bring out the new stuff and the new everything else, I don't have the old stuff still hanging around.  I like everything to be matchy matchy matchy, I will have palpitations if everything doesn't match hahaha.