a few favorite summer lip colors, vol. i: coral

In the name of summer, I made a mess on my arm for you.

Coral, whether of the orange or the pink subspecies, is a quintessential summer shade that looks good on so many skin tones. Just like there is a red for everyone, there is a coral for everyone (in contrast, there doesn’t necessarily seem to be an orange for everyone – or perhaps orange is more polarizing, and people are less open to finding that perfect orange). It can look quite natural sheered out. Then, too, with good opacity it can look awesomely unnatural.

It also goes so well with what are for me the other quintessential summer colors; white, gold, turquoise, cream…

The line between coral and red-orange/orange-red (which will be next) is blurred, so this selection is slightly arbitrary.

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Kate Moss Matte Rimmel lipstick in 110, Korres Mango Butter lipstick in Coral (sheer), Maybelline Color Sensational lipstick in Coral Crush, Maybelline Color Sensational Vivid lipstick in Shocking Coral.

These are showing a tiny bit too orange…better to look at a variety of swatches and sort of deduce the color. […best to see it in person] I have no ambition to be a great swatcher (so many blogs do it better than I ever will, with my attitude) but I often find comparisons like this useful.

The Korres Mango Butter lipstick is maybe my favorite here. It is sheer, similar to all of the tinted balm-type options every brand has come out with now, but smoother and more moisturizing than any of the other versions I’ve tried.

The Kate Moss lipsticks are such great value, and the pigmentation, particularly in the matte line, is solid.

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turquoise + stripes

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Striped dress from American Apparel, sash from American Apparel, TOMS suede wedges, Skagen watch, Pearl Paradise studs, Solange Azagury-Partridge ring, eBay faux pearl bracelet, eBay fox ring (do we not love this ring? We love this ring). On the lips: Rimmel Apocalips in Big Bang. On the nails:  Sally Hansen Jaded.

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It’s incredible how lopsided my lips and nostrils are. Even more incredible that I only notice in photos/video. Actually the entire right side of my face seems to have a slightly larger version of everything. This is standard, I know, nearly everyone has asymmetrical elements in their face and body. It is even a little disturbing when someone doesn’t, or when all of the asymmetry has been photoshopped away. Still. It looks so strange, this unmirrored version of myself. I don’t look like that.

Only of course, I do look like that. That is what I really look like. And to others I would look strange in a mirror, or possibly they wouldn’t notice either way.

I understand that I can fiddle with the lipstick to balance my lips out, but I honestly can’t even see it in the mirror, my face looks so familiar and normal to me. I keep trying to remember which side is which, which side is more rounded and which more flat on my top lip, but looking in the mirror I guess wrong about half the time. I suppose this is also a testament to my poor memory.

Start taking a bunch of pictures of yourself and you learn about all of these strange things you do with your face.

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Here, for example, is this thing I do with my mouth evidently all of the time. I am forever making this kind of dubious face. And often lifting my already lopsided lip into a kind of sneerface. Not ideal, face. Not ideal.

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[Side view. Sneerface omitted.]

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And finally you see why I like this dress.

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