I see red

Jess is a nail polish woman. She loves 'em. I'm a lipstick woman. I love 'em. We can't get enough of our respective loves. Here is what I've observed about wearing red nails or lips. Wearing red nail polish or lipstick will emphasise any red already present in the skin.

Image from http://www.kaboodle.com/

For example, if your hands are red from eczema (aka xma rage), wearing red nail polish will draw attention and emphasise the redness in your hands. It doesn't look as good as someone with an even skin tone on their hands.

This is the same with wearing red lipstick. Unless you have very good skin, you need to wear foundation when wearing red lipstick, in order to minimise the redness in your face (usually around the nose and chin for me). Otherwise, it will make your face look splotchy. As much as I love red, I don't wear red nails that much because of xma rage. I love a bright red lippy, so I make sure I wear foundation before I wear it.

Image from http://ie.rimmellondon.com

While we're on the topic, here are my picks for a red lipstick:

• Rimmel London Lasting Finish by Kate Moss in no. 10. This is possibly my favourite red lippy. It's incredibly bright and really makes your lips pop. Not for the faint-hearted. It makes my skin look even paler when I wear it. For some reason, there is no no. 10 on the website, but I checked my lipstick and it's definitely a 10.
• Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dragon Girl. Gorgeous, bright and bold. I tried this on at Mecca and loved it.
• Hourglass Femme Rouge Velvet Crème Lipstick in Icon. 

MAC is also famous for their red lipsticks and most brands will have a good red in their range. If you want something a bit sheerer, but still with a reasonable amount of colour, try Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede in 095 Finale.  If you want super-sheer and moisturing, try Face of Australia Sheer Gloss Lip Crayon in Macaron.

Final tangent: I'm currently loving Butter London Primrose Hill Picnic Nail Lacquer. It's see pleasing to see a bright fuchsia pink on the nails!

Gratuitous link to Split Enz video clip for I See Red here.