On the Quest for Beauty: Red Lips at Breakfast? Yes! Yes! Yes!

This blog is dedicated to my husband who sees my imperfections and doesn't mention them.

I love trying new beauty products. Place me in a Sephora or Ulta store and I feel I am in paradise. For hours I can pleasantly entertain myself looking at the plethora of different shampoos, facial washes, makeup and perfumes, envisioning myself as a size 0 with glowing clear skin, no split ends, and being stopped by every man in America asking “What’s that scent you are wearing? (Ok, maybe not EVERY man)

One of my downfalls , as my mother will readily tell you, is that I am a sucker for cool packaging and intriguing ingredients. That inclination has resulted in trying hundreds of different products over the years – good and bad. Some products I have used ever since I was in college and I would rather exit the house with no makeup and hairy arm pits then see my fav end up on the proverbial chopping block. Others I have readily discarded vowing never again to be duped by flowery ingredients which deliver zero results.

Because of my “beauty product love”, I probably have more knowledge roaming around in my head than Wikipedia. So I decided to start this blog to share my adventures with you on the quest for beauty, giving my recommendations and warnings so your money can be well spent. The subject matter may be a tad vain, but ultimately every woman has an innate desire to look and feel her best and there is nothing wrong with that. Happy reading, and if you don’t come for my daily blabberings at least drop by for my contest giveaways that I hope to do every other month.

Left to right: Poppy King, Carisa Janes, Terry de Gunzburg, Linda Wells, and Sue Devitt.

A siren red mouth might seem too bold for 9 A.M., but at Barneys in New York City today, it was the topic on everyone's lips. Allure editor in chief Linda Wells moderated a discussion on our favorite subject: makeup—particularly, red lipstick. The panel of cosmetics-company owners had plenty to say about the once controversial subject ("nice girls" didn't dare wear red lipstick back in the day—remember Belle Watling from Gone With the Wind? Yeah, she owned a brothel). Lipstick Queen founder and CEO Poppy King came dressed for the occasion in a lip-printed dress. She stressed what we believe at Allure: There is a red for everyone. "Test a bunch of shades. When you put one on and your eyes, cheeks, and hair light up, you've found a keeper. If the color seems to turn off your 'internal light,' toss it and move on," King said, adding that "red lips look best done casually. Do your lips before your eye makeup to prevent looking too overdone." (Confession: When Wells brought up that lipstick is often the most stolen item in stores, King owned up to swiping tons of Revlon lipsticks and stuffing them in her school uniform when she was 14.) When a member of the audience asked "Is it appropriate?" about wearing red lips to work, Sue Devitt, the founder and president of Sue Devitt, said that, though it depends on what you do, a toned down version is almost always fine; she recommended a red stain. And adding a Parisian touch to the discussion, Terry de Gunzburg, the founder and chairman of By Terry said that when a woman needs a boost, the best thing she can do is—yes—apply red lipstick. "If you're going out at night and you're feeling blah, wearing red lips can totally change your mood."

RELATED LINKS:
Daily Beauty Reporter: Dick Page's Best Red Lip Tips
Inside Allure: Letter From the Editor
Insiders' Guide: How to Wear Red Lipstick

PHOTO: MYRNA SUAREZ FOR ALLURE