My Giveaway win and NOTD with Fingerpaints varnish

In giveaways I don't normally win, I try and enter ones of people I already follow (or at least have a read through previous enteries to see if I would like to afterwards). There is an awesome blog I follow which combines my favourite items trainers and nail varnish called Lacquer and Laces by The Sneakerette. She does find some of the best indie lacquers that are on the market, photos are superb and the trainers are to die for.

She did an brilliant NOTD using Wet 'n' Wild black, Finger paint's Asylum and matt top coat. It's beautiful Check it out here the prize was these two above - Finger Paint's Sparkle Top Coat and my own bottle of Asylum.

Couldn't wait to get asylum on my fingers - This is with two coats of SpaRituals Undercurrent creme blue with one coat of Asylum over the top. The photos really don't do it justice! I have worn the Sparkle top coat over a soft pink for a daytime look, it's packed with glitter and glimmers beautifully in the sun (since I did the manicure there has been no sun to get a decent photo! I'm determined to get one!)

 

They are from America :( but can be viewed here

Why I Love Red Lippie

The first time I ever tried a red lipstick was when I had it suggested that I should try it because I had that classic English Rose look. I brought my first red, a Bourjois in a matt red case with gold on it, it a blue/red with a matt finish and I loved it, it instantly made me look glamorous with little effort. From then I was hooked, I loved the way it brightened my skin and earned me the nick name, "Snow White" because of my dark hair, pale skin and I was told my "perfect" lips that can pull off the red pout.

One of the many times I've worn red out

So why is red lipstick still one of the go to colours of our time? It comes from the Western history, Japanese geisha's painting their lips red in contrast to the whiteness of their skin (more on that later as it is a subject I dearly love). The look was steadily coming over to the east, in 13th century Italian ladies worn them as a mark of status in the upper classes.

It wasn't until the glamour of the early 20th century with the 1920's flapper girls and of course the huge Hollywood productions. Max Factor, Elizabeth Arden, and Helena Rubinstein were the first names to see a market for mass production of cosmetics. One theory of it's popularity is that the red lips to men could remind them of something else on a woman, which I'm not sure how true this can be.

Red, to me, is the easiest and most glamorous way to update any day to night look, it instantly makes me more womanly. In colour therapy it signifies passion, love and fire, and is associated to my star sign of Aries.

My collection (as current but I'm always looking for more to add my collection so any suggestions are welcome) stands as the following:

The best I had was one from Boots No7 and it was a double ended wand with a paint on colour then gloss,  but I lost it on a night out and I dearly miss it. These are great colours and I do seem to go towards the more pinky reds, while the Rimmel is more a blue/red. The Silk Red was part of a Christmas lipstick collection that Estee Lauder did about 2010. My most recent was Boots natural collection and comes up almost sheer with shimmer.

Maybe it's a time to get a new one, well you cannot never have too many reds?