Comrades! Let our beauty collective draw together and share in the bounty of the makeup motherland!
Through beauty, joy!
Through lipstick, satisfaction!
…sorry. It’s the name, ‘Lara’. You get saddled with a proud Russian name like that, it’s only to be expected that you’ll burst out into faux Russian rhetoric with only the slightest encouragement. I’ll stop now.
Моё судно на воздушной подушке полно угрей
Ok, now I’ll stop.
MAC – Russian Red
MAC’s Russian Red lipstick is a red lipstick icon; a matte red cream revered by makeup artists and beauty junkies alike as an archetypal classic red matte lip. Neither noticeably cool nor warm, it flatters just about every skin tone.
MAC – Russian Red
Due to Russian Red’s more modern matte texture – free of chalky dryness, it has enough slip that it can be applied straight from the tube without getting all patchy and ‘grabby’ – it bypasses a lot of the usual downsides associated with more old school matte lippies. That being said, I still swear by applying it with a lip brush over a lined lip for the best results.
Lara’s Cocktail for a Perfect Red Pout
- 1 x clear lip liner
- 1 x MAC Cherry lipliner
- 1 x MAC Russian Red lipstick
- 1 x lip brush
- Outline and fill your lips with clear lipliner. A good clear lipliner acts as both a barrier to prevent feathering on the lipline and as a primer. I like Too Faced ‘Borderline’ due to its balm-like texture and lightweight feel.
- Outline and fill your lips with MAC Cherry lipliner. I spend a little time making sure that my cupids bow (the two high points on your upper lip) is perfect, then smooth out and correct the lipline itself. No one on earth has totally flawless even lips, me included! Filling the lip with a smooth application of lipliner both adds an extra base for your lipstick to grip onto, as well as giving more colour as everything naturally wears away.
- Use your lip brush to paint on a thin, smooth layer of Russian Red. Blot and then make kissy faces as you admire your saucy red pout!
Russian Red is AU$36 for 3g. MAC cosmetics are available from MAC stores, counters at select Myer and David Jones stores, and from maccosmetics.com.au. Happy lipsticking, comrades!
Megan
22/10/2011
This is such a gorgeous red, I’m still on the hunt for that perfect red lipstick and MAC do so many great ones. Looks fab on you!
swatchgirl
23/10/2011
I lucked out really early and found a few really good reds. Now I’m in the unfortunate position of worrying that they’re going to get discontinued on me D:
Belinda
21/10/2011
Wow! I have never been a lipstick girl but this has shown me I have a lot to learn! Love the hat by the way!
swatchgirl
23/10/2011
I’m trying to turn myself back into a lipstick girl, slowly slowly. It’s getting harder and harder to haul myself out of the lip balm/extremely sheer gloss rut, haha.
And thanks! Clearly I need to utilize my vast hat wardrobe more often :D
Angela
21/10/2011
hahaha @ that caption.
This shade looks amazing on you. Pretty confident it would look horrendous on me. Woe.
swatchgirl
23/10/2011
Do you still have purple through your hair? If so I’d say try an orange-based red like MAC Lady Danger, or get subtly matchy-matchy with a berry red.
Miss Completely
21/10/2011
holy cats! I love that lipstick as much as I love that hat!
swatchgirl
23/10/2011
Haha, thank you. It’s a heck of a lid :D
Tara
21/10/2011
Great post Lara.
This is a lovely lip color, i just have to build up the courage to wear it!
Going to get a clear lip liner now- been wanting one for ages
thanks
swatchgirl
23/10/2011
Oh cheers, glad the clear lipliner info was useful! They’re fantastically useful things but so few companies make them, particularly in Australia. It’s like face primer; once you use it you can’t go back to anything else.
Miss chew
21/10/2011
I absolutely love this post! I honestly think this is the best post I’ve seen from you. It has you in a comical hat, you have the obligatory gorgeous product images AND you have tips on getting that famous perfect red lip!!! Hooray!!! LASTLY… You make wanna lemming not only the red lipoid BUT ALSO that clear lipliner as I’ve been looking for a great one for ages!!! Keep up the great work!!
swatchgirl
23/10/2011
:3
Right. Clearly the magic formula for me is to write through a fug of exhaustion and pad out with comedy hats ;)
Suzanne
21/10/2011
Creep alert – I saved the hat photo. I am so unsurprised you own that hat. I WANT that hat.
swatchgirl
23/10/2011
Qurl you be creepin~
Also go go go eBay. $25 from a seller in the Ukraine!
Celeste @ Becoming Beautiful
21/10/2011
This was my first red lipstick and my gosh, I’ve been smitten by red lipsticks ever since!
swatchgirl
23/10/2011
Haha, same! It was my first red lipstick and I think I’ve gone through a dozen tubes since then.