simply red: my red lipstick collection..

"If you know me, you know I'll like… (fill the blank)." I start a lot of my posts like this. I am a Lipstick Person. I know a lot of people are not Lipstick People. I am also a Red Lipstick Person. 

Therefore, over the years, I have amassed a large collection of red lipsticks, and I thought I would take it upon myself to show you a variety of swatted colours. For reference, I'm a pale-skinned girl, around the NW20 shade in MAC Foundations, with dark hair and eyes, so red lipsticks are one of those things that suit me like a glove, luckily! If you've never tried a red before, I recommend starting with something light, or sheer, like Revlon's sheer lip butters (see my review below!), then working up to these..or, ignore that, and jump right in..!

(If some of the applications are a little sloppy, please excuse me, I was wiping them right off afterwards.) 

MAC Russian Red

This is the red-lipstick I would recommend to everyone who wants a good, solid, matte red. It's a blue-toned red, which is good for making the teeth look good, and it has a very nice, 50's kind of red feel. I think this is the best of MAC's 'staple-reds', far outshining Ruby Woo, MAC Red, or any of the other ones they do (that I have currently forgotten!). It is what I describe as 'high maintenance'. You need to keep an eye on the application throughout the day, it's also quite drying, but on the plus side - it is long lasting as hell! 

MAC Lady Bug

Lady Bug is my every day red, and its perfect for it. It has the colour of Russian Red and the quality of a MAC lipstick without being as drying. It's like Russian Red's glossy sister. You can layer it up so it's darker, or you can wear it a bit more sheer, like in this picture. 

Rimmel Alarm

Rimmel's selection is as good as MAC's, and at a much cheaper price. I've had this one for years, I think it was the first red I'd purchased. I still think it's as good as you can get for a super affordable price! It's got a really nice, cherry-ish scent, too. If you want a cheap, well pigmented, smooth lipstick, go for this one! I'm not sure if you can get 'Alarm' (I've had it for ages), but you can get the same colour with a different name.

Sleek Pin-Up (Pout Paint)

I'm including this in the lipsticks, because it's such a staple-red, but it lacks a lot in application. It's got the staying power of a lipstick, but unless you're super slick with the application, it bleeds like hell, like you can see in this picture. 

Christian Dior Rouge Bella Vita

This is a recent addition to my lipstick collection (you can read a full review here) and I am head-over-heels in love with it. It's a beautiful orange-toned red with the perfect combination of staying power, colour, moisturising qualities and sheen.. I cannot recommend enough!

MAC Crazee

Crazee is a funny kind of red. It's a lustre or something, and it has this shine. I do sometimes enjoy this red, it's super shiny. Sometimes I feel like this, but I often don't. It was limited edition lipstick, but you can find frosty-reds in hundreds of brands' collections, if you really want them! Generally, I really don't get frosty-lipsticks. They're just not my kind of thing. Maybe if I had a perma-tan.. haha

MAC Rapturous 

Another limited edition, I'm afraid, but these kind of colours are ten-a-penny.. and not my thing at all. In my hunt for the perfect deep-red lipstick, I found hundreds of berry-reds.. which are really just not want I wanted at all. It's a nice lipstick, another high maintenance colour, and it does bleed quite badly, but if you like a purple-ish red, this is the colour for you!

NARS Fire Down Below

In my opinion, I saved the best until last. This is probably my All Time Favourite Lipstick. Dun-dun-dunnnn... Yes, I have picked one! Haha. It's a lot darker than my camera would pick up. I swatched many a lipstick to find this beauty. It's both everything I love and everything I hate. It's drying and high maintenance and it can bleed if you're not careful.. but I put up with all of this for the colour. It's a dark, blue-toned red, which is apparently incredibly hard to find! I found a million brown-reds and purple-reds and everything in between until I found this beauty. My tips? A really good, heavy duty lip-balm underneath. Carmex or Burt's Bees are my choices, and then a good lipliner all over helps. 

That was a long post! My apologies, I can wax lyrical about lipstick, and apparently I have done! What are your favourite reds, and do you think I've missed anything major from my collection?