Life List #57: Wear Real Red Lipstick

“Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin.  That, or a kick-ass red lipstick.”  ~Gwyneth Paltrow

In college I had a professor tell me that I have a presence about me. Something that I give off that forces people to pay attention to me. As such I have spent years hiding in corners and behind plants because I do not thrive well with a lot of attention. In fact I will create a diversion in order to keep your eyes off of me but does it work? Hardly ever. In fact it ends up causing people to gravitate towards me even if I’m busying myself with Socially Awkward Barbie™ tweets. I’ve accepted my plight in this life. And clearly modestly has become my strong suit.

I’ve been over a year trying to find the perfect red lipstick. I don’t know what started it but if you know me at all and how I make decisions it took the full 365 days to find the color and then another two weeks after placing it in my Sephora shopping cart to actually pay. Each time I’d head back to Sephora for a new head for my Clarisonic or my favorite lotion, I’d take note of the red lipstick and promptly ignore. Red lipstick would bring too much attention. More importantly what woman doesn’t look at red lipstick and fear that she will end up looking like a whore? I mean, that right there was the biggest fear: People would think that I’m a hooker. A lady of the night if you will.

I managed to avoid being Hooker-esque.

Good because I actually sported this look for the first time ever to a colleague/former roommate’s holiday party and wouldn’t it be fun if my boss saw me and was all “What happened to your face?” It went over quite well, actually. I got complimented and then a stranger said “Wow…you look amazing. That lipstick was the first thing I noticed.” With that, my night was made.

How I did it: I lined with Sephora ‘real red’ lip liner (lip liner is the most important part of this process, heed these words). Then YSL ‘Rouge Pur Couture SPF 15′ in Rouge Flamme as the lipstick. Finally Nars lip gloss in ‘Scandal’ for a bit of shine.

And voila. Let’s face it. I look pretty hot and it took the attention away from my expanding waist line. No, I’m not pregnant. Just Lexapro fat.