mum coloured

I've never been a big lipstick wearer. I love it on other people and I like the idea that it can be the only makeup you need to look chic and put-together, however I've never managed to make it work for me.

I have pinky pale skin which tends toward red at the slightest irritation, none of this porcelain or alabaster business which lends its self so well to statement lips. I wouldn't dream of going out in bright red unless I was covered in foundation and concealer, which kind of defeated the purpose when I keep being told a good lippy is all you need. The few times I have braved bright lips lately it's been a magenta which seems to work okay, it's fun and bold without highlighting every imperfection of far from perfect skin.

Han looks gorgeous in dark purples and browns, which I love and am particularly jealous of after seeing so many beautiful examples of these colours over the last season or two. So far the closest I've come to a shade that actually suits me was a lovely dark nude - if you can imagine such a thing - that I found in my girlfriend's bathroom and the name of which I've forgotten except that it contained the word suede. We called it 'mum colour' and it looked bland and terrible in the tube before being applied but lo and behold it was actually fantastic. I'm now on the hunt for my very own mum coloured lipstick, something in a dark nude, deep peach or light mocha should do the trick. The autumnal colours at Chloe are certainly the best examples I've seen of this anywhere (besides my face on Friday night) though most of the fall 2010 runway shows seemed to stick with muted shades.

While on the subject I also just want to say that I hate lipsticks lighter than your skin colour. Sorry if that's your thing but I think it looks trashy. And all the pictures are from style.com