Perfect Red

When I stepped into the nearby Aveda salon last week in search for the perfect nude lipstick I left with a perfect nude gloss instead, plus a desire for the perfect red one. I had a bold red one from Shiseido for a while, but never find myself able to pull it off (left for the rare occasion when I'm called to replace characters such Angelina Jolie's in The Good Shepherd). This is not a lipstick per-se. It's a pencil with the pompous name Petal Essence Triple Accent. The particular colour I'm fond of is the Geranium side of the Gold leaf-Geranium pencil. The makeup artist has informed me that this is the exact red tone worn by the women in WWII (the ones that were free enough to get pretty, that is). It is designed to look good pretty much with any skin tone and even without foundation it looks amazing. And surprisingly, does not make your lips stick out or look out of place. Aside from getting used to applying lipstick with a pencil and having a sharpener handy, it's great - creamy-smooth and surprisingly easy to apply. I love it!

P.s. as far as the gold-leaf side of the pencil (intended for the eyes), the colour is great and interesting (gold is in, after all...), but the texture, ahum, reminds me of those first attempts of me applying "makeup" when I was 4 years old, but trying to smear crayons on my eyelids.