I'm not a lipstick girl (give me a smoky eye any day), but this is mostly due to being self conscious about my teeth. That said, I am slightly obsessed with the deep plums and glossy aubergine lippies seen on the runways of Manish Arora, Felder Felder and Holly Fulton this season. I am mesmerised by anything with a gothic, romantic feel; black lace, dark lips, glossy hair, leather leggings, studded shoes.... and Aveda's Smoothing Lip Colour in Tanzanite.
So, I gave it a bash. I'm undecided about the packaging for Aveda; the box is paper and in the famous Aveda sage greens and feels really organic and environmentally friendly (recycle-able), while the lipstick itself comes in a silver tube (also nice - very clean looking) but the cap is a plastic horrible looking thing that seems too big for the silver case. If the cap matched the silver casing, Aveda lippies would look much, much more chic in your Mulberry Effie tote.
Applying the lipstick was easy - really soft and smooth and very moisturising, but I guess you would expect nothing less from the top skin care brand. If I do happen to wear lipstick, I always put lipbalm on first, but this time I didn't and it really didn't need it. I would recommend using a nude lipliner, as the colour did bleed a little - I imagine this is because it is so full of moisture.
The colour is AMAZING. The pictures of Tanzanite on my lips have more of a red tone, whereas the product shot has a more purple hue: it's generally quite purple and very dark. I love this lipstick so much (and so do all the girls in the office) but I just don't have the confidence to wear it because of my teeth - I feel it draws attention to what I would rather hide! I also would recommend going a teeny, tiny bit over your natural lip line (as recommended by MAC make up artist, Lynsey, when I met her in May this year - apparently everyone does it) as darker colours tend to make your lips look a bit thinner than they are. Be careful though, there's a fine line between the illusion of a plump pout and the reality of a "OMG, have you seen her awful lipstick?!".
Lipstick Ladies, you should definitely buy Aveda's Smoothing Lip Colour, in Tanzanite or any other colour of your choice. The product is brilliant, and the Tanzanite is saucy, sexy but oh-so-sophisticated. It's also very now. Top marks for Aveda.
With thanks to the goregous Cemo at Aveda.
