Orange-Brown Lipstick Look

In my last post, I experimented with the Warm 'True' Red lipsticks.  One of the shades that I mentioned was NARS Red Square liner, which is a matte finish tangerine-red.  I really like Red Square on its own and mixed in with various reds, so I decided, why not pair it with some of my brown based shades to create an orange-brown shade???  I am VERY happy that I decided to do this, as it led me to create a colour that I now adore:

This orange-brown shade is a combination of the NARS Red Square and Chanel Antoinette lipstick.  NARS Leslie and Bobbi Brown Burnt Red are two other shades that I experimented with in combination with Red Square and both are equally as awesome.  One thing that I'm really gaining from all these experiments is which shades I want to settle on as my warm autumn go-to's.  This orange-brown lipstick combination is definitely right at the top of the list for a professional, everyday chic look!  I can't wait to try this shade with various orange-brown and rust fashion styles, scarves and accessories :)  I am so, amazingly HAPPY with the warm autumn palette!  Even though I got draped as warm autumn in the fall, each new look is like a magnificent Christmas present to myself :)  I feel blessed to be able to say that and to feel this amazing in own skin!!!

The Warm TRUE Red Lip

My fascination with the Warm Autumn reds is in 'full swing' as I'm experimenting with some new and old/trusted lipsticks.  One lipstick that I was uber excited to begin wearing again is the YSL Le-Rouge #1.  I adore this lipstick!  One of the reasons that I love it so much is not just the colour, but that I was introduced to it in Paris.  In fact, a YSL makeup artist at the Gallery Lafayette recommended it to me as my best true red.  It's interesting to me that it's the perfect match to the reds in my Warm Autumn palette!!!  The Parisians know their red lipstick!!!

Here I am wearing the YSL #1 Le Rouge:

One thing that I really love about the YSL lipstick is just how silky they feel against the lips.  I feel that I'm not even wearing any lipstick!!!  It's just an 'elegant' lipstick - from the packaging, to the texture, to the look!!!  I LOVE YSL #1 Le Rouge :)

Another Warm Red that I recently discovered is NARS Red Square Velvet Matte Lipliner - It actually matches the Warm Autumn Tangerine Swatch, but it has enough red in it for me to want to classify it as a warm true red or at least as more of an orange-red:

I love wearing the NARS Matte Liners!  First, they act as a lipstick on their own, however, they are also the most practical blending/mixing colour.  I look forward to experimenting with this colour and mixing in various other Warm Autumn shades.  I'm always brainstorming how this liner will work with all my various gold/copper lipsticks :)

I really love that I now have a great tangerine-red liner and warm true red lipstick to play with!  So to end this post, I decided that I would combine the two together :)

The result: THE perfect warm true red lip!!!

To create this look, I didn't just focus on the lips.  I also wanted to balance out the lip with a subtle smokey eyemakeup effect.  I started with my basic face - I used the loreal true match concealer and foundation in W 4-5.  I then applied MAC Coppertone blush.  I started the eye makeup look with MAC Amber Lights applied to the lid into the crease.  I then used Laura Mercier Brown Copper eyeliner and smudged a deep golden brown shade into the liner (from the too faced natural eye palette).  I finished the look with a swipe of mascara.

I also wore one of my warm yellowed greens for this photo, as I thought that the brightness was the perfect compliment to the red lip!!!

Bravo to the warm true red lip!!!

My Custom Palette - Reflection!

I have been reflecting a lot on my colour analysis this past October.  I am SO happy with my colour palette.  It's taken me a while to come to learn about my colours and how they all fit together.  In fact, I'm still learning - I'm in the early stages of 'getting' it!  What I love the most about my palette, is the level of 'warmth' I get - I feel very 'cozy' with my palette!  I wanted to try to get a photo of my entire palette.  When I stepped back and looked at all the colours, it was apparent to me why I struggled to find my season.  There are so many palettes and so many analysts who have a different approach that it's easy to get locked into warm spring vs soft autumn vs true autumn etc etc.  I have always been attracted to the Spring/Autumn palettes.  I liked spring in particular.  Let me start by saying that I am not a spring and I now see the difference.  However, before, when I would have looked at this palette, the warm spring season would come to mind, especially the greens, light orange shades.  However, I am not a 'bright' season and I've come to learn (mainly from my correspondence with my analyst Jelena Heger) is that it's the medium chroma, warmth that I need in my palette.  I still have a lot to learn about warm autumn and I'm very excited for this journey to continue!!!  One thing that I've really come to understand as well, is the important of getting analyzed in person and to especially find an analyst who is able to create a custom palette.  I spent 'years' (as many of you know) experimenting with various seasons and looks.  I value that time because I learned a lot about myself.  However, I now feel truly confident and myself within my palette!!!

MAC Ravishing Lipstick

I am so happy that I recently rediscovered Ravishing lipstick by MAC.  It is truly my perfect 'peach' shade.  In fact, I like this shade even better then the Revlon Peach Me that I blogged about previously.  Ravishing is warmer, medium depth and more consistent with my Warm Autumn Palette.  I decided to wear a warm peach toned sweater with this look and I absolutely adore all this amazing 'peach-love' going on!!!

For this look, I created my standard warm toned eye makeup - using MAC amber lights mixed with a touch of patina eyeshadow.  I then applied Urban Decay 'Scorch' eyeliner and a touch of mascara.

I decided to complete the look with MAC coppertone blush and the Ravishing lipstick!!!

I really feel that with all the warm autumn experiments that I've been doing that I keep coming closer and closer to my best looks.  I'm excited to try this lipstick at night with a warm smokey eye look as well!  I really feel amazing in my custom colours and palette.  :)

Rimmel Coral Garden Lipstick

To be honest, Pink has never worked for me in terms of a lip colour.  However, I love the idea of wearing a pink lipstick.  I was looking at my warm autumn custom swatch book and realized that the 'salmon rose' swatch is the perfect pink shade for anyone who is 'warm' toned.  I was swatching some lipstick shades and my Rimmel 'Coral Garden' lipstick was the PERFECT match to the salmon rose swatch.  I was so happy to make this discovery!!!  I tried to create a look that is very 'everyday casual'.  I always want to wear something pink when I go out for a lunch date or have a casual day event to go to.  This was the look that I created:

I started with my basic concealer and tinted moisturizer, then used a blend of MAC amber lights and cork eyeshadow on the lid into the crease.  I applied Scorch eyeliner by Urban Decay on my top lash line and finished the eye look with some mascara.  For blush, I went with MAC Coppertone, my favourite warm toned blush.  I then applied the Coral Garden lipstick by Rimmel!

I really like this look for a spring/summer look - I think that with a more bronzed complexion, this lipstick will be the perfect warm weather shade.  

MAC Photo Lipstick

Every season needs their own 'deep' lipstick colour.  For the longest time, Burgundy and Oxblood have been getting all the credit.  However, the more I study the warm seasons, the more I'm loving a deep, golden hazelnut shade.  It's Warm Autumn's answer to a deep red lip.  My personal favourite is: Photo lipstick by MAC.  Photo matches my personalized Warm Autumn Palette:

I wanted to create a Warm Autumn look that is 'deeper' without it being 'deep autumn'.  I used a mix of soba and patina shadows in the lid into the crease, then used a medium brown shadow as a liner with an angular brush on the upper lash line.  I used NARS Madly blush in this photo, but wished I had used MAC Copperplate.  Madly is slightly too light and doesn't balance out the look as well as I'd hoped.  However, the feature of this look is definitely Photo lipstick.  It's a stunning deep toned lipstick which I look forward to wearing a lot more now that Winter is soon approaching :)  My next venture is to find the perfect Warm Autumn Red that leans 'red' - I already have a few matches going so stay tuned:

Chanel Antoinette Lipstick

Every time I find a lipstick I 'LOVE', I', always afraid that they are going to discontinue the shade.  I try to go out and find a 'back up plan' lipstick.  I recently wrote about finding my signature, all time favourite lippie 'Leslie' by NARS.  This past weekend, I walked by the Chanel counter and was pulled towards a particular shade.  I recognized it for some reason and the realized that it was very similar to 'Leslie'.  I swapped them side by side - Leslie is slightly more 'red' and a brighter shade of mahogany.  Antoinette, the Chanel shade, is still in the mahogany family but leaning towards the 'cognac'/orange-spice shade.  I thought, how perfect!  Now I have two lipsticks, in the same colour family - one I can wear 'everyday' and one is perfect for those polished, elegant evenings out!  I like Antoinette lipstick for day, since its slightly more brown-orange and goes well with all my Warm Autumn neutrals vs the NARS Leslie, which is more 'classic' and will look amazing with the brighter/more intense Warm Autumn shades like: tomato, all the WA greens, teal and hazelnut brown shades.  Antoinette by Chanel, has that cognac feel to it - its rich and elegant, compliments my hair colour 'perfectly' - exactly what I'm looking for in a day lipstick!!!

For this look, I'm wearing very minimal makeup, just some Scorch eyeliner by Urban Decay and Coppertone blush by MAC.  You can really see in this photo how the Antoinette shade pulls out both the mahogany and orange-spice shades vs Leslie by NARS:

Leslie is more of an intense mahogany, matte and has more of that classic/polished look which is great for 'day into night' or an evening event.  Either way, I'm SO happy to have discovered these two shades.  They are my go-to's - I've always wanted to have that feeling that I'm content and happy with a certain shade that really represents the BEST of me!!!

Custom Made Confidence

Here's the deal as I've come to understand it:  We are bombarded by images and marketing that encourage us to buy a certain look, be a certain way and wear a certain colour.  However, when you look at all the style 'icons', they have one thing in common - they created a custom, original look that suited them and their personality.  They have an intuitive knowing of what looks good on them.  They step out of the line of trends and create a 'custom made look'.  I find it disheartening that so many of us admire these 'style icons', but dismiss creating a unique iconic style for themselves.  I think that we really need to shift our perspective and use the best of fashion and style to make it our own.

One of the ways that we can really stand out and 'own' our style is by knowing our best colours.  Ever since I was draped as a Warm Autumn in the 16 seasonal colour analysis, I really feel that I'm taking a step closer to being my true 'iconic self'.  Knowing my best colours has made shopping easier and I can buy that 'warm hazelnut' jacket and know that it's a true reflection of ME.  Similarly, with makeup (my true passion), I can wear that warm reddish brown lipstick and know that it symbolizes more than just a 'colour', but a shade that is a reflection of my custom colours.  The 'reddish brown' red lipstick, in a sense, has become my iconic shade.  I'm wearing it all the time and have noticed that that 'desire' to keep buying lipsticks is 'gone'.  I don't have a need to continue trying to define myself because I feel so confident in knowing what suits me.  It's this very confidence that every style icon has.  It's saying to the outside world 'this is me':

I can appreciate and understand how women become more confident as they get older and how their style really becomes manifest as they embrace their authenticity.  As we move closer to knowing our 'self', something in us begins to move away from all things that no longer 'fit us'.  We embrace our 'truth' and that is a very beautiful space to be in!!!

I Have a Favourite Lipstick

Wow - who knew that this day would come?  Since I've started this blog, I've been on a search to find my best colours and my best lipstick shade.  Now, I'm excited to say, I've found BOTH!!!  For those who haven't followed my last few posts, I was recently analyzed under the 16 seasonal colour types as a WARM AUTUMN.  Jelena Heger who lives in Stoney Creek, Ontario did the colour analysis and I was so blessed to have her figure out my best/custom palette.  Now that I've had a chance to really look at my palette and study it a bit, I've realized that the reds with a brownish undertone or 'Mahogany' shades are truly amazing on me!  I've been swatching various lipstick shades and in my last post, I wrote about Leslie Lipstick by NARS and how it matches the natural red tones found within my skin/body.  Since wearing this shade, I've been receiving so many compliments and I have that 'inner-knowing' that this colour is truly that signature shade that I've been looking for.  That doesn't mean that I'm not going to wear other colours or create other looks, it just means that I've found my no-fail, go-to colour.  It's also a colour and look that I 'LOVE' - what can be better than loving your best colour:

For this look, featuring 'Leslie' lipstick by NARS, I kept the rest of my makeup fresh and natural.  I'm wearing Soba eyeshadow on the lid (MAC) and Coppertone blush (also MAC) - I applied a coat or two of mascara and my lipstick - Voila - a perfect classic, elegant look!!! :)

NARS Leslie Lipstick

I mentioned in my previous post that I am trying to see how my warm autumn palette fits into various systems, including David Zyla's archetypal system in 'Colour Your Style'.  I have determined that my best 'red', or as Zyla would say, my 'Romantic Shade', is a warmed mahogany colour.  It matches the mahogany swatch in my customized warm autumn palette:

I was able to find a few lipsticks that matched this shade, including MAC Brick-O-La and Polished Up, but my favourite match was NARS Leslie Lipstick - it had the perfect depth and chroma.  When I wore this shade out, I got multiple compliments within the first hour and really feel that when it's worn together with other warm autumn shades, it looks really polished and elegant:

I kept the rest of makeup minimal for this look because I really wanted the emphasis to be on this rich mahogany colour.  I used amber lights and soba mixed as eyeshadow (MAC), a touch of mascara and just a pop of MAC Coppertone blush.  :)  I feel that with my new customized warm autumn palette, I am finally at peace - the warm autumn swatches are all so harmonious and this colour journey can only get better and better!!!

Ginger, Cinnamon and Spice

Since having my true season revealed as 'Warm Autumn',  I'm wanting to really pay tribute to all that is unique about this season.  I gave a lot of thought to how I could create a very harmonious look.  I decided that adding a lot of warm to my hair would help create a better level of harmony with my makeup and clothes.  I have a wonderful stylist, Reanne. who works out of her home and is amazing with colour.  I brought my warm autumn swatch in and she just worked her magic.  I heard her say 'cinnamon, ginger, light auburn', as she was mixing my base colour.  I feel like my new haircolour sounds like the perfect autumn 'Latte' - ginger, cinnamon and spice :)

I absolutely adore wearing my Warm Autumn palette and I'm so happy that I got draped by Jelena Heger in Stoney Creek, Ontario.  I feel like my search to define myself is over and now my journey is about to take a new turn, to shed another layer where now I can rediscover everything about my personalized/custom colours.  I get to 'transform' myself within my own palette.

For this look, I'm not wearing any lipstick because I wanted to show the natural colour of my lips (which I have often misdiagnosed as 'pink', when in fact, it's a stunning mahogany shade and matches perfectly to my warm autumn swatch).  In fact, this shade would be my Zyla 'Romantic' shade - my perfect red - it harmonizes and matches the red tones already present in my colouring:

I have already found a few lipstick matches to this shade and will share those in another post.  However, for the makeup look I created, I wanted many elements of warmth to take centre stage: Coppertone blush by MAC, Amber Lights eyeshadow by MAC and Scorch eyeliner by Urban Decay!!!   I'm really looking forward to creating more warm autumn looks and also to explore/experiment with discovering my own Zyla archetypes and colours.  If you haven't yet discovered David Zyla, please check out his book 'Color Your Style' and his website: http://www.davidzyla.com for more information about his colour system!!!  

Visual Journey of my Colour Consultation - Warm Autumn

I decided to create a post around my most recent colour draping session.  I wanted to be able to showcase all the drapes that were part of my Warm Autumn palette.  I created a pinterest page with all these photos as well: https://www.pinterest.com/rdmyt/warm-autumn-draping/

My Warm Autumn 'Neutrals' - Warm Tans, Golds and Browns:

My Warm Autumn Reds:

My Warm Autumn Pinks, Warm Salmon/Corals:

My Warm Autumn Orange:

My Warm Autumn Blues/Greens:

Here are some photos of the entire Warm Autumn drapes/swatches:

Finally, here are the few True Autumn shades that are also in my customized palette.  True Autumn was not my best season, but these few swatches did seem to harmonize well, whereas ALL the shades from the Warm Autumn palette were perfect for me :)

I hope that you enjoyed this visual journey with me!!!

If you're interested in the 16 seasonal colour analysis and you're in the Toronto/Niagara area, I high recommend contacting Jelena Heger - She did my colours and was 'fantastic'!!!  Here is her Facebook link:

https://www.facebook.com/youruniquecolours/?fref=ts

Revlon Peach Me Lipstick

I've been playing around and discovering the orange-red shades of lipsticks lately and I wanted to see if I could find a warm, orange-peachy neutral shade - something that is still warm/medium toned, but not 'red'.  I decided to check out 'Revlon' and as soon as I saw 'Peach Me', something in my knew it would be a match to my palette.  I decided to buy it and was so happy when I discovered that it was indeed an 'exact' match to my 'Orange Spice' swatch:

This is a perfect example of a colour that I would have normally thought was more 'spring like', yet in fact, it's a warm autumn shade.  I like that this shade is a medium neutral, which is perfect for warm autumns.  It's amazing to me that before, I saw neutrals as being 'nude, beige, brown' etc, yet this spicy peach coral is in fact my 'perfect' neutral!  My eyes have really had to adjust to my new palette.  I'm learning to see colour in a whole new way.  So far, there have been a lot of wonderful yet unexpected surprises with discovering my new palette and determining what colour combinations with work together.  I didn't expect warm autumn to be this interesting of a season - and I have to say, I'm loving the medium-toned contrast look - makes so much sense as to why the light and soft warm shades just washed me out and did nothing for me.  Medium warm clarity is Warm Autumns best friend.  Here I am wearing the Peach Me lipstick by Revlon - I just have a swipe of NARS Madly blush on, a sheer wash of MAC goldmine shadow from this morning and some mascara :)  Please keep in mind that this pic is taken later on in the day, so that natural light is starting to slowly fade.  I can't wait to see this lipstick in all its glory during the day :)

THE Warm Autumn Lipstick!!!

Since being draped as a Warm Autumn and truly embracing my colours, I'm re-swatching certain shades that I used to play around with then I was wearing the autumn palette.  Wearing the WARM autumn palette is slightly different than the 'True' Autumn palette that I was previously draped in, so getting used to the difference is taking some time.  I've noticed that almost all the wearable lipstick shades in my palette are medium toned reds, oranges, orange-reds, true warm reds, warm salmon shades and even 'mahogany' reds, most likely best as a liner.  The difference between these shades and the lighter/softer shades of the true autumn palette is that my new 'nude/neutral' actually ISN'T a nude/neutral!!!  I'm realising that I need shades that have more of that warm red pop of colour vs a standard nude-beige shade.  I haven't really explored the warm pinks and salmon shades yet, they are probably going to be the closest I come to wearing a neutral shade.  However, what's I'm super pumped about is experimenting and finding the best orange, rust and red shades.  One of the swatches on my palette is a spiced orange shade and it's a perfect match to NARS Autumn Leaves lipstick (perfect lipstick name too :) ) - I think that taking the medium chroma into account, this is such a great polished work or everyday classic shade for the warm autumn:

Since I'm now wearing medium toned lipstick shades, I figure that a pretty, natural eye makeup look is in order - so I swiped on some goldmine eyeshadow by MAC with a blush brush, then used Urban Decay Scorch eyeliner - simple, classic, warm!!!  THe blush I used for this look is MAC Sincere, which swatches perfectly with the warm autumn palette as well!!!  I'm excited to finally find a look that is 'ME' - and understanding the warm autumn palette in relation to the true autumn palette that I used to wear, I feel so much more confident in knowing why I've always been drawn to certain shades and looks.  I'm going to call today's makeup look: "The look of freedom" :)