The Perfect Red Lipstick

The title may be misleading because you might think that I've found it, when in actuality I haven't. In fact, I'm on the quest (and have been for the past 2 years) to find my perfect red.

I've scaled the internet and come across some statements that other bloggers make such as "Some people say only some skin tones can wear red, but that's not true! Here are some tips on how to wear red lipstick" or "Asian skin like mine can wear any red!" and these statements are simply not completely true. The first statement was made by a blogger basically claiming that everyone can wear red with those easy tips, but the thing that you can't pass over is that you have to find the right red, and that can be hard for some of us. To the second blogger, I'm your counterexample. In case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm Asian. The thing though is that while my skin is supposedly warm undertoned, it's relatively light and prefers makeup for neutral tones (concealer). My skin also has no problems with pulling off cool colored blush- to a certain extent (magenta pink is undesireable).

So now for red lipstick (I'm talking real red lipstick, not like orange or pink). People say cooler red lipsticks can make your teeth appear white and more bluish. Am I the only exception? Because cooler reds make my teeth look at least 3 shades yellower, to the point where when I wear those cooler shades I have to keep my mouth closed at all times (this even goes for the lip colors that I bought at Inglots a while ago and if I let the Tony Moly tint for too long).

If I wear warmer shades of lipsticks, like the Autumn gift lipstick my mother got from Elizabeth Arden, my whole face seems to turn a shade more orange. So what is a girl to do at this point?

I've been looking around for a while now, but yesterday at the mall, having been forced onto a sales associate at Sephora by a friend, I decided to seriously look for one and test out the reds they have there. From my gathered experience, I can't wear lipsticks that have this brightness to them. Like if you wipe off the lipstick and your tissue's got this hot pink residue on it- those usually are no good. I need a subdued color.

I thought I found the one in the Stila aisle with this lipcolor called Lover which I thought was ok but could be even a shade darker. My friend agreed the swatch looked nice, so i decided to try it on. O.O o my goodness! the red just popped right out of my face. My friend was also surprised at the outcome. I guess for some reason my coloring just emphasizes and brightens colors.

So from what I've gathered I need a darker red. Unfortuantly most darker reds are made darker by adding brown, and I dislike that. I want something that's like a true red with black added to deepen the color.

I even passed by the MAC counter and there didn't seem to be any there that resembled what I'd like. Although I must admit I didn't swatch them, and most of these lipsticks look differently swatched than in the tube.

I also went to the Shiseido counter thinking that maybe they know asian skin tones better, no such luck.

Now you may be thinking why are you just looking at department stores? Why not the drugstores? They have a huge selection of colors. Firstly, I just want one really good red lipstick so I actually don't mind splurging a bit for it. Secondly, I find that drugstore lipsticks usually don't have the same level of quality.

BUT that being said, if you have any specific suggestions on what lippies may be the color that I'm searching for, then I'll gladly accept all suggestions dept store or drug store.

I came home and decided to google swatches of lipcolors and picked up a few possibilities (still have to see them in store) They range from MAC to Poppy King to Clinique. But none of them seemed spot on. I even googled with words such as "Goth blood red lipstick" no offense to the goths but hey, anything to get me the color I want.

I came to the conclusion that maybe what I have to do is find a darker lip pencil for a base then just put whatever color on top. =/ we'll see.

Still at a loss, so any suggestions? Here's a pic of the color I'm generally going for. It's hard because it can look that way swatched, and look completely different on my lips. The circled areas ^^

EDIT: HOLD THE SAUSAGES! I THINK I MAY HAVE FOUND IT, the electric currant COURTESY OF SASQUATCHSWATCH! I'll still need to go try it to confirm, but for now! O.O How does she swatch all of those o.O I hope it's not swatching in the store and putting them back... and it's drugstore!!! yipee!