Getting Lippy

So, much as I write about fashion, there is also a key sidestep to this which is as integral to the make-or-break of a look as the merchandise itself. And that is: Make Up.

Far be it for me to claim authority on this subject, as if I was even merely qualified to do that...no, please check out my friend Lina's blog on the subject for a lovely, detailed and supremely good quality take on just about everything there is to know about it. However, she recently emailed asking me to take a photo of my makeup bag, as she wants to run a little feature on her blog. And so I did, and here are the results:

The contents of which provide me with my daily face, the armour I need to correctly offset the fierceness of my everyday clobber.

Also, it is amazing how makeup, sort of like clothes, can completely transform your mood. A red lipstick is an instant confidence booster...I love how it makes me look super grown up, but also kind of like I haven't tried too hard. Which is a complete hypocrisy with red lipstick, because, as any red lipstick wearer will vouch, it is a pain in the neck to apply correctly (i.e, without the end result becoming a homage to a cross between the clown in Stephen Kings "IT" (nothing scarier) and a dominatrix transvestite's pajama party.) Then there is the added hazard of getting lippy on the teeth (huuuuuuge faux-pas, though has slightly lost its impact since spotting the ever-glossy Cheryl Cole sporting this look [accidentally, we hope, but you never know] but still, in sum, not especially a look to covet.)

Another surefire image-booster is nail varnish. Easy, cheap (well, the more expensive, generally, the better) and a really nice way to pull a look together. Hot tips ('scuse the pun) for AW include Goth Glam (short, square nails in dark colours, think black with a twist...witchy greens, raven's wing blue/black, deeeeeeeep plummy reds..) and also my own personal favourite, Club Tropicana, a summer classic which I am trying to carry forward into winter...currently I'm rocking a tangerine orange nail which looks surprisingly current against my perrenial clothing pallette of cream, beige, navy and black. Fingertip based chic, to say the least!