Bright Mattes With Joe Fresh!

I'm not sure I can think of anything sexier than a bright, matte lip...

Um, wellll... *pitiful sigh*

But I digress!

Bright, matte lips are über sexy and what better time to rock them than in the Summer? I mean, don't get me wrong, I would rock bright matte's any time I feel like it. But I just have this image of a white sundress, sexy shades, tousled hair, minimal makeup, and bright matte lips; it's très summer-y, no?

These two lipsticks from Joe Fresh have actually been in my possession for a while now, but I've only just gotten round to writing about them. Slacker beauty blogger likes to to slack off,  yo. But it's still Summer, so I'm counting this as a victory. *proceeds to lunge*

Joe Fresh makes excellent lipsticks, I think, and their mattes are no exception. I purchased Fuchsia and Melon (no colour descriptions needed here, me thinks), which are two shades that I'm quite fond of at the moment.

As all other matte formulas I've tried (which isn't that many, admittedly), the texture feels quite lightweight and it smoothes onto the lips easily. It does accentuate dry flakes, though; which, again, is something I find all my matte lipsticks do... Well, all matte lipsticks in general. I also find that I have to use a lip liner, otherwise it'll feather around the edge of my lips.

I purchased Fuchsia specifically for a performance I had back in June. It's been on my radar since I saw it on The Glitter Geek (there it is again... I told you, Arianne is a fountain of makeup knowledge!) and I have to say, I prefer how it looks on Arianne. It looks very blue-pink on me, which is not the look I was going for. It's also not quite as matte as Melon; as you can see in the lip swatch above, there is still a bit of sheen on my lips... It's still a very pretty shade, though!

Now, when I think of the word "melon," I think of something more pastel. As you can see, this shade is a bit more tangerine-y than melon, but I'm not really bothered; I just like to nitpick! :p

As with other Joe Fresh lipsticks, Fuchsia and Melon are quite pigmented and opacity can be attained with just a swipe or two. That said, like other lightweight lipsticks, it's really best to keep the layering to a minimum as it tends to not apply evenly the more you put on.

Unfortunately, because my lips are so insanely dry at the moment (I'm sure you can tell from all the lip swatch photos. And check out those crazy-dry corners, yo!), I can't wear lipsticks. But once in a while, I'll put it on when I'm at home and don't have to impress anyone because it makes me feel like a true Lipstick Bandit again. =/


And now for some fun!


Well, bright lips are supposed to be fun, aren't they? So I thought I would experiment a bit with Fuchsia and Melon. Here's what I came up with...

Colour-blocked lips, which I first saw in an editorial photo and was also done by The Notice and Getting Cheeky for the Summer Brights Lipstick Bandit post. 

Ombré lips, which has been all over the blogosphere at this point, I think. This is just my humble take on it. I actually really like this one -- it's subtle enough that I would actually wear it out.

What's your favourite matte lipstick?