In my eternal hunt for the perfect red lipstick I have decided to help you out by reviewing some.
I start with my new favourite Besame Classic Colour Lipstick courtesy of the wonderful What Katie Did. If you read to the end I also have an exciting giveaway of not one but TEN brand new full size Besame Classic Colour Lipsticks.
The Blurb
Besame cosmetics is a tiny brand run in LA by husband and wife team Gabriela and Fergus Hernandez. Gabriela is passionate about vintage cosmetics and creates colours and formulas as close as possible to those used by Hollywood Stars in the 40s and 50s. The original Besame “enchanting” lipstick was a tiny 55mm long, period correct as vintage lipsticks were very small, but modern girls demand more, more, more and Besame have now launched “full size” versions of the lipsticks.
The formula is heavily pigmented, semi matte, and made from nice, high quality, natural ingredients like beeswax, kaolin, carnauba and candelilla wax.
The Pros
Without a doubt this is the most beautiful lipstick I have ever used. I want to whip it out in public and reapply every 20 minutes (though sadly it lasts horribly well so I don’t need to) The case is a rounded gold metal decorated with deep red floral design and it comes in a little red velvet pouch with a gold draw cord and a little gold tag.
I tried both Red Hot Red (based on Marilyn Monroes favourite red) and Besame Red and liked both shades, though personally I preferred Besame Red as I felt it was a slightly deeper red colour.
The lipstick applied smoothly, has a wonderful satin texture and I didn’t experience any major feathering.
I wore it on both New Years Eve and Christmas Day. I confess it struggled slightly to cope with a full on 3 course Christmas Dinner and needed reapplying, but New Years Eve was no struggle for it at all. I topped it up a couple of times, mostly because I wanted to get the tube out in the toilets, but it dealt admirably with the eating and drinking.
The colour Besame Red on my lips (no lipliner!)
The Cons
The first con that needs addressing is the price. Like with any other product you often pay more for a product from a small company as they don’t have the economies of scale of the biggies.
The full size Besame lipstick costs £22. This is expensive, but I have never seen such beautiful packaging and for me that does justify the cost. For Comparison Mac lipsticks are about £13 and Chanel Hydrabase around £20. If you would spend £20 on a Chanel lipstick in black plastic packaging, then the gorgeous gilt and the red velvet pouch make this worth the money! The fact that it’s also a very good, long lasting lipstick is another justification, and I suspect it will last a long time.
Another slight problem for me was the tip shape. It is designed angled so you can tilt it and use it to line and fill in your lips without the need for liner and lipbrushes. I’m more used to the rounded “tear drop” shape of most lipsticks, so I found it slightly uncomfortable at first to apply, though I soon got used to it and actually found it easier to get a neat lipline on my cupids bow.
Excuse the pale and pasty face, blame bright winter sunlight and the vestiges of a cold….
The Giveaway
What Katie Did have been kind enough to offer not one, but TEN chances for one of you lovely vintage ladies to win a full size Besame lipstick, worth £22. You can chose from Red Hot Red (the favourite at What Katie Dids last red lipstick workshop) or Besame Red, the shades can be seen on the What Katie Did website.
All you need to do to enter is answer this easy peasy question and enter your email address. What Katie Did will send anyone who doesn’t win a special offer email if you REALLY don’t want to receive this then please feel free to leave a comment on this post with the words “OPT OUT” and I will remove your email from the list!
Good Luck!
[competition_7]The Competition will run for 2 weeks, closing at midnight GMT Wednesday 19th January The competition is open WORLDWIDE (but you are responsible for any customs fees etc!) The final winners will be selected at random from all available entries The winners will be notified by email and have 48 hours to respond. No cash alternative is available! By entering you agree to your email address being passed to What Katie Did for the purposes of receiving a Special Offer email.
