Gunk Fury

It doesn’t take a genius to swipe on some lipstick. The tricky part is getting it to last longer and wear well through food and other… oral activities. You can’t just apply several layers of lipstick- that is an excellent way to get the gunk past your lip line and more attractively, on your teeth- and setting it with powder doesn’t sound like a very good idea, now does it? So what do we do? Shall we just succumb to our patchy-lipped fate?

Ah, but hope is not lost! In today’s tutorial, we learn that the magic word is blot.

Wanna see a magic trick?

Lip stains are totally trending at the moment. Just when I thought they would be thrown into the drawers filled with the rejects every gunkie thinks are going to be rediscovered as “vintage” (aka moldy and disease-ridden), they pop up like cosmetic fungi and invade the summer scene. Of course, summer has long gone where I live, but then again the humidity never makes obsolete the need for low-maintenance gunk.

I think the return of True Blood might have played a part in the lip stain production spike. Come to think of it, the Vampire Media Movement seems to be going strong in general. Vampy red lipsticks just don’t cut it anymore. Now vampires can go out in the sun (sparkles or no) and have developed a more daytime appropriate lip. Thank goodness they never seem to pay attention to their cheeks though. Otherwise, I’d be reviewing a lip and cheek stain, which is a product I only wear if it’s absolutely necessary.

Since I have a perpetual need to be liked and accepted, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and give the new Revlon Just Bitten Lipstain and Balm a try.

I’ve been bitten!

These two lipsticks often appear together in search results as they are both sort of browny reds. Some might call them retro reds, perhaps depending on one’s coloring or which exact decade comes to mind when one hears the word “retro.” Personally, I wouldn’t call either of these more retro than several other universal reds, but that’s because I always associate “retro” with the bolder, brighter reds of ’50s pin-up models (Bettie Page) rather than the classic reds of Hollywood glamour (Marilyn Monroe).

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that Revlon’s In the Red is my absolute favorite red lipstick. I was curious to see how it would compare to MAC’s Viva Glam I since I’d been reading about their similarities for so long. I finally decided to take the plunge and purchase Viva Glam I! One reason for this is because I am befuddled that I haven’t found blog entries actually comparing the two side by side. I’m gonna do that for you right now.

Are they dupes?