Recs for highly pigmented lips

[Meisje]

Hi there! I am pale with blonde hair (currently streaked with dark brown) and blueberry-blue eyes. I'm looking for any kind of lip products --- lipsticks, glosses, liners, combos of those --- or techniques so that I can wear something other than dark lipstick/lip gloss.

I look best in jewel tones, but the jury's still "out" on the warm/cool debate (I have pink undertones in some spots, yellow in others... look good in some of each). But I look like hell warmed over in brown lipstick.

Any help you could give would be great. Lip stuff is tricky to try before you buy.

 

[Meisje]

It was an unsuccessful visit in terms of lipstick. I went through all the previous threads here about pigmented lips before I visited the MAC counter, but they are all about nude lips --- I tried some of the nude lip combos suggested but they all make me look like I was dead.

The MAC rep was a little *too* in my face --- I just wanted to be able to thoroughly look at the shades, since I'm relatively new to MAC, but she kept pushing stuff on me --- so I bought a couple eyeliners and beat a hasty retreat.

 

[Sanayhs]

With pigmented lips, it's easiest to go for a higher-coverage formula. Amplified Cremes are my favourites, but satins and mattes also work well. From the permanent line of Amplified Cremes, there are some great colours. Craving is a wonderful pink plum and Chatterbox is a bright medium pink. Take a look at some of those.

For a nude lipstick, you'll need one with strong undertones of some colour, be it pink, peach, whatever. If it's too beigey, it will leave you looking lifeless, which is sad.

I LOVE the cremestick liners, and you will find them quite opaque. They wear very well and if you fill your lip in with them first, the lipstick ought to last longer.

If you find products that are more opaque, you can choose any colour and not have to worry about the pigmentation of your lips. If you do want to wear sheerer colours, you'll have to put something underneath first to neutralize your lips. There are some pro products (lip erase or fleshpot lipstick) that can help with this. They WILL look like death on you before you layer something else over them, so don't be afraid.