Random Sunday: Nude — Lips, Nails

Comments are fixed — YAY!!!  Come back tomorrow, let’s take another crack at the Top Ten of Spring, which I’ll re-post.  In the meantime…


In the past two years, we’ve tackled all sorts of makeup/lipstick issues – red lips, YLBB shades (“your lips but better”), pink lips, mascaras, more red lips, foundations, plenty of, and I’m sure some other things I’ve forgotten.  As I’ve said before – I am no expert on makeup, I’m just an enthusiastic amateur who’s willing and ready to play and experiment, and I always come away from these blog exchanges with new ideas and products to try.

Many women say “there is no right red lipstick for me,” but in my opinion, nothing has been more difficult or elusive than an attractive nude-lip makeup look. I think it’s particularly tricky for those of us who are fairly pale, and who are thus in danger of looking like corpses or store-mannequin freaks in a too-pale flesh-toned lipstick.

Why did I keep pursuing this goal?  Two reasons: first, because I’m pigheaded.  Second, as I slide into middle age, I believe that YLBB/nude lipsticks, done with the right shades, are really soft and flattering and youthful looking.  Gone (for me anyway) are my goth-lip makeup days.  Mostly, subtle is better, at least during the daytime.

I wish I had a dollar for every time during the past two years that I have asked a makeup sales associate at any given makeup counter to show me a nude lip and wound up with something awful.  The general drill: they apply lipstick X, then frown and say, uh … that’s not what I was expecting.  Which brings me to my first pronouncement – I think a successful nude lip, more than any other shade in the crayon box, is the most difficult to hit correctly and the most dependent on your personal skin tone and lip coloring.

I have pale skin with ruddy undertones, and quite pigmented lips, and along the edges my lips are almost purplish. I think this has allowed me to pull off warmer lipcolors that shouldn’t work on me – pinks veering into coral – because my underlying lip tone shifts lipstick colors toward cool.  Cool-tones pinks and reds read strongly cool-toned on me.  And finally, some of those vampy wines that in theory would look great on me?  Look terrible.  Bluish-black.  Instant Morticia Addams territory.  No thanks.

So the “nude” lip was mostly a disaster because, for instance, lipsticks and pencils that read truly nude – neutral toned – on their own are bluish-brown on my lips.  No no no.   However.  There’ve been a couple breakthroughs recently, hence this post.

First off, I realized a flaw in my approach.  Instead of hitting Lancome, Chanel, Bobbi Brown, D&G, Shiseido, yadda yadda to try their two or three nudes I went (HUGE DUH MOMENT) to The Nude Mothership – aka MAC.  I’m sure a bunch of you are MAC fans already but seriously, if you’re going to go nude, why not start with the line that, probably owing to their younger demographic target, has more nude lipsticks, pencils, liners, blushes, glosses, etc. than any other line out there?  I found an SA I liked, picked a rainy Tuesday morning when nobody was there (not an option for all of you, I realize) and asked her to show me nudes until one of us ran off screaming, and that I promised I’d buy a pack of MAC wipes if all else failed.

And so we proceeded.  The first three, five or nine were, predictably, disasters (insert smiling emoticon here.)  Because – yo – my lips, they’re blue.  However, as she started to tinker … first, we came up with a lip pencil that we liked on its own so much that I decided I’d be getting that — MAC Boldly Bare.

Now, I’m going to stop here and make A Second Important Pronouncement, which is/was perhaps Screamingly Obvious to Every Other Woman on the Planet, maybe I just missed the memo: if you’re pale (like me) and/or you have pigmented lips (like me), then I don’t care how opaque that lippie is you’re trying to wear – you’re going to have to lighten up your lip tone first if you expect to get the full effect of the nude.

And how are you going to do that?  Well, one classic makeup school of thought has you foundation your entire face – including eyelids (to delete redness) and lips (to remove color) and start from there.  That’s a little extreme for me, but I’m info-sharing.  Gina the makeup artist who may drop by here today, is not a fan of foundation on the lips, which she finds chalky — she recommends a pencil.  However, I will confess that I’ve gotten decent results in this department by applying, with my fingertip, a very very lightly dabbed application of my trusty Lancome Effacernes concealer, or a lightly sponged application of Make Up Forever Liquid foundation.  I’m not erasing all the color into freaky-mannequin-territory so much as lightening my lips several shades and making the color neutral.  The other way you can do this is with the aforementioned lip pencil – so go to town.  Go to MAC.  They’ve got like 20 nude lip pencils; one of them will look good, right?  In theory.  The nice thing about the pencil is that you can draw in and create a clearly defined nude border.

Once you’ve achieved a lighter-toned lip, here’s the first experimenting I did – I have a bunch of YLBB colors (pinky-nude, coral-nude, nudie-rose, etc.)   Ordinarily they go straight on my lips and – voila, YLBB.  But if I put them on top of my new, pale lip, they’re a whole different color!  They are, for the most part, a successful quasi-nude shade that is significantly lighter than YLBB, and the best part is: I already own them!

Which brings me to the next bit, the philosophical/color values debate and discussion: what constitutes a “nude” lip?  To me, nude lips can and do overlap with YLBB colors.  Depending on your skin tone, and how pale you are, your best “nude” is likely to be a slightly pinky nude – an actual hint of color – rather than a true flesh-toned nude.  Furthermore, if we look at the beautiful Queens of Nude, like Beyonce and J-Lo, if we study what “nude” is on them – often it’s not their precise skin tone.  Nope, the lips are very slightly lighter, darker, pinker, glossier, whatever.  I think us pale girls are more likely to find success in a pinky nude, perhaps, than a light beige.

What about makeup?  Well, a lot of women like to pair a nude lip with a defined or smokey eye — like J-Lo up there.  Or you can go light and natural on the eyecolor as well.  I definitely feel more of a need for blush with a nude lip.  And I’ll say it again – in general, when trying lippies and pencils, the most success I’ve had has been with things that are slightly warm-toned or pinky, not neutral beige, which tends to read blue on me.  Your Results May Vary.

So what was this fabulous lipgloss Gina told me about when I was whining about my nude-lip fail?  Fine, if you try nothing else, at least go try this!!  Gina recommended NARS Chelsea Girls lip lacquer, since I was so wild for their uber-hot-pink NARS Hotwired Lip Lacquer gloss pot, which I blogged about awhile ago.  (No, I don’t love the gloss-pot format; I’d prefer a wand, I use a lip brush with mine.)  Chelsea Girls in the pot looks … sort of like original Chap-Stik in terms of color?  Meh.  Weird flesh pink.  I’ll warn you right now, when I tried it at Sephora, for the first minute or two I was pretty … eh about it.  I swear, it must take a bit to warm up and melt into the lips.  So.  Give it a few minutes and take another look.  This is the only lip product I’ve found that gives me a truly nude lip of the non-corpse, non-cool, no-purple, instant gratification variety, with no lip prep involved – I can put it straight on my (okay, non-dried and fully conditioned) lips without any color correction, just like a regular lipgloss, and it looks great.  And it stays.  Gorgeous, gorgeous color.  I would never have tried it on my own.  Thanks, Gina.   BTW, yes, sticking the applicator in the tester pot in Sephora skeeves me out too; there’s no way to really sterilize it.  Good luck with that.

I did try, while I was there, the new NARS nude lippie, which is a sheer glossy number called Cruising from their Spring collection, and which is supposed to be All That.  On me, as on a number of folks in reviews on MUA, it’s essentially $24 Chap-Stik – not enough pigment.  So I passed on that.  But lots of other people love it.

Finally, and then I’ll shut up and turn it over to you – this discussion wouldn’t be complete without a mention of mannequin hands – which, for the uninitiated, is nail polish in a shade that is close to the wearer’s skin tone. It’s a fun topic on the nailpolish boards and blogs — I provided that link so you can see for yourself.   I tried on a color, OPI Tickle My France-y, thinking it would be taupey, but it’s mannequin-ish — only slightly different than my skin tone.   Well, guess what?  If you haven’t played Disappearing Fingernails yourself, a light nude beige is, in fact, incredibly chic looking.  I wore France-y to Paris – had a pro mani done ahead of time and took the bottle along for touch-ups.  It goes with everything, doesn’t clash, stays tidy and looks elegant.  My only caveat is that to me it’s very much a short-trimmed-nail look, I do think it looks bizarre on long nails.  What are some of your favorite mannequin hand colors?

Okay – now, your turn!   Do you hate the nude look?  Love it?  Tell us which lines and shades of nude lips you’ve had success with.   Are all lip pencils too drying for you?  Where do you draw the line between YLBB and a true “nude” look?  If you’ve deployed the nude lip, what do you tend to do about the rest of your face in terms of makeup?  How do you keep from looking washed out?  (On me, blush is pretty much mandatory with the nude lip.)  Which shades of nail polish have you used for mannequin hands?  Or feel free to add any other questions, comments, etc. on nude makeup looks that you want.

photo: Jennifer Lopez, Glamour magazine, July 2007

  • rita says:

    A cheap, creamy moisturizing nude; L’ Oreal Colour Riche no. 456 – beige creme.
    A rosy beige, with some brown in it. I ‘m norwegian with nordic skin – and beige lipsticks make me look more dead than alive.

    But no 456 looks great paired with smoky grey eye or with nude eye with black eyeliner and a light bronzer.

    In the U.S L’oreal lipsticks are really non expensive compared with Norway, here they cost nearly the same as Lancome and other higher end brands.

    • March says:

      It’s so weird, I can’t find this color listed at all… 🙁 it does sound nice. Yes, that’s funny, here L’Oreal is a drugstore brand.

  • gina says:

    A day late, sorry! My Sunday got away with me.

    I’m thrilled that Chelsea Girls worked for you. I absolutely agree that finding the right nude lipcolor is much harder than finding the perfect red.

    Let me throw a few more colors at you. I teach a beauty course at a school called MUD (long story behind that name) which also has a really good makeup line. There’s a nude gloss that’s kind of lovely, plus a lipstick called “Rose Clay”, which is more of a YLBB sort of color.Not sure if you have access to this line, check and let me know. Then there’s Chanel – a color I get for brides a lot, also in the YLBB category – Cashmere. I think they still sell it.

    Currently, I’ve been very much into a sheer berry/reddish gloss paired with black liner on the waterline, and lots of black mascara. I don’t even know what to call this look. It’s not nude, but it’s not really “done”.

    Anywhooooo, I’m blabbing. Fabulous post, March!!!!!

    • March says:

      Doesn’t Chanel Cashmere sound delicious? Yes. It truly does. And I love that berry/reddish gloss! I’ve been working that look forever 😉 as a quick fix for my blue lips … the black waterlining, not so much. I fail. Tightlining is surprisingly easy for me, I can do it with my head tilted back, don’t even need to pull the lid. (Must be the contact-wearing.) But nothing sticks properly to the lower lash line.

      I’ll look for the line you mentioned online. It’s rare that you can’t find something these days.

  • maggiecat says:

    I, too, am pale, with auburn hair and slight traces of the freckles that plagued me as a teenager. And, at my age, my lips are disappearing into the background, rendering a pinky-nude a necessity. I love Chanel’s lip liner in Mordore (Nude) and am still looking for the lipstick. Since I teach, I often put a lip stain under my lipstick so that I still have lips left after the morning lecture and don’t frighten the students…As for nail polish, I’ve just discovered Sally Hansen’s new nail pen in sheer beige – super easy to use, portable and subtly perfect (or perfectly subtle?)

    • March says:

      I haven’t played that much outside of the Chanel reds, not sure why, although I love those new Rouge Allures…. my girls love those nail pens! Of course they want the wacky colors. 🙂

  • Tiara says:

    With chronic anemmia I have to work at having color–in my lips, on my skin, on my nails. I’ve learned to keep my nails fairly short as the lack of iron makes them quite brittle so the mannequin length works for me. My mother has always liked this look so she’ll be happy to know it’s in style!

    I usually put a touch of foundation on my lips because lipstick shows up like I expect it to. The biggest problem I have is my makeup just disappears into my skin no matter what I do. Foundation, eye shadow, lipstick–all gone in just a few hours. Woosh!

    Like the look of Chelsea Girls–thanks for the heads up.

    • March says:

      Huh. You’re like the makeup-absorbing version of the perfume slayers — the ones who put strong fragrances on and poof, they disappear!

  • mary says:

    Well– I enjoyed this post a lot. You inspired me to take out my lipstick/lipgloss collection and play around, which was fun even though this was a running around to Little League and playdate day. I have a smashbox palette of 3, called “Pink Power” “Inspire” which had a nice, shiny pinky beige in the middle, which has been a good early spring color.–got it on final discount at Nordstrom Rack. The beige color would have a Pam Anderson vibe, if one were gorgeous and malibulicious, but also ok for the staid consevative middle aged lawyer lady mom i am. I also have a little freebie of Serge Lutens sample colors, with one called Compliment Beige, which also works as a nice, neutral color, low contrast from my surrounding skin tone. For me, the low-contrast lip needs to be paired with a colorful necklace or scarf, or a little shimmer on the eye, and a good coat of the mineral powder I live in these days, for me to feel like I look ok. I appreciate all the thought you put into this– I guess looking good doesn’t just happen.

    • March says:

      I don’t know that I’ve ever tried the Lutens … love “malibulicious.” And as Cindy Crawford said, not even she wakes up looking like Cindy Crawford. 😉

  • Ms. Christian says:

    After finally finding generic Latisse, and discovering that hallelujah-IT WORKS!-the lashless look is yet another one that I’ll pass by… 😛

    • March says:

      Where? Did you get Lumigan? (The actual drug?) I’ve been using Latisse and it’s great but too $$$.

      • Ms. Christian says:

        Yes, alldaychemists.com has Lumigan/Bimatoprost for something like $10 for a tiny vial-which lasts about 5 months. The shipping, no matter how much or how little you buy, is $25, so I buy 6 vials at a time. I’ve been using it daily since last August, have not gone blind, have not had my light blue eyes turn brown, and other than the inital month or so of itchy, red eyes-no negative side effects at all. Who knows-maybe in 10 years my eyeballs will shrivel up, but for now-I have lashes that touch my eyebrows when they’re curled and ‘scaraed-and I’ve never had that in my life.

        • March says:

          Heh. No, I wasn’t worried it would kill me. I was wondering if it was fake. Sounds like it’s the real stuff. And I did it for awhile last year but stopped when my $140 Latisse ran out.

  • Ms. Christian says:

    I detest the nude lip look. I was born in the 50s and remember the Sassoon models with the Cleopatra eyes, white/nude lips and geometric hair cuts. As a curly head, I longed to be able to wear one of those cuts (still do-ya think I’d know better…)but the corpse lips scared me in the magazines and in person the girls wearing it just looked like desperate fashion victims.

    Now I think they just look stupid.

    Reminds me of shaving off your eyebrows or bleaching them into oblivion. When will the no eyelash look become hot? Who will be the first couture house to have models with no ears on the runway?

    I like lips and I like color, even if it’s just a silly, bright drug store pink gloss.

    I’m pale and chronically anemic, so I don’t need to find a polish that makes me look like I have corpse fingers. It comes nacherly.

    • March says:

      Gosh, I remember the Sassoon models and thinking how gorgeous they were — what a refreshing new look (that hair!) and such a departure color-wise from earlier, more traditional “feminine” makeup. I thought it was entrancing, and while it needs to be played a little now so it doesn’t look retro, I still think it’s modern and youthful looking. Judging by the bareness of some of the runway models’ lashes, though, the no-eyelash look already appears to be in full swing. /:)

  • sweetlife says:

    P.S. Just discovered Laura Mercier’s lip stain in Scarlet. Be still my heart, the holy grail of sheer reds has been found.

    P.P.S. My most overused and depended-upon punctuation is the em-dash, but the PP comment machine always turns them back into hyphens. So sorry about the weirdness in the previous comment.

    P.P.P.S. Yay comments!:x

    • March says:

      I love that Mercier! It’s a great color, innit?

      I prefer simply to overuse the same words. Like just. And actually. And Well. And when I realize it, then I just shift actually to OTHER overused words.

  • sweetlife says:

    Always love your make-up and nail posts. This one, too.

    I think I’m still having a little too much fun discovering color to get really into the nude thing on lips or nails. I do have the craving for that “fresh-faced” look every now and then, and/or the urge to pump up my eyes again, which have been my dominant feature forever. (Side note: experimenting with reds and brighter lippies it was like I discovered I had lips, like–oh! hey! look at that! my lips are kind of great!) I go the YLBB route, a little punch of pinky-coral usually does it for me, or a sheered down version of my brighter colors with gloss. The thing is, I did that look when I was having my photo taken recently, along with foundation, fairly strong eyeliner and mascara, even a couple of extra lashes in the corners and when the photos came out I looked–like I was wearing NO MAKE-UP AT ALL. Nada. Zip. (What would I have looked like with a bare face? Shudder.)

    So I wonder–J.Lo up there, and the other ladies–they might be wearing more color than it seems.

    • March says:

      And JLo has a professional photographer, and then they still retouch all the photos afterward. So we can’t win. 🙂 And it sounds as though you are having a great time playing with color, and don’t let me discourage you with that one bit!

      I had a bit of a laugh today — I put on Chanel’s (some new LE?) hot coral, just because I knew how wretched it would look. Like a traffic cone. Which it did. And it wouldn’t wipe off. So THEN I put on the Chanel Rouge Noir or whatever it’s called, the new Morticia Addams one, on TOP. For a whole *different* kind of wrong. Then I wiped *that* off. And guess what? The remaining layered residue of the two was lovely. /:)

  • Natalie says:

    I’m not a huge fan of nude lips, but they can look terrific with a super-smokey eye. My skin is also very, very pale and pink, and the only nude lip color I’ve ever found that looks good on me is MAC Lipglass in C-thru — I think because it’s blue-based instead of the orangey flesh tone of most nudes. I hate the hair-stuck-to-your-mouth gunkiness of Lipglass, but C-thru is a fantastic color.

    • March says:

      The stickiness of gloss was definitely a turnoff when I had longer hair, but now that I’ve hacked it all off…. 🙂 It’s fun watching warm and cool toned gals play with lipstick — the SAME lipstick. Watching it turn Bad Gray or Bad Orange depending on the skintone is bizarre.

  • Gretchen says:

    Sorry, don’t see it. I think Ms. Lopez looks godawful in nude makeup, along with everyone else. No need to buy more lippies, then. Sheer colored glosses (but not the super-duper sticky-shiny pound-of-Vaseline kind) really deliver the “less is more” understated chic so many of us want. You know, on the days when we’re not laughing it up in an 80’s revival costume affair.

    • March says:

      … so you’re saying you don’t like it! Well, more money for perfume, then, yes? I vote for some godawful 80s affair … like Poison. 😡

  • Nava says:

    Honestly, red is a colour I’ll never be comfortable with on my lips. You guys tried to “red” me last year, but in the end, I knew it was hopeless. But I love you for trying!

    The other day I took a twirl through Sephora and tried on BE’s Buxom lip balm in Copacabana. I don’t know if it was the lighting or just the “humidity glow” I was rocking, but it made me look like a cadaver. And I went hog wild for nude way back when with MAC. Touch was the BEST lipstick ever on me, but I think they might have changed it. After I wiped the nude-ness off my lips, I went to the MAC store to give Touch another spin, and it was way too beige-y on me. What gives?

    Anyhoo – I’ll always love a red pedicure, but I’m more into funkier colours on my hands. Have you seen that green polish from Chanel??? :d

    • March says:

      I’m off of buying the polishes right now. Strange as it sounds, eventually I feel like I had enough greens. And blues. And purples. 🙂 I think you’d work a nude really well with your coloring, and I say, if you don’t feel comfy in red, gosh, don’t wear it!

  • Sharon VA says:

    My preferance is for stronger colours but because I am a lippie ho, I do own a number of nudes. My most recent purchase was Dior Lip Addict in Beige Negligee. It’s not a true nude – it’s a bit too coral and shimmery for that but it’s as close as this pale and freckle-y redhead is gonna get. I have to be careful with the nudes to not look too washed out because I like to rock my blonde/red eyelashes without mascara.
    I once found the perfect nude at MAC called Flutterby but unbeknownst to me, it was part of a limited edition collection. The people at MAC are tricksy bastards with all of their LE Collections. I have more lippie dupes than I’d like to admit because of this.

    PS My husband are leaving to go to San Francisco in a couple of hours. I’m SO excited!

    • March says:

      Have a great trip! (How did I miss your comment?) I love your description as a “lippie ho.” I probably buy more lippies than anything else, but I purge the old/unloved ones regularly, as having too many in the drawer starts to bug me. We won’t define “too many.” 🙂 And the MAC LE thing makes me nuts, although I know lots of folks like always having something new to try.

  • sybil says:

    I am seriously pale with downright yellow undertones. It reads as corpselike when I wear nude lips. It’s so much work to find a nude lip I like that I haven’t bothered. But for the cheapolas out there, a nice YLBB pinkish shade is Revlon Unlimited Mulberry. No, it’s not moisturizing, but it wears very well.
    And like DinaC, I don’t do a lot of lip lining. I look mean and nasty already, any severe looks (and I totally covet the swipy black cat’ eye/Egyptian eyeliner thing) are too much. so, lipliner is a not too often.

    As for the mannequin hands (or toes!) I like the Revlon Nude, too, but generally when I bother to paint my nails, I want more excitement.

    • March says:

      look mean and nasty already,” heh and also “when I bother to paint my nails, I want more excitement.”

  • maidenbliss says:

    March, thank you for doing all the legwork (or…lipwork?) for me-I’m going for the NARS Chelsea because although it does look exactly like Chapstick it looks like the color I’m always searching for. Up until a few years ago I wouldn’t have put garbage outside without lipstick; my friends always teased me and I felt kind of weird about my obsession–until I read an article by a woman who was having her kitchen renovated-with a lipstick drawer. =))
    Is the Chelsea shiny shiny? like wet shiny? sticky? hope not.

    • Gretchen says:

      I could use a dedicated lipstick drawer in my bathroom, but kitchen?

    • March says:

      No. Not shiny and not sticky. In fact you could layer a gloss on top if you wanted to. I suppose that’s part of what’s weird about it — although it’s semi-liquid and in a pot, it dries sort of like a lipstick. But you really do need to spread it — it’s heavily pigmented (at least on me) and thus it’s rather like blending some dabbed-on lipstick, if that makes sense. Like, I wouldn’t do it in the car without a mirror handy.

  • DinaC says:

    I’ve also got the super pale skin and dark hair thing going on, but my undertones are yellowish ivory. Nude lips generally make me look like Death Warmed Over, so I have to go with a pinky-beige to Make it Work, as Tim Gunn would say. My favorite nude toenail polish is essie Fondola Gondola. (I don’t bother polishing my finger nails because that makes them feel claustrophobic somehow, like they can’t breathe.)

    My favorite pinky-beige lip colors are: Laura Mercier Pink Champagne, Bobbi Brown Uber Pink, and Revlon Rose Velvet, though I don’t recommend the Revlon very highly because it’s not very moisturizing, but hey, it’s cheap. Plus, it’s not very nude. I also don’t bother with lip pencil unless I’m applying theater makeup and going for a hard- edged look. My coloring is already severe enough, so hard lines just age me. And for what it’s worth, I always wear blush. In fact, my mom kind of insisted that I start wearing blush around the age of ten! Looking back at photos from those days, I can see what she saw. I was Goth before Goth existed. Truly, without some blush, I was in danger of being collected by the mortician. :d

    • March says:

      Blush can definitely make a difference. I think it’s in Bobbi Brown’s book that she says she’s always running around sticking blush on women to brighten their color up. @};- It seems reasonable to me — a quick fix that looks great.

      Bobbi has some nice pinks (because they’re also brown; I love my Peony which I think was an LE.) Those colors sound good.

  • Francesca says:

    I can’t even think about nude lips at this point. The closest I get to nude is a sort of warm tan in the wintertime. Too old, too pale. But I’m very interested in the nude nails. I have to keep my nails short or else my piano teacher beats me… so will look into the OPI shade you mention.

    • March says:

      I think those nude nails would look great on you. Louise swatched ten of them today (one on each finger!) It’s a subtle, pretty look that wouldn’t get you whacked. @};-

  • Elizabeth says:

    I’ve never been a nude lip person, having olive skin that usually requires warmth to avoid looking dead. Lately though, I’ve been wearing Laura Mercier Opal lip gloss, which works because I’ve got little color and pair it with a shimmery navy indigo eye from LM’s new eye palette, and bronze cheeks. It work pretty well, and it’s a nice change from my standard berry lip. Maybe I’ll check put some of your recs today.

    • March says:

      That sounds like a really pretty color combo.

      You know what I might do next time? Ask everyone to contribute one look — like, their “standard face” or “five-minute face” or some particular combo they really love.

  • Delfina says:

    Hi March,
    another superpale here (NC15-NC20). You’re so right. I find that many red lipsticks can be flattering for us pale people, while Nude lips/YLBB are the most difficult thing for me too in makeup. I find incredible that shades like the recently hyperacclaimed Chanel Rouge Coco in Mademoiselle are considered “universally flattering”.
    One nude-ish that works on me is another of the Rouge Coco, Venise (26), which is described as a more brownish color, but when dabbed (and not generously swiped) on your lips, maybe with the help of a more pink toned lip liner, works magic.
    I too am in a nudeish makeup phase, and have started LOVING and using everyday (my first non perfume-related buy at a Guerlain counter) the Guerlain Terracotta light in Blondes, which for the superpale, with nude or YLBB lips, I think can be really flattering.
    As for mannequin nails, I’m a big nail polish freak, so I had to try a few, if only for “research”, but was never satisfied, because even in their best shape, my fingers are redder than the rest of my hands, so reaching the mannequin effect is an impossible task for me. I always end up longing for some good color contrast, a superbright red, a dark creamy green or blue or a vampy. But I like it on others when the color matching works.

    • March says:

      That’s so funny. I bought Rouge Coco Mad, and it looks nice on me, but it’s a basic YLBB and doesn’t look a thing like it does on that gorgeous model. 🙂 I’ll have to try Venise … I bought Orage (?) and that was really pretty, a darker drama color. I’ll look for that Guerlain!

      • Delfina says:

        I love that one too (Orage)!, I bought last year, in the Hydrabase version. It’s a gorgeous color! I’m fond of it, because it was my “red with training wheels” before passing to the BIG REDS.

        • March says:

          That’s the perfect description. On me it’s a definite pink in the direction of red, but not a pink I have in anything similar.

  • Marsi says:

    I have two mannequin hands favorites: MAC Abalone Shell and Revlon Sheer Nude. Both are completely wearable for me, but Revlon might eek out ahead in this one because it’s slightly more sheer. Plus, Revlon’s always great for a cheap thrill.

    I wonder if I still have that ancient pot of Chelsea Girls?? And if I do, it couldn’t possibly be as nasty as a pot at the cosmetics counter. I recently read that testers are swarming with E. coli and herpes. The herp, I had always assumed. But poop germs, too?!? Ugh. Anyhow, I digress. Thanks for the tutorial on the nude lip for the PPPs in the crowd. I’ve always settled for a YLBB look in place of the nude lip, but I’ll have to give your instructions a whirl.

    • March says:

      Those Revlons, I have several of their reds, they wear really well too, which you don’t always get with less expensive polish.

      I’m so … well, germ-averse. I don’t like buying makeup untested, but how sterile can you make a lipstick? OTOH, how sterile is life in general, you know? So. My personal area of care is anything having to do with the eye, since pinkeye is such a drag (and highly contagious.) Lippies I spray and wipe and hope for the best. Gloss — well, ugh.

      • Musette says:

        My makeup artist slices, then sprays with alcohol. I do it, too, with testers. Generally, though, I won’t use a tester on myself, except in the hand area. NO eye stuff at all. Not anymore. Pinkeye (or any other eye infection) is a 8-x.

        xoxo >-)

  • Musette says:

    😮

    Did you see the bling on her hand? THIS is why YLBB and ManneHands were invented. Were she in red lips/nails, she would look like a caricature (imo).

    As I am as fond (or fonder) as JLO of Giant Bling (one hand only, please) I find ManneHands works best for me. Of course, I am not sporting bling anywhere close to what she’s got there – can you imagine walking down the street in that? LOL!? Or at a biomass plant? :0

    Anyhoo, I love OPI’s Hopelessly in Love (and thank Floyd it’s back) – it’s just pink enough to keep my nails looking fresh – without looking pink. Mine peel and split and are generally a mess so the wear and tear doesn’t show quite as much.

    And I am the queen of YLBB – alas I do not have JLo’s great bone structure and my lips are just okay in shape (and the lack of bone structure hobbles the lipline, too) so they need a bit of slightly darker definition – I go with those light liver colors like Secret Lips (my long-lost love from Laura Mercier) and a Rimmel Coffee Bean liner. In the summer, a very lightly applied liner with a Bobbi Brown orangey-pink opalescent gloss (Prescriptives had one, too, damn and blast them!) works like a charm. Napoleon Perdis (thank you Enabler) also has a couple of YLBB shades that I like – and the price is likeable, too!

    No heavy colors, no deep, bright pinks, no reds (except on toes). Can’t pull it off anymore. Oh, well…

    xoox >-)

    • Musette says:

      ps. Sephora’s house line does some nice YLBB shades. I’m not a fan of spending big simoleans on lipstick as I lose them, wank ’em up, whatever….so I was thrilled to find that they have a range of colors and the staying power is decent.

      xo >-)

    • March says:

      Sigh. I love giant rings. I have a whole box of them. So much fun. :*

      Isn’t it great when you find that perfect nail color that’s always there for you? I think France-y may be “it” for me… and those YLBB colors are always dear to the heart. To think I had lived so many years without even realizing they existed! 🙁

  • dissed says:

    I’ve done mannequin toes for years. Nothing else will do (okay, an occasional peacock blue/green, but that’s it). For mannequin fingers, it’s Barielle Natural Nail Camouflage. Lips are usually some MLLB, and my best results have come from youth-oriented drugstore brands. My 14-year-old recently tossed over her Hard Candy gloss crayon, and I’m sold on that — it goes on for hours.

    • March says:

      The teeners have come up with some nice product, yes. I have an eye pencil from Sephora I really like, borrowed initially from Diva. I’ll look for that Barielle!

  • Louise says:

    Oh, dear, I can always count on you to cheer my Sunday….nudes 8-|

    I have flirted with nude/pale lips for years, and pretty much had decided that it just wouldn’t work for me. However, given my lip/skin tone, I do have several pales that are a bit coral/peachy that look very nice, especially with the slutty eye look…um.

    A recent MAC limited edition-Warm me Up, works for me, if I line well (Mac pencil in Beurre is fab). I have lovely older Armani (Shine 5) that is deeper, and veering into MLLB, that I cherish-long d/c, I think. And there’s a great MAC gloss-Over Indulgence Creamshine Glass that is very layer-able and great for a natural/nude look for us yellow, er, sallow, er warm toned gals :d/

    I also think many YLLBs work if applied sheerly. I don’t however do the color-wash-out with concealer….it’s just too dead for me (and dry). So maybe, I’m not truly nude?

    For the nails….well, you’ve inspired me to pull out all my mannequin colors-which were “nudes” in past years. I’ll do Mannequin Skittles today, and let the Girls help decide what works. Oh, and I think many of the pale Grundgey, taupey, griege, mushroom colors work this look…
    😕

    • March says:

      Very much looking forward to the mannequin skittles! And the playtime! <:-p I've seen you truly nude. Not that we should be discussing that on here. Whether those pale YLBBs count as truly nude -- I say yes!

    • carter says:

      The older Armanis are the ones I love — #10 is my YLBB, and #21 for a little red kick.

  • Lindsey9107 says:

    Hey March! Yay for lipstick!!! I am totally obsessed right now.

    I am also pale with pigmented lips, and dark lipstick looks best on me, I think b/c it plays up the natural contrast I have going on. When nude lips got super trendy I of course headed to Mac, too. I had a pretty hard time making this work but I ended up with Myth, which is quite warm and almost peachy, basically very very close to the same color of my skin and quite opaque. I need to work with it a lot, rub it in, blot, reapply, etc. It’s also a “satin” so it took me awhile to realize that what really makes it work is gloss on top, particularly a slightly sparkly pink gloss.

    Blush is totally necessary (ahhh, blush, I love you so) and I usually feel like I look better if I have at least black eyeliner going on. Otherwise something looks not quite right as far as the amount of color on my face.

    • Lindsey9107 says:

      P.S. You guys have probably discussed this, but I heard Strada is being discontinued??!! I thought of you right away. I hadn’t even gotten a chance to try it yet and now I’m afraid to, ha.

      • March says:

        Noooooooooo! I can’t say I’m shocked — the few times I’ve mentioned it to the SAs there they don’t even know what color I’m talking about, and it looks like hell in the pan. Too bad, though, it’s a perfect paleface neutral.

    • March says:

      Adding to my list…. MAC Myth … I wound up with some MAC lippie I’m not wild about, but the nice thing with owning a strong nude is I can use it to brown out other colors for new looks. I agree on the gloss — a strong matte can just be too much look for the ladies over 21 or thereabouts. 😉

      Blush is still my nemesis sometimes. It’s so easy to overapply and depending on how much of my natural pink is showing, I look too flushed, or not blushed in the right spots.

      • Lindsey9107 says:

        Oh, forgot to also comment on a few other favs of mine that are less extreme than Myth.

        In the MLBB category, potentially too beige for you: Viva Glam V lipgloss. I am in love with this. Beige/pink with subtle gold shimmer. I think it’s really popular.

        For a cheap thrill, Nyx Smokey Look lipgloss is nice. Peachy nude.

        • March says:

          You know, I have a couple Nyx pencils I really like. Their stuff is pretty good, considering the price.

      • carter says:

        Nars cream blush in Penny Lane is a really great soft peachy neutral.

        • March says:

          Huh. I’m trying to remember if I tried that? I think I noticed it (did someone else recommend it? or you?) and the color looked perfect.

          • carter says:

            I think that you and I have had the Penny Lane/Strada discussion before and arrived at the conclusion that both of us are geniuses for liking them ’cause they’re all that (*)

          • maggiecat says:

            Help! me too, on the blush. It’s almost impossible for me to find a subtle blush that works on my pale, lightly freckled skin – and when I don’t wear any, people keep passingme smelling salts and recommending iron tablets. I’ll try the Nars, with thanks!

          • March says:

            Try the NARS Penny Lane and the MAC Strada. Penny Lane is hard to overdo, and the Strada is extremely neutral on me, which I like if I’m working a stronger lipcolor. Warning, it looks awful in the pot 🙂

          • March says:

            But of course. 8-|

  • Fiordiligi says:

    A couple of weeks ago I had my makeup done at a Laura Mercier counter (which is always a success for me) – but the one thing that didn’t work was a pale lippie; the lip-liner was slightly darker and it looked really tarty and Pamela Andersonesque. I am over 50 too but have fullish lips and fair/pink skin. I think a paleish glossy thing is OK (I’ve noted the Nars Chelsea Girls colour to try) but the whole nude thing reminds me of being a young teenager when it was fashionable here in the UK to apply masses of Max Factor Pan-Stik (anyone remember that?!) all over face but including lips, over which Vaseline was then applied. No thank you!

    • March says:

      OOOOOOOOH BIG NUDE LIP SIN — the PAMELA ANDERSON. Yeah, I know *just* what you’re talking about. I wound up with the Pam more than once… I think that’s why I like either a pencil or a lippie, or layered, but not penciled afterward (I need that pencil with my reds.) Because the Pam is a look to be avoided.

      Looking at photos of “nude face” makeup to put up here — there were scads of photos I could have pulled of models in fashion shows (runway models) who frankly looked like freaks. Like literal mannequins. Nude makeup at its least attractive, and let’s face it — lots of those runway models are not hired for their looks. Lots of corpse-looks I don’t see out much in Real Life. I picked that J-Lo image because it’s subtle and pretty.

    • Lindsey9107 says:

      One definitely runs the risk of tarty-ness with nude lips. Why does dark lipstick just make me think “intelligent/complicated”? When I go for pale lipstick my husband likes describing it as “trashy” and I think what he means is playboy bunny-ish.

      • Lindsey9107 says:

        I think the trash factor is probably specific to certain coloring though, too. J Lo. looks pretty damn chic up there.

        • March says:

          That’s a good point. Maybe it’s easier to get the Pam going if you’re pale?

          • Musette says:

            I don’t think so. I think it’s the lipliner and the rest of the ‘makeup sitting on top of the face’ that does it. You can be pale and nude – think Cate Blanchett – and do it in a sublimely classy way – think Cate Blanchette.

            I adore Pamela precisely BECAUSE she is so blessed tarty – subtlety is not in her lexicon.

            xo >-)

          • March says:

            Hey, Pam is Pam. I do think, looking at pics of her 10 (20?) years ago, that she was gorgeous when she looked more human. 😉

          • Musette says:

            I totally agree – she was so gorgeous back then. Now, though, she is her own Brand!

            And Carter, I’m with you on the lipliner. I’m a liner freak but NOT so you can actually SEE the liner. My lips just don’t look right without a bit o’ definition – but whazzup with that big ol’ clown crayon look? A gal-pal is a Pamaholic and she does that – really looks weird.

            xoxo >-)

          • carter says:

            Yeah, the lipliner thing! I don’t know why anyone would do that to themselves, but there’s just a whole passel of delusional women out there who think it’s hawt when it’s so nawt.

  • Catherine says:

    I never thought about a nude lip look until visiting New York last October for a couple of weeks. It looked chic and edgy — on younger women, on older women, with a strong lip pencil, more understated. Out here in the Twin Cities, I never saw this look. So I went to the counters to get it.

    Edward Bess’s Nude Lotus won. I think it helps that his lipsticks are creamy and rich and lay a lot of color. It definitely needs *something more* on me (because alone it looks strange-fleshy against my pale skin), so he paired it with a touch of Nude Satin gloss that has some pink/mauve in it. At home, I’d mix Nude Lotus with a touch of the warmer EB shade Forbidden Flower.

    I’ll be frank, however: the look bored me pretty quickly. A month or so later, I never wore it again.

    I’m a fan of lip pencils. Sometimes I use two, I think they are the best-thing-ever. For the nude look, my favorite is Chanel’s Natural. I ordered it from the website, so was shocked at its very light color. This is what I use to tone down my lips and get different looks from some reds.

    Well, now it’s May and I’ve fulfilled my oath to not get another red lipstick since you started your no-buy a couple of weeks ago. I need to hunt down that Fatale Carter was talking about!

    • March says:

      Heh, I can’t believe you held off on that Fatale for that long! You can probably get it on fleaBay. I buy d/c’d stuff on there, and I haven’t died yet… 8-| Well, you work that red lip pretty spectacularly, and you raise an important point about fine-tuning the nude. I’ll have to look at that Chanel pencil.

    • carter says:

      Catherine–that Fatale is so damn gorge. It looks way better on Melissa (waaaah!) than it does on me, but it’s still a beautiful, beautiful red. It’s a blue red, not as maroon as D&G Dahlia, but I use my Dahlia liner with it and it works fine. It’s also very pretty sheered-out. I’m sure that there are other similar shades by other brands, but for some reason this one just has something great about it that I haven’t seen elsewhere (Chanel just does color GOOD) and the formula is lovely.

    • maidenbliss says:

      Catherine: finally, someone from my home town, I miss it dearly:(( especially early Sunday mornings at MOA before all the frenzied shoppers descended. Going to check out EB. Thanx!

  • Marsha says:

    I so love these Random Sunday posts. As I get older, I do realize that the less color on my lips, the better. And always with some shine to it. I used to use a MAC lipglass color that was close to a nude but can’t for the life of me remember the name of it. But I always got compliments on my lip color. When I go back to the MAC counter, I’ll have to look for it.

    As for *manniquin hands*, do not like at all. Like Rosarita, I love every nail color in the world, but do try pale colors once in a while. One day I put on Chanel Trapeze and it completely ruined my day! I couldn’t wait to get home and take it off. That night, I put it on my MUA swap list and soon got that sucker out of my house! I prefer a little more pink in my pale colors.

    • March says:

      Eh. Chanel polishes ruin my day for a completely different reason: I think they’re really chip-prone. SOmething that $$$$ ought to hold up better, methinks. :-w Please go look up that MAC!

      And I realize, with the OPI France-y, it is in fact a faintly pinkish taupe, so it’s a legit color on me.

      • carter says:

        It ain’t the polish, it’s the base and top coats. I only use Chanel, but not because I haven’t tried others or am some kind of Chanel snob, but because the colors are usually so much richer and more interesting than anything else out there (IMHO) and they don’t chip any worse than anything else. But I think it’s really a question of how you apply them and and what you apply them with.

        • March says:

          I dunno, Carter. I use, obviously, a lot of different brands of polish, and generally the same base and top coats — usually an Orly base and Seche top. And other than the 99-cent stuff, Chanel leads the way in chipping on the edge. I apply them with their own brush, not too heavy per coat, and … maybe it’s the colors, you’re using a more limited range, I think, in your uniform look? And I just can’t agree on richer and more interesting. Seriously. Out of every single line? Everything out there? More interesting than Butter, OPI, Barielle and RBL? Nah.

          • carter says:

            It’s got more to do with the depth and richness of the color than anything, and they way the shimmer in Chanel is so elegant. They do shimmer like nobody else…seriously. But I am by no means crazy about all of the Chanels — there are a ton that I don’t like. Nevertheless, I haven’t yet found a color from any other brand (and I’ve tried them all) that compares to Chanel at its best. As for the chipping, that’s why I gave up on Seche and switched to Poshe; it’s not as shiny but it doesn’t chip as much either.

            I use my uniform red on my hands during the winter, but in the summer I do mix it up on my toes, and it’s always the Chanels that get the compliments. Always.

            I have a secret discontinued Chanel shade that is so rare it sells for upwards of $75 on eBay whenever it comes up, and one day as I was walking past the bodega on the corner of my street, a very tough-looking character who was leaning against the wall smoking God only knows what started gesturing wildly to get my attention (I had my iPhone earbuds in) and when I pulled them out in alarm and said “What? WHAT?” he said, “You just have to know baby that your toenails look FANTASTIC!”

          • March says:

            Girl, fantastic or not, have you thought that when you’re trolling eBay for $75 np it’s time to move on? There are a few other shades out there…

            Says the woman who paid $$$$$ for Chaos.

            There are outfits that match discontinued lipstick shades. I wonder if anyone does that with np? 😕

            I saw those new Chanels (the two gold ones) today and I’m not feeling it, although I’m not a gold gal anyway. That Kaleidoscope from a year or two ago practically chipped in the bottle. I swapped it with Louise for a bottle of Steeling the Scene, a win-win for us.

          • carter says:

            No, I don’t pay that for it. I gave up on it when it started to go for about $40 a bottle, but I swear, it just stunning and it makes me happy to look at my feet. The bum on the corner is just a bonus.

            I don’t like the Chanel metallics…meh. What I’m talking about are the (usually older) colors that have these amazingly subtle shimmers to them, but only when the light hits a certain way. They haven’t come out with any that have that specific quality to them in quite awhile, but when they do them they are just so beautiful. Which is why they sell for $75 on eBay.

      • Marsha says:

        Maybe you should try a different basecoat.

        • March says:

          Carter says it’s the topcoat /:) I’ve tried two Orlys and a … something. Chanel probably wants some luxury-ride basecoat. Like, if Ferrari made one.

          • Marsha says:

            I use Nailtek Foundation II Ridgefilling Basecoat which dries matte with Seche Vite on top and Chanel works fine on me. I also wrap my tips. But . . . you have four kids. I have none. That may have something to do with it. Your hands are probably busier than mine. Does Carter read the Nail Board on MUA? All the experts there says it’s the basecoat. Chanel doesn’t require anything expensive. Plus, different things work on different people.

            That MAC lipglass was Prrr. But my lips aren’t as deeply colored as you say yours are.

          • March says:

            My hands definitely take more abuse than average. They’re not getting trashed in the garden, but yes, they get washed a lot etc. (and I don’t wear gloves to do dishes.) I love that Seche… I’m due for a new basecoat though, I’ll check yours out.

  • rosarita says:

    I didn’t like the nude lip look forever and decided it’s not for me, until I kept realizing how much fresher and more youthful it looks. (An aside: I work w/a small group of women & we’re all over fifty. The term *As We Get Older….* has begun to define our lives – doctors use it about every ailment, magazines chant it in relation to clothing, hairstyles, skincare etc etc, you hear it constantly on Dr Oz & the Today Show. It’s become our favorite joke.) The lip combo that works for my (also) very pigmented lips is the Cargo nude lip liner and MAC Cremesheen lippie in Modesty. I generally dab on a touch of YLBB or a mild pink gloss over the top of this so I don’t look dead. Thanks to MUA, I’ve learned how to tightline my eyes, and I need bit more blush to round out the look. As to mannequin hands, I’m still too infatuated with every nail color in the world to go there yet, but I do love Tickle My France-y. It’s my default nail color, and yes, neutral enough to go with everything. OPI Color of the Zen-tury is the exact same shade but with a bit of metallic sheen.

    • March says:

      So you feel the same way — done nicely, the soft nudes/YLBBs do look fresh, don’t they? And I hear you on the dab of YLBB – if whatever I’ve just done is TOO nude, I can throw a little pink on there.

      Tickle My France-y turns out to be a fairly popular polish. I had no idea! It looks ugly in the bottle, IMO.

      I’m going to try that Modesty…

  • Kim says:

    I am also fair but with pale lips so I find I need a touch of colour in my nude look. I am a big fan of Chanel’s Aqualumiere Gloss. It’s not a pot and comes with a built-in brush – I don’t want to lug around 2 things when one will do!! I love the slight gloss I get with these – youthful but not bubble-gum, soft colours which can be toned down to truly nude with a slight blotting. The colours are sheer and not gloopy, with a nice texture.

    For a truly nude look I use Freeze which is my exact lip colour so is my true nude, or Diamond Rose, which gives me a slight pinkish tinting. I also like Ginger Shimmer for a reddish tint, Ironic Tonic for a pink/burgundy tint, both of which, when blotted give me a nude-like but with a touch of colour. I love that I don’t need as much precision as with a foundation, liner, and lipstick which, quite frankly, I can’t be bothered with / am too busy to deal with. Like freedom in a tube, in my book!

    • March says:

      See, this is why I love these posts! I’ve never tried those Chanels…. making a list, I’m being malled later today. As a celebration to the end of my Week of Austerity. 😉

      • carter says:

        Aqualumieres are excellent. I have only used the lippies — the line where the colors are all named after exotic places — which are very sheer, but not at all sticky. I also like the Armani sheer lippies a lot.

        When I do nude lips (which is a rare event, indeed) I do a very pale, neutral eye, but I always make sure that the liner is dark enough for good definition. I usually pencil-in very close to the lash line, making sure to push the pencil in between the lashes (I don’t tightline because it irritates my eyes) and then go over that with a dark brown-grey powder shadow, using a liner brush.

        For evening, I will do a smoky eye, but still using a fairly light hand. When I was younger I really went all out with the dark shadows, but now I use a sort of grayey-purpley-goldish shadow, again quite sheer, again by Armani, and a charcoal liner, which I soften and blend with the sponge tip of the liner.

        The skin of eyelids is purple-toned, so I usually apply a very sheer layer of cream concealer (using my finger tip) over the entire eyelid before applying any eyeshadow, but it really isn’t necessary on my lips.

        • carter says:

          Oh, and the nails: my very favorite (but unfortunately dearly departed) go-to color was Chanel Precious, which wasn’t skin-colored, exactly, but it was such a super-sheer off-white that it just looked like your nails but better. Gawd, I loved that stuff, and if any of you bid against me on the rare occasions that it comes up on eBay I swear I will hunt you down and kill you. I am not kidding.

          I’m very interested in reading the comments here to find a replacement I might be able to live with — sing out, any of you who know what I mean when I describe my precious Precious — but when I’m without it (or trying to stretch the rare bottle I’ve somehow managed to score) I just use a clear matt polish — the kind they market to men who are terrified they might be gay; you know the ones — on short nails. I like the matt finish because it’s more opaque than regular clear polish, which is a bore. Even the matt stuff is a bore, but it looks nice.

          • March says:

            I did the matte polish trend the first time around (when was that? mid-80s?) and, like the blue shadow, am taking a pass on it this time. :))

            I think I understand that general color you’re describing. It’s like YLBB, only for nails! I bought this Orly (?) stuff, ridge filler, which isn’t ridge-filling at all. However. It’s a super-sheer buff tone that looks great all on its own, although I don’t think that was supposed to be its function.

        • March says:

          Those colors you’re describing sound absolutely gorgeous. Subtle but beautiful. No surprise there. @};-

          Those Lumiere thingies, I’ve never looked at those! And I don’t like sticky at all so those sound perfect.

          Guinea-pig eyes. I thought it was just us palefaces afflicted with that? Or do you think it’s everyone?

          • carter says:

            I think it’s us palefaces with pink undertones. It could also be this illegal generic Lumigan I buy from an online pharmacy in India, but my blue eyes haven’t turned brown yet, so for $10 a bottle it’s all good b-(

            The weird-but-pretty Armani shadow is #26. I took this from the comments on MUA because it describes it fairly accurately:

            “This was one of the eyeshadows used on the Star Lash Mascara advertisement model. I just love it for a smokey day or night look. You can soften it for daytime or deepen it up for night (wet it or simply apply more). It is a greyish/silvery color with touches of brown and plum. So hard to describe but such a beautiful color that would look great on anyone, and would match anything. I wear it with #12 eyeshadow as a base, and #8 eyeliner (dove grey). Looks great on blue/green eyes.”

          • March says:

            Oooh! Which sketchy outfit have you been buying from?!? I got one Latisse, and I think I can get my regular MD to write me a scrip for Lumigan, which is the same (same bottle even) for 1/3 the price or thereabouts. Stuff is great, for sure. And your eyes haven’t popped out or anything?

            Okay I DEFINITELY need to check that shadow out, thanks!

          • carter says:

            alldaychemist.com. $10 per bottle, $25 s&h from India, but that covers pretty much as many bottles as you want, so needless to say I order by the caseload. I DO NOT recommend this, BTW. I’m insane, okay? Let’s just make sure that’s understood by one and all. I know that I’m stating the obvious here, but one can never be too careful when it comes to illegal generic drugs from India.

          • March says:

            … yeah, but your illegal generics are working? 🙂 $140 for Latisse is such a blatant ripoff. As I said on here elsewhere, you can get Lumigan in the same fricking bottle for $40ish, and that’s my crummy prescription coverage. Anyone else would probably have a $10 copay.

          • carter says:

            Yes, they work just dandy! I’m on my second order.