Back to Basics Redux! A Classic, Blood Red for Every Rogue: Estee Lauder Signature Lipstick in Rich Red

Hello from the bottom of that handy trapdoor in the centre of the stage, fellow roguebards!

In my recent blood mage look, I used Revlon’s Fire and Ice lipstick (reviewed here as my first ‘Back to Basics’ shade!) to get that fabulous, oxygenated, freshly-drawn base for the gorily fabulous lip look. After applying it, however, I felt that I needed something to give things a little contrast, and bring in the colour that most of us associate with ‘blood’. The perfect candidate for the job, and a stunning lipstick in its own right, is Estee Lauder’s Signature Lipstick in Rich Red (#35). If you’re in the market for a true red lipstick, you need to take a look at this one!

 

Susie the rockbard was disappointed at the rather tame name, but delighted at the stylish vintage-inspired packaging.

 

This lipstick is a true gem – it’s cool-toned enough that it makes your teeth a bit whiter, and will offset warmer toned skins nicely, but not so cool that it restricts its market. It’s deep enough that you get an excellent, vampy, ‘blood red’ effect, but not so deep that you’re straying into burgundy territory. It applies smoothly and evenly with rich pigmentation, but has enough ‘gloss’ to it that you won’t feel your lips shriveling up like adventurers before a gorgon.

Incidentally, this is another shade that meets with the full approval of Susie the Rockbard. Unless it, you know, tries to upstage her. Then it’s on.

 

Susie staring down the competition. There’s only enough room for one fabulous act on this stage!

 

The packaging is really quite a treasure. Normally, this rogue isn’t a huge fan of that sort of exceptionally heavy looking ‘vintage’ gold packaging – I feel it often tries a little too hard to make things glamorous. You can trust me – I’ve seen more gold treasure containers than you’ve had hot dinners! A rogue gets a feel for this sort of thing, you know. Usually on the way to spiriting the golden object away into a concealed pocket…

Anyway, my point is that in this case, the packaging is, although gold, understated enough to appeal to me. It’s also reassuringly, respectably solid, and closes with a silken click that’s way too satisfying to produce. The bullet winds up and down easily, and doesn’t drag on the sides ro get stuck.

As a quick note, the somewhat mutilated bullet in the photo above was my effort to remove the outer layer of the tip of the bullet after an unfortunate incident involving a hidden poison. The lipstick was totally blameless – it can’t help that I managed to annoy a couple of drow assassins that one time…

 

Natural daylight swatch. Note how this red, despite looking very deep and rather ‘blue’ in the tube, comes out as a glorious true, blood red when applied.

 

As the rather odd looking hairs on my arm show in the photo above (totally intentional effect…totally, yep…), the texture of this lipstick is creamy. It wears for about four hours on me, which is ample for the average dungeon and impressive given its glossiness. The effect is assisted by the fact that it leaves a soft pink-red stain behind that is quite persistent. If you have a quick hand and a light touch, it makes an extemely effective cream blush in a pinch, which tips it over nicely into my ‘multitasking’ kitbag. The best part? it doesn’t bleed or migrate, which for a creamy lipstick on a rogue too lazy to use lipliner, is no mean feat.

The scent is the typical, rather strong Estee Lauder sweet/fruity lipstick scent, but I don’t tend to find it lingers too much after application, so the minotaurs will have to work fast if they want to catch you. There’s no discernible taste (at least, that I can differentiate reliably from the strong scent).

 

Artificial light swatch. Even in ‘warm’ light this lipstick retains its healthy neutrality. It’s not quite the True Neutral of lipsticks, but it’s alignment leans that way. Fire and Ice, on the other hand, is more of a Chaotic Neutral.

 

If you look closely at the bullet (in person), you can see tiny shimmers, like the gleams of bloodlust in the eyes of a giant spider. The sparkle doesn’t really translate to the lips, however, so for all intents and purposes this is a cream lipstick. But come on…who doesn’t love a good hidden sparkle? Well, probaby the person standing in front of the giant spider. But it was hidden sparkly things they went down into that monster’s nest for in the first place, so I guess in one sense their quest was fulfilled!

The verdict: This is a fabulous, glamorous lipstick, with a flattering, versatile blood red colour. You can use it as a lipstain, a lipstick, a blush and something to tease the rockbard with if she starts getting too full of herself. A worthy addition to any rogue’s kitbag.

The Practicalities: Estee Lauder Signature Lipsticks cost NZD 50.00/USD 22.50 each for 3.8 g/0.13 oz. Rich Red is permanent, and the line is available from Estee Lauder counters and  www.esteelauder.com (or your local variant of this URL).

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com, or use the contact form provided!