text: With all of the holiday parties going on over the next couple of weeks, I thought it might be helpful to have a few suggestions on lip options, preferably ones that hold up well through eating and drinking.
  |From the left: Essence In The Nude, NYX Dolly Pink, Essence Soft Berry, ColourPop Lippie Primer (*cringe* I hate that name), and Essence Wish Me A Rose|
  Starting off with a good base is important if you want your lipstick to last. My favorite lip liners are by Essence. They’re creamy, pigmented, don’t tug, and they have good staying power. I also feel like they grab onto product better than some other lip liners do. I sometimes wear them on their own, or pop just a little bit of lip balm over top. They’re only $1.49 at Ulta, the only down side to these is that the shade range is quite limited (c’mon Essence, what’s a girl gotta do to get you to make more shades? I need ’em, I’m tell ya!) Shown here in In The Nude (my personal fave), Soft Berry, and Wish Me A Rose.
  |From the top: NYX Dolly Pink, Essence Soft Berry, Essence Wish Me A Rose, Essence In The Nude|
  My favorite lip primer is this one from ColourPop for $5. Apply it, let it set for a minute or two (this is important!), and it will become slightly tacky. It smooths the lips and holds color in place. This stuff is a savior when my lips are a bit chapped. I’ve gotten into the habit of wearing it almost every time I apply lipstick.
  |From left: Urban Decay F-Bomb, NARS Rikugien, Jeffree Star Unicorn Blood, Ofra Miami Fever, Bite Palomino/Violet duo, Urban Decay Bang|
  With the exception of NARS Rikugien, all of these are either a long-wearing formula, or create a stain on the lips that helps the color to last for hours, even through eating and drinking.
  I included Rikugien because I wanted to include something for those of you who only like neutral/pinky lipsticks, and paired with the Colourpop lip primer I’ve found that this lasts quite well, in addition to being very easy to touch up. Bonus, if you picked up the Sephora birthday gift this year, you probably already own it.
  I tried to include a drugstore option as well, but out of the 15 or so drugstore lipsticks I own, the only one I could soundly recommend in this scenario is the Maybelline Lip Studio Color Blur ($8.99 at Ulta, currently buy one, get one 50% off) as it’s the only one I own that would hold up as long as the others I’ve listed here. I only own the shade Orange Ya Glad, a near dupe for Urban Decay Bang, which is why I didn’t include it in the swatches. Just felt a bit redundant including both, but definitely give that one a go if you’re looking for an orangey-red.
  |On NC15 skin. From left: NARS Rikugien, Urban Decay F-Bomb, Urban Decay Bang, Bite Palomino, Urban Decay Anarchy, Ofra Miami Fever, Jeffree Star Unicorn Blood|
  Next up, Urban Decay F-Bomb ($22 at Sephora or Ulta). Personally, this is my perfect red lipstick. I love the formula of the Urban Decay Revolution lipsticks (original formula, in my experience the matte formula slides around a bit more, which is odd, but *shrug*). They’re so incredibly pigmented (all of the UD swatches are only one pass, top to bottom), they’re emollient enough that they don’t dry your lips out, but not so much that they slide around, and all of the ones I’ve included in this post create a stain on the lips, meaning they will last for quite a while and fade evenly so that you don’t end up with an awkward ring around your lips. If you have similar coloring to me and/or want a classic red, try F-Bomb. If you find that most reds look weird on you, try Bang instead. If you want to stand out amidst the sea of reds, go for Anarchy.
  Now on to what my friends call my “witchcraft” lipstick, Bite Palomino (available at Sephora in a double-ended mini for $14 or full size for $24) . The story behind this: we were having a birthday party for one of our friends, and over the course of the night, I blew up 20 balloons, ate two cupcakes, plus ate whatever other food we had that night, and was still wearing lipstick when I went home at 2 a.m.. Yup, witchcraft. In the swatches, this looks quite similar to Anarchy, but in person Anarchy is a brighter, almost neon blue-based pink, whereas this is more of a berry shade. Some of the Bite lipsticks tend to slide around, but I’ve never had that problem with this one.
  Ofra Miami Fever ($19.90 from Ofra). I could swear Kathleen created this lipstick just for me. As if I’m not already obsessed enough with orange makeup, she went and made this lipstick which is a perfect combination of orange, brown, and a tiny bit of red. It’s basically the lipstick of my dreams in terms of both color and formula. I love the formula of Ofra’s liquid lipsticks because they’re so comfortable you almost feel as if you’re wearing nothing, and they never flake off or give me any of the other problems typically caused by liquid lipsticks. They have a mouse/cream formula which I love because it means that I don’t make a mess and end up with a super liquidy lipstick bleeding out of my lip lines or dripping down my chin. Is it just me who makes that much of a mess with liquid lipsticks? *crickets* Well, then… Anyway, these don’t actually dry down all the way, more like 90%, so they will transfer onto a cup, but through some sort of magic, they still stay on the lips. Seriously, I played beanboozled with this lipstick on and didn’t have to touch up afterwards. This shade is a limited edition collaboration with KathleenLights. As of the writing of this post, it’s still available. If you want it, grab it quick, and use Kathleen’s code for 40% off: kathleen40. The code ends in less than two weeks, so hurry!
  If you need a lipstick that won’t transfer onto cups (or people!) Jeffree Star’s Velour Liquid Lipstick is the way to go, and Unicorn Blood ($18, currently only in stock at Beautylish) is a great way to wear something a little different, but still stick to the whole “red is festive” thing. This formula dries completely matte, making it basically budge-proof, the exception being any food that’s super greasy. Despite being completely matte, it still remains very comfortable and doesn’t flake off or dry out the lips. It’s a little bit on the liquidy side, which is why I, Queen of the Messy Lipstick Application, slightly prefer the Ofra formula to this one, but I would still highly recommend these if you’re looking for a matte lipstick. Thanks again to Kelly for recommending this color to me!
  So what are you planning on wearing for any upcoming holiday parties? So far, I’m thinking Miami Fever for Christmas Day, Unicorn Blood for my friend’s Christmas party, and Anarchy for New Years Eve. Whatever you choose to wear, I hope you have a great time! Happy holidays!
  This post contains no affiliate links and all products were purchased be me with my own money, with the exception of NARS Rikugien, which was a free gift with purchase. Disclosure is cool, yo.