Me and Angelina Jolie

Guerlain Divinora Deep & Matte Lipstick #480. It's been discontinued in the US, and it is the brand/color of lipstick worn by Ms. Jolie. And who doesn't think she has some damn sexy lips? May I submit to you the following, which we will call Exhibit A:



Mmm, yummy, sexy, full lips. They look "polished" and done, but not overly made up. This was the look I was going after. I have been on a quest to find the perfect Holy Grail of matte nude lipsticks for me. I wanted sexy Angelina lips.

My lips are sexy and full in their own right. I used to think I wanted collagen injections to plump them up just a little bit more. Now I think I must have been crazy. Getting my crown done on my front tooth changed how I feel about my mouth. I'm far more apt to smile broadly more often, even in pictures. Whereas before I got my crown done, I would go for the half-smile that didn't show my stained, chipped bonding job from when I was in 9th grade.

So I've been looking for this lipstick. Here are some of the lipsticks that I have purchased and returned in disgust:

Bobbi Brown Beige
Bobbi Brown Nude
Prescriptives Amaze
Bourjois Beige Eternalle
Laura Mercier Discretion

I think there were 1 or 2 more in there, but I've been on this quest for quite some time now and frankly, I've lost track of everything I have purchased and returned from/to various cosmetic counters at Nordstrom and Sephora. Thank God for generous return policies, I say. Make fun of my Costanza Wallet if you will, but at least I have all my receipts in the event I choose to return something.

Today, I sat myself down at the MAC counter in front of the gigantic display of what must be 300+ lipsticks. Somewhere in there, I told myself, is My Lipstick. I enlisted the help of the girls at the counter, who all proceeded to show me different tubes, swiping each on the back of my hands. The ones that looked decent on my hand, I tried on my lips. One after the other, they all were tried and none of them were what I was looking for. I wanted that look - that finished, done, clean, polished look that doesn't look like lipstick. It just looks like my lips are naturally phenominal. I didn't want a color that I had to wear lipliner underneath, I wanted a tube I could tuck in my bag, swipe on in a second and look instantly "done".

I think I may have found it. For all the beiges and nudes I was looking for, it turns out that My Matte Nude Lipcolor isn't beige or nude at all. It's a little bit nude, but mostly pinked mauve. My natural lips have too much color for a beige to look right on them. As it turns out, my coloring isn't the same as Angelina Jolie's. So what looks phenominal on her looked like death on me. I snapped a quick pic of me in my new lipstick, which I submit to you as Exhibit B:


Please note also the new cute fun hair, shorn quite short. Hubby calls it "Mom Hair". I call it "a dream come true". 2 minutes, 1 blowdryer and a palm full of volumizing mousse and that's all I need. I don't touch a brush or a comb or a second product. No styling tools required. Finally, a cut that works with my natural hair texture! And that look on my face...is what happened when my screensaver turned on and scans of Jackson's ultrasound floated across the screen. That child fills me with GLEE and makes me want to DANCE A JIG.

So now Angie has her Guerlain #480 and I have my MAC lipstick. Which is appropriately named, by the way, Kinda Sexy. :D