Daily delight: let's get partying with matte

Christmas is a-comin’ – as if you didn’t know – and for most of us, the invites to celebrate the glitziest of seasons are rolling in. Party season means longwearing lippy in my opinion – leave the gloss to the under-20’s and bring a clean, strong lip out to the fiesta nearest you. I’ve been playing around with some beautiful colours and formulas lately that both stay the distance and keep your lips feeling fresh. Many women I know baulk at the concept of longwear and/or matte finish lippys because of the drying out factor, but my favourites of late have been carefully developed to keep lips moisturized and looking lush.
NARS Pure Matte Lip shades are absolutely beautiful, which comes as no surprise. All of this brand’s lip formulas come highly recommended by me, and there’s a colour and a texture to suit pretty much everyone. I’m a huge fan of NARS’ Velvet Matte Lip Pencils – a chubby stick of sheer pigment – for a more casual look, but the Pure Matte offerings absolutely slay me for longevity and feelgood factor. Terre de Feu is a great rich, berry red that would make an awesome choice for New Year’s Eve, whilst the likes of Tashkent and Bangkok are brilliant neutrals. The perfectly blended formula of this lippy strikes a perfect harmony between optimal colour, an ultra-matte finish and hydration. It glides on effortlessly, without drag or resistance, and Wild Mango Butter’s moisturizing properties work to repair lips from dryness and scaling, leaving lips supple and soft. Stila’s Long Wear Liquid Lip Colour is another long-lasting lip color formula that glides on lips and stays put, delivering hours of intense moisture and rich, bold colour with an on-trend matte, creamy finish. Vitamin E and avocado oil work together to keep your lips soft, and the colour range is just gorgeous. Both NARS and Stila are available from your nearest Mecca Cosmetica store in New Zealand, including the newly opened Newmarket branch which I’m yet to check out.
And last but not least, for a an absolute steal of an option check out UK make up giant Rimmel’s Colour Show Off Lasting Finish Lipstick, which retails at just $17.99. Think high-definition colour fix pigments with a Satin Matte Finish for saturated full-bodied colour that lasts and lasts. Get yours now.