Review | Zaron Dusk Lipstick + 3 Different Ways

I remember one morning a long time ago when I stayed over in a hotel. I checked the little makeup I'd brought along with me and realised I had no blush. What was I going to do? I'm a blush person. If I wear makeup, I absolutely have to wear blush along with it. In my worried state, I remembered one harried Sunday  morning when my Mum desperately needed a blush right before Church and I swiped a red lipstick of mine across her cheeks and blended it with my fingers. That's exactly what I did with the dark pink lipstick I had with me in the hotel room that morning.

When I received the Zaron lipstick in Dusk, the first thing that came to my mind was "what else can I do with this apart from using it on my lips?". For some reason, I'm not a lipstick kinda girl. I've been blessed with a pout that can be described as perfect, lol. It's not thin or full, my top and bottom lips are full and with a gap-tooth smile it's almost like they come alive. I'm still not sure how and why I think that the nude lippies I wear make them any less prominent....especially when I know that light colour highlight and dark colours retract (meaning the nude colours I wear on my lips only make them look fuller than they actually are *sigh*).

The Zaron lipstick packaging makes it look like a N5k product. I mean it's all black and they did re-design the packaging and did a heck of a great job at it if you ask me. At first, I was a bit wondrous of what I would do but then I twisted up the lipstick and was presented with this rich burgundy shade. I'm not ashamed to admit that I love this lipstick.

In regards to the pigmentation, it's not as opaque as I thought initially but with a light layer of purple lip pencil on my lips before application, none is the wiser. I've discovered I'm pretty great at rocking a strong lip too and so look forward to those days.

Back to when I first received this lipstick and my thought on all the things I could do with it. I recalled the day I had to use lipstick as a blush and then decided I'd think of a couple more ways to use it. I succeeded and here they are (along with using it as a lip colour too):

1. Blush: there are 2 ways to do this (made even easier as a result of the fact that the pigmentation of the lipstick isn't too heavy)- either by twisting up the lipstick out of the tube, applying it on the cheeks and then blending with your fingers or a synthetic brush OR swiping a brush over the lipstick directly and then applying to the cheeks like you would a regular blush product. I don't do this very often but if it's an absolute must, I'd advise using the second option as there is no direct contact with the skin thereby forestalling the breeding of germs. Just make sure to always wash your brushes.
2. Eyeshadow & Base: there are cream shadows, who said this can't be used as a cream shadow too. Make sure you apply a base first to ensure it doesn't crease and go right ahead to apply either using a synthetic concealer/lip brush or your finger. Right along with this is using this product as a base for a burgundy coloured eye shadow. It will definitely make the colour pop.
3. Lip Colour: yes, lip colour and not a lipstick. Way back when I was in Tara Makeup School, I learnt how to use dark coloured lipstick as lip liner. That's a pretty old technique now but with the advent of ombre lips, it's something I've had to pick up again. Sometimes, using just a lip liner isn't enough to achieve an ombre lip, applying a dark lipstick like the Zaron Duke lipstick will help to increase the blendability of that outer lip area. Thus, ensuring your ombre lip comes out great. As much as I hate having a line around the edges of my lips, I've had one just because I thought the liner would blend simply by smacking my lips together*sigh*

There, 3 different ways to use the Zaron lipstick in Dusk apart from the conventional way it was meant to be used. It's definitely a creative way to have fun when you think of multiple ways of using a beauty product so go right ahead and flex some beauty muscle too.