brown lipstick 2: the american remix

It seems like all I want to do with my lips these days is to remove all traces of life from them. There is something about the brown lip which perfectly combines the aesthetic of a "cool girl" and that of a professional woman who will tc of b all day. (Not as easy as it sounds.) I was worried when photographing these it would quickly become clear that I had purchased three of the same lip product, but the pictures make them seem reassuringly different (at least to a lunatic like myself).

The first brown lip of the home of the brave is a subtle one with shimmery bits. I think if Rachel from the early days of Friends was around today, she would be all into this (not series one where she is so above Maybelline, but maybe after she gets the job at Central Perk and is broke but still kind of fabuluz). This is the Maybelline Babylips Crystal in Twinkling Taupe. I know Babylips are a somewhat polarizing product (as passionate as the debate on cheap tinted lipbalm can really get) but I like 'em, aside from the inherent creepiness of the name. I'm not sure a reference to a baby's lips is ever going to be a selling point.This one will tone down any totally ugly red or pink tones in your lips, add shine and make them smell and taste like cake. No complaints here.
The Nyx Soft Matte Lip Creams have a surprising array of brown offerings for a $6 lip product - I didn't even buy all of the browns, (The one I didn't buy was called London; London is boring because I have actually lived there.) What I did go for was Stockholm (second left) and Abu Dhabi (far right). Stockholm is what I would term a peachy-brown, while Abu-Dhabi is darker and more cool toned. Both are matte, and apply well but require a little bit of building up. They last ok, and I find them easy to top up on the go.
Finally, the long-lasting-matte-brown-piece-de-resistance appeared in the form of the Sephora Cream Lip Stain. This is seriously amazing stuff - long-lasting, comfortable, opaque, not a billion dollars, the perfect shade of true brown and again smells like cake. I should say that when I removed the swatches from my arm, this stuck around for a while in all its brown glory (not a pleasant phrase). 
Next on my list is the OCC lip tar in Sebastian. Not so much brown, more of a taupey-grey, I believe it will take my new found corpse look to the next level. As soon as it isn't sold out everywhere, it shall be mine.
More US beauty stuff to come. XXXX