LoTW: Burberry Lip Velvet Military Red

♫ It’s the most wonderful time of the year.. ♫ ♪

Ooh yeah, I get to enjoy every little bit of Christmas whenever possible/available. The music, the decorations and installations are some of the things I wait for every year. Well, I could never get enough of Christmas songs so I usually play them from time to time. Same goes with wearing red lipsticks. While I can certainly sport them everyday, wearing them on the holidays feels so much more special.

Enter, the one that blew me away, Burberry Lip Velvet Military Red.

A little bit of story.

Ever since Burberry launched Lip Velvets in F/W 2012, there was one particular shade that I knew I had to get it right away. You guessed it, it is Military Red. And my feelings were right, it was probably the best selling shade from the line, considering it was sold out almost everywhere. Finding this was nearly impossible. Plus, Burberry just underwent a change in the production and their products were scarce during the transition. Lots of the items in the counters were out of stock and it was uncertain when they will be restocked. It was a dark time.

I finally managed to get it this year, sometime in March, if I remember correctly. I keep it safe, all these months, waiting for the right moment to wear it. During that time, I had the thought of *gasp* selling it off. For some reason, I lost my interest. Thank goodness that I keep it, because once I saw a few of my fellow red-pout devotees wore it, it was like “the game is back on, I’m gonna bust it out“.

My first experience with Lip Velvet wasn’t exactly a shining stellar one. And because of that, I threw a little bit of prejudice on Military Red.

And boy, I was wrong, so wrong. I know why people adore this shade so much. I understand now.

I would say that the formula on Military Red is quite different from Bright Poppy. Different as in, it’s 10 times better. It is so smooth, and applies so evenly on the lips. The pigmentation is exactly what I want in a red lipstick; rich and saturated. And the velvety matte finish, encapsulates the lips ever so beautifully.

That first time, I said to myself, “what took me so long?!”. I felt dumbfounded for even doubting Military Red for a second. The formula is just exquisite. Sometimes with matte lipsticks, I find it tricky to fill in the lines or crevices on the outer lip, to get that perfectly smooth line. But the silicone-loaded formula in this Lip Velvet definitely plays a big part in making the product application’s a breeze. Also, the silicone keeps the moisture inside, making this very comfortable to wear even for my picky lips.

There is just something incredibly special when applying this. It’s therapeutic. Oh, so good.

Military Red, you are one kickass lipstick.

Le money shot

That rich red. That pigmentation. The texture. The finish.

Dayum. OH CRAP*

I love you, Military Red. I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to get you. But now that we are finally united, I shall never be apart from you.

On a side note, I was this close to wear my army green jacket in the photo, just to honor the “military” side of it. I decided to turn the steering wheel around and wear something more intriguing; a blouse that consists two of the other primary colors, blue and yellow.

Red is a primary color and in Military Red, the word “primary” becomes literal. I understand why a lot of people love this. It’s a universal red. It’s the kind of red that will make you “ooh, aah”-ing and “holy schmucks, this is beautiful!”.

It is a solid red, inside and out. It is very long-wearing. It had survived through a bowl of udon on its first day out (my friend can attest to this). It had survived a plate of medium-cooked steak with a green salad on the side. It had survived many other meals I threw at it. I can see that some of the color had wore off a little, but the whole look is still pretty much intact. It is magic.

It’s perfect for the holidays, with all that munching and drinking (nothing alcoholic) and chit chatting.

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*Now, I’d be super ecstatic to wear this throughout the holiday season if it wasn’t for…

MEEEEK

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Continued here.