The Makeup Box: round lipsticks

Rich, crimson lips can brighten up your complexion, and you don't necessarily need to pair it with pale, neutral eye makeup or kitten liner. For nice Fall evenings (or just any night out on the town), you can pair colored eye makeup with strong lips if the application remains soft and smoky.

Step 1: To soften the overall look if you have dark hair, lighten your hair a tad with either light-colored brow mascara. I didn't have any so I applied clear mascara, and then used a disposable wand to apply a metallic beige pigment over the coated brows.

Step 2: I wanted to keep the look smoky so I chose a smoky purple instead of a bright (that would look too 80's). Try The Body Shop Shimmer Cubes Palette 07 in Ruby, which is a shimmery eggplant.

Step 3: Apply a deep purple metallic liner along the lash lines and water line as well. To keep the lash line dark, apply liquid liner along the tide line (under the upper lashes) to cover up any white underneath. Skip this if you have runny eyes.

Step 4: Apply full false lashes to finish the look.

For a little extra pop, you can always add a bit of brighter purple right in the inner corners.

There are many great dark red lipsticks, but one of the best and most affordable deep crimson shades that is not too orange, not too plum, not too brown, and not too black, is NYX Chic Red. It's highly-pigmented, very creamy, and just a hair cooler-toned than a true scarlet, which makes it flattering on most skin tones.

For this look, I skipped powder and used just a bit of deep rosy blush (NYX Dusty Rose) because when I'm wearing a lot of stronger colors, dewier skin keeps everything from looking too old-fashioned.

Barry M Lip Paints with flash in (L-to-R): 151 Sunset, 147 Peachy Pink, 100 Baby Pink, 62 Vibrant Pink, 52 Shocking Pink

Ahh... my beautiful babies have arrived from the UK. And the first thing I thought once I ripped off the plastic seals and uncapped these was, "Lime Crime!"

And it's no wonder, as the brand is known for strong colors. Barry Ms come in matte black plastic tubes partially reminiscent of Nars, but not quite as weighty or sturdy in the hands. On first sight in the tubes, I have to say 100 Baby Pink is gorgeous. And 62 Vibrant Pink looks even brighter than the ever-popular 52 Shocking Pink.

None of them had broken, but these lipsticks will smoosh against the sides on impact, so be careful with them if you hate that as much as me.

Pink-Peach Nudes

(L-to-R) Barry M 147 Peachy Pink, Lime Crime Cosmopop, MAC Creme Cup

In the tube, compared to the other Barry M shades, I'd immediately wanted to compared Peachy Pink with Lime Crime Cosmopop. But once swatched, the difference became apparent. Peachy Pink is a satin finish warm coral nude, and a good deal more matte than the other two swatched here.

It's warmer and a little easier to wear than Cosmopop, but it's still very nude on the lips. The Lime Crime is more visibly a milky orange due to the high white-pigment content. Creme Cup is similar in depth but more pink, although the swatches look a bit closer in real life, without flash.

I do have to say it's a very pretty peach-nude shade.

Corals

(L-to-R) NYX Indie Flick, Barry M 151 Sunset, Revlon Kiss Me Coral , NYX Haute Melon

In real life, Barry M 151 Sunset is deeper in tone than NYX Haute Melon. While it has a lustre-finish, it is a good deal less "slippery" than the NYX, so you will get more even coverage and longer wear. I didn't think this lipstick would be opaque, compared to the other Barry Ms, but as you can see above, it is really intense even when swatched next to NYX's Indie Flick, and has a great lustrous texture without being all slippery and glossy.

Read a more detailed review here!

Baby Pinks

(L-to-R) Barry M 100 Baby Pink, Lime Crime Great Pink Planet, NYX Jupiter

Barry M 100 Baby Pink is pale, pale, pale. The texture was a bit dry initially, and I had to stroke it a few times to get the color going. But it is a beautiful cotton candy pink that can make you look like a Ganguro girl if you are not careful. I think it would look absolutely wicked on uber-pale girls though.

If you're tan, Lime Crime's Great Pink Planet would probably be a better opaque pink for you, as Baby Pink can look a bit chalky on anyone but the very pale. I'll report back after I've worn it on my lips! (Lips are sore and sensitive due to some allergies, so I'm not going to be swatching and removing matte lipsticks repeatedly.)

I also included NYX Jupiter in this swatch comparison as it has the same cotton-candy pink highlights, but its base-tone is a warmer sheer pink with a salmon tone.

Hot Pinks:

Top (L-to-R) Barry M 62 Vibrant Pink, Lime Crime Countessa Fluorescent, MAC Pink Nouveau

Bottom (L-to-R) Barry M 52 Shocking Pink, NYX Shocking Pink (Matte), NYX Cancun Pink (Black Label)

As usual, my addiction to super-hot pinks seems to have no end, and Barry M 52 Shocking Pink is the body-double to MAC's infamous Candy Yum Yum. It's even more of a dupe than NYX's matte lipstick of the same name; Shocking Pink.

As seen above (sorry for the slightly blurry shot), the NYX is a bit duskier and less opaque than the Barry M. In terms of finish, Barry M 52 Shocking Pink is fully matte, while NYX Shocking Pink is more of a satin. To their right, NYX Cancun Pink is a less opaque gloss finish, but is very similar to the other two in tone though the shadow may make it seem otherwise.

Barry M 62 Vibrant Pink was a bit of a surprise. The website swatches are terrible representations of the actual shades, and I was half expecting this to be a deeper pink. Not so. Shocking Pink is more blue and just a touch deeper. Vibrant Pink is a true hot-pink that leans neither towards red, nor blue.

It is also ever so slightly lighter in tone than Shocking Pink, and less of a true matte finish. I have to say Barry M Vibrant Pink is an almost identical dupe to Lime Crime Countessa Fluorescent aside from the finish (Countessa Fluorescent is like an Amplified lipstick and Vibrant Pink a satin), so if you can't get hold of Lime Crime or just don't like the price range, stick with Barry M.

P.S. MAC Pink Nouveau looks very subdued in comparison to these crazy pinks.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

Barry M does make great color makeup, and I love that they have such unapologetic colors. I am not generally a loud and boisterous person (except with close friends or colleagues), so I tend to let my lipstick do the talking.

Barry M Lip Paints without flash, in (L-to-R): 151 Sunset, 147 Peachy Pink, 100 Baby Pink, 62 Vibrant Pink, 52 Shocking Pink

I say Barry M gives great value for the quality of its products, but do not expect to compare the textures to your favorite MAC, Nars or even Lime Crime lipsticks. They tend to be dryer than many of the other lipsticks I own, but they're not the driest around (yoohoo, Ruby Woo...). Still, if you have parched lips, I wouldn't recommend these. NYX round and black label lipsticks would be much better for you.

Similar to NYX, there is difference in consistency among products from the same range. I did not get any shimmers, only the cremes, and 4 out of 5 have a satin-to-matte finish, which I happen to like but you should take note of in case you don't.

Barry Ms are more expensive than NYX @ £4.49 each, though I bought mine for £3.74 per tube using a Summer promo code (SUMMER10). I do expect them to be more pigmented and intense, based on their brand caveat and the price difference.
So far, they have been.

Detailed Shade-by-shade reviews and comparison swatches below!