What Are You Lookin’ At? Oh, Right My Lips Are Bright Red

Week two of my Red Lipstick Challenge brought some unexpected moments. I started off more confident than I was week one, having gotten over my fear of people staring. In the first week, I felt I had to explain myself and why I was wearing such a bold color at nine in the morning. “It’s a blogger thing. You know, like a challenge? I’m doing this for a blog. This isn’t something I usually do. Pushing comfort zones. I don’t know, it’s just a blogger thing!

NYX Pure Red Matte Lipstick (my new obsession–review coming soon!)

In the first week, I had trouble recognizing myself with red lipstick, but a funny thing happened in week two: I didn’t recognize myself without it. Much like how I feel about eyeliner, my look didn’t feel “finished” until my lips were red even on days when I was just running to IKEA. I was shocked at how quickly the way my self perception changed. In just 14 days, I went from being terrified of wearing red lipstick to not wanting to live without it. I’m not saying changing my lip color is an act of bravery (that’s a bit too far), but all I can say is a simple color change has made me feel more confident and bold on a daily basis.

NYX Electra Lipstick

A funny thing about red lipstick: People, men and women of all ages, literally do double takes. All the time. At first my Big City Mentality came out, and I found myself thinking, “What are you looking at me for? Do you want something? Why are we making eye contact with me?” And then I remembered, oh, right, it’s nine in the morning and I am wearing bright red lipstick and that’s why people are looking. Not only that, but I perceived people as much friendlier while I was wearing red lipstick.

Ever an attention-loving Leo, I got used to the attention. On days I didn’t wear red lipstick, I thought, “Why is no one looking at me? Am I not standing out?” Again, it’s a very simple change that somehow completely shifted my daily interactions with strangers. I won’t say the shift is positive or negative, but it’s definitely different somehow.

Have you ever made a little change that affected the way people see you? How did it make you feel? Did it change the way people saw you? Share your thoughts!