discovering cerise

When I first bought Collection 7 Day Wear nail polish in Cerise nearly a year ago, I was sure I bought a burgundy (thanks drugstore lighting!) My initial disappointment was the result of not getting what I expected, but this nail polish introduced me to a colour (a type of colour) that I grew to love. Cerise, which is French for cherry, made me realise I never paid close attention to what colour a cherry is. I think I might have tasted fresh cherries once, but otherwise it's been the sugary and definitely added-with-colour cherries used in baking, and usually they're bright red. So Cerise didn't remind me of cherries because I had the wrong kind of cherries in mind. Whatever little memory I have of fresh cherries, they were more red and deeper than red grapes and for whatever reason, I am also reminded of a bitter aftertaste in my mouth. (Do they taste that way? Man, I'm gonna grab some cherries if I find any after this. I really don't remember what they taste like.)

Anyways, Wikipedia described cerise as a deep to vivid reddish pink, which I agree with. Prior to Cerise, I didn't have the vocabulary to describe such a colour. The reason I'm bringing up Cerise the nail polish is because the colour perfectly describes two new lipsticks in my collection: Revlon Super Lustrous lipstick in Cherries in the Snow and Revlon Ultra HD lipstick in Petunia.

Revlon Petunia, Revlon Cherries in the Snow and Collection Cerise (also on my nails)

Cherries in the Snow is one of the colours I have read so much about from the blogosphere, but this post by brutally honest beauty is the one that made me purchase the colour. I was intrigued: is it a pink? Is it a red? How would it look on me? Off to eBay I went where drugstore lipsticks are more often cheaper (I didn't want to buy 3 lipsticks at Superdrug to get the discount, y'know?) I also checked out other lipsticks on this seller's page and found Petunia. I have been interested and on several occasions, tempted to purchase the Ultra HD formula after reading about it from allura beauty (aka best swatches ever + great Youtuber too, imho!) but constrained myself because #omfgIdontneedanotherlipstick. Described as a pomegranate pink, Petunia seemed like a good colour for spring.

Left: Warmer indoor lighting, Right: Bright outdoor lighting

 Forgive me for the non-crisp photos, btw. As you can see, all three colours are practically identical and they are perfectly described by cerise, no doubt. Cherries in the Snow is has a traditional lipstick shape and packaging, and as a matter of fact, I find the black-gold Revlon lipstick packaging quite classy. Petunia (or Revlon Ultra HD lipsticks in general) is a design failure: 1) the bullet is too wide so I've got lipstick going outside my lip line during application and 2) it doesn't completely twist down a.k.a. you feel like you're in a goddamn thriller to prevent catastrophic mess when you open/close the lipstick cap. Come on, Revlon. It's 2017. Get your shit together. You know everyone hates this kind of packaging.

Left: Multiple swipe of Petunia and Cherries in the Snow. Right: one swipe of Petunia (bottom) and Cherries in the Snow 

Petunia feels gel-like, slightly more solid than Revlon's lip butter and feels balmy when applied. It is scented, not with an unpleasant scent but I dislike it. There is shimmer in Petunia, which at this point, I'm not sure if I like or hate. Cherries in the Snow is creamy, non-scented, non-shimmery and a bit bolder than Petunia. Both has a glossy finish but my preferred way of wearing cerise is as a "lived in" kind of look so they appear more matte. Apply lipstick at the centre, dab it outwards to get an ambient sort-of effect. I was also actually inspired by french kissed look by (apparently) everyone's current crush and #aestheticgoals, violette_fr. I didn't use a brush or anything to fade the lipstick out. I just dab the colour on my lips and more often in the centre.

Oh and in case you are wondering, the nail polish is decent.

My rating for Petunia is a 2/5, with its packaging (and maybe the shimmer) preventing a higher rating. While Cherries in the Snow is a 4/5 as I have found no fault in it at all.

A note on cerise as a colour. When I first wore Cerise the nail polish, my first impression was "Wow, this is an Auntie pink!" and that impression remains till today. Perhaps imaginable only by some from a certain cultural background, an Auntie pink is what I imagine a middle-aged, unmarried Asian aunt who's gossipy, slightly selfish but generally has good intentions would wear as her manicure. If you have a rating from 0 to 10 of the bold & loud scale, she's a solid 7. She's absolutely comfortable in her own skin, jokes about the extra pounds she's gained over the years and shyly ogles attractive younger men although who is she trying to kid with that shyness! I'm not sure if you would love or hate such a character. But guys, I am totally gonna be that Auntie. I also just realised that I don't own any clothing in this colour, but can you imagine a cerise headscarf + black top and jeans + nude make-up?! Fabulous.