Bright Lipstick: A Sleepy Girl's: Best Friend

Left: Nada Top Right: Nars Pillow Talk Bottom Right: MAC Viva Glam

Last night V and I went to a delicious dinner with friends at Bo's in the Flatiron district*. Tasty food, smooth drinks and great company made for a semi-late night and I am quite sleepy today (as evidenced in the photos to the right).

Years of practice (translation: staying up way past a good girl's bedtime) has taught me that there is no better way to brighten my face than a quick smear of bright lipstick.

Sadly, Laura Mercier discontinued my favorite color, Sugarplum, but the good news is that I have been going back to bold shades in it's absence.

On a regular morning Nars Pillow Talk lip gloss will get the job done, but this was no regular morning and so I invoked the power of the greatest bright lipstick of them all: MAC Viva Glam. The perfect red lipstick is going to be different for everyone, but this is one that I recommend, at least to start. Upon application I just feel so... kickass. It came out in 1994 when a young Kimbo was only in Junior High and not the most confident girl at the Bat Mitvah, but it made me feel bold and pretty (despite pairing it with way too much black eyeliner, but what can I say? It was the grunge era) and I've been in love with it ever since. The other awesome thing about MAC Viva Glam?  

"Every cent of the selling price of VIVA GLAM Lipstick and Lipglass is donated to the M·A·C AIDS Fund to support men, women, and children living with HIV and AIDS." [Source]

What's your trick for looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when you're really sleep-deprived and dragging tail?