Have Faith as Bold as Your Lipstick

First of all, I’m super proud of the title of this blog post. Lets all just take a moment to observe that. Anyways, the idea of this blog post came from a situation that happened to me a few months ago. Back in October I got my hair dyed. I do this quite often. Usually I go dark in the fall/winter and then blonde in the spring/summer. So, I had previously been blonde and now was dark brown. I had also just gotten my first ever shipment of Colourpop Cosmetics. I was very excited because it was my first purchase from the company. I bought two liquid lipsticks, limbo and lax. Both are a very dark, matte liquid lipsticks- which I love. I also need to point out that these were my first ever dark lip colors, so I was very excited to wear them.

Fast forward to the first day I wore them out and about. I walked in the building and immediately heard “I love your hair! But the lips are a little much.” I heard many other comments of disapproval with my dark lips, which is fine! I’m actually thankful people feel like they can be honest with me. Usually, my reaction would have been to run to the bathroom and wash it off. Also, to wish I had fallen off of the face of the earth because I would have been so embarrassed. NOT TODAY! Today, I felt confident. I loved the way it looked, and I had no problem telling everyone. And that’s exactly what I did. I talked about how much I loved the color, how excited I was to try new things, and that I liked to wear what I liked no matter what anyone else thought. I walked away from that conversation feeling confident. Who was that girl that was being so bold back there!?

Later on, I thought about the encounter again. I wish I was always that bold. I thought to myself. I wish I was that bold about work, makeup, everything… even my faith. 

I have no problem- I repeat NO PROBLEM- telling people my beliefs. I will tell everyone all day that I’m a Christian. However, as soon as I experience any opposition, I immediately shut down. I’m sure I’m not the only one. I’m not sure what causes it. Maybe because I was raised in church and was sheltered from people that oppose my beliefs. Perhaps its because I live in the Bible belt where everyone is a “christian”. But the older I get, the more I’ve come to realize that a lot of people don’t really know what that means. I’ve also realized a lot of people have forsaken a Biblical world view for political correctness and the world’s view of what’s right and wrong. Also, the older I’ve become, the more people have singled me out or confronted from my different beliefs. I’ve been called uneducated, close-minded… you name it.

My attitude towards people’s dislike of my lipstick should be my attitude towards my faith. I didn’t yell at the person speaking and tell her how wrong she was. I didn’t shut her down as being uneducated because we have different opinions. I didn’t run and hide and wash my face. I simply stated my beliefs and continued doing what I liked.

So what would this look like acted out in my life? 

• I would approach God’s throne boldly, because I am His child. He calls us to come and speak to him freely without fear.
  • Ephesians 3:12 (ESV) In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.
• I would be stand firm in my beliefs, and not change or run from them when I face opposition.
  • Proverbs 28:1 (ESV) The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
  • Acts 4:31 (ESV) And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
  • Ephesians 6:19 (ESV) And also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel

There are so many more verses that I could add, but think about it… what if we treated our faith like our fashion? Saying, doing, and standing for what we believed in and not being intimidated from others who don’t agree.

Anyways, I could go on and on about this. To many people, this is probably a stupid connection… but it really showed me where I put my confidence- and it wasn’t where it should be. Since then, I’ve prayed a lot about it and I’m making changes. These changes haven’t been easy, and haven’t been any doing of my own; however, I can say through this tiny encounter, God has been working in my life to make my faith more bold.

So, in honor of this post, here are my top ten favorite lip products.

1. My absolute favorite lip products are Wet n Wild’s Liquid Catsuits. They are very pigmented liquid lipsticks and you will not need to reapply these bad boys. They also do not transfer. So eat, drink, and be merry with this product!
2. I love ColourPop products. They are super inexpensive and have a variety of shades and products. I really like their liquid lips. The color is intense and they aren’t drying at all.
3. NYX’s Lingerie and Liquid Suede are both great products. I will say the Lingerie is my least favorite of the two because it’s more of a creamy mousse-y consistency. It also transfers and needs to be reapplied often. The Liquid Suede’s, however, are there to stay once you apply them.
4. E.L.F. has amazing lipsticks, as well. I especially like their Beautifully Bare collection. They go on smooth and the pigmentation is great. However, I will say that they need to be reapplied often.
5. NYX’s Extra Creamy Lipsticks are very similar to the E.L.F. lipsticks to me. They are also easy to apply and have great pigmentation, but yet again they need to be reapplied often.
6. Trestique Mini Matte Lip Cayons are perfect for on the go. The color I love the most is Florence Fig. It reminds me of Dorothy on the Wizard of Oz. These crayons are easy to apply and last for quite some time.
7. Tarte Lip Surgence lip creme’s are amazing, too. They’re similar to the mini lip crayons in shape. They apply super smooth which can be difficult to work with, but with patience and practice they are amazing.
8. Pacifica’s Natural Lipsticks are nice because they are natural. The color is natural and the ingredients are all natural. This is what I lean towards mostly for my day to day wear because its light and natural looking.
9. NYX lip liners have saved my life when it comes to lip products. I’m not the most steady handed person in the world and sometimes, to be honest, it can get a little messy. My favorite colors are nude pink and beige because they can go with any color.
10. Carmex is a must. Its kind of a no brainer, but for so long I wasn’t using any kind of moisturizer on my lips. This made my products apply choppy and my lips looked crusty and gross. Currently, I am wearing 400 layers of it, because after applying 5 different lip products for my blog picture, my lips were wrecked. So thank you carmex for making great lip products that have saved my mouth.

That’s enough for me today. So in what areas of your life do you hope to be more bold?