Go Red Or Go Home

Aside from a brief fling with hoochie mama lips in ninth grade (nude lipstick outlined with brown eyeliner), I've always been a red lipstick girl. I was first introduced to the color when I was just toddler young. During special holidays like Chinese New Year and The Lantern Festival, my Mom would dot my forehead, right in between the brows, with her crimson red lipstick. This was the Chinese version of a bindi. I never understood the point although a few years later a mole formed in the same spot. My permanent bindi. Perhaps that was the point.

My subsequent foray into red lipstick took place in sixth grade. I had watched Gone With the Wind during winter break and was obsessed with Scarlett O'Hara's scarlet lips. A few days before school resumed, I began casing Mom's makeup drawer, searching for the perfect shade of red to make my middle school color debut. I finally settled on a deep mahogany Rouge a Levres from Christian Dior. After getting dropped off at school, I scuttled into the bathroom, pulled out the blue porcelain tube, and fervidly glossed my lips. Double coat. I stepped into first period science class feeling taller and prettier. A few of my gal pals looked at me with blank stares, not yet ready to process my new look. My guy friends, on the other hand, drew their guns quickly and swiftly. They whispered, giggled, and a soft but growing chant of "Bloody Mary" erupted from their mouths. The bordeaux backlash had begun. I sat there for a moment, wondering whether I should wipe off the lipstick and conform to the flesh colored Lip Smackers coated lips of my peers, or stand my ground. I stood with red and stayed true to my color. The teasing stopped after a day but my love for red continues to this day.

The Bloody Mary incident served as a pivotal moment of self-realization. I realized when it comes to beauty and style, I don't and won't let the reactions of others influence my choices. Because when it comes to personal style, it's all about me.