I am a very, VERY extreme person when it comes to portion control, caffeine, or makeup.

I could talk about portion distortion and my severe addiction to coffee for days, but today, we will dive a bit deeper into the makeup part…

One of my best friends is an actual makeup guru. She knows can blend and contour like a YouTube beauty vlogger and provide brand recommendations like a Sephora makeup artist.

I never really got super into makeup until my 22nd birthday… Like, exactly on my 22nd birthday because I asked for high quality makeup for my bday and treated myself to the Ritz Carlton of makeup brushes… ( sigma brushes ).

* drools *

Again – I get VERY extreme. When I’m committed to something, I am COMMITTED. 

I watched a gazillion makeup tutorials on Youtube, asked my makeup guru BFF for tips, and taught myself how to contour, tight line, and blend ( #StopHarshLines2k19 ) pretty well!

A couple months after my 22nd birthday, I went to the Nordstom anniversary sale to do some damage and add to my collection of makeup.

I wanted to buy some fun lip colors to add some *POP* to my look.

I found a deal where I bought 5-4-3  ( or something like that?? ) and of course only ended up using one color.

I recently dug back into my lippie stash and found a BEAUTIFUL red color!! Only issue???

MY TEETH LOOKED YELLOW.

UHMM EW NO THANKS !!!

Must have been because of my extreme coffee addiction…

Just my luck; my fave drink stains my teeth !!!

But guys, have no fear. The red lippy WILL make an appearance for the holidays.

Here are my top 3 tips for achieving the pearly white look, WHILE wearing red lipstick!!

1. BYO-Straw

• Drink with a straw; this keeps stains away when you drink iced coffee, tea, or soda because the liquid won’t wash over the surfaces of your teeth.
  • Here is how I make an at home iced coffee.

2. Check the undertones of your lipstick

When it comes to makeup, certain products are strategically colored to hide or bring out various aspects of your face. For example, yellow/banana colors are used to offset the blue circles under your eye, bronzer warms up the face, and contouring defines, enhances, and sculpts the structure of the face.

We want to also be strategic with our lipstick colors. Warm-toned lipsticks will counteract cool tones and bring out the yellow ( warm tone ) in the teeth. On the other hand, cool-toned lipsticks will counteract that yellow, warm tone in the teeth and make the teeth appear whiter. This is SUCH a simple, effortless hack for achieving Taylor Swift’s perfect red lip look.

3. Whiten those pearly whites

When in doubt, white it out! Sometimes, I just I used the Smile Brilliant teeth whitening kit to whiten my teeth. This kit is fab because it is:

• CUSTOM: unlike the one-size-fits-all drug store strips which don’t reach all crevices of your teeth
• SENSITIVE TEETH APPROVED: the kit comes with a de-sensitizing gel to counteract any aching experience
• WORKS FAST: you will see results in 7-14 application… just in time to get ready for the holidays!

You can read more about my experience with Smile Brilliant HERE!

Enter my Smile Brilliant giveaway HERE for a $149 Smile Brilliant credit OR use “allhailsthekale15” for 15% off your purchase storewide!!

Good luck!!

xx hails

*This post is in collaboration with Smile Brilliant. As always, all options are mine.